I wonder what would happen if Boromier had taken the ring from frodo?

[Elessar the Elfstone]

I just thought, what would happen if boromir had taken the ring and frodo had been killed by boromir.

1. would the dark lord be over thrown?
2. would the ring fall into the hands of saruman?
3. would boromir drive him mad and he'd give it back to Frodo or Aragorn?
4. or something else?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I'll take a stab at this.

Firstly, I do certainly think that Sauron would have been overthrown by the might of Gondor augmented by his own Ring. But I am not certain exactly what would happen, other than that. Would Boromir have kept the Ring and destroyed Sauron himself, or would he give it to his father, who would use it's power to destroy Sauron? Firstly, I don't think that Denethor would have died, as it wouldn't have seemed as hopeless to him. Whether he would have gone on to be the next Dark Lord, or whether it would have been Boromir, is beyond me.

But this brings up another question. What of Isildur? Would Boromir's fate have been similar to his? For both took the Ring, and I can see similarities between the two.

Thoughts from other 'Mooters?

[Radagast The Brown]

I think that Boromir (or Denethor) wouldn't be able to destroy Sauron with the ring. Sauron is too strong, and he's not actually fight the battle, his orks and men do. Gondor would be destroyed, of course, and Sauron would've control ME. I think that Saruman would've beat Rohan too, because the fellowship would've never got to Fangorn or Isengard.

[azalea]

My quick answer is that I tend to be optimistic, and I don't think Boromir would have gotten far with it. I think Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli would have killed him before he was able to use it effectively. If he HAD gotten to Gondor, I don't know which would have used it, but I think it would have betrayed Boromir as it did Isildur, and IF Denethor wasn't betrayed, then he MIGHT have defeated Sauron and become a dark lord, but would have eventually gone mad and been defeated in the end by some alliance or other.

[Orion]

I don´t think that Boromir would had had enough strength to defeat Sauron. And I somehow don´t think that he would had ever even made it to Gondor.. something would had happened before he had got there; like he would had been killed by orcs who would had taken the ring to Sauron. Nothing good would had followed if he had managed to take it anyways..

[Bombadillo]

I've thought about this before. If Borimir had gotten the ring from Frodo, Sam would have immediately drawn his sword and stabbed him in the inner thigh, striking the femoral artery, which would consequently send Borimir straight to the ground with a really weird face on, at which point Sam would step on his wrist, snatch up the Ring and run like anything, grabbing Frodo on his way. Then of course Borimir would be inable to defend them, and orcs would be close at their heels, so Sam would throw Frodo in a boat the moment they got to the river, and then jump in it to capsise it, and they'd float for a while underneath it with the bottom of the boat as protection from orc arrows. In the end, the plot would not be affected.

Oh wait, if he killed Frodo? Yeah ME'd be doomed. That's plain and simple.

[markedel]

I doubt Boromir could wield the ring-I believe Aragorn could not wield-perhaps only Elrond and Galadriel, of all the children of Iluvatar in ME could wield the ring and defeat Sauron. The Istari could of course.

[Lalaith]

I never really got the clue of the power of the ring. I mean, Frodo only got invisible, but what can the ring do more?

[Jonathan]

I think the Ring can sharpen the bearer's senses. Sam got quite good at hearing when he wore the Ring in Mordor.

[Lalaith]

Thanks, Jonathan, but that can't be all. The Power of the Ring must be more ... impressive.

[Jonathan]

I remember discussing the Ring and its powers in the thread called Bilbo's Ring (http://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=212967#post212967). If you feel like it, check it out.
I doubt Boromir could wield the ring-I believe Aragorn could not wield-perhaps only Elrond and Galadriel, of all the children of Iluvatar in ME could wield the ring and defeat Sauron. The Istari could of course.If Boromir had taken the Ring, I think he could wield it. He talked as if he knew exactly what he was going to do with the Ring if he got his hands on it.
I believe Boromir could have repelled Sauron's forces quite easily, but he wouldn't have been able to overthrow Sauron himself. After all Boromir's but a mortal. Eventually, Sauron would get a grip of Boromir and the poor human would become a Ringwraith, just like the nine other kings of men.

[Elf Girl]

Originally posted by Lalaith
Thanks, Jonathan, but that can't be all. The Power of the Ring must be more ... impressive.
It has most of Sauron's will and strength in it.

As for the topic, if Sauron could be defeated by some Man- Aragorn, for example- then why isn't that what they decided at the Council of Elrond? Men cannot wield the Ring.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Lalaith: I believe the Ring can give the ability to command the wills of others.

Elf Girl: Because, quite simply, the Ring is evil, and everything done with it is corrupted. If Men could not wield the Ring, then why did they not tell Boromir this at the Council, when he wanted to do so?

[Lalaith]

Thanks Gwaimir.

[Insidious Rex]

I think the whole point is that the quest was on a knifes edge. And any variation from that edge (and certainly having the ring drop into easily corruptable human hands... again...) would have knocked it off that edge. The only possibility of success is the ironic success of Frodo and Sam completing this nearly impossible deed. All other scenerios would sooner or later fail and Middle Earth would be worse off.

And anyway I dont really see Boromir weilding it too well. I see an Isildur-like fate coming to him if he tried and that would mean Sauron gets his hands on the ring anyway and they lose or some other corruptable human gets his hands on it with basically the same results. Or maybe even Saruman (through his orcs) gets it and then what? And remember that the ring has its own will and sentience and probably wouldnt want a common human warrior trying to weild it and could easily trick him and make his situation much worse. Now Im sure there must be some reference in Tolkiens Letters or somewhere where he explains just what might happen if a Gondorian or any common man were to try to weild the ring.

[Lalaith]

The 1000th post. Wow. cool.

[Jonathan]

Maybe Boromir wouldn't have wielded the Ring, but given it to his father Denethor.
If Denethor had used the Ring, I think Sauron could have taken it from him quite easily. Denethor didn't seem to have the same strenght as Boromir.

Insidious Rex, congratulations! You've posted your 1000th post!

[congressmn]

Originally posted by Jonathan
Maybe Boromir wouldn't have wielded the Ring, but given it to his father Denethor.
If Denethor had used the Ring, I think Sauron could have taken it from him quite easily. Denethor didn't seem to have the same strenght as Boromir.

[SIZE=1][B]SIZE]

I think you wrong are here. The ring is simply so powerful (especially towards MEN) that Boromir would literally forget who his father is, and look to wield it at the very first opportunity.

[Aragorn_of_the_west]

I also believe that Boromir couldnt wield the ring because he was after all human- a mortal who was very corruptable.
As for his power agianst Sauron- i beleive that he wouldnt have enough power to conquer Sauron and\or gis father becoming the next Dark Lord because there basic isnt storng as Sauron\Gandalf\Elrond ext-they are immortal, meaning that there power while using the ring is greater than mortal who use it.
eventually the ring would betray Boromir or Dethenor and return to Sauron and doom ME.

[durin's bane]

I think he'd go tell the Fellowship that Frodo was slain by Orcs and the Ring was stolen as a diversion, then escape and take a short cut to Gondor, and present the Ring to his father. Denethor already had a feeble mind, so he'd probably become corrupted and try and get in league with Sauron or raid another area or something like that.