#anborn

[lucifers-legions]

@gondorweek Day 3

Anborn, Damrod, and Mablung - Rangers of Ithilien

[viktoria-policorn]

Anborn the ranger

He came to be one of my favorite characters recently (half a year ago I mean)

From the first time reading all I remembered regarding him was that "Faramir's guy who confused Gollum with a squirrel, lol " - I remembered the moment itself (impossible to forget, it cracked me up) but I wasn't really interested in that guy himself at the time.

When last summer I bought original books for the reread, I immediately went seeking for that precious moment:

It's so funny. The ranger sees suspicious beast, pretty big one - "Oh, just a squirrel, twilight made it look bigger." No tail - "It's just a tailless one! Hissed at me - it's because the squirrel is large!" Dude... squirrels don't hiss naturally at all😭

Anborn is so goofy. A bit naive even. And another fact I like, is that he didn't shoot without purpose. Man respects nature, I approve.

Love how Faramir teases Anborn😂 And he gave Gollum one more animal association - kingfisher🤭 And Anborn considers Gollum's skills mastery. Man indeed respects nature.

Anborn is priceless, how dare he wasn't a character in the films?! Wanna create fanarts of retired Anborn feeding squirrels in Mirkwood and having a nice unbothered time

[frodo-with-glasses]

March 7, TA 3019.

[arofili]

men of middle-earth ☀ misc. dúnedain ☀ headcanon disclaimer

          The Rangers of Ithilien were a Gondorian special operations force selected from the descendants of the people who had dwelt in Ithilien before it was overrun by orcs. Dressed in camouflaging green and brown, they crossed the Anduin in secret to harass the Enemy’s forces, using several secret retreats as havens. They were organized in the time of Steward Túrin II and were first led by Túrin’s son Turgon and Prince Angelimir of Dol Amroth, and afterward it was traditional that their leader be related either to the Steward or the Prince.           In the time of the War of the Ring, Faramir son of Steward Denethor II led these rangers. Under his command were Anborn, a bowman and a scout; Damrod, guard of grim mood; Mablung, a scout and guard; and Madril, an aging soldier of much wisdom. Many others worked alongside them, but these four were the only ones who had direct contact with Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and the creature Gollum when they passed through Ithilien on their quest to Mount Doom.

[poetry-draws]

some of us are taking this better than others

[frodo-with-glasses]

Squirrel

There are very few times that squirrels are mentioned in LotR (and none at all in RotK, fun fact!), but by far the most remarkable and hilarious one is when Anborn, a Ranger in Faramir’s company, mistakes Gollum for one of them.

This raises many questions. For one, we know that Gollum was once a creature very similar to hobbits, and we know that hobbits average about three feet tall. Now I don’t know how big squirrels are in your part of the world, but where I come from, they are Not That Big. What the heck kind of squirrels do they have in Gondor?? Or in Mirkwood, as Anborn theorizes it’s come from? I know they have giant spiders, but giant spiders have precedent in Middle Earth; there is no mother of all giant squirrels that hoarded acorns in the Two Trees of Valinor or something. How on earth does Anborn see something the size of a small child scrambling into a tree and his first thought is squirrel?? Dude, I know it’s the middle of the night, and flashlights haven’t been invented yet, and Gollum is probably far away, but even I can tell the difference between something the size of a small cat and something as big as a second-grader, and I’m not a freakin’ Ranger.

Faramir gives him a hard time about this later when they see Anborn’s “squirrel” diving and swimming in the Forbidden Pool, and rightfully so! Because Anborn is very very silly, and he deserves to be called out on it!

Speaking of very very silly, here’s an old doodle of Gollum in a squirrel costume.

You’re welcome.

WORD ASK GAME!

[valiantarcher]

'Now I have him at arrow-point,' said Anborn. 'Shall I not shoot, Captain? For coming unbidden to this place death is our law.' 'Wait, Anborn,' said Faramir. 'This is a harder matter than it seems. What have you to say now, Frodo? Why should we spare?' 'The creature is wretched and hungry,' said Frodo, 'and unaware of his danger. And Gandalf, your Mithrandir, he would have bidden you not to slay him for that reason, and for others. He forbade the Elves to do so. I do not know clearly why, and of what I guess I cannot speak openly out here. But this creature is in some way bound up with my errand. Until you found us and took us, he was my guide.' 'Your guide!' said Faramir. 'The matter becomes ever stranger. I would do much for you, Frodo, but this I cannot grant: to let this sly wanderer go free at his own will from here, to join you later if it please him, or to be caught by orcs and tell all he knows under threat of pain. He must be slain or taken. Slain, if he be not taken swiftly. But how can this slippery thing of many guises be caught, save by a feathered shaft?' 'Let me go down quietly to him,' said Frodo. 'You may keep your bows bent, and shoot me at least, if I fail. I shall not run away.'

J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Forbidden Pool”, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

[anghraine]

I feel like self-indulgence so

At a second glance, Captain Mablung and his men didn't look that much like Míriel. They came from her land and her people--that was all.

There was no third glance, for Mablung ordered his men to tie blindfolds around Frodo's and Sam's eyes, briefly switching out of the elven-tongue to say that the camp was hidden, and the price of discovering the way death. Frodo and Sam stumbled along, guided by the uncomfortable grasp of the men behind them. Mablung and his lieutenant murmured quietly together, but Frodo only caught a few words: periannath and tegi and i híril.

Once they got there--wherever there was--Frodo and Sam stood alone amidst the footsteps and cheerful voices of men, their feet aching. Gollum must be out there, somewhere, and it took all of Frodo's strength not to reach for the Ring--or put on the Ring--

"You may be right," Mablung said, the softened Sindarin of the Dúnedain ill-suited to his harsh voice. 

"Shall I send for the lady, then?" said Anborn--Frodo thought it was Anborn.

"No." A strong grip seized Frodo's shoulders again. Beside him, Sam grumbled; despite himself, Frodo smiled. "We will take them to her."