10 Crazy Lord Of The Rings Theories And Why They Might Be True

There is a plethora of villains, evil creatures, and power-mad sorcerers throughout Middle-earth, however Denethor has still managed to become more hated than any of them. The Steward of Gondor was without question the worst father in the world as he doted on his eldest son, but actively disdained his youngest.

When Boromir died he wished that it was Faramir, he sent his younger son on a suicide mission against the Orcs that had taken Osgiliath, and he tried to burn him alive. This all seems too horrible for a man to do in his right mind, so maybe Denethor, son of Ecthelion simply wasn't in his right mind.

There is a harrowing scene in Return of the King that may hold the answer to this. As Pippin sings for him, Denethor gorges himself on a feast, eating so heartily that it dribbles down his chin. These tomatoes, and the plate they were sitting on, could have poisoned the Steward's mind.

The theory is that with tomatoes being as acidic as they are, they would have soaked up a greater amount of lead from the pewter plate Denethor ate them from, resulting in lead poisoning. Could the choice of Denethor eating tomatoes from a pewter plate have been a very deliberate, very cryptic choice made by Peter Jackson?