Ok...here's some opinions of various people (mostly me) on Aragorn. As usual, all is written by me unless stated otherwise.
All that is gold does not glitter;
Not all those who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows will spring!
Renewed shall be blade that was broken;
The crownless again shall be king.
Many thanks to Errandir of Gondolin.
I wasn't really up to anything, and I started thinking about Aragorn, which is pretty typical of me, but these thoughts weren't like ones that I usually have.
I realized how brave he was. I mean, I've always known that he's filled with courage, but it really hit me then. After falling in love with Arwen, he did so much to fight Sauron's evil and knew that he may not come back alive. After Arwen bound herself to him, that made everything even more incredible. Put yourself in his shoes for a minute: The one whom you've loved for about 30 years just bound herself to you and you're about to go out to fight Sauron's evil--again. He loved her so much and was so dedicated to her, yet he always answered duty's call. She could have chosen to leave him at any time, and he knew that, very deep down in his heart. But he still risked everything.
And that's what you need to do sometimes: put it all on the line, because if you don't, you could end up losing everything anyways. Aragorn had the insight to know that he could lose all that he'd hoped for in a second, but that didn't stop him. There's not very many people who have that kind of insight, or Aragorn's courage. Everything that he did really showed how brave and dedicated he was. I'm not saying that Aragorn is perfect (although he is in my eyes), but I'm saying that when you look at him, think of the story of his life. Think of all he's been through. You might see yourself reflected back in his personality.
I have you.
I am not about to let you
Pass through my fingers
Once more.
The things that I have done
For you
Some may call them
Impossible deeds.
I think of them as
A profession of my love
For you,
For I
Would do anything and
Everything to
Keep you close to me.
Some doubt us.
They do not believe that
We should be.
But this love is meant to be.
It is why I am here.
The ones who believe that
We should be seperated
Do not see
What we truly have.
They only know their
Selfish hopes
We belong together.
Others believe that
The races of Men and Elves
Should be seperated.
They tell
Of the sagas of lovers
Who never truly loved.
For now,
We must take our paths.
When I return--if I return,
Will you wait?
Or shall you pass
Into the West?
Before we depart,
I tell you
Something that we both know.
We are meant to be one.
Do not forget me.
I shall remember you for eternity.
Evenstar.
See it gleam, Swift and bright!
Its blade is stong, Dark as night!
Never shall it fein from any foe,
For it shall be their greatest woe.
Earth strong and Heaven borne,
So shall it be that fateful morn!
When the blade is drawn at last,
And the horns give a mighty blast!
Darkness shall flee and evil run,
At the dawning of the sun!
For though death has a sting,
A light from the shadow now shall spring!
Dark hair falling gently
Across his eyes
Eyes
Piercing
Like pools of ice water
Not revealing the things
He has endured.
The bitter taste
Of a deceased father
So young, so fragile
Only two years together.
Eighteen years in Rivendell
With the elves.
Not knowing who he was
Who he would become, or
Which path his life would take.
Twenty.
The most pivotal year
Of his young days.
Estel no longer!
He is Aragorn II
Heir to the throne of Gondor.
One evening walking
He saw a maiden fair
They spoke.
She was Arwen Evenstar, daughter of Elrond
He fell in love.
He could not have her
Until his destiyn
Was fulfilled,
His true worth proven
To Middle-earth.
Aragorn set off to
Show them who he was,
What he would become
If it was to be.
His days grew darker
Clouded by failure and
The Dark Lord's evel.
Dwelling in the shadows
Cast by the light
Fighting for what is right.
After walking
Alone for so long,
He came across a thing.
A thing that caused his ancestors
To fall.
The One Ring.
He did not have to do it.
It could have
Broken him.
When he pledged his blade
To the quest of the Ring
He knew he could fall into shadow with his kin.
He did not.
Fear of what could happen
Stopped him not.
What was right
Was right, even
If it could cost him all.
On this quest,
He thrived.
Protecting those weaker
Than him, and
Was not corrupted.
He proved that
Those few descendants of Numenor,
The Dunedain,
Had strength
Of mind.
Eventually, his path
Parted from that of the One.
He now must begin
His most important quest:
To become King of Gondor.
Elessar.
More things awaited him.
The final test
Was where all could fail.
The fate of Middle-earth
Rested upon his
Weighted shoulders.
He was given
Anduril,
Flame of the West.
The Sword of Kings.
His ancestors' prize.
Aragorn
Must summon the
Army of the Dead
To save his love
And Middle-earth.
He was the true
King of Gondor.
There he found success.
The best
Had not yet come.
Riding to Mordor
To keep the
Eye of Sauron off
The One Ring.
Near death,
The battle ended.
His time had come.
Ranger no more!
King Elessar
King of Gondor and Arnor
He had done it!
Fulfilled all
But what he truly wanted.
That, too
Was fulfilled in time.
Midsummer's Day
He was wed to
Arwen Evenstar.
They spent the rest
Of their days
Together.
Ruling their realms.
Keeping peace.
Too soon,
The time of Elessar came.
Bestowing the septre and crown
Of Gondor on
Eldarion, his
Son.
Silent darkness.
Eternal peace.
Forever rest.
The light of his eyes
Never to grace
The world again.
I mourn for him.
My lost love.
The eyes
Eyes
Piercing
Like pools of ice water.
There's really nothing that's even slightly "shallow" or "predictable" about Aragorn's physique. I guess his appearance reflects his mood.
Okay, so when you first see Strider in The Prancing Pony, his hood's down, he's very slightly hunched over, and he's smoking his pipe. When he notices that Frodo disappearde, he gets more alert. When he's up in the room with Frodo once he's thrown back his hood, his hair's kinda messed up (that's a good thing!) and his clothes are plain. It sends the message, "Back off, I'm alone in this world!" It gives Aragorn this hardened, independent appearance. There's something really alluring about independent people...
In Rivendell, his hair's really neat, he's all washed and "groomed", and he's wearing that incredible elvish tunic. When he sees Boromir when he's reading he just...radiates this superior air. But it's not conceited at all; its really subtle but you can just feel that there's something that's truly unique and special about Aragorn. Well, there are several special things about him, but that's for another place. He's not really defensive of himself even though Boromir's pretty...rude to him. Aragorn's soft, calm voice says a lot and so does the way he presents himself. I think he actually intimidates Boromir quite a bit there.
When he's with Arwen, his presentation shows how much he loves her. He is really gentle when he's kissing her and the way he talks to her tells you that he loves her so much. Even though he has a lot of cares and doubts with him then, he puts his love for her first. The love that shows in his eyes is really powerful and goes so deep; into his soul, in fact. You can barely recognize him as the same guy who pulled his sword on four little hobbits with a defensive air. Yet even when he's really groomed and nice, he still looks recognizably like a man, unlike another Fellowship member I'm thinking of (*coughcoughLegolascoughcough*).
When he leaves Rivendell with the Fellowship, he's still groomed, but is in his "Ranger" clothes. The way he looks at Arwen before he leaves shows that he cares about her, but knows he has stuff to do before they can be wed.
Seeing him in ROTK after the King of the Dead doesn't say anyting about his offer to release them, he almost cries and it breaks my heart (more than it's already broken, mind you). His eyes get all watery and his face totally falls. I can feel his heart breaking because of what that event would set into place for him. He knew if he didn't succeed, Middle-earth was pretty much shot, and that's a lot of weight for one man, no matter how strong he is. He's been burdened with so much pain, and that's really the last thing I want to happen to him.
Moving on...At the Battle of Helm's Deep, Aragorn actually wears chainmail. I think it shows he's slowly accepting that he will be the king of Gondor. He looks very manly like that. He's so brave in leading all those men and elves into battle. He can give them commands without seeming bossy in the least. He gets the same air-type thing that he had around Boromir then. Something about him just screams, "I am the king of Gondor!" Well, it's screamed in a subtle way. It is extremely...compelling, I guess.
When Aragorn's coronated at the end of ROTK, you can tell that this was really his life's destiny. He looks so strong and brave...like the kind of man you'd want as your ruler. If there were real-life monarchs like Aragorn, I'm not entirely sure monarchy would have come to an end. You know that he will defend anyone weaker than him at this point. But when Arwen comes to him and they kiss, you see that he's vulnerable too. Things can hurt him, and he's really had a fear of lost love in him while he was doing everything else, which makes it that much more amazing. He's truly an incredible man, inside and out, no matter which side of his personality's shown.