Aragorn II

Aragorn II in Tengwar

For other characters named Aragorn see also: Aragorn (disambiguation)

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"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword"

—Aragorn

Aragorn II, also known as Elessar was the 16th Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North; he was later crowned King Elessar Telcontar (March 1, TA 2931 - FO 120), the 26th King of Arnor, 34th King of Gondor and First High King of the Reunited Kingdom, was the son of Arathorn II (who was the son of Arador of the Dúnadan), and Gilraen. He was a great warrior, and bore the shards of Narsil, reforged into Anduril, the Flame of the West.

History

Aragorn, named for his ancestor Aragorn I, was born on March 1 in 2931 of the Third Age, the son of Arathorn II and his wife Gilraen. Through his ancestor Elendil (whom he closely resembled) Aragorn was a descendant of Elros Tar-Minyatur, Lord Elrond Half-elven's twin brother and the first king of Númenor. His ancestor Arvedui was wedded to Firiel, who bore their son Aranarth, making Aragorn the last descendant of Anárion as well.

When Aragorn was only two years old, his father was killed while pursuing Orcs. Aragorn was afterwards fostered in Rivendell by Elrond. At the request of his mother, his lineage was kept secret, as she feared he would be killed like his father and grandfather if his true identity as the descendant of Elendil and Heir of Isildur became known. Aragorn was renamed Estel and was not told about his heritage until he came of age in 2951.

Elrond revealed to "Estel" his true name and ancestry when he came of age, and delivered to him the shards of Isildur's sword, Narsil, and the Ring of Barahir. He withheld the Sceptre of Annúminas from him till he "came of the right" to possess them. It was also around this time that Aragorn met and fell in love with Arwen, Elrond's daughter, who had newly returned from her mother's homeland of Lórien.

Aragorn thereafter assumed his proper role as the sixteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North, and went into the wild, where lived the remnants of his people, whose kingdom had been destroyed through civil and regional wars centuries before.

Aragorn met Gandalf the Grey in 2956, and they became close friends. At Gandalf's advice he and his followers began to guard a small land known as the Shire, inhabited by the diminutive and agrarian Hobbits, and he became known among the peoples just outside the Shire's borders as Strider.

From 2957 to 2980, Aragorn undertook great journeys, serving in the armies of King Thengel of Rohan, and Steward Ecthelion II of Gondor. Many of his tasks helped to raise morale in the West and counter the growing threat of Sauron and his allies, and he earned invaluable experience which he would later put to use in the War of the Ring. Aragorn served his lords in disguise and his name in Gondor and Rohan during that time was Thorongil (Eagle of the Star). With a small Gondorian squadron of ships, he led an assault on the long-standing rebel province of Umbar in 2980, burning many of the Corsairs' ships and personally slaying their lord during the battle on the Havens. After the victory at Umbar, "Thorongil" left the field and to the dismay of his men, went East.

Later in 2980, he visited Lórien, and there once again met Arwen. He gave her the heirloom of his House, the Ring of Barahir, and, on the hill of Cerin Amroth, Arwen pledged her hand to him in marriage, renouncing her Elvish lineage and accepting the Gift of Men: death.

Elrond withheld from Aragorn permission to marry his daughter until such time as his foster son should be king of both Gondor and Arnor. To Elrond's as well as Aragorn's knowledge, to marry a mortal his daughter would be required to choose mortality, and thus deprive the deathless Elrond of his daughter while the world lasted. Elrond was also concerned for Arwen's own happiness, fearing that in the end she might find death (her own and that of her beloved) too difficult to bear.

Before the events of The Lord of the Rings proper take place, Aragorn also travelled through the Dwarven mines of Moria, and to Harad, where (in his own words) "the stars are strange". Tolkien does not specify when these travels occurred.

In 3009, Gandalf grew suspicious of the ring belonging to the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, which later turned out to be the One Ring, the source of the Dark Lord Sauron's evil power. Aragorn went at his request into Rhovanion in search of Gollum, who had once possessed the Ring. He caught the creature in the Dead Marshes near Mordor, and brought him as a captive to Thranduil's halls in Mirkwood, where Gandalf questioned him.

The Lord of the Rings

Aragorn (Strider) at the Prancing Pony in Bree

"If you bring a Ranger with you, it is well to pay attention to him, especially if that Ranger is Aragorn."

—Gandalf

Aragorn joined Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's adopted heir, and three of his friends at the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. These four had set out from the Shire to bring the One Ring to Rivendell. Aragorn was aged 87 at that time, nearing the prime of life for one of royal Númenórean descent. With Aragorn's help the Hobbits escaped the pursuing Nazgûl and reached Rivendell. There, Aragorn was chosen to join the Fellowship of the Ring that was formed to guard Frodo, who was tasked with destroying the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor. Besides Aragorn, Gandalf, and Frodo, the company included Frodo's cousins Pippin and Merry, his best friend Samwise Gamgee, Legolas the Elf , Gimli the Dwarf, and Boromir of Gondor. Before the group set out, the shards of Narsil were reforged, and the restored blade was named Andúril.

Aragorn accompanied the group through an attempt to cross the pass of Caradhras and through the mines of Moria. He became their leader after Gandalf was lost in battle with a Balrog. Aragorn led the company to Lórien and then down the river Anduin to the Falls of Rauros. Originally he had planned to go to Gondor and aid its people in the war, but after the loss of Gandalf he also was responsible for Frodo. When Frodo continued his quest alone, Aragorn, together with Legolas and Gimli, went to Rohan to free Merry and Pippin, who had been captured by the wizard Saruman's Uruk-hai.

In The Two Towers, the Three Hunters (as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were ever after known) encountered Éomer, who had recently been pursuing rumours of an Orc raid in the area. From Éomer Aragorn learned that the Orcs who had kidnapped Merry and Pippin had been destroyed and that the Hobbits had not been found. Dejected, he led Legolas and Gimli to the site of the battle. Clues led Aragorn to believe that the Hobbits might still be alive, and he led the Three Hunters into Fangorn Forest. They did not find the Hobbits, but they did find Gandalf the White, sent back from Valinor to continue his struggle against Sauron. Gandalf told the Three Hunters that the Hobbits were safe with the Ents of Fangorn. Together, Gandalf and the Three Hunters travelled to Edoras, where Gandalf freed Théoden from Saruman's enchantment and helped him organize the Rohirrim against Saruman.

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli then helped the people of Rohan in the Battle of the Hornburg, in which they conclusively defeated Saruman's army. In order to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo, who had gone into Mordor, Aragorn used a palantír and revealed himself as the heir of Isildur to Sauron. Sauron probably believed that the One Ring had come into Aragorn's hands; therefore he made his assault on Minas Tirith prematurely and without adequate preparation.

In order to defend the city, Aragorn entered the Paths of the Dead, and summoned the Dead Men of Dunharrow who owed allegiance to the king of Gondor. It had been prophesied by Isildur and Malbeth the Seer that the Dead would be summoned once more to pay their debt for betraying Gondor millennia before. With their aid the Corsairs of Umbar were defeated. Aragorn, a small force of Rangers, and a large contingent of men and soldiers from the southern regions then sailed up the Anduin to Minas Tirith. When they arrived at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Aragorn unfurled a standard that Arwen had made for him which showed both the White Tree of Gondor along with the jewelled crown and seven stars of the House of Elendil. With the help of the southern forces the armies of Gondor and Rohan rallied and defeated Sauron's army.

The restoration of the line of Elendil to the throne of Gondor is a subplot of The Lord of the Rings; Aragorn's adventures not only aid Frodo in his Quest, but also bring him closer to his own kingship — which, though his by right and lineage, has been left open for centuries due to historical, legal, and military circumstances. The people of Gondor have been under the rule of the Stewards of Gondor for centuries, as it was widely doubted that any of the royal line still lived. Shortly after Isildur's departure, Meneldil, son of Anárion, had severed Gondor from Arnor politically, although the formal title of High King remained with the northern line (as Isildur was Elendil's eldest son). This arrangement had been reinforced by the Steward Pelendur in nearly 2,000 years before when he rejected Arvedui's claim to the Throne of Gondor during a Gondorian succession crisis (Eärnil, a member of the House of Anárion, was eventually chosen as King instead). It is worth noting, however, that Arvedui had also based his claim on the fact that he had married a descendant of Anárion: thus, Aragorn was technically a descendant of not only Elendil and Isildur but of Anárion as well).

In Return of the King, the Steward Denethor declared that he would not bow to a descendant of Isildur (years before, he had seen "Thorongil" as a rival to his father's favour). Aragorn healed Faramir, Denethor's heir, who had been expected to die; this won him the immediate recognition of Faramir as the rightful heir to the throne, and his humility and self sacrifice gained him the hearts of the inhabitants of Gondor's capital city (Aragorn's healing abilities, however, were a sign to the people of Gondor of the identity of their true king; as Ioreth said, "The hands of the King are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known"). The people hailed him as King that same evening.

Despite his immediate success and popularity, however, and despite his claim to the throne through raising the royal banner, Aragorn decided to lay aside his claim for the time being. He knew that if he aggressively promoted his claim, rival claimants or debates as to his legitimacy were not out of the question, and this could be a fatal distraction for Gondor at a time when the West needed to be united against Sauron. So, to avoid conflict, after he had healed people during the night of March 15/16, he left Minas Tirith and symbolically refused to enter it again until he was crowned King on May first.

In order to ensure safe passage across Mordor for Frodo to fulfil his quest, Aragorn then led the Army of the West out from Minas Tirith to make a diversionary feint on the Black Gate of Mordor itself in the Battle of the Morannon. Gandalf had been given supreme command of the war effort after the Pelennor Fields, and acted as chief spokesman in the parley with the Mouth of Sauron; but Aragorn commanded the Allied troops during the battle and its aftermath.

Upon Sauron's defeat, Aragorn was crowned as King Elessar (translated as Elfstone in Tolkien's invented languae of Quenya), a name given to him by Galadriel. (In Sindarin, another of Tolkien's languages, this becomes Edhelharn.) He became the twenty-sixth King of Arnor, thirty-fifth King of Gondor and the first High King of the Reunited Kingdom, though it would be several years before his authority was firmly reestablished in Arnor. His line was referred to as the House of Telcontar (Telcontar being Quenya for "Strider"). Aragorn married Arwen shortly afterwards, and ruled the Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor until 120 of the Fourth Age. His reign was marked by great harmony and prosperity within Gondor and Arnor, and by a great renewal of cooperation and communication between Men, Elves, and Dwarves, fostered by his vigorous rebuilding campaign following the war. Aragorn led the forces of the Reunited Kingdom on military campaigns against some Easterlings and Haradrim, re-establishing rule over much territory that Gondor had lost in previous centuries. He died at the age of 210, after 120 years as king. He was succeeded on the throne by his son, Eldarion. Arwen, gravely saddened by the loss of her husband, gave up her now mortal life shortly afterwards. Arwen and Aragorn also had at least two unnamed daughters.

Adaptations

Aragorn in the 1978 animated film based on The Lord of the Rings.

Aragorn in the 1980 animated TV special based on The Return of the King.

AragornCrown.jpg

Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-2003).

Aragorn in the 2003 Cincinnati stage production of The Return of the King.

Film

Aragorn was voiced by John Hurt in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film version of The Lord of the Rings. Bakshi's Aragorn, unlike all other portrayals that were to follow to date, has no beard. This actually conforms to a statement appearing in Unfinished Tales that implicitly says that Aragorn was not supposed to have one, due to his Elvish ancestry (Elves did not grow beards). In a note written in 1972 or later, among the last writings of my father's on the subject of Middle-earth, there is a discussion of the Elvish strain in Men, as to its being observable in the beardlessness of those who were so descended (it was a characteristic of all Elves to be beardless. However, Tolkien actually wrote elsewhere that Elves did have beards; in The Lord of the Rings itself Círdan is described as having a beard. Also, some viewers and critics have said that this version of Aragorn looks Native American though not necessarily to the detriment of the film.

Aragorn was voiced by Theodore Bikel in the 1980 Rankin/Bass animated version of The Return of the King, made for television. He first appears at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, leading the reinforcements from southern Gondor.

In the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001–2003) directed by Peter Jackson, Aragorn is played by Danish-American actor Viggo Mortensen, who took over the role from Stuart Townsend after a month of rehearsals. In these movies, Aragorn must overcome his self-doubt to claim the kingship. This specific element of self-doubt is not present in Tolkien's books, where Aragorn intends to claim the throne all along. Daniel Day-Lewis was offered the role, but declined.

Stage

(See the stage article: The Lord of the Rings)

Aragorn was portrayed by Evan Buliung in the three-hour production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in 2006 in wikipedia:Toronto, Canada.

In the United States, Aragorn was portrayed by Josh Beshears in the Cincinnati, Ohio production of The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. At Chicago's Lifeline Theatre, Aragorn was played by Robert McLean in the 1999 production of The Two Towers.

Radio

Robert Stephens voiced the character in the 1981 BBC Radio serial of The Lord of the Rings.

Characteristics

"My cuts, short or long, don't go wrong."

—Aragorn reassuring the hobbits that his short-cut would work.

Tolkien gives a brief but detailed description of him in The Fellowship of the Ring: lean, dark and tall, with shaggy dark hair "flecked with grey", grey eyes, and a stern pale face. In "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" in the Appendices, he was said to be often grim and sad, with unexpected moments of levity. Some time after the publications of the books, Tolkien wrote that he was six feet six inches tall.

Aragorn possessed elven wisdom due to his childhood in Rivendell with Elrond and the foresight of the Dúnedain. He was also a skilled healer, notably with the plant athelas (also known as Kingsfoil). He was also a mighty warrior and an unmatched commander; after the battle of the Pelennor Fields, he, Éomer and Imrahil were said to be left unscathed, even though they had been in the thick of the fighting. Due to his position as Isildur's heir, Aragorn has impressive powers for a Man; he forced Sauron to let him use the palantír of Orthanc freely (although this was in part due to the fact that as the descendant of Elendil, Aragorn was the true owner of the seeing-stone).

Though there is no indication of him ever doubting his role and destiny as one of the leaders of the war against Sauron and the future king of the Reunited Kingdom (as in Peter Jackson's film), he was not immune to self-doubt, as he doubted the wisdom of his decisions while leading the Fellowship after the loss of Gandalf in Moria, and blamed himself for many of their subsequent misfortunes.

On one occasion, his pride (or reverence for his heritage) led to complications, as he refused to disarm and leave his sword Andúril (a priceless heirloom of Númenor and one of the weapons which slew Sauron) at the door of Edoras, as Théoden had required, and only did so after Gandalf left his own sword (also of high lineage) behind. Even so, he swore that death would come to anyone else who touched it (whether by his own hand or by some magic, it is left unsaid).

Names and titles

Aragorn was called the Dúnadan ("Man of the West/Númenórean", given by Bilbo in Rivendell), Longshanks (given by Bill Ferny in Bree), Strider, called so by Butterbur, and Wingfoot (given by Éomer after discovering that Aragorn had travelled forty-five leagues in four days in pursuit of Pippin, Merry, and their Uruk-hai captors). He was the founder of the House of Telcontar (Telcontar is "Strider" in Quenya, after the mistrustful nickname given him by the rustics of the North), which ruled Gondor well into the Fourth Age of Middle-earth; in records, his full ruling name is given as Elessar Telcontar ("Elfstone Strider"). He was also known as Estel ("hope") to protect his true lineage from the Enemy when they were seeking the heir of Isildur. He was also known as Thorongil ("Eagle of the Star") in his younger days when he travelled around Middle-earth and performed services in Rohan and Gondor often by protecting camps and raiding enemy strongholds like he did when he crossed the Corsairs of Umbar.

Concept and creation

In the earliest unpublished versions of The Lord of the Rings, the character that later became Aragorn was a hobbit, and was called Trotter instead of Strider — though he was still called a Ranger (which were not yet identified as Dúnedain of the North). His true identity in at least one version was Peregrin Boffin, one of Bilbo's relatives. He wore wooden shoes, because he had lost his feet after being tortured in Mordor or Moria.

Video

Video images of Aragorn