The “victory” of Boromir in The Lord of the Rings baffles modern folks. Boromir is one of the more complex and tragic characters in Tolkien’s story. In a moment of weakness, he tries to take the ring of power from Frodo. He was convinced it could be used to save his kingdom, Gondor. He is moved by noble motives to do an evil thing. He also seems to have come under the spell of the ring. But after Frodo puts on the ring to escape him, Boromir is filled with shame and regret. Then he hears the orcs grabbing Pippin and Merry and dies valiantly trying to rescue them. The orcs are too many for Boromir. Although he kills many of them, the orcs run off with Pippin and Merry. So what, exactly, was his victory?
Boromir did not feel victorious. His last words were, “I have failed.” Aragorn takes his hand, kisses his brow, and says, “No, you have conquered! Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace. Minas Tirith shall not fail!” Boromir smiles but says no more. Gandalf remarks later that although in “great peril,” in the end Boromir escaped, in part because of the hobbits he sacrificed his life to save.
Later when talking to Frodo, Faramir says of Boromir, “Of this I am sure: he died well, achieving some good thing.” Faramir says that when he saw Boromir pass by in the elven boat, his brother’s face was “more beautiful even than in life.” Faramir regards this as evidence of a noble death.
I admit when I read this as a teenager, I was not convinced that Boromir had won any victory. We are told that before dying he killed over twenty orcs, but this is nothing since Middle Earth teems with orcs. He fails to rescue the hobbits. The exact nature of his victory is elusive.
However, when we look at all the whole story of the ring, we see the greatness of his victory. It is clear, first of all, that Boromir is truly humbled and repentant after he tried to take the ring from Frodo. Repentance and mercy are extended to Wormtongue, Saruman, and even Gollum—but none takes it. Boromir, however, is quick to repent.
We also see his repentance immediately bear fruit when he rushes to defend Merry and Pippin. Merry and Pippin, as far as Boromir could see, had no strategic importance and could do nothing to save Gondor or defeat Sauron. But Boromir chooses to help them rather than continue his search for Frodo and the ring. Although he had been willing to use an evil means to achieve noble end, Boromir now chooses to what is right and good even though there is no practical end.
Boromir leaves behind all cost/benefit analysis or weighing of strategic value. He simply does the good thing before him. The story of Boromir gives hope for all those who have made a mess of things. In the end, in ways that no one could have imagined, Merry and Pippin are of tremendous strategic importance. They end up mobilizing the Ents and Fangorn forest against Saruman. But none of this is part of Boromir’s victory. His is a moral victory. He wins back his heart from the evil that gripped it. He dies well, doing what good he can.
Although growing old and closer to death makes this kind of victory seem more important, Boromir’s victory is relevant to any who have failed miserably. Some of us have failed as parents, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and leaders or disciples. Boromir failed as member of the Fellowship. In the victory of Boromir, we find hope that after failure we can still do what is noble.
All we can do is repent deeply and do the good thing before us—every day. We must do the good things even if they offer no hope of reversing our failure or healing the hurt we have caused. This may seem less exciting than some hyper-spiritual victory that desolates the enemy. We would all rather be Aragorn than Boromir, but if we are honest, most of us probably have more in common with Boromir.
Aragorn is right to tell Boromir that few achieve his kind of victory. St. Paul would say perhaps, we are called to die well daily, so we can know Jesus and enter the fellowship of his suffering. Whether young or old, it is never too late to do some good thing.
