In light of the understanding that not all readers will be familiar with the histories of the characters involved in my fiction, I have tried to create a prologue that will give enough understanding to make the reading of it easier.
The Sons of the Steward begins approximately thirty years before the events in the Lord of the Rings. In order to understand the psychology of the characters some knowledge of the books (and appendices) is preferable. However, understanding that many of you have come to know the Lord of the Rings through the movies, I've tried to present a bit of the characters' history here. This biography, as it were, includes only characters from the canon.
Denethor II was born to Ecthelion II in the year 2930 of the Third Age. At the age of twenty-one, he saw Sauron re-emerge as a power in Mordor. Shortly after this a mysterious ranger named Thorongil appeared, and volunteered his service in defence of Gondor. Ecthelion accepted readily, and the two became very close, with Ecthelion thinking of Thorongil as another son. This upset the keenly emotional Denethor, who saw Thorongil as a threat and competition. In later years, Thorongil would be revealed as Aragorn, son of Arathorn, which would only fuel Denethor's dislike of him.
Denethor wed Finduilas, half his age, in the year 2975. He loved her intensely, but as he was disinclined to show his emotions outwardly, he rarely acted like it. Three years later she bore him his first son, Boromir, whom Denethor had an immediate affinity for. Boromir would become his clear favourite, a man like his father who could do no wrong, showered with praise and affection.
In 2983 Finduilas bore him a second son, Faramir. This son was as like his mother as Boromir was Denethor, more inclined towards philosophy and study than war and swords. Denethor perceived this as weakness, and grew less and less fond of his son as he grew older.
Soon after the birth of Faramir, Ecthelion died, leaving Denethor as Steward. This pressure may have overwhelmed Denethor, as shortly thereafter he began his destructive habit of looking into the Palantír for guidance. This habit would eventually destroy his marriage and claim his life. He neglected his young family, especially his wife Finduilas, who was beginning to fade cooped up in a city of stone.
Finduilas died in 2987, leaving behind her two sons, nine and four at the time, and Denethor, who became increasingly withdrawn and irritable after her death. He continued to lavish favour on Boromir while barely veiling his contempt for his youngest, Faramir.
During the War of the Ring, completely mad and thinking his sons lost and dead, he committed suicide by leaping atop a burning pyre, clutching his Palantír. He was eighty-nine.
The Lady Finduilas was born in the year 2950 of the Third Age to Adrahil, the twenty-first prince of Dol Amroth, a province in the south of Gondor bordering the sea. She was the middle child of her family, having a sister three years younger, Ivriniel, and a brother, Imrahil, five years older. (This same Imrahil would fight beside Aragorn in the battle in Mordor.)
She left Dol Amroth for Minas Tirith, the city of stone, in the year 2975, at the age of 25. (Some timelines give the year as 2976.) There through an arranged marriage she wed Denethor II, who was then heir to the Stewardship of Gondor and over twice her age. (He took up the Stewardship in 2984.) He was a gruff, proud, immensely practical man, too busy with plans for Gondor to pay his young wife the attention she needed. He soon grew to love her intensely, but being disinclined to show his emotions he never told her.
She bore him two sons: Boromir, in 2978, and Faramir, in 2983. Denethor favoured his eldest much, and harboured a profound dislike and distrust of his youngest son from very early on.
Shortly after the birth of Faramir, Finduilas began to grow ill. She hated the cold, dead, tomb-like atmosphere of the city, and longed for the sea. Adding to her discomfort was the fact that Denethor had become increasingly reliant on his use of the Palantír for guidance, a habit that would eventually prove to be his undoing and caused in him extremely erratic and temperamental behaviour.
Worried, exhausted, homesick, and frail, Finduilas gradually faded, passing away in 2987 at the young age of thirty-seven. Her loss was felt by all her family, and most especially by Denethor, who while not an outwardly emotional man had loved her deeply. He sank into a deep depression, becoming increasingly unreasonable and harsh, especially with his youngest son Faramir, who reminded him of his wife.
Boromir (the second bearing that name) was born in 2978 to Denethor and Finduilas of Gondor. His father took an immediate liking to him, and made him his clear favourite. As Boromir was born possessed of a stubborn nature from birth, this served to make him both haughty and extremely self-reliant. His brother Faramir was born five years later, and the two became close friends. Boromir served as a sort of protector to Faramir, shielding him from what he could of their father's rage, and giving him the family support he would otherwise have lacked altogether. Faramir looked up to his elder brother, and esteemed him as the greatest man and warrior in Gondor. Boromir had no quarrel with this portrayal of himself, but loved his brother deeply and held him in high regard. They served together as Captains of Gondor, although Boromir was much more fond of war-making than his brother.
It was defending his borders from the black powers of Mordor that the first truly evil omens appeared for Boromir; defending the bridge at Osgiliath after Sauron's attack of June 20, 3018, he, his brother, and their men were overwhelmed by an unknown presence of evil. (This turned out later to be a Nazgûl.) The bridge was destroyed, along with the company save only Boromir, Faramir, and two others.
It so happened that on June 19 Faramir had a dream, the famed Dream of the Council, in which the sky grew dark and the Halfling was spoken of. He shared this dream with his brother, who, it turned out, had had the same vision. They took it to their father, and Boromir – the rasher of the two – volunteered to go to Rivendell to seek the meaning of it. This Denethor was loath to allow, and suggested Faramir go in his stead. Boromir won out, and set out for Rivendell on July 4. He arrived at Rivendell on the evening of October 24, just in time for the Council of Elrond.
He joined the Fellowship of the Ring October 25, 3018 and journeyed with them through many perils before succumbing at last to the temptation that the Ring promised of victory for his people. After a failed attempt to rob Frodo of the Ring, he gave his life in defence of Merry and Pippin. He was killed by marauding Orcs at the age of 41, on February 26, 3019. It is not known what became of his body, although it is rumoured that the River Anduin took him out to sea and buried him there beneath the stars.
Faramir (also the second to bear that name) was born in 2983 to Denethor and Finduilas of Gondor. His father took on the Stewardship of Gondor the year after, leaving little time for his youngest son. It soon became apparent Faramir took after his mother, kind of heart and philosophically-minded, more interested in study and lore than battle and the madness of war.
His mother Finduilas died young, in 2988, when Faramir was not quite five. This left the young lad basically alone in the City, save for his brother, who loved him deeply and held him in great esteem, which Faramir returned in kind. His father never saw much of worth in him, possibly seeing in the tender nature of his youngest a painful reminder of the neglected wife he lost young. This wounded Faramir, who ever sought his father's love but was never assured of it.
He was probably vested with a Captaincy fairly young, as by the time he came of age evil had already started to press the borders of Gondor again. 16 is not an unlikely age. In June of 3018 Osgiliath was attacked and sacked by Sauron's forces, and Faramir and his brother were forced to retreat to Minas Tirith. Denethor did not take this news well, and shortly after Boromir departed for Rivendell Faramir was sent as a Ranger to guard the borders of Ithilien – a demeaning task if not completely honourless.
He discovered Frodo and Sam in March of 3018, and aided them on their road to Mordor. This was a significant act for Faramir; he would have garnered his father's favour had he brought the Hobbits to Minas Tirith, and he incontrovertibly brought down Denethor's wrath by breaking his law.
After being rescued by Gandalf from the winged Nazgûl, he delivered the dreaded report of his actions to his father. This so enraged Denethor that he sent Faramir away to Osgiliath – practically a death sentence by then – and Faramir departed in a fit of rare, rash anger. He did not reach Osgiliath, and was forced to retreat by the end of the next day.
This placed him near the Pelennor Fields, where he fought and received a perilous wound by a black arrow from a Nazgûl. His comatose body was brought home in a raging fever, where Denethor, now sunken into utter madness, attempted to burn them both atop his funeral pyre. Through the quick actions of Pippin, Beregond, and Gandalf, Faramir was saved and eventually healed by Aragorn.
It was in his convalescence – during which he also served as reigning Steward of the City, the last of that house – that he met Éowyn, who had also received wounds from a Nazgûl on the Pelennor and been healed by Aragorn. He immediately fell in love with the fair-haired shieldmaiden, and they became fast friends, helping to comfort one another through the dark final days of the War.
It was some while after this that Éowyn realised her feelings for Faramir were deeper than she had at first thought, and they were wed August 10, 3019, when he was 36 and she was 24. Faramir was made Prince of Ithilien by King Elessar (Aragorn) and he and Éowyn made their home in the hills of Emyn Arnen. He died at the age of 120, in year 82 of the Fourth Age. (Éowyn's death is nowhere recorded, but many others of her family lived well into their eighties and nineties, so it is likely she did the same.)