Seek for the sword that was broken

Rauþúlfr

New Member
Perhaps the emphasis on was broken as opposed to is broken focuses upon the past tense of to "to break", "was broken" as opposed to the adjectival phrase of it's current state "is broken"?
 
Very true, which is why the poem has Boromir seek for the sword which was broken, not for the sword which is broken.
 
The sword that was broken will always be that sword whether it has been mended (not "is broken") anymore. Maybe the vision wanted to make sure Faramir would still seek for it even after it was reforged.
 
There is that, and it is a good point(. My original post was something of a response to a question Narnion raised in the discussion. To paraphrase: Why were they told to seek for the sword which was broken why not is broken? Both were true of the sword until they reforge it. Significantly, it will always be the sword that was broken even when Narsil is mended and prepared to be carried into battle whole and deadly.

The dream points to several things and points to their coming together at Imladris and the Council of Elrond. It speaks of some things have been thought lost by those in Gondor, but implies they can be found. These are The <demonstrative pronoun> sword that was broken and Isildur's Bane. We must doubt that Boromir knows much if anything about Halflings, other than perhaps some forgotten nursery rhyme, so he must be confused as to why the poem concludes: And the Halfling forth shall stand.

That puzzlement aside, by focusing on the verb was broken it places emphasis on the moment Kate mentioned above, when the sword and the ring were together. An emphasis which is was lost on Boromir and his brother since they were unsure what Isuldur's Bane actually was. Were it to have said, Seek for the sword that IS broken, that would change the emphasis from the moment when the ring was cut off Sauron's finger, and focus instead upon Narsil as heirloom of the house of Isuldur which seems also to be presumed lost according to the lore of Gondor. The crux is the moment when sword and ring were first united at the fall of Sauron. Their reunion heralds Doom.

What the hell does a Halfling have to do with it? That's a question for the Council.
 
Narsil wasn't the only famous sword to have been broken, but the one most likely to be known of in Gondor. They probably didn't have a functioning memory of Ringil, as an example.

It seems unlikely that news of Isildur's fall, with the delivery of the shards of Narsil (heirloom to the house of Elendil) to Valandil wouldn't have made it to Gondor. If presumed lost, it would surely be in the fall of Fornost. Perhaps it is more thought of as lost to Gondor, as Arnor held them and Arnor is no more.

The focus on the moment of reunion of the shards of Narsil and the Enemy's Ring only makes sense in retrospect. At the time of receiving the dream poem it is opaque.

The prose gloss of the poem with the knowledge available in Gondor seems to be:
Go look for a sword that was broken, it's in Imladris, get some really good advice to help with your current problems, you'll know this is happening when a token is shown that 'doom' is close, as the thing that killed Isildur will 'waken', and the 'halfing' will 'stand forth'.

Even this is still opaque, because 'doom' (whose and in what sense: fate? decision?), 'waken' (in what sense, and what does that mean?), 'halfling' (in what sense: mixed blood? small stature? half-witted?), and 'stand forth' (bear witness? distinguish itself? stand in front of?) are all ambiguous.
 
I love where this is going! Good points, all.

One distinction I would make is that it's unlikely that Ringil would have been given the demonstrative pronoun of broken Narsil's designation. So I suspect that while the English is vague on the point, it would read "Go look for the sword which was broken." Even though it was unclear which sword that might be at the time, it would have been clear that the dream required that they seek for a singular, and therefore significant sword.
 
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