One of the biggest questions amongLord of the Ringsfans is if there was ever any contention between Faramir and Aragorn over the rights to the Throne of Gondor.Denethor the un-helpable Steward, who lead Gondor into a state of disrepair and ruin during his failing rule was adamant not to give up the throne, whereas when Aragorn comes along to claim it, Faramir’s potential jealousy or resentment is never mentioned. Faramir, after all, has lost everything during the war, including his father, andhis brother Boromir, who died fighting to protect members of the fellowship of the ring.
In giving up the throne, he is giving up the last remaining connection to his house, and to the loved ones he has lost. But it is very clear in the books that he has no grudge or evil in his heart.Faramir could have been as good a ruler as Aragorn, but he recognizes and respects Aragorn’s rightful place on the throne, and only wishes the best for the people of Middle Earth, and he knows that Aragorn is the person to do it.
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The story could very easily be compared toGame Of Thrones,the two opposing houses undermining one another in their quest to take rule of the large city of men. While Aragorn has a birthright to rule, a blood connection to the kings of old, what right really does he have over a kingdom he has long abandoned. He could not overcomethe shame of his ancestor Isildurafter he succumbed to the allure of the ring, putting his own sense of shame over the needs of his people, who he deemed to be better off without his forsaken blood.
He is a good man however and is shown gathering the support of the people, but Faramir too is good (strange customs and all), the sins of his father never clouding his own judgment or sense of morality. He famously rejects the allure of the ring, something few are able to do, especially men. He could, if he wanted to, have gathered support to challenge Aragorn’s right to rule, and might even have been successful.
Tolkien writes that ‘Now being healed, Faramir took upon him his authority and the Stewardship, although it was only for a little while, and his duty was to prepare for one who should replace him.’ By using the word duty, it could easily imply that this is something he is being forced to do, and that he has no choice in giving up the throne, which would cheat him out of the power and the honor of ruling.
But it’s important to bear in mind that when Faramir had the ring right in front of him, he had no interest in taking it. He doesn’t seek power or glory, he seeks only an end to the war and the suffering of his people, which he knows that Aragorn, as the true king, can bring. He recognizes Aragorn as the right person to take the throne, just as Boromir eventually did in the moments before his death, acknowledging “I would have followed you to the end, my brother, my captain, my king.”
Therefore, when it comes time to give the throne to its rightful heir, Faramir bears no ill will or resentment.In fact, at the ceremony in front of everyone who gathers in Gondor for the coronation, it is the steward himself who presents the crown to the king as a mark of honor and loyalty. But Aragorn is also an honorable man, and recognizes thatFaramir’s quality was never in question, and so he invites Faramir to remain a steward and help to forge a new era of hope for Gondor beside him: ‘Faramir met Aragorn in the midst of those there assembled, and he knelt and said “The last Steward of Gondor begs leave to surrender his office” and he held out a white rod; but Aragorn took the rod and gave it back, saying “that office is not ended, and it shall be thine and thy heirs’ as long as my line shall last.”’
The Reunited Kingdoms in the Fourth Age of Middle Earth are ruled in a new alliance of democracy, taking into account all voices, including Framir who remains in a position of council and guidance, and alsoEomer, who never should have never been king, but takes up the throne of Rohan after his cousin Theodred and his Uncle Theoden both die during the War of the Ring.
The concept of a worthy ruler is one that Tolkien understands deeply. A good ruler is shown time and time again not to be just a good man whose conscience is clear, butrather a complex and deeply flawed figurewho fights time and time again to do what’s right, overcoming their own past for the sake of what’s best for everyone.
To say that Faramir was cheated out the throne would be the same as saying he never truly deserved it, as for him to try and take it would have shown him to be everything Aragon fears within himself, giving into greed and temptation. Faramir would have made a great king, but it’s not what he wanted, and it wasn’t what his people needed, taking claim to it would have just made him as bad as his father.
