This Saturday (Feb 27 at 6pm ET (New York time)) Hall of Fire will be discussing one of the great (and tragic) heroes of Middle-earth — Boromir the Brave.
‘The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down. Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!’ The Council of Elrond.
Boromir: the tragic hero of Gondor
A proud, strong warrior and a charismatic leader of men, Boromir the Brave is both a heroic and a tragic figure in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. His need for power, action, and great deeds push him too far. Yet, at the same time, we can find much to admire in his personality.
How do you view the strengths and weaknesses of Boromir?
What would have been the outcome if Boromir had come into possession of It, or if he had persuaded the Walkers to go to Minas Tirith? Would Boromir have acknowledged Aragorn as King? How would you have fared under the influence of the Ring?
Finally, what lessons can we draw from Boromir’s trials?
Come share your thoughts with us on Saturday in what’s sure to be another great Hall of Fire discussion!
Some suggested reading:
The Council of Elrond
The Breaking of the Fellowship
The Passing of Boromir
The Window on the West
Upcoming chat topics:
Saturday March 5: Tolkien, nature and the environment
Saturday March 12: Galadriel, lady of the Golden Wood
Saturday March 19: Magic versus art
Saturday March 26: Thingol of Doriath
The Last Words of Boromir, by Ted Nasmith.
Time zone conversions
Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. Alternatively, check our handy Event Announcer over on Time and Date for the correct time in your area.
America:
6.00pm EST (New York)
5.00pm CST (Chicago)
4.00pm MST (Denver)
3.00pm PST (Los Angeles)
Europe:
11.00pm BST (London)
Midnight CST (Paris)
1am EEST (Helsinki)
Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane
9.00am AEDT (Sunday) Sydney, Melbourne
11.00am NZDT (Sunday) Wellington
How long do your topic chats go for?
Our chats usually last about an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation! However, our main room, #theonering.net is open 24 hours a day. We don’t always talk Tolkien there, but if you have a burning question, you’ll usually find one or two of “the regulars” up for a chat!
Where — connection details
Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net — the TORn IRC server. It is based on internet relay chat technology (that means it’s hella old skool). It’s a text-only, moderated chat room full of eccentric Tolkien fans. We’re open 24/7 (although some times are busier and more active than others).
There are many ways to connect to the chat server. However, the easiest is generally to use a browser-based client. We usually direct folks to Mibbit:
* TORn Mibbit Widget
* Mibbit direct (as opposed to the widget above, this allows you to see others joining and leaving)
If you’re more oldschool or technically adept, you can install one of the scores of standalone chat clients that available for desktop and mobile devices. Just plug in our server details (see bottom) into the client and connect.
* Xchat: http://xchat.org/ (Windoze PC and Linux. Free)
* mIRC: http://www.mirc.com/ (Windoze PC. 30-day trial)
* AndChat: http://www.andchat.net/ (Android app for mobile. Free)
* Colloquy: http://colloquy.info/ (Mac OS and Apple mobile devices. Free)
Our server details:
IRC server name: irc.theonering.net
Channel/room name: #theonering.net
Port: 6667 (6697 for SSL connections)
