The steward of Gondor when Frodo begins his quest in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is Denethor II.
Denethor II is the 26th and final ruling Steward of Gondor during the main events of the novel. He governs from Minas Tirith while the kingdom’s throne remains vacant, because Aragorn, the heir of Isildur, has not yet openly claimed it. Denethor is the father of Boromir and Faramir and is portrayed as proud, capable, suspicious, and increasingly despairing.
He uses a palantír to observe events in Middle-earth, but Sauron’s influence causes him to misinterpret what he sees and lose hope. After Boromir’s death and Faramir’s severe wounding, Denethor’s despair becomes catastrophic during the siege of Minas Tirith. Readers sometimes answer Faramir because he later serves as Steward, but Faramir succeeds his father only after Denethor’s death and the restoration of Aragorn’s kingship.