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martasficTitle: Pride and Despair: A Defense of Ecthelion's Son - Part III
Rating: Teen
Warning(s): discussion of mature concepts
Summary: Denethor is one of the most-criticized characters in Tolkien fandom. Movie-inspired fanons have certainly not done him any favors, but he is disliked and even hated by fans who had read the books long before the movies came out. In this essay I attempt to address some of the most common criticisms against him, and develop a biography of what his life might have been like.
(Read other parts here.)
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If we needed more proof than his love of Finduilas to show us that Denethor was not all gruffness, we should consider the fact that he was something of a lore-master. This fact is established long before we even meet Denethor. Boromir says at the Council of Elrond about the poem in his dream,
The second thing Boromir tells the council about Denethor, after he identifies him as "Lord of Minas Tirith," is that he is "wise in the lore of Gondor." But it seems that Denethor's learnedness is not limited to Gondor. He knows what Imladris is, and he names Elrond as the "greatest of lore-masters." These facts are not great revelations for those of us reading the book—Rivendell has already been established as a place where the hobbits can hear the full version of old stories like the tales of Gil-galad and Beren and Lúthien—but it would probably not be common knowledge in Gondor by the time of the Ring War. Consider how long it has been since Gondorians have gone north, let alone have direct dealings with Rivendell. It's laudable that Denethor knows something about such faraway lands.
Later, in Henneth Annûn, Faramir talks about the treasures collected by his family:
The first thing that jumps out at me about this passage is that it is the "house of Denethor," not the "house of Húrin" or "house of the Stewards," that is said to know much ancient lore. It is possible that Faramir is trying to simplify things for Frodo, but it seems like there are simpler ways to communicate that it's Faramir's family that keeps these treasures—for instance, "The men of my house know much ancient lore."
It seems more likely to me that Faramir is drawing a special connection between these objects of lore and Denethor himself. This is made more likely by Faramir's assertion that he has had teaching in these languages that few men can read. He is a ranger in Ithilien; it is hard to imagine when he would learn those antiquated languages if not in his childhood in Minas Tirith. The fact that Denethor would encourage his son to learn such things that did not have much obvious practical value suggests that Denethor valued learning for learning's sake.
We see more proof of his learnedness when Pippin pledges his sword to Denethor. Tolkien writes,
People will sometimes joke, when someone accuses them of some undesirable trait, that it "takes one to know one." Speaking as a self-avowed geek, I can proudly say that Denethor is behaving very geekily here. He is stopping an official state function to marvel over an ancient relic! It's impressive that he recognizes the sword as an ancient heirloom, but even more telling that he reacts to this spirit. This is just one more example of Denethor plainly enjoying himself where ancient relics are concerned—the man really is a lore-master.
Perhaps, having read the above section on Denethor as lore-master, you are wondering "so what?" In our modern culture academics (arguably the contemporary equivalent of a lore-master) can be stodgy, removed from reality, even condescending. In fantasy literature, however, lore-masters fill an archetype that we usually think of as good characters. Most stories in the genre feature an old man who helps the young hero get its start. Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and Yoda in the Star Wars movies jump to mind, and I'm sure you could supply other examples. These characters are generally wise, both in the sense that they provide good advice and they know the history of the universe (and usually kindly bring us readers up to speed).
In Ring War-era Middle-earth (i.e. the world of The Lord of the Ring, and to a lesser extent, The Hobbit), these mentor roles are filled by Gandalf and Elrond [5]. Both of these characters could rightly be described as lore-masters, but they are not the only ones. Saruman famously has become something of a master in ring-lore, and if we look further back into Middle-earth's history Sauron also functions as a lore-master when he teaches Celebrimbor how to make rings. He even becomes a bit of an anti-mentor with Ar-Pharazôn, serving as king's counselor and starting the king on his quest to Valinor to find eternal life.
So where does Denethor fit into this continuum? When I think of lore-masters, especially of the mentor type, in literature, I generally imagine kindly old men that it is hard not to like, but Tolkien provides us with evil lore-masters as well.
Denethor does not fit the mentor archetype as obviously as Gandalf and Elrond do. He does not help the story's heroes on the way; he never meets Frodo, and as for Aragorn, their only interaction is as rivals (at least from Denethor's POV). However, Denethor does function as a mentor for Boromir in his quest for Rivendell. He is the one who gives him the necessary information about Imladris, who authorizes the quest, and on whose behalf the quest was undertaken. At the very least, it seems clear that he is not amassing knowledge for some evil purpose, like Saruman and Sauron did; Denethor's lore-mastery may just show that he is a scholar by nature, and not much more in terms of larger archetypes.
In fact, Denethor tends to break the mold when it comes to archetypes. He is not evil in the sense that Sauron or Saruman is, or even greedy like the Sackville-Bagginses and Gollum are. Yet he does not seem like a hero either, at least not in the same sense as Frodo or Aragorn. Most of his doings in the plot are to resist and hinder the characters we have been travelling with since Rivendell and before; we have learned to love Aragorn and Gandalf, and when Denethor rails against them it is easy to hate him. When kindly Théoden dies because Gandalf is saving Denethor, it may put us to the test, and when he tries to kill noble Faramir our empathy may be strained to the extreme. Yet he does not act out of evil intent. If he fits any literary "type," it is the classic Greek tragic hero [6]: noble, but with a fatal flaw that causes his destruction.
Tolkien's remarks in the Letters are illuminating on this subject:
For Tolkien, Denethor is the first example that he gives of how his world is not some idealized, black-vs-white adventure story; in fact, he thinks it should be a sufficient proof, though he does give other examples. Denethor seems like the kind of character that we are not necessarily supposed to like, but neither should he be villanized.
This idea that Denethor is "great" and not necessarily loveable is confirmed within the text of The Lord of the Ring itself. Gandalf warns Pippin before their first meeting with Denethor,
It seems plain that we are not supposed to love Denethor—he is great, and powerful, but not necessarily the easiest man to get along with. That does not make him an Orc.
In the previous sections I've explored what I consider to be some of Denethor's best characteristics: that he was capable of love, that he was a natural scholar, and that he had the greatness to sustain Gondor through the hard pre-war years. However, Tolkien does have one major criticism of Denethor's personality: he is too political. He writes,
Obviously it would have been admirable if Denethor did the right things for the right reasons here. However, this problem of being political is more a problem of wrong motives than wrong actions. It's true that Denethor might have acted wrongly (and disastrously so) if the Ring had come to Gondor; yet it didn't, and Denethor can hardly be held accountable for what might have happened. And it is also true that his belief that Gondor must survive led him to be harder on the always-noble Faramir than he might otherwise have been; but Faramir did, by his actions, endanger Gondor's survival.
In the appendices Tolkien writes of Denethor that he used the palantír, and
It is not that hard to see why the palantír would encourage this kind of attitude in Denethor. Consider the following series of events: Denethor looks into the palantír and sees armies amassing in Mordor. Denethor realizes that he cannot hope to defeat these armies by himself. Denethor remembers that his father welcomed foreigners into Gondorian armies. Denethor sees foreign nations not in nearly as much immediate danger, with armies that could be used to fight for Gondor. Denethor wishes he had control of those armies so that he could affectively defend his own people and those other nations, who would be in real danger if Gondor fell.
History would encourage Denethor to take this view. In the War of the Last Alliance both men and elves had come to Gondor to fight against Sauron. Gondor itself had ridden to the defense of the North-kingdoms in 1974 when the Witch-king attacked the Northern Dúnedain. In that case the Gondorians arrived too late, but they had at least tried to aid them—and this after Arvedui had tried to claim the kingship, when the Gondorians might have wanted to lessen ties between the two kingdoms. Even within Denethor's own lifetime, there had been a great alliance of elvish, mannish, and dwarvish armies at the Battle of the Five Armies, to fight against the orcs and wargs. It would not seem so unreasonable to Denethor that other people would fight with him, and he would have rightly been frustrated by this situation.
At least one other person thinks that the Free Peoples of the West should ally themselves to make one final stand together:
Glóin is talking in the context of rings; he offers that Balin went to Moria in part in hopes of finding one of the dwarven-rings, and asks what the elvish-rings are doing at this time. And the debate at that point turns to the Rings; no one seems to seriously think that the different nations should ally and fight together. In fact, Elrond answered that question of whether there could be another alliance like the Last Alliance. He says,
So with the possibility of an alliance being eliminated, the question becomes, who of all the free peoples can help anyone else stay free; or is there no such hope, and everyone needs to looks to their own defense? Boromir replies to Elrond's statement above by saying,
Aragorn challenges him on this point, saying:
Aragorn is of course right that Boromir doesn't understand the part played by other forces such as the Rangers and sovereign people beyond Gondor. Denethor may in fact know more; his use of the palantír and his reputation for being far-sighted suggests he would know a good bit about foreign intelligence. Yet look at how Aragorn phrases this rebuke: he says that the Dúnedain Rangers have played "another part." He isn't trying to say that Gondor's struggle isn't unique or vital, but instead that they aren't the only ones who have a part to play.
And even allowing that, the Dúnedain Rangers are a long way off from Gondor. What are the other men of southeastern Middle-earth to do if Gondor falls? This point is made clear in an exchange between Gandalf and Denethor about the Ring:
(After this, the debate turns to the Ring and whether Gandalf was right to not send the Ring to Gondor.)
Both Gandalf and Denethor have good points in this passage. Gandalf is correct that, when it comes to the Ring, thought must be taken for all times and places and not just for the current time. But Denethor is also right: if Gondor falls, the people of the kingdoms surrounding Gondor will not be able to resist the power of Mordor. When Faramir reveals that he let Frodo take the Ring into Mordor and says he might have acted differently if he had Denethor's counsel at the time, Denethor replies,
This pronouncement is allowed to stand. It is made at full council, attended not just by Gondorian lords but by Dol Amroth (leader of one of the largest and most powerful principalities not part of Gondor proper [7]) and by Gandalf. If there was a good answer to be made I would expect Gandalf or one of the others to make it; even if Gandalf chose not to make the point in the council himself, it seems odd that he would not address the point later, either to Pippin or to Faramir when they spoke before Faramir rode out to Osgiliath. I think it most likely that Denethor was right, and that the people around Gondor (including perhaps Rohan, and even other mannish kingdoms along the Anduin like Laketown) would fall if Gondor fell.
But, as I said, Gandalf is right as well: where things like the Ring are concerned those making the decision must consider all places and all times. All this means is that Denethor is not the right person to decide issues concerning the Ring, and Gandalf was right not to trust him. He is still a good leader for Gondor in the pre-Ring War years; that people needed a bulldog of a ruler in that time period, and Denethor was just such a leader.
It feels a bit odd to lump Denethor's race in with his character, but in Tolkien's world, it seems that individuals really are characterized through their races. Faramir and Aragorn are raven-haired, grey-eyed, tall, and long-lived—and therefore Númenorean, which is to say, honourable. This isn't to say they weren't also individuals, but they are definitely characterized through their race.
Gandalf mentions Denethor's Númenorean heritage in their talk before meeting Denethor for the first time:
This passage makes the curious point that, in Tolkien's world, to say a person is of a certain race is to comment on more than just their bloodlines. Boromir and Faramir share both of the same parents, and so they should be the same race; yet that's not the case. Tolkien makes this point even more explicitly in the Letters, where he writes:
When Tolkien speaks of Denethor being "almost purely Númenorean," that can't be a matter of having nearly 100% Númenorean bloodlines. But that seems rather unlikely, given how rare pure Númenorean blood is in Gondor. Even if the House of Húrin was more conscious of race, they would need to marry women of less pure blood as the years progressed—or the House of Húrin would have died out. It seems much more likely that Tolkien is referring to Denethor being almost purely Númenorean in the sense that he possesses those indicative characteristics Tolkien attributes to Númenoreans.
Two last quotes, and then I'll let this one go.
In both of these quotes, Tolkien makes the point that Denethor is similar to Aragorn. And if there was ever a character who should represent the Númenorean ideal, it would be Elendil's heir. So it seems that Denethor has many of the positive characteristics Tolkien associates with the Númenoreans. Yes, he said and did some loathsome things, and yes, Tolkien wrote unflattering things in the "secondary" sources of Middle-earth (the descriptions of Denethor's character, like the Appendices or the Letters, rather than the depiction of his actions). But despite it all, he is a Númenorean—and in Middle-earth, that counts for quite a bit.
Having established Denethor's character, let's now turn to how he acted in the Ring War. As I said, he did some loathsome things; verbal abuse and murder/suicide lead the list of accusations. His actions need to be examined carefully, so that we can see how much of his actions in these last days represented the man he really was, and how much can be attributed to other factors.
Rating: Teen
Warning(s): discussion of mature concepts
Summary: Denethor is one of the most-criticized characters in Tolkien fandom. Movie-inspired fanons have certainly not done him any favors, but he is disliked and even hated by fans who had read the books long before the movies came out. In this essay I attempt to address some of the most common criticisms against him, and develop a biography of what his life might have been like.
(Read other parts here.)
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III. DENETHOR'S CHARACTER STRENGTHS AND FLAWS
Denethor as Lover of Lore
If we needed more proof than his love of Finduilas to show us that Denethor was not all gruffness, we should consider the fact that he was something of a lore-master. This fact is established long before we even meet Denethor. Boromir says at the Council of Elrond about the poem in his dream,
"Of these words we [Boromir and Faramir] could understand little, and we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters." ("The Council of Elrond," The Lord of the Ring)
The second thing Boromir tells the council about Denethor, after he identifies him as "Lord of Minas Tirith," is that he is "wise in the lore of Gondor." But it seems that Denethor's learnedness is not limited to Gondor. He knows what Imladris is, and he names Elrond as the "greatest of lore-masters." These facts are not great revelations for those of us reading the book—Rivendell has already been established as a place where the hobbits can hear the full version of old stories like the tales of Gil-galad and Beren and Lúthien—but it would probably not be common knowledge in Gondor by the time of the Ring War. Consider how long it has been since Gondorians have gone north, let alone have direct dealings with Rivendell. It's laudable that Denethor knows something about such faraway lands.
Later, in Henneth Annûn, Faramir talks about the treasures collected by his family:
"We in the house of Denethor know much ancient lore by long tradition, and there are moreover in our treasuries many things preserved: books and tablets writ on withered parchments, yea, and on stone, and on leaves of silver and gold, in divers characters. Some none can now read; and for the rest, few ever unlock them. I can read a little in them, for I have had teaching." ("The Window on the West," The Lord of the Ring)
The first thing that jumps out at me about this passage is that it is the "house of Denethor," not the "house of Húrin" or "house of the Stewards," that is said to know much ancient lore. It is possible that Faramir is trying to simplify things for Frodo, but it seems like there are simpler ways to communicate that it's Faramir's family that keeps these treasures—for instance, "The men of my house know much ancient lore."
It seems more likely to me that Faramir is drawing a special connection between these objects of lore and Denethor himself. This is made more likely by Faramir's assertion that he has had teaching in these languages that few men can read. He is a ranger in Ithilien; it is hard to imagine when he would learn those antiquated languages if not in his childhood in Minas Tirith. The fact that Denethor would encourage his son to learn such things that did not have much obvious practical value suggests that Denethor valued learning for learning's sake.
We see more proof of his learnedness when Pippin pledges his sword to Denethor. Tolkien writes,
"Pippin lifted [his sword] and presented the hilt to [Denethor]. 'Whence came this?' said Denethor. 'Many, many years lie on it. Surely this is a blade wrought by our own kindred in the North in the deep past?'" ("Minas Tirith," The Lord of the Ring)
People will sometimes joke, when someone accuses them of some undesirable trait, that it "takes one to know one." Speaking as a self-avowed geek, I can proudly say that Denethor is behaving very geekily here. He is stopping an official state function to marvel over an ancient relic! It's impressive that he recognizes the sword as an ancient heirloom, but even more telling that he reacts to this spirit. This is just one more example of Denethor plainly enjoying himself where ancient relics are concerned—the man really is a lore-master.
Denethor's Greatness
Perhaps, having read the above section on Denethor as lore-master, you are wondering "so what?" In our modern culture academics (arguably the contemporary equivalent of a lore-master) can be stodgy, removed from reality, even condescending. In fantasy literature, however, lore-masters fill an archetype that we usually think of as good characters. Most stories in the genre feature an old man who helps the young hero get its start. Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and Yoda in the Star Wars movies jump to mind, and I'm sure you could supply other examples. These characters are generally wise, both in the sense that they provide good advice and they know the history of the universe (and usually kindly bring us readers up to speed).
In Ring War-era Middle-earth (i.e. the world of The Lord of the Ring, and to a lesser extent, The Hobbit), these mentor roles are filled by Gandalf and Elrond [5]. Both of these characters could rightly be described as lore-masters, but they are not the only ones. Saruman famously has become something of a master in ring-lore, and if we look further back into Middle-earth's history Sauron also functions as a lore-master when he teaches Celebrimbor how to make rings. He even becomes a bit of an anti-mentor with Ar-Pharazôn, serving as king's counselor and starting the king on his quest to Valinor to find eternal life.
So where does Denethor fit into this continuum? When I think of lore-masters, especially of the mentor type, in literature, I generally imagine kindly old men that it is hard not to like, but Tolkien provides us with evil lore-masters as well.
Denethor does not fit the mentor archetype as obviously as Gandalf and Elrond do. He does not help the story's heroes on the way; he never meets Frodo, and as for Aragorn, their only interaction is as rivals (at least from Denethor's POV). However, Denethor does function as a mentor for Boromir in his quest for Rivendell. He is the one who gives him the necessary information about Imladris, who authorizes the quest, and on whose behalf the quest was undertaken. At the very least, it seems clear that he is not amassing knowledge for some evil purpose, like Saruman and Sauron did; Denethor's lore-mastery may just show that he is a scholar by nature, and not much more in terms of larger archetypes.
In fact, Denethor tends to break the mold when it comes to archetypes. He is not evil in the sense that Sauron or Saruman is, or even greedy like the Sackville-Bagginses and Gollum are. Yet he does not seem like a hero either, at least not in the same sense as Frodo or Aragorn. Most of his doings in the plot are to resist and hinder the characters we have been travelling with since Rivendell and before; we have learned to love Aragorn and Gandalf, and when Denethor rails against them it is easy to hate him. When kindly Théoden dies because Gandalf is saving Denethor, it may put us to the test, and when he tries to kill noble Faramir our empathy may be strained to the extreme. Yet he does not act out of evil intent. If he fits any literary "type," it is the classic Greek tragic hero [6]: noble, but with a fatal flaw that causes his destruction.
Tolkien's remarks in the Letters are illuminating on this subject:
"Some critics seem determined to represent me as a simple-minded adolescent, inspired with, say, a With-the-flag-to-Pretoria spirit, and willfully distort what is said in my tale. I have not that spirit, and it does not appear in the story. The figure of Denethor alone is enough to show this; but I have not made any of the peoples on the 'right' side, Hobbits, Rohirrim, Men of Dale or of Gondor, any better than men have been or are, or can be. Mine is not an 'imaginary' world, but an imaginary historical moment on 'Middle-earth'—which is our habitation." (Letter #183)
For Tolkien, Denethor is the first example that he gives of how his world is not some idealized, black-vs-white adventure story; in fact, he thinks it should be a sufficient proof, though he does give other examples. Denethor seems like the kind of character that we are not necessarily supposed to like, but neither should he be villanized.
This idea that Denethor is "great" and not necessarily loveable is confirmed within the text of The Lord of the Ring itself. Gandalf warns Pippin before their first meeting with Denethor,
"Be careful of your words, Master Peregrin! This is no time for hobbit pertness. Théoden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another sort, proud and subtle, a man of far greater lineage and power, though he is not called a king." ("Minas Tirith," The Lord of the Ring)
It seems plain that we are not supposed to love Denethor—he is great, and powerful, but not necessarily the easiest man to get along with. That does not make him an Orc.
The Problem of Politics
In the previous sections I've explored what I consider to be some of Denethor's best characteristics: that he was capable of love, that he was a natural scholar, and that he had the greatness to sustain Gondor through the hard pre-war years. However, Tolkien does have one major criticism of Denethor's personality: he is too political. He writes,
"Denethor was tainted with mere politics: hence his failure, and his mistrust of Faramir. It had become for him a prime motive to preserve the polity of Gondor, as it was, against another potentate, who had made himself stronger and was to be feared and opposed for that reason rather than because he was ruthless and wicked." (Letter #183)
Obviously it would have been admirable if Denethor did the right things for the right reasons here. However, this problem of being political is more a problem of wrong motives than wrong actions. It's true that Denethor might have acted wrongly (and disastrously so) if the Ring had come to Gondor; yet it didn't, and Denethor can hardly be held accountable for what might have happened. And it is also true that his belief that Gondor must survive led him to be harder on the always-noble Faramir than he might otherwise have been; but Faramir did, by his actions, endanger Gondor's survival.
In the appendices Tolkien writes of Denethor that he used the palantír, and
"Thus pride increased in Denethor together with despair, until he saw in all the deeds of that time only a single combat between the lord of the White Tower and the Lord of the Barad-dûr; and mistrusted all others who resisted Sauron, unless they served himself alone." (Appendix A, The Lord of the Ring)
It is not that hard to see why the palantír would encourage this kind of attitude in Denethor. Consider the following series of events: Denethor looks into the palantír and sees armies amassing in Mordor. Denethor realizes that he cannot hope to defeat these armies by himself. Denethor remembers that his father welcomed foreigners into Gondorian armies. Denethor sees foreign nations not in nearly as much immediate danger, with armies that could be used to fight for Gondor. Denethor wishes he had control of those armies so that he could affectively defend his own people and those other nations, who would be in real danger if Gondor fell.
History would encourage Denethor to take this view. In the War of the Last Alliance both men and elves had come to Gondor to fight against Sauron. Gondor itself had ridden to the defense of the North-kingdoms in 1974 when the Witch-king attacked the Northern Dúnedain. In that case the Gondorians arrived too late, but they had at least tried to aid them—and this after Arvedui had tried to claim the kingship, when the Gondorians might have wanted to lessen ties between the two kingdoms. Even within Denethor's own lifetime, there had been a great alliance of elvish, mannish, and dwarvish armies at the Battle of the Five Armies, to fight against the orcs and wargs. It would not seem so unreasonable to Denethor that other people would fight with him, and he would have rightly been frustrated by this situation.
At least one other person thinks that the Free Peoples of the West should ally themselves to make one final stand together:
"'Still it might be well for all,' said Glóin the Dwarf, 'if all these strengths were joined, and the powers of each were used in league.' ("The Council of Elrond," The Lord of the Ring)
Glóin is talking in the context of rings; he offers that Balin went to Moria in part in hopes of finding one of the dwarven-rings, and asks what the elvish-rings are doing at this time. And the debate at that point turns to the Rings; no one seems to seriously think that the different nations should ally and fight together. In fact, Elrond answered that question of whether there could be another alliance like the Last Alliance. He says,
"Many Elves and many mighty Men, and many of their friends, had perished in the war [of the Last Alliance]. Anárion was slain, and Isildur was slain; and Gil-galad and Elendil were no more. Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that day the race of Númenor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened."
So with the possibility of an alliance being eliminated, the question becomes, who of all the free peoples can help anyone else stay free; or is there no such hope, and everyone needs to looks to their own defense? Boromir replies to Elrond's statement above by saying,
"Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of Númenor is spent, nor all its pride and dignity forgotten. By our valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay; and thus alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands behind us, bulwark of the West."
Aragorn challenges him on this point, saying:
"If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them.
Aragorn is of course right that Boromir doesn't understand the part played by other forces such as the Rangers and sovereign people beyond Gondor. Denethor may in fact know more; his use of the palantír and his reputation for being far-sighted suggests he would know a good bit about foreign intelligence. Yet look at how Aragorn phrases this rebuke: he says that the Dúnedain Rangers have played "another part." He isn't trying to say that Gondor's struggle isn't unique or vital, but instead that they aren't the only ones who have a part to play.
And even allowing that, the Dúnedain Rangers are a long way off from Gondor. What are the other men of southeastern Middle-earth to do if Gondor falls? This point is made clear in an exchange between Gandalf and Denethor about the Ring:
"[Gandalf said,] 'And the Lord Denethor what would he have done?'
"[Denethor replied,] 'Neither. But most surely not for any argument would he have set this thing at a hazard beyond all but a fool's hope, risking our utter ruin, if the Enemy should recover what he lost. Nay, it should have been kept, hidden, hidden dark and deep. Not used, I say, unless at the uttermost end of need, but set beyond his grasp, save by a victory so final that what then befell would not trouble us, being dead.'
'You think, as is your wont, my lord, of Gondor only,' said Gandalf. 'Yet there are other men and other lives, and time still to be. And for me, I pity even his slaves.'
'And where will other men look for help, if Gondor fails?' answered Denethor. ("The Siege of Gondor," The Lord of the Ring)
(After this, the debate turns to the Ring and whether Gandalf was right to not send the Ring to Gondor.)
Both Gandalf and Denethor have good points in this passage. Gandalf is correct that, when it comes to the Ring, thought must be taken for all times and places and not just for the current time. But Denethor is also right: if Gondor falls, the people of the kingdoms surrounding Gondor will not be able to resist the power of Mordor. When Faramir reveals that he let Frodo take the Ring into Mordor and says he might have acted differently if he had Denethor's counsel at the time, Denethor replies,
"If I had! If you had! [...] Such words and ifs are vain. It has gone into the Shadow, and only time will show what doom awaits it and us. The time will not be long. In what is left, let all who fight the Enemy in their fashion be at one, and keep hope while they may, and after hope still the hardihood to die free." ("The Siege of Gondor, The Lord of the Ring)
This pronouncement is allowed to stand. It is made at full council, attended not just by Gondorian lords but by Dol Amroth (leader of one of the largest and most powerful principalities not part of Gondor proper [7]) and by Gandalf. If there was a good answer to be made I would expect Gandalf or one of the others to make it; even if Gandalf chose not to make the point in the council himself, it seems odd that he would not address the point later, either to Pippin or to Faramir when they spoke before Faramir rode out to Osgiliath. I think it most likely that Denethor was right, and that the people around Gondor (including perhaps Rohan, and even other mannish kingdoms along the Anduin like Laketown) would fall if Gondor fell.
But, as I said, Gandalf is right as well: where things like the Ring are concerned those making the decision must consider all places and all times. All this means is that Denethor is not the right person to decide issues concerning the Ring, and Gandalf was right not to trust him. He is still a good leader for Gondor in the pre-Ring War years; that people needed a bulldog of a ruler in that time period, and Denethor was just such a leader.
Denethor as a Númenorean
It feels a bit odd to lump Denethor's race in with his character, but in Tolkien's world, it seems that individuals really are characterized through their races. Faramir and Aragorn are raven-haired, grey-eyed, tall, and long-lived—and therefore Númenorean, which is to say, honourable. This isn't to say they weren't also individuals, but they are definitely characterized through their race.
Gandalf mentions Denethor's Númenorean heritage in their talk before meeting Denethor for the first time:
"He is not as other men of this time, Pippin, and whatever be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood of Westernesse [that is, Númenor] runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other son, Faramir, and yet did not in Boromir whom he loved best." ("Minas Tirith," The Lord of the Ring)
This passage makes the curious point that, in Tolkien's world, to say a person is of a certain race is to comment on more than just their bloodlines. Boromir and Faramir share both of the same parents, and so they should be the same race; yet that's not the case. Tolkien makes this point even more explicitly in the Letters, where he writes:
"[The Dúnedain] recognized the fact that in spite of intermarriages, some characteristics would appear in pure form in later generations. Aragorn's own longevity was a case in point. Gandalf I think refers to the curious fact that even in the much less well preserved house of the stewards Denethor had come out as almost purely Númenorean." (Letter #230)
When Tolkien speaks of Denethor being "almost purely Númenorean," that can't be a matter of having nearly 100% Númenorean bloodlines. But that seems rather unlikely, given how rare pure Númenorean blood is in Gondor. Even if the House of Húrin was more conscious of race, they would need to marry women of less pure blood as the years progressed—or the House of Húrin would have died out. It seems much more likely that Tolkien is referring to Denethor being almost purely Númenorean in the sense that he possesses those indicative characteristics Tolkien attributes to Númenoreans.
Two last quotes, and then I'll let this one go.
"Pippin saw [Denethor's] carven face with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and the long curved nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded not so much of Boromir as of Aragorn." ("Minas Tirith," The Lord of the Ring)
"Indeed [Denethor] was as like to Thorongil [aka Aragorn] as to one of nearest kin, and yet was ever placed second to the stranger in the hearts of men and the esteem of his father." (Appendix A, The Lord of the Ring)
In both of these quotes, Tolkien makes the point that Denethor is similar to Aragorn. And if there was ever a character who should represent the Númenorean ideal, it would be Elendil's heir. So it seems that Denethor has many of the positive characteristics Tolkien associates with the Númenoreans. Yes, he said and did some loathsome things, and yes, Tolkien wrote unflattering things in the "secondary" sources of Middle-earth (the descriptions of Denethor's character, like the Appendices or the Letters, rather than the depiction of his actions). But despite it all, he is a Númenorean—and in Middle-earth, that counts for quite a bit.
Having established Denethor's character, let's now turn to how he acted in the Ring War. As I said, he did some loathsome things; verbal abuse and murder/suicide lead the list of accusations. His actions need to be examined carefully, so that we can see how much of his actions in these last days represented the man he really was, and how much can be attributed to other factors.