denethor II, son of ecthelion II
2935
III - 3019 III
Man of Gondor, Steward of Minas Tirith
Father Ecthelion II / Mother unknown
Other Names: None
Notable Quotes:
"Didst thou think that the eyes of the White Tower were blind? Nay, I have seen more than thou knowest, Grey Fool."
"Dark indeed is the hour...and at such times you are wont to come, Mithrandir."
"...the rule of Gondor, my lord, is mine and no other man’s, unless the king should come again."
"Do you wish then," said Faramir, "that our places had been exchanged?" "Yes, I wish that indeed," said Denethor. "For Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard’s pupil. He would have remembered his father’s need, and would not have squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty gift."
"Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I mixed for myself!"
Biography:
Last Ruling Steward of Gondor, Denethor held a long dislike for Gandalf, and it may have hindered him. Upon Denethor's hearing of his son Boromir's death, he fell into a deep depression, and his last days were blackened. Even though the swearing in of Peregrin as a Swordthain of Gondor cheered him some, it was not enough to save him.
Denethor ordered his own execution in the hallowed tomb of Rath Dinen, after hearing of his son Faramir's illness after his encounter with a Southron dart. Denethor had intended to burn both himself and his son in the pyre, but Faramir was saved by Gandalf, Pippin, and Beregond of the Guard. It is supposed that the vision that Denethor saw in the Palantír (one of the lost Seeing Stones of Numenor) contributed to his eventual suicide.
He himself was not rescued; only his son, Faramir, who Gandalf and the others bore away to the houses of healing. But Denethor locked himself in Rath Dinen, set fire to the embers on which he lay, and he clasped his Palantír in his hands. It was often said that if anyone attempted to use that Palantír, unless he had a great force of will and could bend its vision elsewhere, only saw two aged withering hands wreathed in flame.
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