Faramir
Faramir is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He is introduced as the younger brother of Boromir of the Fellowship of the Ring and second son of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor.
Faramir enters the narrative in The Two Towers, where, upon meeting Frodo Baggins, he is presented with a temptation to take possession of the One Ring. In The Return of the King, he leads the forces of Gondor in the War of the Ring, coming near to death, succeeds his father as Steward, and wins the love of Éowyn, lady of the royal house of Rohan.
Tolkien wrote that of all his characters, Faramir was the most like him: Tolkien had fought in the First World War and had similarly had a vision of darkness. Scholars have likened Faramir's courage to that in the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon, and his hunting green-clad in Ithilien to the English folk hero and outlaw Robin Hood. The Tolkien scholar Jane Chance sees Faramir as central to a complex web of Germanic allegiance-relationships.
Faramir has been the subject of illustrations by Tolkien artists including John Howe, Ted Nasmith and Anke Eißmann. He was voiced by Andrew Seear in the BBC's 1981 radio adaptation. He was played by David Wenham in Peter Jackson's film trilogy.
Narrative
Background
Faramir is the son of Denethor, who becomes steward of Gondor a year after Faramir's birth. His mother is Finduilas, daughter of Prince Adrahil of Dol Amroth; she dies when Faramir is five, and is to him "but a memory of loveliness in far days and of his first grief". After her death Denethor becomes sombre, cold, and detached, but the relationship between Faramir and his elder brother Boromir, who is five years older, only grows closer, even though Denethor openly favours Boromir. Faramir is used to giving way and not airing his own opinions. Faramir displeases his father by welcoming the wizard Gandalf to Minas Tirith, Gondor's capital. Faramir, eager for knowledge, learns much from Gandalf about Gondor's history.Faramir looks much like Boromir, who is described as "a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance". In Faramir, "by some chance the blood of Westernesse nearly true". He does not enjoy fighting for its own sake.
Gondor had long been threatened by the nearby realm of Mordor, and in 3018 the Dark Lord Sauron begins the War of the Ring, attacking the ruined city of Osgiliath that guards the river crossing to Minas Tirith. Faramir and Boromir command the defence.
Shortly before the battle, Faramir has a prophetic dream, in which a voice speaks of the "Sword that was Broken" that is to be found at Imladris far to the north, about the awakening of "Isildur's Bane", the approach of "Doom", and the appearance of "the Halfling". Faramir decides to journey to Imladris and seek the advice of Elrond the Half-elven, but Denethor sends Boromir instead.
''The Two Towers''
Faramir first encounters the hobbits Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee in Ithilien, and recognises them to be the Halflings mentioned in his dreams. Faramir questions Frodo about his quest, and Frodo reveals that he, along with eight other companions including Boromir, had set out from Rivendell. During the interrogation, Faramir asks often about Boromir, since he knows, as Frodo does not, that Boromir is already dead. One night, Faramir had waded down to the Anduin after seeing a boat there. It contained the dead body of his brother, who had been killed by Orcs after Frodo had left the group. Frodo tries to avoid the subject of his quest, but Faramir realises that Frodo was carrying something important to Sauron. Sam accidentally speaks of Boromir's desire for the One Ring, thus revealing what Frodo is carrying. Faramir then shows the crucial difference between him and his proud brother:Faramir is wise enough to know that such a weapon is not to be used. He sees how his brother had been tempted beyond his strength, and wishes that he had gone on the quest himself. He gives the hobbits provisions and sends them on their way, warning Frodo that their guide, Gollum, is treacherous, and that an unknown terror lives on the pass of Cirith Ungol, where Gollum is leading them.
''The Return of the King''
The following evening, Faramir sends his company to reinforce the garrison at Osgiliath, while he and three men ride to Minas Tirith. They are pursued by the Nazgûl. Faramir rides back to help the fallen and is rescued by Gandalf. At Minas Tirith, Faramir reports to Denethor and Gandalf that he had met Frodo and Sam. Denethor becomes angry that Faramir had let them go to Mordor with the Ring, instead of bringing it to him.The Witch-king of Angmar, leader of the Nazgûl, leads a large army from Minas Morgul, and seizes Osgiliath. Faramir stays with the rearguard, and is gravely wounded. The city's cavalry bring him back to Minas Tirith, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields begins. Denethor believes the unconscious Faramir to be fatally injured. He has a funeral pyre built for himself and Faramir. The Hobbit Pippin Took, sworn into Denethor's service, alerts Gandalf, and Faramir is rescued from the flames. Mad with grief, Denethor lies down on the pyre, burning himself alive.
After the battle, Aragorn heals Faramir with athelas in the Houses of Healing. Recuperating, Faramir meets the Lady Éowyn of Rohan, and falls in love with her. At first, Éowyn refuses his advances, only desiring to find honour in death, but soon she loves him in return. Faramir becomes Steward, and prepares the city for the arrival of Aragorn, now King of Gondor. On the day of the coronation, Faramir surrenders his Stewardship. Aragorn, however, renews the office, announcing that as long as his line lasts, Faramir's descendants would be Stewards of Gondor. He makes Faramir Prince of Ithilien. In addition, as Steward Faramir serves as the King's chief counsellor and rules Gondor when the King is absent. With Éowyn, he settles in Ithilien, among the hills of the Emyn Arnen; they have a son named Elboron. After Faramir's death at the age of 120, his son succeeds him. Barahir, Faramir's grandson, writes The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, said in the frame story to have been inserted in the Thain's Book by the writer Findegil.
Analysis
Medieval knight
The Tolkien scholar Elizabeth Solopova states that Faramir's decision to reject the One Ring shows influences from a kind of courage and behaviour that was known to Tolkien from the medieval poem The Battle of Maldon. By not taking the Ring, Faramir rejects the desire for power and glory which a defeat of Sauron would bring him.The Tolkien scholar Jane Chance analyses Faramir's place in what she identifies as an elaborate web of relationships based on a medieval Germanic worldview. Firstly, she describes Faramir and Boromir as a pair of opposites, good and evil brothers, which she likens to Theoden and Denethor whom she considers a pair of good and evil "Kings". Secondly, she explores what she sees as a series of parallel instances of feudal allegiance and betrayal involving Faramir and Frodo. Sam serves Frodo faithfully, but accidentally betrays him to Faramir with the smoke from his cooking fire and then by mentioning the Ring. Gollum's allegiance to Frodo is in the form of an oath sworn on the Ring, to obey Frodo and not to run off. Frodo "betrays" Gollum by luring him into the captivity of Faramir's men. Gollum then swears to Faramir that he will never return to the forbidden pool. The last of the parallel allegiance relationships is that Faramir grants Frodo protection, in the manner of a Germanic lord, and in return Frodo offers his service. Thirdly, after the War of the Ring, society is renewed as Aragorn marries Arwen, bringing the races of Man and Elf together, while in parallel to that Faramir marries Éowyn, bringing together the nations of Rohan and Gondor.
Medieval outlaw
Several scholars have noted a likeness between Faramir and the legendary medieval figure of Robin Hood. Marjorie Burns sees a sign of Englishness, "a Robin Hood touch", in the green-clad Faramir and his men hunting the enemy in the forested Ithilien. P.N. Harrison comments that Faramir's "wilderness dwelling, his skill with the bow, and his choice of a green cloak, mask, and gauntlets as clothing all invite direct comparisons" with the outlaw of Sherwood Forest. Ben Reinhard, in Mythlore, writes that while there are medieval-style knights in The Lord of the Rings, and Faramir's conduct and speech are in many ways perfectly chivalric, he is definitely not a "knight in shining armour". Instead, he leads the attack on the men of Harad "in a thoroughly unchivalric guerilla ambuscade", while "clothing, weaponry, tactics, and refuge" all indicate the opposite of the shining knight: the outlaw in the Greenwood.Tolkien's personal experiences
Tolkien's biographer John Garth, in his book Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth, writes that the resemblance between Faramir and the author, which Tolkien admitted in a letter, was that the two men were both soldiers and scholars, Faramir having "a reverence for the old histories and sacred values that helps him through a bitter war." Tolkien served as an officer in the British Army during the First World War, fighting in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Tolkien bestowed his dream of "darkness unescapable" on Faramir, who narrates the dream to Éowyn. Of this, Tolkien wrote, "when Faramir speaks of his private vision of the Great Wave, he speaks for me. That vision and dream has been ever with me — and has been inherited by one of my children, Michael."The scholar of literature Melissa A. Smith suggests that Tolkien's First World War experience of war brides may be reflected in Faramir's brief courtship of Éowyn. She notes that Tolkien wrote in response to criticism that "In my experience feelings and decisions ripen very quickly in periods of great stress, and especially under the expectation of imminent death". Smith adds that Tolkien indeed married Edith Bratt just before he was posted to the Western Front in France.
| Attribute | Faramir | Tolkien | Robin Hood |
| Brief wartime courtship | |||
| Scholar-soldier | |||
| Dream of "darkness inescapable" | |||
| Green clothing | |||
| Skill with bow | |||
| Ambush tactics | |||
| Concealed refuge in forest |