Aragorn

(a.k.a. Strider)

Physical Description

Specialized Equipment

Aragorn has a couple of distinguishing items, most of which stem from his position as heir to the throne of Gondor. One of them is a green stone that his mother prophesied Aragorn would wear after his coronation. Gandalf actually carried with him the stone in question as a symbol of Gandalf's appointment by the Valar to help the forces of the Free People. So this stone helps grant him a form of a divine mandate. His family name adopted after he took the throne was Elessar was based on this - meaning "elfstone" in elvish.
The Star of Elendil is the next one. It was a glowing gem placed in mithril. It was often seen as one of the symbols of royal power of Arnor. When Aragorn found it in Isengard, it was one more tool in solidifying his symbolic reunification of the Numenorean realms in exile. Which then allowed him legal control over the Shire and thus prevented the destruction of the hobbit's way of life.
The Ring of Barahir is interesting to me. It was actually made in Valinor. It appeared to be two snakes with emeralds for eyes. Each was eating the other while supporting golden flowers. It started out as a heirloom of an elven lord. But it came to eventually be the symbol of the royalty of Numenorean and later realms in exile.
Though lets be honest here. In a story where fighting is such an important part of the story, the most important of Aragorn's specialized equipment is Narsil. This beast of a sword is 5 feet long and designed for two handed use. This was apparently only practical for the seven foot Elendil, who was its wielder at the time of the Last Alliance. It still had to be carried at an angle to keep it from being dragged on the ground.
It appears to have some magical properties. It was made by one of the most skilled dwarven smiths of the day. But I know of no forging techniques that explain Narsil. First, it shone so brilliantly in battle it scared the enemies of its wielders. It was broken in battle and not sharpened over the next several thousand years. Yet it did not lose any sharpness or appear to rust.
But more importantly, it was the item that allowed Aragorn to summon the Army of the Dead. Only this sword too. He had the Ring of Barahir. So its not like that was not a symbol of Aragorn's legitimacy. This suggests to me that the sword was integral to the curse that created the Army of the Dead.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

He fought in wars for Rohan when Theoden’s father was still king and for Gondor when Denethor’s father was still Steward. During his service to Gondor, he led a group of ships to raid Umbar – killing the Corsair leader and burning many of their ships. During the War of the Ring, Aragorn provided advice and leadership to Rohan again at Helm’s Deep. In many respects, he operated as a proto military adviser. His actions provided much needed leadership to those two nations and through that needed morale and victories. He operated under a false name so as to hide from agents of Sauron. Meanwhile, this allowed him to fight for Gondor, as it seems quite likely the stewards would have been threatened by his mere presence.
When he came of age, Elrond revealed to Aragorn his real name and family history. At this point he took over the role of Chieftain of the Dúnedain. He also met Arwen for the first time. He spent many years afterwards using his false names to serve in the armies of both Gondor and Rohan. His most famous exploit in this period was the raid on Umbar that destroyed many of their ships and killed their leader. After this, he explored many poorly understood regions. For example, accounts he provides of his trips provides us much of the information we have of Harad and Rhun. After a request from Gandalf, Aragorn tracked down and captured Gollum. This allowed for the discovery that Sauron knew where the One Ring was.
Though he really became useful in the main narrative. First, the hobbits arrived in Rivendell because of Aragorn's guidance and fighting off the Ring Wraiths. Then, he took part in the Fellowship, taking over after Gandalf's "death". After the breaking of the Fellowship, he was a leading factor in the Battle of Helm's Deep. Then, his control over the Armies of the Dead and defeat of the Corsairs was a massive reason Minas Tirith was not wiped off the map.
After this he led the attack on the Black Gate. Afterwards he became king of Gondor. Under his reign, Gondor hit its maximum extent and reunited it with the territory of Arnor. The Easterling and Southron threats were apparently no longer were threats after Sauron's defeat. Though Aragorn did solidify this with a combination of mercy based diplomacy and limited military campaigns.

Intellectual Characteristics

Apparently, he was normally a bit sad and grim. But there were moments of levity. Generally he had plenty of wisdom, but he was not immune to self doubts.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Elrond’s own daughter married Aragorn. Aragorn himself was raised and protected by Elrond, with Elrond and Gandalf serving as mentors and friends. So the major elites surrounding Aragorn from a very close and personally linked group. Elrond’s half brother was actually the first king of Numenor and thus the distant ancestor of Aragorn’s. The shelter he provides Aragorn also includes the protection of the Shards of Narsil and other relics similar to the Crown Jewels. Even before the Isildur’s line went into hiding, Elrond went to war to protect Arnor. So, Aragorn’s familial past, early childhood and political future was rooted in Rivendell and its protection. Aragorn also benefited directly from the assistance of Galadriel. She gave him an upgraded scabbard, tips about the Paths of the Dead and summoned to the Grey Company to help at Minas Tirith. If you look back to how I think the Elves would influence the cultures of other states and their elites, Aragorn’s family would be a text book example of this.
Now, lets look deeper into the Gandalf and Aragorn’s relationship here. The year after he met Gandalf, Aragorn began his fight vigorously and directly against Sauron. Then, under Gandalf’s direction, he hunted for Gollum for the purpose of interrogating him. During the Fellowship, he acted as Gandalf’s second in command, becoming the leader after Moria. The Fellowship’s mission was the covert assassination of a head of state. Aragorn also used a fake name in the early days of the Fellowship. He then aids Gandalf again in ousting Wormtongue. He cooperated with Eomer, who due to the fact he was then exiled from Rohan but still engaging in warfare in its territory, could be seen as a violent non state actor. In Return of the King, he selectively leaks information to Sauron in a successful attempted to manipulate the Dark Lord. All of these things put together suggests to me that Aragorn is acting as a form of intelligence operative acting under Gandalf’s direction. This is further reinforced when we get to looking at the Rangers of the North.

Family Ties

As one can guess, Aragorn was the last remaining heir of the Gondorian Royal Family. His father was killed by orcs when he was two. Afterwards he was adopted by Elrond.

Honorary & Occupational Titles

His two main titles were chieftain of the Rangers of the North and King of Gondor.
It is important to note that he was quite popular with the Gondorian soldiers. Combine this with his alliances with the White Council and legitimate claim to the throne, him seizing power would have been quite easy at this time. Faramir was later healed by Aragorn. His self sacrifice, humility and healing ability further solidified his claim at the time of the War of the Ring. With the death of Boromir and Denethor and Faramir’s loyalty and gratitude, the path to Aragorn regaining the throne was wide open. But, many of these factors were in play prior to Minas Tirith, so it would have not been a stretch to have Gandalf push for Aragorn to launch a coup d’etat prior to the outbreak of the war.
Now, in the books, there was concerns that if Aragorn claimed the throne before total victory over Sauron it could be a fatal distraction. But, but he and the White Council knew that the war was coming prior to the first skirmishes. In fact, the Fellowship and Aragorn’s use of the Palantír actually hastened the arrival of war. Thus, it could have been beneficial to send Aragorn back to take the throne as one of the first public acts in the lead up to the war. I do admit that him taking power later had some benefits, but it would have been hard if not impossible to predict the fact the fighting would ultimately kill off the two greatest impediments to Aragorn’s return to power.
So by virtue of this lineage, technically Aragorn would only have the right to the post of Chieftain and from that the lands that once were part of Arthedain. In a quirk that I was not aware of prior to researching this, Isildur was technically the High King of both realms in exile. But, Isildur's family only retained power over Arnor. Through direct inheritance, Aragorn thus only has power basically between the Misty Mountains and the western edge of the Shire.
The House of Anárion was the royal family of Gondor. So Aragorn gets no real legitimacy by calling on decent from Isildur directly. But Isildur and the founder of the House of Anárion were brothers. To me, this is why the pumping up of his claim to kingship in the Arnor region is so important. The royal line in Gondor is dead. Traditionally, when this happens in real life, the first step is to see if there is any legitimate heirs that can be found in another line of the family. If no sons can be found, this means the closest related uncle or cousin. Jump up one level from Isildur and you have the first High King of the Realms in Exile and the father of both "lower" kings.
Hence why Arnor remains important to us. Aragorn needs to be able to demonstrate his membership in the Arthedain Royal Family. It grants no automatic claim to power in Gondor. But it does allow a solid starting place to establish a legitimate claim. It does not appear that Eärnur had any children, meaning he was the last member of his house and king of Gondor according to the normal rules as I understand them. Which then means the above mentioned process of backing up one level at a time and going down each branch until the closest relative can be found kicks in.
Apparently, this was not done for some reason until Aragorn made his move. So I would be a bit skeptical to be honest if I was a Gondorian lord. If this line was legitimate, why was the new king arriving now after thousands of years? Plus, there is the concern some would have over heirs to Eärnur. If after all this time, an heir to Isildur is showing up, why not make sure there is no one descendant from the actual Gondorian Royal Family?
Then there is the Gandalf element. Gandalf was not hated in Gondor like he was in Mordor's allies. But he wasn't exactly liked and trusted either. We know that Aragorn was pretty open about his relationship with Gandalf. Gandalf was the one who put the crown on Aragorn's head at Aragorn's coronation for example. So there would be a sense that Aragorn might be Gandalfs puppet at best. At worst, Aragorn's claim might be seen as manufactured by Gandalf so that Gandalf can gain power over Gondor.
Then there is the whole nature of politics. The Stewards naturally would have built up a coalition that is loyal to and dependent on them. Otherwise they would have been kicked out of power a long time ago. So Denethor would not be the only one who feels threatened by Aragorn showing up. The elites of Gondor would feel that an attack on the stewards would threaten their interests regardless of Aragorn's legitimacy. Which means Faramir might become a rallying point for supporters of Aragorn's internal enemies.
But Elrond would have the memory and documentation to prove it. Plus, Aragorn's Ring. He also saved Gondor from destruction, so I doubt there would be too many people looking too hard. Just as important is the Army of the Dead - which gives huge empirical proof of Aragorn's decent from Isildur and an invincible army to back it up.
But this also explains part of the reason Aragorn placed so much emphasis on being invited into Minas Tirith and demonstrating his healing powers. Those healing skills Aragorn are part of prophecies that say that the new king would be a master healer - so demonstrating these skills would reinforce his claim to the throne. He essentially needs to play everything by the book. No force can be used at first to gain power. Instead, he needs to use tradition, rituals and the prophecy to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that he is the rightful king.

Aligned Organization

White Council

Other Affiliations

• Gondorian State

Ruled Locations

• Eriador