Boromir's search for Imladris

[The Mouth of Sauron]

After Faramir and Boromir had their "seek for the sword that was broken" dream, they asked Denethor where Imladris might be found. And despite living in a world where even Barliman Butterbur knew where Mordor was, Denethor was unable to give an exact location for the House of Elrond.

But surely there was an easy way to find out, because at the time of these dreams Saruman, living in Isengard, was still perceived as an ally of Gondor and Rohan - and Saruman was head of the White Council, of which Elrond was a member.

So why didn't Boromir just knock on the doors of Isengard and ask Saruman where Imladris was ?

[Rumil]

Interesting question Mouth!

In Unfinished Tales, Christopher Tolkien speculated that Denethor might have been in touch with Saruman via the Palantir, if so this is even more peculiar.

However, Denethor was a pretty sharp customer, at least until convinced of the doom of Minas Tirith by Sauron. Maybe he detected some hint of Saruman's untrustworthiness, not proof enough to alert Theoden, but enough to make him uneasy about sending his son and heir to knock on the Wizard's door?

You'd think that Denethor could have used the palantir and discovered the orcs and halforcs at Isengard - proof enough to show Saruman's treachery. Also to find Rivendell and at least do a sketch map for Boromir.

The range of Denethor's palantir was around 500 miles, if I remember, so Rivendell is too far, but Orthanc is in range. However, in UT a mysterious process called 'cloaking' is mentioned in relation to the palantirs, whereby a place could be hidden from palantir viewing. No doubt Saruman had done this, perhaps this was enough to raise Denethor's suspicions?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by The Mouth of Sauron

So why didn't Boromir just knock on the doors of Isengard and ask Saruman where Imladris was ?

It probably didn't occur to Denethor that Saruman might know.

Though the reader is told that Saruman was the head of the White Council, on which also sat Elrond, there's no indication Denethor was aware of that, or that there was any such thing as the 'White Council'. How would Denethor have guessed the two knew one another?

If Saruman had been a close friend or counsellor of Denethor, I could imagine Denethor asking anyway. Under the circumstances, however, with Denethor being as proud as he was, he probaby just sent his son in the general direction of Imladris, believing he'd find it somehow on his own.

[Mithalwen]

It should be remembered that Imladris is hard to find even if you know where it is - Gandalf struggles a bit in the Hobbit and I imagine that Boromir in the last stages of his journey was probably spotted and brought in by scouts - we know that theu were expecting Frodo and probably kept some kind of watch over the moors generally. I doubt many strangers reached Imladris unescorted by elf or Dunadan. Legolas would have come via the mountain pass and the path from that must have been guarded or concealed.

[PrinceOfTheHalflings]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

It should be remembered that Imladris is hard to find even if you know where it is

Right!

Imladris is hidden - it is not meant to be found - quite unlike Mordor, which is a huge land with an enormous fiery mountain, ominous dark tower and vast armies of evil.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

One has to wonder if the name 'Imladris' was even known to Denethor. He doesn't appear to have any interest in anything that does not directly concern Gondor. If he somehow perceived Elrond and his realm to be of potential benefit to him, he would certainly have known the name (if not where it was located), but he had a demonstrated tendency to dismiss any knowledge that he could not see being of use to him (witness his reaction to Gandalf's research in the archives of Minas Tirith). If he knew the word, he would have known that the realm was hidden, and thus of little use to him -- until his sons had a dream involving it, one that seemed forbidding and prophetic, for Gondor. Suddenly the place has meaning for him, but there is no one to ask about its location, and no time to waste in potentially futile research.