Quotes
"There is always hope."-The
"If by life or death I can save you, I will."-The Fellowship of the Ring (book)
"I look foul and feel fair."-The Fellowship of the Ring (book)
"Not we, but those who come after will make the legends of our time."-The
"Everyone has something too dear to trust to another."-The
"One who cannot cast away a treasure in need is in fetters."-The
"Tis but a shadow and a thought that you love. I cannot give you what you seek."-The Return of the King (movie)
"Always my days have seemed too short to achieve my dreams."-The Return of the King (book)
"Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!"-The Return of the King (movie)
"Let us use our time as best we may."-Unknown
Biography
Aragorn II, son of Arathorn II and his wife Gilraen, was born on
Eighteen years later, when Aragorn turned twenty, his true past was revealed to him. Elrond gave him two heirlooms of the house of the kings of Gondor: the shards of Narsil and the ring of Barahir.
That night, Aragorn was out walking in the woods, he was in an EXCELLENT mood, and he was singing (I would be singing if I were him!!) part of the Lay of Luthien, specifically the part that told of when Luthien and Beren met. Lo and behold, he looked up and saw one who he thought to be Luthien Tinuviel. She was actually Arwen Evenstar, daughter of Elrond.
And behold! there Luthien walked before his eyes in Rivendell, clad in a mantle of silver and blue, fair as the twilight in the Elven-home; her dark hair strayed in a sudden wind, and her brows were bound with gems like stars.
For a moment, Aragorn gazed in silence, but fearing that she would pass away and never be seen again, he called to her crying, "Tinuviel, Tinuviel!" even as Beren had done in the Elder Days long ago.
Then the maiden turned to him and smiled and she said, "Who are you? And why do you call me by that name?"
And he answered, "Because I believed you to be indeed Luthien Tinuviel, of whom I was singing. But if you are not she, then you walk in her likeness."
"So many have said," she answered gravely. "Yet her name is not mine. Though maybe my doom will be not unlike hers. But who are you?"
"Estel I was called," he said; "but I am Aragorn, Arathorn's son, Isildur's Heir, Lord of the Dunedain," yet even in the saying he felt that this high lineage in which his heart had rejoiced, was now of little worth, and as nothing compared to her dignity and lovliness.
But she laughed merrily and said: "Then we are akin from afar. For I am Arwen, Elrond's daughter, and am named also Undomiel."
"Often it is seen," said Aragorn, "that in dangerous days men hide their chief treasure. Yet I marvel at Elrond and your brothers; for though I have dwelt in this house from childhood, I have heard no word of you. How comes it that we have never met before? Surely your father has not kept you locked in his hoard?"
"No," she said, and looked up at the Mountains that rose in the east. "I have dwelt for a time in the lands of my mother's kin, in far Lothlorien. I have but lately returned to visit my father again. It is many years since I walked in Imladris."
Then Aragorn wondered, for she had seemed of no greater age than he, who had lived yet no more than a score of years in Middle-Earth. But Arwen looked in his eyes and said: "Do not wonder! For the children of Elrond have the life of the Eldar."
Then Aragorn was abashed, for he saw the elven-light in her eyes and the wisdom of many days; yet from that hour, he loved Arwen Undomiel daughter of Elrond.
Not very long after he met Arwen, Aragorn went out into the Wild. He stayed there for about thirty years, fighting Sauron's evil. He met Gandalf while he was out there.
As the years wore by, Aragorn became more tough, serious, and solitary. (Sounds kinda like me.
Despite all the troubles of his years that showed in his face, there was hope left in his heart. It was pretty well-buried, but still there.
So when Aragorn was about 49, he ended up in Lothlorien. By some odd coincidence (or maybe fate), Arwen Evenstar happened to be there at the same time as him. Physically, she hadn't changed much, but Arwen was more grave and laughed less often. Aragorn was the one who had changed. He was a full-fledged man in body and in mind. Arwen saw him and fell in love. That night, Arwen bound herself to Aragorn by giving up her immortality.
Once Aragorn got back to Rivendell, Elrond had found out what Arwen had done for Aragorn, and he wasn't exactly thrilled. So he told Aragorn:
"I say to you: Arwen Undomiel shall not diminish her life's grace for less cause. She shall not be the bride of any Man less than the King of both Gondor and Arnor."
Not very long after that, Aragorn went back out to fight Sauron again. His mother left Rivendell and went to live with her people. Aragorn saw her once before her death.
In late September of the year 3018, Aragorn met the hobbits in Bree and led them to Rivendell. From there, he joined the Fellowship and went on the quest to destroy the One Ring with the other members of the Fellowship. He took the role of leader when Gandalf fell into Moria, taking the broken Fellowship to Lothlorien.
At Amon Hen, the fellowship broke and Aragorn went to hunt the fighting Uruk-Hai with Gimli and Legolas. They did eventually find the hobbits, but only after meeting up with Gandalf the White, freeing King Theoden from his mental prison, and fighting the epic battle of Helm's Deep.
When Aragorn entered Gondor, he knew there was no turning back. It seemed hopeless after the battle of Pelennor Fields and the battle at the Black Gate but on May 1 in the year 3019, Aragorn became King of Gondor (*explodes with ecstasy*). Then on Mid-Year's Day (June 30, I'm guessing), Aragorn FINALLY married Arwen, after being engaged to her for about 40 years. They ruled Gondor together for about 120 years and had one son (Eldarion, Aragorn's heir) and several unnamed daughters.
In the year 120 of the Fourth Age on March 1 (his 210th birthday!), Aragorn died, ending the greatest tale told on Middle-earth.
[My sources were the appendix of ROTK, my knowledge, Wikipedia, and the LotR movies.]
Why Aragorn Rules
Reasons Why Aragorn Rules (Gondor...and my heart, if you must know 
)
1. He stayed betrothed to the same woman for 40 years. That defines dedication!
2. He is dedicated in everything...not just love.
3. AMAZING SWORDSMAN!!!
4. Those eyes...
5. Think of all the things he went through in his life...you have to have a strong spirit to endure all that.
6. And he was alone for most of his life (well, that could be why he survived so well...if you're alone, no one can hurt you.)...
7. He doesn't get mad when people call him Strider. ( I need to take a leaf outta his book there...)
8. Look at the "Quotes" page...that says a lot about him.
9.He overcame something that takes most people so long to do...self-doubt. He didn't think he could achieve what he most wanted ("Always my days have seemed too short to achieve my dreams."), but he did, and with success.
10. The way he smiles...
11. He doesn't gripe or complain about any of his hardships. (Again, I need to take a leaf outta his book.)
12. "If by life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword." (From www.hobbitslive.com)
13. How many guys do you know that can sing like that?
14. And how many people actually look GOOD sweaty?!?
15. He doesn't hate Boromir's guts (believe me, that's a pretty huge accomplishment!)
16. The way he speaks...there's something really compelling about how his voice sounds...it just draws you in. Whenever he has a line, I just...stop whatever else I was doing. Especially when he speaks Elvish. His voice just completely breaks my heart
The Many Names of Aragorn
The Many Names of Aragorn
Aragorn- The name of his birth, obviously. The prefix (ara-) means "king", which is why the heirs of Isildur all had that prefix to their name. And I recently learned that it means "kingly valour". (Never assume that you know everything about something...)
Estel- The name given to him at age two when he started living in Rivendell. Elvish for "hope".
Strider- Name given to him by the people of Bree, due to his height and the fact that he walks a lot.
Longshanks- Basically the same origins as Strider. Broken down: Long=...well, long, shanks=legs, so literally, it means "long legs".
[The] Dunadan- Singular form of "Dunedain". It means "Man of the West" (singular form), but I don't know if you can apply it to any of the Dunedain or if it's exclusive for him.
Elessar- Elvish name meaning "elfstone" (or, according to my sis, "dirty foot germs!"), referring to the elven brooch given to him by Arwen (the Evenstar in the movies)
Wingfoot- Eomer's name for him; a substitution for Strider. "Strider is too poor a name...", but personally, I like Strider more. That was the point where I thought Eomer might have a little problem...
Telcontar- The name of his house; Quenya form of "Strider". It seems like a lot of these names link back to Strider...
Evinyitar- I believe it's Elvish for "the renewer".
Thorongil- The name used by Aragorn while he was serving under Ecthelion II and Thengel. Means "eagle of the star".
Eagle of the Star- I think I can safely assume that it's a translation of Thorongil. "Eagle of the star" could be a metaphor for Aragorn, who watches over Gondor as a Ranger (watching it closely [like an eagle], the 7 stars were the cities of the kingdom of Elendil)
About This Site
It's actually a strange story why I decided to make LOTD...
I have a few friends who HATE LotR like I hate running and liverwurst (that's a lot), and they kept on telling me back in the summer & fall of 2006 that I HAD to stop talking about Aragorn!! I'd been thinking about making a Lord of the Rings site all summer (for quick reference, I became a LotR fanatic on June 2, 2006), and I got more into the idea in the early parts of the school year, since I guess I'm not challenged enough in school and I started looking at Lord of the Rings sites then.
Guess I thought that a LotR site would be too general, so I decided to zero in on one character: Aragorn. And I figured that it would help me stop talking about him so much. So I created this site!
At first, I only wrote stuff based on facts. But as I gained a bit of insight into Aragorn's life, I began writing deeper stuff like the poems and analyses, and I guess my peak is either "Pools of Ice Water" or "To Rivendell".
The name, Lady of the Dunedain, came to me as a random thought. One day, I was thinking up site stuff, and I thought, "Hmm, what's the name of that type of people that Aragorn's chieftain of?" (Embarrassing!!! I didn't know!!)
So I looked it up in my copy of RotK, and wrote the name down on my hand. The next day, I went to the library and made LotD!!! When I started this site, I couldn't pronounce Dunedain, and I didn't know till I watched the extended version of FotR in December 2006. (I paused it and repeated, "Dunedain, Dunedain, Dunedain..." several times to myself.)
And recently, I got a graphic-making program, so this site has been expanded not only to written information but to some of my graphics involving him!!
The Original Aragorn
In Tolkien's mind, Aragorn started out as a hobbit named Trotter that Bingo Bolger-Baggins (the early version of Frodo) met in The Prancing Pony. He was a hobbit that wore wooden shoes (he was tortured by the Enemy, so his feet had been messed up so badly that he had to wear shoes), and he earned the name Trotter from the little clicking sound his shoes made when he walked. Trotter was also a Ranger and played Aragorn's role in getting Frodo to Rivendell.
Tolkien debated a lot about the Ranger aspect of Trotter: he thought that the Rangers should probably be Men, so he'd either have to remove that aspect of Trotter or make him a Man. He toyed with the idea of Trotter as a hobbit for a while before deciding that he would be a Man, namely a Man of the North who was distantly related to Elrond. (Sounding familiar?) This is where the name "Aragorn" came into the picture, which led to working out a lot of the Second and early Third Age details of Middle-earth.