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The Eve of May  by Itarille 1 Review(s)
LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/31/2025
Was there ever a family nobler and sadder than Denethor and his sons? That about sums things up, doesn't it?

I love the understanding between the two cousins.

...and military strategy as leisure reading! Strangely appropriate. It reminds me of Scotty's chosen form of relaxation – reading technical manuals! – in the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles".

I almost feel as if Denethor is not deserving of his younger son's compassion and understanding... And yet Gandalf's description comes to mind: ‘He is not as other men of this time, Pippin, and whatever be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood of Westernesse runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other son, Faramir, and yet did not in Boromir whom he loved best. He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try. So perhaps Faramir's understanding is only natural since he is so obviously Denethor's son. And perhaps he is Denethor, in some sense, as Denethor might have been without the influence of the palantír, or if his wife had not died, or if he had lived during a different Age.

Author Reply: Another review! You are generous!
I imagine Boromir and Faramir shared a warm relationship with their cousins--they were motherless, sisterless, with a stern father, and limited friends, I imagine (as a consequence of being the sons of the Lord of Gondor).

Yes, Faramir extended such compassion and understanding more than Denethor "deserved". And I imagined Denethor was aware of this, and it would have unsettled him. He would have preferred Faramir to yell at him instead.

I shared your observation that "Faramir is Denethor, in some sense". Yes, he was what Denethor might have been without the palantir, or if his wife had not died. Similarly, in my interpretation, Denethor is what Faramir might eventually have become, if he were pushed beyond his limit over many decades. If he hadn't met the hope that was Aragorn (Estel); if Sauron had prevailed and the remnant of Gondor were reduced to an exiled people hiding in wilderness; if he hadn't encountered love (Eowyn)...

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