On Labour Pains and Boromir

Reflections on a Cursed Earth, Boromir and Hope in Christ.

It is said that a woman in labour will suffer such pain so as to come close to experiencing the pain a man feels when he watches Boromir die in the Lord of the Rings.

Of labour pains and Boromir, then, shall we speak.

- Genesis 3:16-19 -

[16] To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

[17]And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.

[18]Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth.

[19]In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

The pairing of a woman's labour pains with Boromir, who, in my humble opinion, embodies the old man, the natural man, at his best, is no mere coincidence. He is the man of labour and toil for but thorns and thistles.

- Ephesians 4:21 -

[21] If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus:

[22] To put off, according to former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error.

[23] And be renewed in the spirit of your mind:

[24] And put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth.

***Note*** As I continue this thought I'm going to compound book Boromir with movie Boromir… I like movie Boromir … a lot. It's not about which depiction is better, because in every instance the book is 'better' than the movies simply because the book is the original creation and any significant way in which the movie character differs from Tolkien's vision means that in some way they cease being that character. But I digress and don't wish to derail the train of thought.

… In fact, it might end up being all movie Boromir, but we'll see where it goes.

Boromir is the seed of Denethor and in many very real respects the image of his Father. They are not evil men. In fact, far from it, as I said they are the best of men. The best of the old man.

They are both loyal to Gondor and her people. They live for them. But it is all they live for. The old heathen values of glory, honour, loyalty … the echo of their name throughout the ages.

There is nothing inherently wrong in these values, but when there is no transcendent centre to them, they go the way of the very earthly things they are centred in … they perish.

The fleeting and temporal nature of these earthly things is something both Denethor and Boromir become lucidly aware of as the darkness of Sauron spreads across Middle-earth.

They both despair and cling to the temporal … at first.

Denethor remains entrenched in the ways of the old man unto his demise. Even unto the peculiar words (in a story with no overt Christian references and set before any such equivalent incarnation) that "… we (faramir) will burn like heathen kings before ever a ship sailed hither from the West." (Or "like the heathen kings of old" in the movie)

Denethor cannot see beyond the temporal glories of this world, and, fittingly perhaps, chooses a death of despair in the hellish flames of a funeral pyre.

Previously, Denethor had rejected the true King, and his life ended in the torment of flame.

Boromir, steps into the same pattern.

In Tolkien's epic Boromir does not reject Aragorn's kingship so vehemently as with the movies. It is more a disinterested doubt born out of his sense of a tangible duty to his people that he feels, it seems, the matters of the restoration of the kingly line to be small potatoes.

Yet this is often how we reject the true King, having more important things to do, real, practicable nuts and bolts things to do. Prayer and the spiritual life get relegated, if we’re lucky, to a privilege. A few moments in our spare time. Faithful to Christ, of course, but when serious trouble arises the priority is on doing things that “actually work.”

Men do this especially. We labour and toil by the sweat of our brow to fix problems. Our very identity is often found in such a life. There is a Faustian restlessness that Tolkien captures perfectly in his race of men.

"Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee"

- St. Augustine

This restlessness that defines the fallen man, even at his most noble, is beautifully and heart-wrenchingly portrayed in the movies with a scene in Lothlorien where Boromir tells Aragorn of his despair. Encouraging him to take some rest, Aragorn receives the reply that Boromir will not find rest there, in Lothlorien. Lothlorien, that place that is seemingly in a state of perpetual rest, an Edenic paradise frozen in time as if one had wondered into the memory of the world before the fall.

Yet, it is not really Lothlorien that is the catalyst for Boromir's restlessness, but the place or state of his heart that he all to readily admits to.

"She (Galadriel) said even now there is hope left … but I cannot see it."

Boromir's identity lies in his being a son of Gondor and the son of the steward of Gondor, that is what fills his heart. The Lady Galadriel speaks of his Father and the fall of Gondor and so his very existence, everything he thinks he is, becomes as so much dust just as the crumbling walls of the great city should it fall.

Boromir goes on to share with Aragorn his memories of the White City. A description that glimmers with a transcendent light that would seem to suggest, at least in this moment, amidst his despair, that Boromir intuits something of the heavenly, of that which is reflected in Minas Tirith's glorious image yet lies beyond. A heavenly city such as the heavenly Jerusalem we are familiar with from the Christian Tradition.

He talks of this city in an almost apocalyptic manner; of being called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets. And the tower guards, as if mighty cherubim, announcing the return of the Lords of Gondor.

He says he cannot see hope yet hope stirs within him as a seed.

That seed must be cultivated though, and Boromir almost gives in to despair, seeking the Ring as a means to cling to who he thinks he is, not realizing that in doing so he shall lose who he really is. In the movie Frodo resists him, "you are not yourself."

Boromir almost falls into the same madness that would eventually take his father. Almost burning in the funeral pyre of temporal temptation. Instead, he stumbles and falls in his attempt to chase after Frodo. This seemingly knocks sense into him as so often we must hit rock bottom to realise our weakness and need.

The fall of man (that is, the consequences for man's disobedience and pride) was a blessing in disguise. We are allowed to fall, so that we might realise our need. Lest we become crystallised in our sin we are granted death so that, recognising our mortality, we might call on the Author of Life.

Boromir arises and though tormented by the shame of his actions is redeemed through the perfect act of Charity.

"No greater love hath a man than this, that he give his life for his friends."

John 15:13

He dies in defence of two hobbits; these two small, simple little people who seem the most insignificant fellows in the fellowship; from a people who seem as the most insignificant peoples of Middle-earth. Boromir's body is riddled with arrows like so many thorns reaching up from a cursed earth; he prepares to taste the bitter fruits of that cursed earth; death. Yet, in his offering up of (middle-)earthly sufferings to that which is beyond the earthly, he is redeemed and gains that rest he has desired.

Confessing his weakness to his brother (Aragorn) and confessing his brother as King, (explicitly so in the movies, declaring his faithfulness to the rightful heir to the throne but also implicitly in the books), he dies to all those things he thought he was.

"For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it." 

Matthew 16:25

"Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed." To which Aragorn replies, "No! You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not fall!"

Boromir admits he cannot do what only the true King can do. In urging him to go to Minas Tirith and save his people he knows exactly what that will mean. The coronation of the King.

Aragorn's words to Boromir in the book are most fitting.

He declares he has conquered and gained a victory that few do. Of course, Aragorn is speaking of a victory of the soul. Boromir has not fallen into despair, he has allowed hope to enter in, he has repented of his wrongdoing, recognized his weakness and need, and loved that perfect, transcendent love.

He dies no longer entrenched in temporal things but with faithfulness, hope and charity overflowing … and his eyes transfixed on his King...

...And his King grants him that peace he could not find in his time in Lothlorien and affirms that the White City shall not fall … as if to reassure him of that heavenly city that he had intuited in that moment in the Golden Wood.

UNDER THE VEIL OF THE VIRGIN AND IN THE PEACE OF THE LAMB.