The Stewards of Gondor & their heirs

Such interesting thoughts! I've never considered the stewards much, and certainly not given any thought to their age at various milestones. I'm going through the letters of JRRT again and judging by the limited time he had while writing the appendices, I think it's likely he took little else into account when figuring out/ deciding ages than what seemed feasible, with some variation. Which nonetheless provides fodder for fanfic speculation.

I appreciate your thoughts on Boromir, and agreethat it's quite likely his interests and desires lay elsewhere.

You raise an interesting point! I don't have access to the letters, and had no idea how long it took him to put together the appendices, but it does make sense that he might not have given the specific dates he chose a great deal of thought.

Though that won't stop me from overanalysing them!

Boromir is in such an interesting position, and I wish we'd gotten more insight into his feelings on the matter. I also still wonder about Denethor.

I can't really see a world where he would be happy if his line was continued through Faramir when Boromir is still alive, but I also can't remember how long he had been using the palantir for. Maybe the doom and gloom he saw there convinced him that his line wouldn't survive anyway, so there was no point in pressuring Boromir to marry. Especially since Denethor married late himself.

Now I have this fic idea sparking in my head where Boromir has been trying to rebuff Denethor's marriage plans for ages and then suddenly, Denethor stops bugging him, and Boromir thinks it's because he's convinced his dad, but it's actually the palantir visions convincing Denethor that the end is nigh!

Anyway, thank you for the comment! I'm glad you found my ramblings interesting!

I love fandom! I'm now thinking about stuff I never paid much attention to before! 

I think your idea is totally valid that Denethor would have been pressing B. for a grandson initially and then eventually ceased as he become overwhelmed by the sense of futility. 

UT says that "His 'grimness' was first observable to others after his wife Finduilas died in 2988, but it seems fairly plain that he had at once turned to the Stone as soon as he came to power, having long studied the matter of the palantiri and the traditions regarding them and their use", so he would have started using it when his sons were 6 and 1, but its effects would have gradually infiltrated his thoughts. 

Mhm, yes, I can see how you can really work with that gradual descent into madness. I always forget how early Finduilas dies, for some reason I have this idea stuck in my mind that Faramir was like... 5 or so

Argh, so many ideas and so little time to write them all!

Interesting considerations! I always felt some kind of comparison was being hinted at between Boromir and Earnur and perhaps also with the earlier Boromir, who got so badly hurt. But this detailed look at how he looks in the context of his line as a whole is very illuminating.

You make an interesting point! I can absolutely see the comparison with Earnur, though I hadn't thought of him at all beyond being the reason the line of Ruling Stewards came to be. If I get around to expanding on this, I'll definitely be digging deeper there, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Steward Boromir as a point of comparison was something that crossed my mind, especially since I came across the suggestion that Denethor named his son after that steward. Both are listed as great captains who won important battles in Ithilien and brushed closer with evil than many of the Stewards.

Iirc Steward B was also the only one who died from a wound rather than old age. Boromir, of course, isn't the only heir who died before he could inherit, but the parallels are definitely interesting!

....as Tolkien gives readers so little (or only glimpses) of the Stewards who ruled Gondor. Looking forward even more to your Mereth Aderthad presentation on Boromir.

[⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠....and always happy to see that someone else paid attention in Statistics as the concepts and methodology never managed to "stick"....]