Q: Who Is Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings?
ANSWER: Aragorn is a man who approaches Frodo Baggins and offers to assist him on his journey to Rivendell. Neither Frodo nor the reader have any idea who Aragorn truly is when he first enters the story, although Gandalf has mentioned Aragorn one time previously (in “The Shadow of the Past”) and Tom Bombadil has given Frodo and his companions a vision of Aragorn’s ancestors and Aragorn himself.
J.R.R. Tolkien admitted that when he first introduced Aragorn into the story he had no idea of who Aragorn was or what to make of him. Aragorn in fact began as simply another hobbit character, a ranger named Trotter. But as the story progressed Trotter metamorphosed into the man Strider and from there Tolkien slowly pieced together the history of Aragorn’s family and Aragorn’s own destiny.
In the fully realized story, which only gradually reveals Aragorn’s true nature and background to the reader, Aragorn is the last male-line descendant of the ancient High King of Arnor and Gondor, Isildur, son of Elendil. Through Elendil Aragorn is also the last heir of Elros Tar-Minyatur, first King of Númenor and brother of Elrond Half-elven.
The history of Aragorn’s people is long and complex. His earliest recorded ancestors were heroes of the First Age who clans entered Beleriand and became allies of the Noldor and Sindar, who fought a long, pointless war with Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. The Elves named those early clans the Edain. For their loyalty and sacrifice the survivors of the Edain were given a land of their own, an island in the far sea called Númenor. Most of the Edain followed Elros to Númenor and there they built up a great civilization that rivaled the Eldarin civilization in Middle-earth. The Edain thus became known as the Númenoreans and they were eventually drawn into the wars between Sauron and the Eldar.
Because the great power of Númenor supported the Eldar and prevented his eventual domination of Middle-earth, Sauron leaped upon an opportunity to go to Númenor as the prisoner of Ar-Pharazôn, the last king. There Sauron corrupted the king and the majority of the Númenoreans, turning them against the Valar, the Guardians of the World, and the Eldar. Only Amandil, last Lord of Andunie, and a small group of followers known as the Faithful defied Sauron. When Sauron persuaded Ar-Pharazôn to sail west and demand that the Valar make him immortal, Amandil’s son Elendil gathered nine ships in an eastern harbor of Númenor.
When the king set foot in the land of the Valar they laid down their guardianship and called upon Iluvatar to deal with the rebellion of Men. Iluvatar split the world into two separate worlds, one for the Valar and Elves and one for Men (and Dwarves). Númenor was destroyed and nearly all its people with it. Elendil, his sons, their wives, and their followers were driven by a great storm toward Middle-earth, where they established two new kingdoms, Arnor and Gondor.
Although Sauron’s body perished in the downfall of Númenor his spirit returned to Middle-earth where with the power of the One Ring it took shape in a new body. Reclaiming his power over many nations Sauron attacked Gondor, driving Elendil to form the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Gil-galad, High King of the Elves of the West in Middle-earth. Gil-galad and Elendil defeated Sauron’s forces and laid seige to Sauron’s fortress of Barad-dur. When Sauron finally became desperate he attacked Gil-galad and Elendil directly. Although Sauron slew both Gil-galad and Elendil he himself was overthrown. Isildur, elder son of Elendil, cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand and Sauron’s spirit fled into the eastern wilderness of Middle-earth.
Isildur’s descendants ruled Arnor for almost a thousand years afterward until they divided the realm into three smaller kingdoms. The descendants of Isildur’s brother Anarion ruled Gondor for 2,000 years. After 1,000 years Sauron began to plot against the realms of his enemies, sending his servants the Nazgul to bring down the Houses of Isildur and Anarion. In a single generation Sauron’s forces destroyed the last remnants of Arnor’s peoples and brought an end to the Line of Anarion; only a small fraction of the Dunedain of Arnor survived, including Isildur’s Heir, but though kingless the Dunedain of Arnor remained a strong people.
For another 1,000 years Sauron worked to destroy the remnant of Isildur’s people and Gondor. Isildur’s heirs organized a small force of Rangers who patrolled the lands of their former realm and protected isolated groups of peoples such as the hobbits of the Shire, the men and hobbits of Bree, and the people of Tharbad from danger. The Dunedain of the North remained a secret people. But Sauron feared Isildur’s Heir above all others in Middle-earth and he strove to end the line of Elendil’s heirs altogether.
Aragorn was born Aragorn II in the year 2931 of the Third Age. His father, Arathorn II, was slain soon thereafter and his family sent Aragorn with his mother Gilraen to live with Elrond in Imladris. Elrond raised Aragorn as a foster son and only revealed his true name and heritage to him when Aragorn turned 18. On that fateful day Aragorn met Elrond’s daughter Arwen, who had just returned to Imladris from Lothlorien after spending many years with her mother’s people. Aragorn fell in love with Arwen.
Upon learning of Aragorn’s feelings for Arwen Elrond forbade the two to marry unless Aragorn succeeded in becoming king of both Arnor and Gondor. Some readers have asked if Elrond did not set Aragorn an impossible task, much like Elrond’s own great-great-grand-father (and Aragorn’s distant ancestor) had set Beren an impossible task in order to win the hand of the Elven princess Luthien.
Aragorn’s role was thus very complicated. He was the rightful heir of the kings of Arnor and Gondor but he had no real hope of claiming the throne of either realm. He was also the Chieftain of the Dunedain of the North, meaning that he was responsible for both his own people and protecting the few remaining enclaves of people in Eriador. And Aragorn also became the friend and companion of Gandalf, thus drawn into Gandalf’s journeys and errands. But in order to prepare himself for the great tasks that lay in his future Aragorn undertook his own journeys and errantries, serving in the armies of Rohan and Gondor.
Aragorn was thus uniquely qualified among both Elves and Men to serve as the companion and protector for Frodo Baggins on his journey to Rivendell and from Rivendell to Lothlorien. But when they were parted from each other soon after leaving Lothlorien Aragorn had to relinquish his duty to Frodo for the sake of following his destiny toward the final resolution of the conflict between Sauron and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. Aragorn had to heal the rift between Elves and Men, help renew the spirit and faith of the Rohirrim. and prove himself a worthy king to the people of Gondor.
In the end it would be Aragorn’s strategy that brought about the final downfall of Sauron, for Aragorn’s decision to lead a small army against Mordor’s overwhelmingly superior forces deceived Sauron into believing that Aragorn had seized the One Ring for himself and intended to claim it. Sauron only realized his mistake when it was too late.
After Sauron’s defeat the people of Gondor welcomed Aragorn as their king. He then claimed the throne of Arnor and re-established Elendil’s ancient realm. Elrond brought Arwen to Gondor and Aragorn took her as his wife and queen.
Actors Who Have Portrayed Aragorn
Because there have been several adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and fan movies set in Middle-earth, several actors have played Aragorn. Some of these actors include:
Viggo Mortensen, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy
John Hurt, Ralph Bakshi’s animated The Lord of the Rings, Part One
Adrian Webster, The Hunt for Gollum
Jonhathan Krautkramer, Estel: The Making of a King
Tom Luce, Mind’s Eye radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings
Robert Stephens, BBC radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1981)
There was a 1955 radio adaptation by the BBC but I don’t know who provided the voice for Aragorn.
See Also:
Why Did Aragorn Pass Through Moria, and When?
Why Was Aragorn Carrying the Shards of Narsil?
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