Boromir, who also objected to going through the Mines, rejects this suggestion, sharing the opinion of the people of Gondor that Lothlórien is dangerous and that no one who enters those woods leaves "unscathed."
Aragorn responds:
"Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak the truth. But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlórien."
As we've noted, memory is a sign of wisdom for Tolkien. We see here, in Aragorn's response, how wisdom fades when "lore wanes" among a people.
And it affects choices, decisions, and proper understandings of the world. Is Lothlórien safe or not? No doubt, as we'll soon learn, Lothlórien is dangerous, but it's good. Not unlike Mr. Beaver's description of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
It makes me wonder about how we see God, the church, and Christianity as "lore wanes" in our post-Christian world. This is, no doubt, a conservative lament, a wondering about if the future is as bright as it promises us, a worry about if some important truths, our "lore," should be remembered and preserved. Regular readers know my mind doesn't often go down this trail of worry, but today, with this passage in the story, I ponder the question.
