Aragorn

[Niluial]

I have always been amazed by Aragorn for some bizarre reason… some things never actually made sense to me… could someone (who knows more about The Lord of the Rings) assist me and answer these questions?

Why is Aragorn known by so many names; where does he come from; what are his strengths and weaknesses; and what is his importance? What is the significance of his being "descended through many fathers from Isildur"? Why doesn't he claim the Ring?

~Niluial

[Meela]

I'm no expert, but I'll help as much as I can.

His many names come from his many identities and roles in life, I believe. For example, he acquired the name Thorongil as a cover for his true identity when he served Thengel of Rohan and Ecthelion II of Gondor.
Estel was his 'elvish' identity, for when he lived with the elves, and the fact that it means hope may have been to signify his important role in the future of Middle Earth. Wingfoot was a nickname, and I assume he was given many nicknames by people as they met him.
His importance is that he is the one who can claim the throne of Gondor and re-unite Middle Earth. The time of the War of the Ring is when the need for a king is greatest, so he must be the one heir in his line of fathers to actually come forward and make the claim.
His significance of being of the line of Isildur is that it shows his claim to the throne. I suppose it is always 'of the line of Isildur' because Isildur was the one who claimed the Ring, and bound all his descendants to its fate also.
This relates to why he doesn't claim the Ring. He knows what it did to Isildur, and he knows it is in his blood. He must resist the Ring, or he will share Isildur's fate and become corrupted, and he will not unite Middle Earth.
This is also one of his strengths, and a weakness. His strength is that he resists the Ring, and his weakness is that he is vulnerable to it, because of his bind to it.
I don't know any other significant strengths or weaknesses.
Hope that helped a little.

[Arwen Evenstar]

Aragorn came from Gondor. Arathorn his father was king, until he was killed when Aragorn was only 2 years old. Aragorn`s mother brought him to Rivendell. He never knew he was Isildur`s heir until about the age of 18.
He has many names such as:

- Aragorn II
- Strider
- Estel
- The Dunedain
- Winged Foot
and many others.

Arwen Evenstar (Aragorn lover)

[img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Sleepy Ranger]

Well this is my first post and I came across this topic and I like Aragorn [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] anyways well I thought I'd help since I know a thing or two 'bout him. 'Estel' was not only his Elvish identity but also used to hide his lineage from the enemies of the Dunedein. Strider by the people of Bree who didn't know his real name. They called him Strider 'cause he well I dont remember I haven't read the books for some time but I think it was because he walked around alot and was very woodsy or something. Dunadan by Bilbo was 'cause he was of the Dunedien and Wingfoot by Eomer was 'cause he led Gimli and Legolas over I forgot where i 3-4 days or something(its been an year since I read the books so dont kill me if Im wrong). He had more than one reason to become king of the re-united Kingdoms of Anor and Gondor. Well his main reason was Elrond would not let Arwen marry him unless he was king. Hope that helps. I know I might have gone wrong somewhere but Its been a year since I read the book.I read TT twice.

[Lord of Angmar]

Arathorn his father was king, until he was killed when Aragorn was only 2 years old.

Arathorn was never King or Lord over any realm in Middle Earth. He was descended from Kings, from Isildur and before him Elendil the Tall. Aragorn was the first King since Earnur king of Gondor rode to his death in battle against the Witch King of Angmar. After Earnur, the Stewards took over Gondor. In Arnor, the northern realm, King Arvedui was the last, but Arnor was defeated by the forces of Angmar.

Sorry, that got a little off topic. Aragorn is a man of many names. His name as King of Gondor is King Elessar, the Elfstone. His Elvish name 'Estel' means 'hope', as in hope for the race of Men and the people of Middle Earth. Telcontar is Elvish for his Ranger nickname, Strider, and it is the name of his royal house. And, as has been said earlier, there are several other names, Thorongil the most well-known, that he has taken.

As for his weaknesses, I do not think he had many. He laboured for many long and hard years to regain the Kingship, and at last he achieved it. The only weakness I can see in him is that at one point he was confused and uncertain about the path he must take to the Kingship, but who of us has not been confused and certain? I certainly do not think that that is a 'weakness' that can be held against him.

Cheers!
-Angmar

[Voralphion]

Aragorn came from Gondor. Arathorn his father was king

No. Aragorn was born in the north of middle earth in the former realm of Arnor. His father was never king, but was cheiftain of the dunedain of the north as was all his forefathers back to the time of the son of the last king of Arnor.

Aragorn had many names because he wanted to conceal his true identity and so took the various names given to him by others.

His importance was that he was the last remaining descendant of Elendil, the first king of Arnor and Gondor. The significance of him being descended through many fathers from Isildur, is that this made him eligible to claim the kingship of Gondor, as Isildur was a king of Gondor, and remained high king when he left to take up rule of Arnor. The fact that Aragorn was descended from Isildur meant that he had a rightful claim to the throne because Isildur's line should have kept the kingship of Gondor as well.

He doesn't claim the ring, despite the fact it was taken as an heirloom of his house by Isildur was because Aragorn understood that the ring was evil and could only really belong to Sauron. He knew that if he claimed the ring, it would destroy him and allow Sauron to become victorious.

I hope this is helpful.

[Kaiserin]

... and let's not forget Bill Ferny's ninckname for him: "Longshanks". [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

...And when he was known as "Estel", his lineage was not only kept from the enemies of the Dunedain, but also from himself.

It was significant that he was a direct descendant of Isildur (as already mentioned above) to emphasize the fact that he was the direct and rightful heir, unlike the stewards and "kings" who would have been distant relatives. It should be seen that he was in no way userping anybody's throne but was just claiming what was rightfully his.

Niluial: About the Ring - the Ring had nothing to do with his rule, if that's what you're thinking. As emblems of his kingship he had Anduril, his scepter, his crown (and a circlet, i guess) and the banner bearing the white tree.

[ August 12, 2003: Message edited by: Kaiserin ]

[ August 12, 2003: Message edited by: Kaiserin ]

[THE Ka]

I would have to say he is one of my favorite characters in the lotr. I mean how perfect a part for such an complex guy...

But, i did notice he does relate to so of the other characters... for exaple Gandalf, he was friends with him and sometimes but, not all the time he did act strict or always very serious about difficult matters. just like gandalf would do most or all the time...and let's not forget the time when frodo ran away for boromir... aragorn alone kept a cool head while everyone else ran around like chickens with their heads cut off! well, i think he is a wonderful character in the story, one of the most important too... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img] [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

The heights of great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight,
but they,
while their companions slept,
were tolling upward in the night.
- Longfellow, The ladder or ST. Augustine

[Tarien Ithil]

Was Elessar not an Elvish name for him too? I may be wrong...

[Meela]

Galadriel gave him the name Elessar, so i'm assuming it is Elvish.

[ArathorofBarahir]

I believe that he uses these different names to keep his true identity hidden so that when he feels that the time is right he will reveal himself.

[Finwe]

I think Aragorn has permanent identity crisis because it took him so much to reveal his true identity to the "world." But then again, it also had to be at the right time, since it would have been to no avail if he revealed himself to Sauron before the One Ring had been found and secured (for the most part), and a plan for its destruction thought out. In fact, the only reason that he revealed himself (in my opinion) was to distract Sauron, so we know that it was definitely not on his top list of priorities.