boromir with merry, and pippin

[elengil]

I think the reason most people dislike Boromir in the book is basically cause of the fuss over the Ring. But I think that Boromir's problem, as illustrated by Faramir when he says "Alas, poor Boromir, it was too sore a trial for him!" was that he was a great warrior and did indeed seek a great weapon to defend his people. Not truly grasping the power and purpose of the Ring only increased his desire and hastened his fall. But Boromir was not an *evil* person by any means! He was noble and lordly, and as was written, he did not understand why the Stewards of Gondor would never become Kings no matter how many generations passed without one. He felt that he should be King after his father. He felt that the true Kings had abandoned their duty. I think learning of Aragorn's heritage only increased that bitterness at the abandonment of Gondor by the Kings. <P>It was indeed a sore trial for a leader such as Boromir to be confronted with the king who had would claimed his kingship, with a ring that could seemingly guarentee victory, with a quest whose most likely outcome would be only to return the ring to the enemy, and with elves counciling just that (Boromir seems to have a pointed distrust for elves).