> Why should Denethor/Faramir believe his lineage
>just because he's got the thing in the first
>place?

Well, at least then he has *some* connection to it. Otherwise, the whole thing is probably going to turn out like this:

Denethor: Listen. Strange women hiding in the woods distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical elven ceremony!

Aragorn: Be quiet!

Denethor: Well you can't just expect to wield supreme executive power just because some elven tart threw a sword at you!

Aragorn: Shut up!

Denethor: Why if I went 'round, saying I was an emperor just because some woodland bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!


>I think I'd be more likely, not less, to trust
>the word of a respected eyewitness to Isildur's
>line, although I agree that that isn't really
>enough to reinstate a line of kings after so
>long either.

Well, that's the rub. Do the men of Gondor even KNOW who the elves of Rivendell are? Why should they trust Elrond any more or less than they'd trust some OTHER random person showing up with the sword?

-- Dave