Aragorn goes a'prowling where the stars are strange

[Anardil]

Throughout his long career as a Ranger, Aragorn travelled in many places and participated in a large number of heroic deeds. The greatest of his journeys however were certainly the ones he undertook in the far countries of Rhun and Harad. Here, we are told, he was "exploring the hearts of men, both good and evil, and uncovering the plots and devices of the servants of Sauron". Clearly, Aragorn's purpose was to spy on the Easterlings and Southrons. It seems to me that the name Incanus would have been more appropriately given to Aragorn than to Gandalf. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

What is less clear however is just when these mammoth journeys took place. We are told that in 2957-2980 Aragorn undertook his great journeys and errantries. At some point during those years, he went to the kingdom of Rohan and rode with the Rohirrim, in the service of King Thengel. Afterwards, he went to Minas Tirith and offered his services to Ecthelion, Steward of Gondor. Having fought many battles as a soldier, he ended his service by leading a small fleet of ships against the corsairs of Umbar, and then disappeared again. Later that same year (2980) he entered Lothlorien.

As far as I can guess, the great journey through Rhun and Harad could have taken place either:

1. Before Aragorn went to Rohan

2. After he left Gondor, but before he entered Lorien, or

3. After his engagement to Arwen in Lorien and his talk with Elrond.

It seems to me that there would not have been enough time in 2980 between his departure from Pelargir and his arrival in Lorien for Aragorn to travel very far. The journey itself would have taken at least a year, and much more time would have been required for Aragorn to become familiar enough with the language and culture of the inhabitants to do much spying. Also, we are told that he wanted to return to Rivendell and rest there "ere he journeyed into the far countries". I presume that by "far countries", Tolkien means Rhun and Harad. Therefore, I would guess that possibility 3 in the most probable.