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Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Document Type
Presentation
Event Website
https://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-53.htm
Start Date
3-8-2024 4:30 PM
End Date
3-8-2024 5:20 PM
Description
Boromir’s last words to Aragorn are, “I have failed.” But his final gesture as he dies a few seconds later is a smile. Between the two moments, generating this final expression, are Aragorn’s words reassuring Boromir that he has gained a victory and that Minas Tirith shall stand. What emotions are we to infer from this smile? Tolkien’s choice of this ending for one of his most complex characters touches on a larger theme of joy in the midst of the horrors of war in The Lord of the Rings and the legendarium of the Silmarillion. In this paper I will explore the implications of Boromir’s final moment along with other expressions of a positive emotion in the face of “the long defeat” of Tolkien’s world.
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Included in
Boromir’s Smile and Other Expressions of Wartime Joy in Tolkien
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Boromir’s last words to Aragorn are, “I have failed.” But his final gesture as he dies a few seconds later is a smile. Between the two moments, generating this final expression, are Aragorn’s words reassuring Boromir that he has gained a victory and that Minas Tirith shall stand. What emotions are we to infer from this smile? Tolkien’s choice of this ending for one of his most complex characters touches on a larger theme of joy in the midst of the horrors of war in The Lord of the Rings and the legendarium of the Silmarillion. In this paper I will explore the implications of Boromir’s final moment along with other expressions of a positive emotion in the face of “the long defeat” of Tolkien’s world.
https://dc.swosu.edu/mythcon/mc53/schedule/23
