Parallels between Aragorn/Arwen and Aragorn/Boromir
Interesting thing about LOTR: in the films, Aragorn’s relationship with Boromir mirrors his relationship with Arwen.
Aragorn carries two important objects in memory of someone he loved– Arwen’s Evenstar necklace, and Boromir’s bracers.
Aragorn believes until ROTK that Arwen will go to the Undying lands, and carries the Evenstar in memory of someone he believes he’s lost forever. Similarly, after Boromir’s death, Aragorn takes up his White-Tree bracers– Like the Evenstar, the bracers are a symbol of someone he loved and lost.
Arwen was supposed to leave Middle Earth on an elven ship, and Boromir was sent down the Anduin in an elven ship.
It’s also interesting that the symbols used to represent the people Aragorn loves– a star, and the White Tree– are also the symbols of his kingdom.
And that symbolism (intentional or not) makes a lot of sense? The two crucial things that inspire Aragorn to accept his kingship are his love for Boromir, and his love for Arwen.
Boromir’s death is what motivates Aragorn to accept his responsibility to Gondor for the first time. “I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you I will not let the White City fall, nor our people fail.” Arwen deciding to remain in Middle-Earth and have Narsil reforged is what gives Aragorn the courage to take the Paths of the Dead, finally fully embracing his role as King.
And Aragorn loving both of them makes sense because Arwen and Boromir represent the two worlds that Aragorn comes from, the two worlds he unites, the two worlds he needs to love in order to become a good king. Arwen is Rivendell, the world of magic and myth where he was raised. Boromir is Gondor, the world of mankind.
(Interesting note: in the books, Arwen decides to stay in Middle-Earth before the story begins– so Aragorn’s love for Arwen is his motivation the entire time. But in the films, where Arwen hesitates to stay and Aragorn hesitates to accept his kingship/has lost his faith in humanity, Boromir is far more important to his character arc.)
Aragorn only kisses two characters in the series.
Arwen and Boromir are also the only two characters who get a scene where they stand before the altar of the Sword that Was Broken, wondering if it could still be used. That makes sense because they’re the two characters who inspire Aragorn to wield it.
There are also two plotlines where Gandalf plans to lead Frodo to the safety of an Elven city (Rivendell/Lothlorien), but then Gandalf is captured/killed, and Aragorn is forced to take the lead instead.
In the beginning of FOTR, Aragorn is helped by Arwen, who carries Frodo to safety.
In the end of FOTR, he’s helped by Boromir, who also carries Frodo to safety:
And unlike the other characters, Arwen and Boromir see through Aragorn’s “stoic ranger” facade and point out that he’s avoiding his kingship purely out of fear.
Arwen tries to convince Aragorn to accept his kingship by saying: “Why do you fear the past? You are Isildur’s heir, not Isildur himself.”
Boromir accidentally echoes her when he says: “You are afraid. All your life, you have hidden in the shadows– scared of who you are, of what you are…”
But they also believe in him. Aragorn says that he has the same “weakness” as Isildur, and Arwen assures him that he can overcome it….which is similar to how Boromir later assures Aragorn that “there is weakness, there is frailty, but there is courage also and honor to be found in men.”
Arwen tells Aragorn: “the shadow does not hold sway yet– not over you, and not over me.” Boromir tells Aragorn that if there is any hope left, he cannot see it– then says with so much hope that one day the two of them will return to Minas Tirith together. It’s the same kind of “us against the world.” (And a side note about that Lothlorien scene– in the books, Aragorn fell in love with Arwen in Lothlorien? That detail was originally in the films too, but it was cut. I’m just saying….the subtext of it all.)
But Aragorn is reluctant to accept their belief in him.
When Arwen gives him the Evenstar, he’s hesitant. He distances himself from her soon after, insisting that he isn’t worth dying for. And when Boromir swears that they’ll see the White City together, Aragorn is once again hesitant. He distances himself from Boromir soon after, insisting that he would never take the ring anywhere near Gondor. (I believe that somewhere in the commentaries the screenwriters even compared their argument to a tragic lover’s quarrel.)
Finally….Aragorn blames himself for Arwen’s eventual death, and blames himself for Boromir’s death. His refusal to go to Gondor is what drives Boromir to take the Ring, leaving the Fellowship fractured when the Uruk-Hai arrive. Aragorn urges Arwen to go to the Undying Lands because he doesn’t want anyone he loves to die because of him– and then Boromir dies, and he believes that it’s his fault
Arwen and Boromir are royalty from fading kingdoms. But when all the other elves abandon Middle Earth, Arwen is the one who stays. And when everyone else has lost faith in Gondor, including its king, Boromir is the one who still tries to save it. They’re “captains who go down with the ship.”
There are a lot of other similarities we could rattle off really fast: both Arwen and Boromir are the Perfect Child™ of an overbearing father who ultimately disobeys and “fails” their father….they both love children and hobbits…they both acknowledge Aragorn has flaws/disobey him in a way that Eowyn (who Aragorn didn’t love back) never really did…..they’re both self-sacrificing to a fault, and end up dying for the people they love…
But the core thing Arwen and Boromir have in common is that they’re defined by their faith in humanity, their belief that mankind is worth loving despite its flaws.
Faith in mankind was something Aragorn didn’t really have in the beginning of FOTR. It was only after he saw the way Boromir loved humanity despite its weakness, and the way Arwen loved humanity despite its mortality, that he learned to believe in mankind again.
