Faramir
Faramir (2983 T.A.-82 F.A.) is in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth a Steward of Gondor and first Prince of Ithilien.
The second of Denethor's two sons in the Third Age of Middle-earth, Faramir was a Steward of Gondor after his father. Upon the arrival of the true king, Aragorn King Elessar, he laid down his office as Ruling Steward, but Elessar renewed his hereditary appointment as Steward and advisor to the King. Faramir was also appointed Prince of Ithilien.
Note on pronunciation: Faramir should be pronounced FAIR-ah-meer.
Role in the War of the Ring
Faramir, a captain of Gondor, had a prophetic dream for whose interpretation he sought the advice of the Elves of Rivendell. His older brother Boromir, who had also had the dream, claimed the right to the errand and rode and walked nearly four months to Rivendell, arriving just in time for the Council of Elrond where he reported the dream and its prophetic verses. Aragorn, then a king in hiding serving as a mere Ranger, turned out to be the subject of the verse, much to Boromir's consternation. Yet the news of this revelation was late in coming to Faramir, due to Boromir's long detour and untimely death.
During a battle with Southrons, Faramir encountered Frodo and Sam, who as trespassers were doomed by the law of Denethor to execution on the spot. However, Faramir decided to risk execution himself by thwarting the law and released the Hobbits, enabling them to speed on their quest to destroy the One Ring.
Upon his return to Gondor for the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in defense of Minas Tirith, he was gravely wounded. In the Houses of Healing, he met Éowyn, Lady of Rohan, who lay languishing and unfulfilled despite having killed the king of the Ringwraiths. He turned her heart away from her hopeless crush on Aragorn, wooed her and married her.
Movie Faramir
In the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy by Peter Jackson, Faramir does not at first let Frodo, Sam, and Gollum go, but decides to bring them and the Ring to Gondor. He takes them west to Osgiliath, crossing the river Anduin, and not until the Ringwraiths attack the city does he release them. Many fans of the book criticized this change, saying that it seriously damaged Faramir's character. Peter Jackson explains that he needed another adventure to delay Frodo and Sam, because the episode at Cirith Ungol was moved to the third movie, and so a new climax was needed. In the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Jackson has included a new flashback scene showing that Denethor has been neglecting him and favoring Boromir, so that Faramir wanted to please his father by bringing him the Ring. On the whole, new Extended Edition scenes with Faramir brought the character closer to the sympathetic treatment of the books.
Faramir is played by David Wenham in the movies.
In the book, Faramir has raven (dark) hair, but in the movie, he has dark blond hair.
