[NancyBrooke]

This discussion started elsewhere and I thought we might continue it over here:

Who's your favorite LOTR/Silm Character and why? You can consider Book and or Movie attributes.

I'll start --

Mine is Boromir (who didn't know?) and always has been (should I say 'Bean'?), since I first read Fellowship in 3rd grade.

As I wrote elsewhere:

[sindohte]

I would have to say that Elrond has to be one of my favorite LOTR characters. Here is an Elf who has witnessed so much tragedy and loss both in his personal life and in the passing of the ages. Elrond strikes me as a tragic figure who already has one foot in Valinor, while being forced to remain in Middle Earth to await the coming of Isildur's heir.

And that has to be a tremendous sacrifice to spend so many years waiting for Aragorn to finally be revealed as the one able to reclaim the throne of Gondor. How disappointing and at times frustrating to watch the various heirs of Isildur prior to Aragorn, either dying before they had the chance to claim the throne, having personality flaws making them unworthy of kingship, or perhaps just not wishing to assume the mantle of responsibility.

Then to finally learn that Aragorn, the man finally worthy of claiming the throne, is going to make him endure yet another loss by marrying his daughter and Arwen decided to choose a mortal life. That is what you call a bitter irony indeed.

[queenoftheshire]

Oh! Don't make me choose!

[Moralanqua]

AEGNOR!

There is very little of him but i LOVE him.

Thranduil comes a close second..

I cant really explain why. I think i just have this impression of how he would think and of how magnificent he is. His story is vaugue but the hints are enough to weave a compelling tale..

[PoweroftheBook]

I tend to gush about him a bit, but Celebrimbor has always been my favorite.

Imagine what the poor Elf had to endure, suddenly ending up as the pariah of Elvish society because of the misdeeds of his male relations. There is something very sympathetic in the way that he becomes the second most revered Elven-smith in his attempts to right his family's wrongs, to the extent that he mistakenly takes the advice of the disguised Sauron as a way in which to expel the forces of evil.

He also reminds me of Lancelot (at least in the earlier tales, where Lancelot was hideously ugly and had to perform great deeds to make up for this, instead of his Adonis-like stature of nowadays.) He knows he cannot win the hand of the married Lady Galadriel, yet endeavors to perform such great works as to gain her favor, so that he may content himself with the fact that she loves him as a friend.

Making a huge mistake in driving Galadriel and Celeborn from Ost-in-Edhel and realizing that he has been duped to perform a great task for Sauron, we catch a glimpse of Celebrimbor's brilliance. He forges the Elven rings, leads the city, and stands at the walls of Ost-in-Edhel to face Sauron's insurmountable armies. This passage reminds me of the attack on the Alamo, where, even when they knew they would die, they refused to abandon their posts. Tortured to death, Celebrimbor refuses to announce the location of the Elven Rings. His body is strung up as a banner for the armies of Sauron.

Without quoting his entire life history as I just did, I would have to say that, besides Legolas, Celebrimbor is our most 'human' elf, complete with faults and overwhelming compulsions. Yet he manages to rise above them to become truly noble.

Regards,

The Power of the Book

[PoweroftheBook]

Oh, and Samwise Gamgee comes in at a close second. Gotta love that line: "His will was set, and only death would break it."

The Power of the Book

[SilverMoonLady]

Well, anyone who has read any of my stuff knows I'm an unapologetic Merry-phile, and no, I can't tell you exactly why
Several things come to mind, like courage and dependability, though others also have these traits; a willingness to serve and to protect despite the cost, though he is not the only one; the thoughtfullness to realize that though he is small and not particularly significant in the large world (as are we all) it is still important to do what he can to aid whomever he may; for a host of other very small things, some only hinted at that make him worth knowing, though, of course, he is not the only one.

Hmmm.... wonder what my analyst would make of this?

[KhazarKhum]

[KhazarKhum]

I forgot to add....

My favorite character? The Witch-king.

Like THAT"S a surprise!

[PoweroftheBook]

One of my history professors remarked upon the earliest Arthurian tales...I cannot remember the source, but I see him tommorow, so I'll ask him.

Oh, and he also mentioned that the name 'Lancelot' is a compilation of old French to mean 'ill form' or 'misshapen form'. I cannot confirm this, but if you know anyone who speaks French, perhaps they could help.

Regards,

The Power of the Book

[SilverMoonLady]

[KhazarKhum]

The earliest Arthurian stories are from Chretien de Troyes, a troubadour for Elanor of Aquitaine. Lancelot is not shown as homely in the early stories; he's usually called fair, which was a common way of saying good-looking.

Does the prof have a source that we can check?[/i]

[KhazarKhum]

PoweroftheBook--

I don't want to sound nasty or mean or anything.

I have run into a few other people who believed that Lancelot was supposed to be ugly.

The problem is, the stories never describe him that way; he's always the "best knight" or the "fairest knight" or whatever.

I kind of wonder if it's like a lot of Urban Legends--someone says something, it's quoted, and suddenly it's "true". Classic examples are things like swallowing gum makes your insides stick together.

Now, on a slightly different topic--Arthurian Romances are really fanfic. [/b]

[PoweroftheBook]

I meet with my professor later today.

Don't worry...I take what most of my professors say with a grain of salt or two. Still, he seems to really know his stuff when it comes to ancient literature and legend.

Won't be able to post till tonight, though!

Regards,

The Power of the Book

[SilverMoonLady]