Concerning Aragon and the “Sword of Elendil that broke”

[chattingmyth]

Hi Professor,
I wonder if Aragorn calls Narsil “the Sword of Elendil that broke beneath him when he fell” because he is referring back to Elrond’s comments on the diminishing of Gondor (and thus the blood of Numenor). Over the past few week’s, you’ve been reflecting on the message Elrond was attempting to convey to Boromir and how the latter seems to refute some of those claims, or at least not wholly agree. Elrond seems to be claim that Numenor is all but extinct, while Boromir claims its last vestiges remain strong. So who is right? I think that Aragorn, by presenting the Sword of Elendil, and with his following question to Boromir, is trying to back-up Elrond in explaining the endangered-ness of the House of Elendil (which is, if I’m not mistaken, the last true vestige of Numenor). He is not so much asking if Boromir would see the House of Elendil restored, but if he would see Gondor renewed as the legacy of Numenor that he so believes it to be. Or perhaps I’m overthinking this . . .

 

[Kate Neville]

To me, the Sword of Elendil is a symbol of the united realms of Gondor and Arnor as they were meant to be. When the sword broke, the tie between north and south broke as well. Perhaps Isildur intended to reforge it himself when he took up the High Kingship, but Isildur's Bane ended more than Isildur's life. To reforge the Sword is to reforge the entire kingdom of Elendil, and so Aragorn asks whether Boromir wants the House of Elendil to return, rather than him personally.