#I miss boromir. he would’ve had so much fun planning this stuff with Merry and Pip

[fadran]

I would like to point out that Merry and Pippin spanned the gap between Rohan and Gondor long before Aragorn even returned to the White City. Pippin became a close friend to Faramir and lit the beacon of Minas Tirith, while Merry rode with Eowyn to defend the ancient alliance. Theoden, King of Rohan, was slain on the soil of Gondor to uphold the honor of their allegiance; and Eowyn, dearer than daughter, slew the most ancient foe of Rohan to avenge him.

And then she marries Faramir.

Coincidence? I think NOT

#lotr #merry #pippin #faramir #eowyn #just imagining the two hobbits playing matchmaker with their little mini-monarchs #they set up a blind date but SURPRISE - they’re both princes of their respective kingdoms #I miss boromir. he would’ve had so much fun planning this stuff with Merry and Pip

[frodo-with-glasses]

Boromir with Merry and Pippin for 1, 2, 3, 5, 11, and 12, please and thank you! 😁

1. “When I think they became friends”

Well, clearly, Boromir loved the hobbits from the first moment he saw them. Gondor men seem to have a penchant for seeing hobbits and instantly going “8-O !!! babie” (see: Denethor, who is literally The WorstTM, looking at a hobbit and instantly going “yes good this is mine now”), and clearly Boromir was not immune. Merry and Pippin are fairly trusting and easy-going, so the moment they realized “oh, the big blustery Gondor man likes us??”, they would’ve been like “okay :-D” and totally vibed with him from then on.

Basically I think they became friends two seconds after the Fellowship formed because they’re just Like ThatTM.

2. “My favorite scene of them”

In the movies? Easy! Definitely the part where Boromir is teaching the hobbits sword-fighting and they gang up on him and knock him down while Aragorn looks on and laughs.

In the books? That’s much harder. The books don’t actually have as many moments emphasizing this friendship as you would think. There’s that moment he carried the hobbits on Carahdras; the moment he jumped in to defend Merry and Pippin from the orcs; and the moment he got all sad because he failed to protect them. That’s kind of it. They’re all good moments, but honestly, none of them particularly stand out to me.

Honestly, if I had to pick a single scene that concerns this friendship…it miiight have to be that time that Merry mistook Hirgon for Boromir. I wasn’t expecting that one, and I think it made the punch to the gut even stronger. Merry still misses Boromir deeply, even though he only knew him for a few months before he died. That’s sad stuff, bro.

3. “A random headcanon I have of them”

Hey have you ever noticed that in the movies, Aragorn gives the hobbits swords and expects them to defend themselves on Weathertop with literally no training and they totally suck at it, and then later on we see Boromir teaching Merry and Pippin how to actually Do Swords??

I know that’s not exactly how it goes down in the book—the hobbits clearly have some notion of how to use a sword already, or else Frodo would have been very screwed in the Barrows and on Weathertop—but I feel like it’s not out of character for something similar to happen in book canon. Aragorn, being the Practical DadTM, sees that the hobbits have swords and simply trusts that they can use them, but Boromir, being the Fun DadTM, barely steps foot on the road with the Fellowship before he’s like “all right everybody, let’s practice swordplay!!” and two nanoseconds later here he is teaching the hobbits all the advanced moves he learned when he was a boy in Minas Tirith.

It’s not that he’s condescending about the hobbits’ skill (or lack thereof), but he’s so enthusiastic that it’s infectious, and the lessons are too fun to feel like lessons.

5. “A scene I wish we had of them”

See above. Some more bonding between Boromir, Merry, and Pippin before the whole debacle at Rauros would’ve been very nice to see in the books.

But in a more general sense…I just wish Boromir could’ve known that Merry and Pippin escaped from the orcs alive and not too badly hurt. He died thinking that he’d failed them and left them to torture and death. If he just could’ve known they were okay…I think it would’ve made his last moments just that tiny bit less bitter.

11. “Which one of the friends I relate to more”

Oh, definitely Merry. Both Boromir and Pippin are too extroverted to be relatable for me. But Merry is the calm one, the smart one, the plan guy, the one who displays his deep love for his friends through meticulously planned acts of service, and the one who seems more reserved on the outside but whose emotions run deep and poignant underneath. Boromir is huge and larger than life, and Pippin is bright-eyed and curious and excitable, but Merry is calm, deep waters, and that’s the kind of person I can relate to the most.

12. “A word to describe them”

“Adorable”. Wait, no, I need something more specific, uhhhh…

So the thing about Boromir’s friendship with Merry and Pippin is that there’s so much potential that never came to fruition. More than half of the scenes devoted to how they affected each other’s lives happen after Boromir is dead. There are so many things he would’ve loved to see—the hobbits escaping the orcs, the end of the War, Pippin becoming the first Hobbit in the Citadel Guard—that he never got to witness because he died too soon.

Maybe the best word to describe Boromir’s friendship with Merry and Pippin is “Unfinished”.

FRIENDSHIP ASK GAME!

#boromir #meriadoc brandybuck #merry #peregrin took #pippin #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing