Microphones in Middle-earth...the BBC Lord of the Rings

[davem]

Originally Posted by ArathornJax

In terms of Boromir's death, his funeral may have been pagan, and I think we can discuss that, but his death was very Christian, or Catholic. Boromir gave a death bed and final confession. It is very similar to Roland's death who does against a tree with a broken horn next to him. I am very grateful that in the BBC adaptation that the song sung by Aragorn and Legolas was omitted. .

I can't see that you could argue that Boromir's funeral wasn't 'Pagan' (though probably Tolkien would have used the term 'heroic'). Boat/ship funerals - whether by burning, burial or launching the craft onto the sea, are not part of Christian tradition, & we only find Christian grave goods associated with them in societies where pre-Christian traditions have carried over. Also, the West as the place of Paradise originated in Pagan belief & played no part in Christian trradition, where the East (direction of sunrise) was seen as the 'sacred' direction - if any direction was 'sacred'.

Also, one has to take into account the 'invocation' of the four winds/four directions in the funeral song. I honestly can't see any 'Christian' element in the funeral, & the overall feel of the scene is far more reminiscent of Pagan customs. That said, I wouldn't argue that Tolkien was attempting to re-create a 'Pagan' send off, merely that if we look for resonances we will find more in Beowulf than we will in the Bible.

Boromir's death is less clearly 'Pagan', but I think the whole 'deathbed confession/absolution' thing has been pushed way too far by many commentators looking to 'prove' the 'Christian' nature of the work. Boromir does not ask for absolution. He acknowledges his fault in attempting to take the Ring - which one would expect from a warrior at his death, & he asks Aragorn to save his people. Effectively he admits he has done wrong & has paid the price - though its entirely possible to read his words as implying that his real failure in his own eyes was his failure to save his people - ie a tactical, rather than a moral, failure. The death scene may be interpretable in the way you imply, but I think that its more a case of 'applicability' - its not not Christian/Catholic, but that's a long way from saying it is Christian/Catholic. What I mean is, a reader who was only familiar with old legends & knew nothing about Catholic ritual/tradition is not going to read that scene & be left totally confused by what was happening. It makes perfect sense given what we know of the characters & the situation they have found themselves in.

But I digress....