Boromir was a proud man, the son of the reigning Steward of Gondor. He had travelled north to Rivendell at his father's request to seek meaning from a recurring dream of his father and brother Faramir.
"Seek for the Sword that was broken, In Imladris it dwells, There shall be counsels taken, Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be shown a token, That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur's Bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand.
Boromir hoped this journey north would lead to a force returning to help his beleaguered country close to the borders of Mordor. At the Council of Elrond he learnt about the true power of the one ring and was strongly tempted to use it to aid Gondor.
"Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely defeat the Enemy."
As the fellowship headed south from Rivendell, Boromir proved to be a valiant warrior in battles and helped the fellowship survive the treacherous path through the mines of Moria. But as they approached the borders of Gondor, the temptation to take the one ring from Frodo grew too much. At Amon Hen he tried to seize the ring from Frodo. Frodo put on the ring, became invisible, and fled breaking up the fellowship. Once Boromir had recovered from his moment of madness, he repented and soon after fought courageously to drive off hordes of orcs and to defend the two younger hobbits. In the process he was mortality wounded by arrows. Aragorn arrived just before Boromir died and thus learnt the two younger hobbits had been captured and carried off by orcs. Boromir's last words were "Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed." Thus Boromir died on the border of his homeland. His body was placed in a canoe and sent over the great falls in the river Anduin.