“‘For myself,’ said Faramir, ‘I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of…”
“‘For myself,’ said Faramir, ‘I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Nümenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom. Not feared, save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise.’”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1N6L62L.
Tags: wait, because this speech did not appear, and could not appear, in the movie, because of the changes to faramir's character, that were deemed necessary to serve the interests of the film, in having a character who changed, and trying to dramatize what the movie otherwise struggled to dramatize, i.e. the power of the ring, and the badassery of aragorn, because if faramir could reject the ring without a visible struggle, audiences would think, you're making the wrong guy king, so book!faramir was sacrificed on that altar, and we got a fundamentally different, and lesser, character, which is what it is, and I still love the movie, for the things it did well, book!faramir still exists, as much as he ever did, but movie fans who haven't read the books, don't understand:, in the books he was a different person, a better person, the best person.
