My friends, I present you with a quote from the Tale of Beren and Lúthien:
Quote:
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Now Beren lay in a swoon within the perilous Gate.....
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Here we must wonder at the contextual meaning of "swoon." Does this erefer to the nautical definition? If so, it may be supposed that Beren fell into a seafaring way of life, which may explain the later swooners of his line, Elrond and Aragorn among them. Earendil by marriage to Elwing completes this lineage of mariners. Where, then, does the "perilous Gate" come in? The quote is taken from the passages directly following Beren's unlucky confrontation of Caracaroth, so perhaps it is meant to mean the Gate between death and life. Thus Beren was on the brink of death, as is supported in the text. This brings us back to our other primary definition, that of unhoused spirits. So we could take the quotation to mean either that Beren became a voyager on sea-vessels, and was on the brink of death, or that he became as a swooning spirit and was about to die. This second option seems rather redundant, but both are plausible. There is, however, a third possibility, which we must not forget. It may be that the "swoon" refers indeed to such a banner as was given to Aragorn, in which case he lay within the Gate wrapped about in a banner.
One must also wonder about Roggie - if he had been gifted with a banner, seeing as "swoon" appears to be widely used in a watery sense, would it not have quenched his flame? This may have rendered him easily defeatable by Feanor, and things may indeed have run in quite a different course. And is it not fitting that Aragorn displayed at last his swoon while he swooned, or in this case, his banner gifted to him by Arwen throught Halbarad as he sailed in the fleet of Black Ships?