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Aragorn
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This article is about the fictional character. For the character's ancestor of the same name, see Aragorn I. For the autonomous community in Spain, see Aragon. For the thoroughbred racehorse, see Aragorn (horse).
Aragorn
Tolkien's legendarium character
Aliases
See Names and titles below
Race
Man
Book(s)
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
Aragorn II, son of Arathorn is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider at Bree, as the Hobbits continued to call him throughout The Lord of the Rings. He was eventually discovered to be the heir of Isildur and rightful claimant to the thrones of Arnor and Gondor. He was also a confidant of Gandalf and an integral part of the quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron.
Aragorn led the Fellowship of the Ring following the loss of Gandalf in the Mines of Moria while fighting the Balrog. When the Fellowship was broken, he tracked the hobbits Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took with the help of Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf to Fangorn Forest. Then he fought in the battle at Helm's Deep and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. After defeating Sauron's forces in Gondor, he led an army of Gondor and Rohan against the Black Gate of Mordor to distract Sauron's attention so that Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee could have a chance to destroy the One Ring.
At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn was crowned King Elessar Telcontar ("Elfstone Strider") of Gondor. He married Elrond's daughter, Arwen, and assumed the Sceptre of Annúminas as King of Arnor, uniting the two kingdoms for the first time since the reign of Isildur.
Contents
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1 Appearances in literature
1.1 History
1.2 The Lord of the Rings
2 Characteristics
3 Names and titles
4 Concept and creation
4.1 Identity
4.2 Further character developments
4.3 Rejected names
4.4 Meaning of Names
4.5 Comparisons to Christ
4.6 Basis on real historical characters
5 Adaptations
5.1 Film
5.2 Stage
5.3 Parodies
6 Reception
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Appearances in literature[edit]
History[edit]
The son of Arathorn II and his wife Gilraen, Aragorn was born on 1 March, T.A. 2931.[1] Through his ancestor Elendil (whom he closely resembled)[2] Aragorn was a descendant of the first king of Númenor, Elros Tar-Minyatur; the twin brother of Elrond.
When Aragorn was two years old, his father was killed while pursuing orcs. Aragorn was afterwards fostered in Rivendell by Elrond. At the bidding of Elrond, his lineage was kept secret, as Elrond feared he would be killed like his father and grandfather if his true identity as Isildur's heir became known. Aragorn was renamed Estel ("hope" in Sindarin) to hide his existence from Sauron and his servants. He was not told about his heritage until he came of age in 2951.[1]
Elrond revealed to Aragorn his true name and ancestry, and delivered to him the shards of Elendil's sword Narsil, and also the Ring of Barahir. He withheld the Sceptre of Annúminas from him until he earned the right to possess it. Aragorn met and fell in love with Arwen, Elrond's daughter (whom he mistook for Tinúviel), when she returned from Lórien, her mother's homeland.[1]
Aragorn thereafter assumed his role as the sixteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North, and went into the wild, living with the remnants of his people, whose kingdom had been destroyed through civil and regional wars centuries before.[1]
Aragorn met Gandalf the Grey in 2956, and they became close friends.[1] The Rangers help to guard the Shire, inhabited by the diminutive, agrarian Hobbits. In the areas around the Shire and Bree he became known as "Strider".[3]
From 2957 to 2980, Aragorn undertook great journeys, serving in the armies of King Thengel of Rohan (King Théoden's father) and of Steward Ecthelion II of Gondor (father of Denethor). His tasks helped to raise morale in the West and to counter the growing threat of Sauron and his allies, and he acquired experience that he would later put to use in the War of the Ring. Aragorn served his lords during that time under the name Thorongil (Eagle of the Star). With a small squadron of ships from Gondor, he led an assault on Umbar in 2980, burning many of the Corsairs' ships and personally slaying their lord during the Battle of the Havens. After the victory at Umbar, "Thorongil" left the field, to the dismay of his men, and went East.[1]
Aragorn also travelled through the Dwarves' mines of Moria and to Rhûn and Harad, where (in his own words) "the stars are strange".
In 2980, he visited Lórien, and there again met Arwen. He gave her an heirloom of his House, the Ring of Barahir,[4] and, on the hill of Cerin Amroth, Arwen pledged her hand to him in marriage, renouncing her Elvish lineage and accepting mortality, the "Gift of Men". Elrond withheld from Aragorn permission to marry his daughter until such time as his foster son should be king of Gondor and Arnor reunited. To marry a mortal, Arwen would be required to choose mortality and thus eventually separate the immortal Elrond from his daughter; and Elrond feared that in the end Arwen might find the prospect of death too difficult to bear.[1]
Gandalf grew suspicious of the ring belonging to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, which was later discovered to be Sauron's One Ring.[5] Gandalf asked Aragorn to track Gollum, who had previously possessed the Ring. This hunt led Aragorn across Rhovanion, and he finally captured Gollum in the Dead Marshes northwest of Mordor and brought him captive to King Thranduil’s halls in Mirkwood, where Gandalf questioned him.[6]
The Lord of the Rings[edit]
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn joined Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's adopted heir, and three of Frodo's friends at the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree; a letter from Gandalf convinced Frodo to trust Aragorn. The four hobbits had set out from the Shire to bring the One Ring to Rivendell. Aragorn, going by the nickname "Strider", was then aged 87, nearing the prime of life for one of royal Númenórean descent. With Aragorn's help the Hobbits escaped the pursuing Nazgûl and reached Rivendell. There Frodo volunteered to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, and Aragorn was chosen as a member of the Fellowship of the Ring to accompany him, along with Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the dwarf, Boromir of Gondor, and the hobbits Pippin, Merry, and Frodo's faithful gardener Samwise Gamgee. Elven-smiths reforged the shards of Narsil into a new sword, setting into the design of the blade seven stars (for Elendil) and a crescent moon (for Isildur), as well as many runes. Aragorn renamed the sword Andúril (meaning "flame of the west" in Sindarin), and it was said to have shone with the light of the Sun and the Moon.[7]
Aragorn accompanied the group through their attempted crossing of the pass of Caradhras, and subsequently through the mines of Moria. After Gandalf was lost in a battle with a Balrog, Aragorn led the company to Lothlórien and then down the river Anduin to the Falls of Rauros. Originally he planned to go to Gondor to aid its people in the war, but after the loss of Gandalf he became increasingly concerned about his responsibilities to Frodo and the quest.[7]
“I serve no man,” said Aragorn; “but the servants of Sauron I pursue into whatever land they may go... I am not weaponless.” Aragorn threw back his cloak. The elven-sheath glittered as he grasped it, and the bright blade of Andúril shone like a sudden flame as he swept it out. “Elendil!” he cried. “I am Aragorn son of Arathorn and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, Dúnadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil's son of Gondor. Here is the Sword that was Broken and is forged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
In The Two Towers, the Fellowship quickly fell apart: Frodo had decided to continue his journey alone (accompanied by Sam) and Boromir was slain while defending Merry and Pippin, who were captured by orcs. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli (calling themselves the Three Hunters) set off to track the Uruk-hai, hoping to rescue Merry and Pippin. They encountered Éomer, who was pursuing rumours of an orc raid in the area. From Éomer, Aragorn learned that the orcs who kidnapped Merry and Pippin had been slaughtered, and that no hobbits were found among the remains. Dejected, he led Legolas and Gimli to the site of the battle. Clues led Aragorn to believe that the hobbits might still be alive, prompting him to lead the party into Fangorn Forest. They found not the hobbits, but Gandalf the White (whom they initially mistook for Saruman), sent back from death to continue his duties in Middle-earth. Gandalf told them that the hobbits were in the care of the Ents of Fangorn. Together, the four travelled to Edoras in Rohan, where Gandalf freed Théoden from Saruman's enchantment and helped him muster the Rohirrim against Saruman. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli then helped the people of Rohan in the Battle of the Hornburg, in which Saruman's army was destroyed.[8]
In The Return of the King, Aragorn used a palantír and revealed himself to Sauron as the heir of Isildur, in order to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo, who was approaching Mordor, and to draw Sauron forth from Mordor.[9] Sauron subsequently made his assault on Minas Tirith prematurely and without adequate preparation. In order to reach the city in time to defend it, Aragorn entered the Paths of the Dead, and summoned the Dead Men of Dunharrow who owed allegiance to the heir of Isildur. It had been prophesied by Isildur and Malbeth the Seer that the Dead would be summoned to pay their debt for betraying Gondor millennia before. With their aid the Corsairs of Umbar were defeated at the port of Pelargir. Aragorn then sailed up the Anduin to Minas Tirith with a small force of Rangers and a large contingent of men and soldiers from the southern regions of Gondor. As they approached Minas Tirith, Aragorn unfurled the royal standard that Arwen had made for him, showing both the White Tree of Gondor and the jewelled crown and seven stars of the House of Elendil. With the help of the southern forces the armies of Gondor and Rohan rallied and defeated Sauron's army in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.[10]
To continue to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo's quest, Aragorn led the armies of the West to the gates of Mordor, where Sauron attacked with overwhelming force. But at that moment the Ring was destroyed, and Sauron and his forces were vanquished.[10]
The restoration of the line of Elendil to the throne of Gondor is a subplot of The Lord of the Rings; Aragorn's adventures not only aid Frodo in his quest, but also bring him closer to his own kingship – which, though his by right and lineage, had been left unclaimed for centuries due to historical, legal, and military circumstances. Although Isildur and his brother Anárion had ruled Gondor jointly, the royal house of Gondor descended from Anárion and not directly from Isildur. After Isildur's departure, Meneldil, son of Anárion, ruled Gondor alone, although the formal title of High King remained with the northern line, as Isildur was Elendil's elder son. When Gondor's throne became vacant in T.A. 1944, the separation of the kingdoms had been reinforced when Gondor under Steward Pelendur rejected the claim of the northern prince Arvedui. (Eärnil, a lateral member of the House of Anárion, was eventually chosen king instead.) But Arvedui's wife was also of the House of Anárion, so Aragorn descended not only from Elendil and Isildur but also from the ruling family of Gondor. By the time of the Lord of the Rings, however, Gondor had been under the rule of the Stewards of Gondor for centuries, as it was widely doubted that any of the royal line still lived.[1]
In The Return of the King, the Steward Denethor, who years before had seen "Thorongil" as a rival for his father's favour, declared that he would not bow to a descendant of Isildur. Aragorn healed Faramir, Denethor's heir, who had been expected to die; Faramir, unlike his father, recognized Aragorn as his lord and the rightful heir to the throne. Aragorn's humility and self-sacrifice gained him the hearts of the inhabitants of Gondor's capital city. His healing abilities were noted also by the people of Gondor; as Ioreth said, "The hands of the King are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known". The people hailed Aragorn as King that same evening.[10]
Despite his immediate success and popularity, however, Aragorn decided to lay aside his claim to the throne for the time being. To avoid conflict he left Minas Tirith and refused to enter it again until he was crowned King.[10]
In order to ensure safe passage across Mordor for Frodo to fulfil his quest, Aragorn then led the Army of the West out from Minas Tirith to make a diversionary feint on the Black Gate of Mordor itself in the Battle of the Morannon. Gandalf had been given supreme command of the war effort after the Pelennor Fields, and acted as chief spokesman in the parley with the Mouth of Sauron; but Aragorn commanded the allied troops during the battle and its aftermath.[10]
Upon Sauron's defeat, Aragorn was crowned as King Elessar (a Quenya name given to him by Galadriel, translated as Elfstone), and he married Arwen shortly afterward. He became the twenty-sixth King of Arnor, thirty-fifth King of Gondor and the first High King of the Reunited Kingdom. His line was called the House of Telcontar (Quenya for "Strider", his name in Bree). The Appendices of Return of the King explain that Aragorn ruled the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor until the year 120 of the Fourth Age. His reign was marked by great harmony and prosperity within Gondor and Arnor, and by a renewal of communication and cooperation between Men, Elves, and Dwarves, fostered by his vigorous rebuilding campaign following the war. Aragorn led the forces of the Reunited Kingdom on military campaigns against some Easterlings and Haradrim, re-establishing rule over much territory that Gondor had lost in previous centuries. He died at the age of 210, after 122[4] years as king. The graves of Merry and Pippin (who had died in Gondor 58 years prior) were set beside his. He was succeeded on the throne by his son, Eldarion. Arwen, gravely saddened by the loss of her husband, gave up her mortal life shortly afterward in Lothlórien. Arwen and Aragorn also had at least two daughters. Upon hearing of Aragorn's death, Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed to the Undying Lands, along with Gimli. "And when that ship passed an end was come in Middle-earth of the Fellowship of the Ring."[1]
Characteristics[edit]
Tolkien gives a brief but detailed description of Strider in The Fellowship of the Ring: lean, dark and tall, with shaggy dark hair "flecked with grey", grey eyes, and a stern pale face. It is also stated that he was the tallest of the Company.[11] Some time after the publication of the books, Tolkien wrote that he was at least 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) tall.[12] Although he was 87 years old at the time of the War of the Ring, this was the prime of life for a Dunadan of royal blood, and Tolkien wrote that to those unaware of his lineage "in character Aragorn was a hardened man of say 45".[13] In "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", found in the Appendices, he was described as often grim and sad, with unexpected moments of levity.[14]
Aragorn possessed Elven wisdom – due to his childhood in Rivendell with Elrond – and the foresight of the Dúnedain. He was a skilled healer, notably with the plant athelas (also known as Kingsfoil). He was a mighty warrior and an unmatched commander; after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, he, Éomer and Imrahil were unscathed, even though they had been in the thick of the fighting.[14] Due to his position as Isildur's heir, Aragorn had impressive powers for a man, and, as the rightful owner of the palantír of Orthanc used it to declare himself as the heir of Isildur to Sauron, seeking to distract Sauron from Frodo.
Though he was wise and strong, he was not immune to self-doubt. He doubted the wisdom of his decisions while leading the Fellowship after the loss of Gandalf in Moria, and blamed himself for many of their subsequent misfortunes.[11][15]
Names and titles[edit]
Aragorn, son of Arathorn was called the Dúnadan ("Man of the West/Númenórean", given by Arwen in Lothlórien and much used by Bilbo), Longshanks (given by Bill Ferny in Bree), Strider (by which he was known in Bree and the outlying areas), and Wingfoot (given by Éomer after discovering that Aragorn had travelled 45 leagues in four days in pursuit of Pippin, Merry, and their Uruk-hai captors).
He was the founder of the House of Telcontar (Telcontar is "Strider" in Quenya, after the nickname given him by the rustics of the North), which ruled Gondor well into the Fourth Age of Middle-earth; in records, his full regnal name is given as Elessar Telcontar ("Elfstone Strider"). In the Houses of Healing, he called himself Envinyatar, the renewer.
Before coming of age, he was known as Estel ("hope") to hide his true lineage from Sauron's forces, who sought the heir of Isildur. He was known as Thorongil ("Eagle of the Star") in his younger days when he travelled across Middle-earth and took up service in Rohan and Gondor (often by protecting camps and raiding enemy strongholds as he did when he fought the Corsairs in Umbar).
Concept and creation[edit]
Aragorn's character and story arc underwent a series of developments and name changes before the version seen in The Lord of the Rings, as Tolkien did not have the full plot of the story or its background planned out when he started writing.
Identity[edit]
The "first germ" of the character that later evolved into Aragorn or Strider was a peculiar hobbit met by Bingo Bolger-Baggins (precursor of Frodo Baggins) at the inn of The Prancing Pony. His description and behaviour, however, was already quite close to the final story, with the difference that the hobbit wore wooden shoes, and was nicknamed Trotter for the "clitter-clap" sound that they produced. He was also accounted to be "one of the wild folk – rangers", and he played the same role in Frodo's journey to Rivendell as in The Lord of the Rings.[16]
Later Tolkien hesitated about the true identity of "Trotter" for a long time. One of his notes suggested that the Rangers should not be hobbits as originally planned, and that this would mean that Trotter was either a man, or a hobbit who associated himself with the Rangers and was "very well known" (within the story).[17] The latter suggestion was linked to an early comment of Bingo: "I keep on feeling that I have seen him somewhere before".[18] Tolkien considered that Trotter might be Bilbo Baggins himself, but soon rejected that idea after Aragorn identified himself.[17]
Another suggestion was that Trotter was Fosco Took (Bilbo's first cousin), who "vanished when a lad, owing to Gandalf".[17] This story was further elaborated, making Trotter a nephew of Bilbo, named Peregrin Boffin, and an elder cousin of Frodo. He was said to have run away after he came of age,[19] some 20 years before Bilbo left the Shire, and had helped Gandalf in tracking Gollum later. A hint was also given as to why Trotter wore wooden shoes: he had been captured by the Dark Lord in Mordor and tortured, but saved by Gandalf; a note was added by Tolkien in the margin, saying that it would later be revealed that Trotter had wooden feet.[20]
The conception of Trotter as a hobbit was eventually discarded. Another short-lived idea was to make Trotter "a disguised elf-friend of Bilbo's in Rivendell," and a scout from Rivendell who "pretends to be a ranger".[21]
It was not until after Book I was written that Tolkien finally settled on making Trotter a man, introducing him from the beginning as Aragorn, a "descendant of the ancient men of the North, and one of Elrond's household".[21] While the history of Númenor and the descendants of Elros and Elendil was not yet fully developed, the germs of it were in existence, and would come to be connected with The Lord of the Rings as the character of Aragorn developed.
Further character developments[edit]
The development of Aragorn's connection to Gondor was long and complex, as was his association with Boromir. Initially it is said that Aragorn's forefathers were the exiles of Númenor who ruled over the people of Ond (the early name of Gondor) but were driven out by the Witch King "when Sauron raised a rebellion".[22] The story of the two branches of Elendil's descendants ruling over two kingdoms of Men through many generations only emerged gradually; at one time, Tolkien even seems to have conceived only three generations between Isildur and Aragorn.[23]
Aragorn's relationship with Arwen was established very late in the writing. When Tolkien first introduced Éowyn, the interest she showed towards Aragorn was not one-sided, with suggestions in notes that they would marry at the end of the story. Another proposal was that Éowyn would die to save or avenge Théoden, and Aragorn would never marry after her death.[24]
The first mention of Elrond's daughter, named Finduilas, was made in reference to the banner she made for Aragorn,[25] but Tolkien did not give any hint whether she had any further part to play. The references to her marriage with Aragorn came later,[26] but it was explicitly stated only near the completion of the book.[27] Only in his work on the appendices for The Lord of the Rings did Tolkien record the full tale of Aragorn and Arwen.[28]
A passing idea was that Galadriel gave her Ring to Aragorn, and that he would accordingly be titled the "Lord of the Ring".[26]
Rejected names[edit]
The original nickname Trotter was retained for a long time, and Tolkien decided to change it to Strider only after the story was completed. There were also several experimental translations of Trotter to Sindarin: Padathir, Du-finnion, and Rimbedir, with Ethelion possibly an equivalent of Peregrin (Boffin).[29] Before the later title "the Dúnadan" emerged, Tarkil (Quenya for 'noble Man') was used, as a synonym for Númenórean.[30]
Tolkien hesitated for some time over Strider's "real" name. Although Aragorn was the first suggestion when his Mannish descent was determined, the name was changed a number of times. At one point Tolkien decided that an Elvish name does not suit a Man, and thus altered it from Aragorn via Elfstone to Ingold, an Old English name with ing- representing "west". Later, however, a new plot element was introduced: Galadriel's gift of a green stone, and Tolkien reverted to Elfstone in order to make an additional connection.[31] This was retained into the final version of the legendarium as a translation of Elessar.
Among other names Tolkien considered Elfstan, Elfmere, Elf-friend, Elfspear, Elfwold and Erkenbrand, with various Elvish forms: Eldamir, Eldavel, Eledon, Qendemir. The name of Aragorn's father also passed through many transient forms: Tolkien paired Aramir or Celegorn with Aragorn before settling upon Arathorn; Elfhelm and Eldakar with Elfstone and Eldamir; and Ingrim with Ingold.[31]
Meaning of Names[edit]
The meaning of the name Aragorn is unexplained, though it is presumably Sindarin meaning noble warrior, Lord of the Tree, or kingly valour depending on who is translating.[32] The English word Strider stems from the similarly pronounced Dutch word Strijder.[citation needed] Depending on the context the word can mean fighter, warrior, defender activist, campaigner or one that works for another.[33]
Comparisons to Christ[edit]
Aragorn has been referred to as a Christ-as-King character; Tolkien's use of prophecy has been compared to the Old Testament's foretelling of the coming of the Messiah.[34]
Basis on real historical characters[edit]
According to archaeologist Max Adams in his book The King of the North: the life and times of Oswald of Northumbria Tolkien based Aragorn on Oswald, a prince of the Northumbrian royal house exiled to the Kingdom of Dal Riata after Cadwallon King of Gwynedd and Penda King of Mercia laid waste to his ancestral homelands, and who returned years later with a raised army of Anglian exiles and retook his kingdom slaying Cadwallon in the process.[35]
Adaptations[edit]
Film[edit]
Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord of the Rings.
Aragorn as he appears in the Rankin/Bass animated production of The Return of the King.
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Aragorn was voiced by John Hurt in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film version of The Lord of the Rings. Bakshi's Aragorn, unlike all other portrayals that were to follow to date, has no beard. This actually conforms to a statement appearing in Unfinished Tales that implicitly says that Aragorn was not supposed to have one, due to his Elvish ancestry (Elves did not grow beards).[36] However, Tolkien actually wrote elsewhere that Elves did have beards; in The Lord of the Rings itself Círdan is described as having a beard.[37] Also, some viewers and critics have said that this version of Aragorn looks Native American.[38][39][40]
Aragorn was voiced by Theodore Bikel in the 1980 Rankin/Bass animated version of The Return of the King, made for television. Robert Stephens voiced Aragorn in the 1981 BBC Radio serial of The Lord of the Rings. Kari Väänänen portrayed him in the 1993 Finnish television miniseries Hobitit.
In the Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) directed by Peter Jackson, Aragorn is played by Danish-American actor Viggo Mortensen who took over the role from Stuart Townsend after four days of shooting because Jackson felt Townsend was too young for the role. In these movies, Aragorn begins his journey with the Fellowship with no desire to claim the kingship; he only arrives at such a decision in the third film after spending much time battling his own self-doubt. This specific element of self-doubt is not present in Tolkien's book, where Aragorn intends to claim the throne from the time he enters the story, with the additional motivation that he must do so to marry Arwen. Another notable difference in Jackson's films is that Aragorn does not at first wield Andúril. Instead he uses a different, unnamed sword throughout the first two films and receives his ancestor's reforged sword in the third film. Mortensen's portrayal of Aragorn won him the title of 15th greatest movie characters of all time (in 2015) by Empire.[41]
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the third and last part of Jackson's film adaptation of The Hobbit, refers to Aragorn near the end of the film. The Elven-king Thranduil tells his son Legolas to seek a young Dúnedan Ranger called Strider. He goes on to say that he is the son of Arathorn and has greatness in him. This is a clear reference to Aragorn, though by the timeline in Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings, he would have been only 10 at the time. This may be explained by the fact that the filmmakers compressed the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, changing the timeline so that Frodo sets off on his journey almost immediately after receiving the One Ring, rather than seventeen years later, as in the novel. In the film version of The Two Towers, Aragorn describes himself to Éowyn as being eighty-seven years old, as he was at that point in the books. However, as the filmmakers cut seventeen years from the time period between the events of the Hobbit and the beginning of Frodo's journey in The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn would have had to have been in his twenties, and an established Ranger, at the time the film The Battle of the Five Armies takes place.
In the 2009 fan film The Hunt for Gollum, Aragorn is portrayed by Adrian Webster. The film is set during the time of The Fellowship of the Ring. It takes place after Gandalf has discovered the true nature of Bilbo Baggins's ring and just before Frodo leaves the Shire for Rivendell.[42]
Stage[edit]
On stage, Aragorn was portrayed by Evan Buliung in the three-hour production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In the London production the role was played by Jerome Pradon, and the role was taken over by Robbie Scotcher on 23 June 2008. In the United States, Aragorn was portrayed by Josh Beshears in the Cincinnati, Ohio production of The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. At Chicago's Lifeline Theatre, Aragorn was played by Robert McLean in the 1999 production of The Two Towers and the 2001 production of The Return of the King.
Parodies[edit]
In the parody Bored of the Rings, Aragorn is portrayed as 'Arrowroot son of Arrowshirt' and nicknamed 'Stomper' and is quite deranged. He is also rather inept at actual fighting and disables an entire battalion of 'Nozdrul' simply with his combative ineptitude and random shouting of nonsensical battle-cries (which induces uncontrollable laughter and allows the group to successfully disable the Nozdrul while they are incapacitated with hysteria). In the Veggie Tales episode "Lord of the Beans", Aragorn is parodied as Larry the Cucumber dressed up as a Ranger named "Ear-o'-Corn".
Reception[edit]
UGO Networks listed Aragorn as one of their best heroes of all time.[43] Empire listed Aragorn as the #15 greatest movie character.[44]
See also[edit]
Middle-earth portal
Fictional characters portal
Halbarad
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Return of the King, appendices
Jump up ^ "He was Aragorn son of Arathorn, the nine and thirtieth heir in the right line from Isildur, and yet more like Elendil than any before him." Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Silmarillion, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 303, ISBN 0-395-25730-1
Jump up ^ The Lord of the Rings, "Strider".
^ Jump up to: a b The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B.
Jump up ^ The Lord of the Rings, "The Shadow of the Past".
Jump up ^ The Lord of the Rings, "The Council of Elrond".
^ Jump up to: a b The Fellowship of the Ring, passim.
Jump up ^ The Two Towers, passim.
Jump up ^ The Return of the King, "The Last Debate".
^ Jump up to: a b c d e The Return of the King, passim.
^ Jump up to: a b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), ISBN 0-395-08254-4
Jump up ^ The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion: "The Ring Goes South," p. 272
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Peoples of Middle-earth, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. 167, ISBN 0-395-82760-4
^ Jump up to: a b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955), The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), ISBN 0-395-08256-0
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), ISBN 0-395-08254-4
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1988), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Return of the Shadow, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 137–8, ISBN 0-395-49863-5
^ Jump up to: a b c The Return of the Shadow, pp 223–4.
Jump up ^ The Return of the Shadow, p. 208–8.
Jump up ^ The Return of the Shadow, pp. 371, 385.
Jump up ^ The Return of the Shadow, pp. 401, 413.
^ Jump up to: a b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1989), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Treason of Isengard, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. 6-t, ISBN 0-395-51562-9
Jump up ^ The Treason of Isengard, p. 116.
Jump up ^ The Treason of Isengard, pp. 360–1.
Jump up ^ The Treason of Isengard, pp. 445–8.
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1990), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The War of the Ring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. 307, ISBN 0-395-56008-X
^ Jump up to: a b The War of the Ring, pp. 425–6.
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1992), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Sauron Defeated, Boston, New York, & London: Houghton Mifflin, p. 52, ISBN 0-395-60649-7
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Peoples of Middle-earth, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 262–270, ISBN 0-395-82760-4
Jump up ^ The Return of the Shadow, pp. 476, 478, 488–9.
Jump up ^ The Treason of Isengard, p. 499.
^ Jump up to: a b See the index to The Treason of Isengard and pp. 277–8.
Jump up ^ Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Aragorn". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
Jump up ^ "strijder - English translation - bab.la Dutch-English dictionary". en.bab.la. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
Jump up ^ Hunt, Emily (2005). "Wilderness, Wanderers and Their Theological Significance in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings". In Sugirtharajah, R. S. Wilderness: Essays in Honour of Frances Young. T&T Clark International. pp. 175–186. ISBN 0-567-04142-5.
Jump up ^ Max Adams. The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria. ISBN 1781854181.
Jump up ^ "In a note written in 1972 or later, among the last writings of my father's on the subject of Middle-earth, there is a discussion of the Elvish strain in Men, as to its being observable in the beardlessness of those who were so descended (it was a characteristic of all Elves to be beardless)." Tolkien, J. R. R. (1980), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Unfinished Tales, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-29917-9
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King; Book 6, Chapter IX, "The Grey Havens": "As they came to the gates Círdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long..."
Jump up ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20060617194840/http://www.coldfusionvideo.com/l/lordofrings.html. Archived from the original on 17 June 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
Jump up ^ "Stomp Tokyo Video Review – Lord of the Rings (1978)". Stomp Tokyo. 19 December 2001. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
Jump up ^ "Lord of the Rings (Animated)". Mutant Viewings. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
Jump up ^ "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time: 15. Aragorn". Empire. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
Jump up ^ Grassi, John (20 April 2010). "'The Hunt for Gollum' Is a Fabulous 'Lord of the Rings' Fan Film". PopMatters. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
Jump up ^ UGO Team (21 January 2010). "Best Heroes of All Time". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
Jump up ^ Cite error: The named reference Empire_15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
External links[edit]
Aragorn on IMDb
"Aragorn". Tolkien Gateway.
Aragorn at The Thain's Book
A History and Complete Chronology of Númenor – A detailed chronology of Númenor, its successor states and their rulers.
Aragorn at One Wiki to Rule Them All
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aragorn&oldid=805736796"
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Seven churches of Asia
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This article is about the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. For other uses, see Seven Churches (disambiguation).
Map of western Anatolia showing the island Patmos and the locations of the cities housing the seven churches
The Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Seven Churches of Asia, are seven major churches of Early Christianity, as mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation.
Contents
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1 Description
2 The Churches
3 Seven messages
4 Angels of the churches
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Description[edit]
The "churches" in this context refers to the community or local congregations of Christians living in each city, and not merely to the building or buildings in which they gathered for worship.[1][2]
In an early part of the Revelation, on the Greek island of Patmos, Jesus Christ instructs John of Patmos to: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."[3]
The Churches[edit]
The seven churches of Asia in stained glass in York Minster by John Thornton
The seven Churches are named for their locations. The Revelation provides descriptions of each Church.
Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) - the church known for having laboured hard and not fainted, and separating themselves from the wicked; admonished for having forsaken its first love (2:4)
Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) - the church admired for its tribulation and poverty; forecast to suffer persecution (2:10)
Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) - the church located at 'Satan's seat'; needed to repent of allowing false teachers (2:16)
Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) - the church known for its charity, whose "latter works are greater than the former"; held the teachings of a false prophetess (2:20)
Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) - the church that has a good name; cautioned to fortify itself and return to God through repentance (3:2-3)
Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) - the church steadfast in faith, that had kept God's word and endured patiently (3:10)
Laodicea, near Denizli (see Laodicean Church) (Revelation 3:14-22) - the church that was lukewarm and insipid (to God) (3:16)
Seven messages[edit]
The letters follow a common pattern. For example: the Lord first addresses each church and identifies himself,[4] then defines things that he knows about the church in question.[5] After this, a challenge or reproach is given,[6] followed by a promise.[7] In all seven cases the admonition is included, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches",[8] although sometimes this comes before the promise and sometimes after.
Although the letters differ in length in accord with the needs of each community, all conclude with an appeal to hold fast and to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Each church is promised that everyone who conquers will be rewarded by Christ.
Some historicists typically interpret the seven churches as representing seven different periods in the history of the Western Church from the time of Paul until the return of Jesus Christ.[9] Scofield states that "these messages by their very terms go beyond the local assemblies mentioned."[10] He is of the opinion that the letters have a prophetic purpose disclosing the seven phases of the spiritual history of the Church. Other writers, such as Clarence Larkin,[11] Henry Hampton Halley,[12] Merrill Unger,[13] and William M. Branham[14] also have posited the view that the seven churches preview the history of the global Church.
Mosaic in St Mark's Basilica of the seven angels
Historicism has been criticized by the Eastern Orthodox Fr. Dimitri Cozby, who writes that historicists take a greatly oversimplified view of church history: "Since dispensationalism is Protestant in origin its 'Church history' is strictly Western. The dispensations take into account almost nothing of Orthodox history after the period of the early councils which we share with the West."[15]
Angels of the churches[edit]
Chapters 2-3 of the Revelation have specific messages for each of the seven churches. The message of each of the seven letters is directed to the angel of the particular church that is mentioned.
Origen[16] explains that these "angels" are the guardian angels of the churches, a view upheld by Henry Alford. But Epiphanius[17] explicitly rejects this view, and, in accordance with the imagery of the passage, explains it as the bishops.
John sees a vision of the Son of man, who walks among seven lampstands and has seven stars in his right hand. Revelation 1:20 states that "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." The comparison of a teacher to a star is scriptural.[18]
Augustine of Hippo's reason for interpreting angels of the churches as the prelates of the church is that St. John speaks of them as falling from their first charity, which is not true of the angels.[19][20] Others would say that the falling away relates to the churches, not to the messengers, as each of the seven letters conclude with the words "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
the Amplified Bible states that Revelation 2:2 through to 3:18, “your” and “you” are in the singular, referring to the angel of each church. Much of what is said is rebuke and admonishment, so if the angels are heavenly beings, they may serve in some way as representatives of the sinful people in their churches. Jewish tradition maintained that every nation and individual has a guardian angel, and that when God is about to punish a nation, He first punishes its angel. There is even a story of Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, being rebuked by God for the sins committed in the time of Ezekiel. So the original readers of Revelation might have assumed that the angels here are the guardian angels of the individual churches, sharing responsibility for the actions of the members.
In the New Testament, the Greek word for angels (άγγελος) is not only used for heavenly angels, but also used for human messengers, such as John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10,Mark 1:2,Luke 7:27) and God's prophets (Revelation 22:8-9)[21] C.I. Scofield has noted that "The natural explanation of the 'messengers' is that they were men sent by the seven churches to ascertain the state of the aged apostle ... but they figure any who bear God's messages to a church."[22]
See also[edit]
Christianity portal
Biblical numerology
Book of Revelation: chapter 1, 2, and 3
Christianity in Anatolia during Roman times
Early centers of Christianity
Eastern Christianity
Events of Revelation (Chapter 1)
Seven Spirits of God
Summary of Christian eschatological differences
Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome
References[edit]
Jump up ^ John (1994). Barbara Aland; Kurt Aland; Johannes Karavidopoulos; Carlo M. Martini; Bruce M. Metzger, eds. The Greek New Testament. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
Jump up ^ Walter Bauer (1979). William F. Arndt; F. Wilbur Gingrich; Frederick W. Danker, eds. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. University of Chicago Press.
Jump up ^ Revelation 1:11
Jump up ^ 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14
Jump up ^ 2:2-3, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15-17
Jump up ^ 2:4-5, 10, 14-16, 20-25; 3:2-3, 9-11, 18-20
Jump up ^ 2:7, 10-11, 17, 26-28; 3:4-5, 12, 20-21.
Jump up ^ 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22
Jump up ^ Unger's Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p924
Jump up ^ Scofield, W. I., The Scofield Study Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) p1331
Jump up ^ "Chapter XXII". www.preservedwords.com. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
Jump up ^ Halley, H. H., Halley's Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978), p688
Jump up ^ Unger, M. F., Unger's Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p924
Jump up ^ Branham, W. M., An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages (Jeffersonville, Indiana: Voice of God Recordings) 2005[dead link]
Jump up ^ "WHAT IS 'THE RAPTURE'? (PART 1 OF 2)".
Jump up ^ Hom., xiii in Luc., and Hom., xx in Num.
Jump up ^ Hær., xxv.
Jump up ^ Dan., xii, 3.
Jump up ^ Ep., xliii (al. clxii), n. 22.
Jump up ^ Angels of the Churches, Catholic Encyclopedia
Jump up ^ Merrill Unger, Unger's Bible Dictionary, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975) p52
Jump up ^ Scofield, W. I., The Scofield Study Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) p1331
Further reading[edit]
Halley, H. H., Halley's Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978), p684
Scofield, C. I., The Scofield Reference Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967), p1332
Ramsay, W. M. (1904). The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia. Hodder & Stoughton.
Hemer, Colin J. The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting (JSOT Press, 1989), p283
External links[edit]
Catholic Encyclopedia: Angels of the Churches
Catholic Encyclopedia: Asia Minor, see section titled "Spread of Christianity in Asia Minor"
Branham, W. M., An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, Voice of God Recordings, Jeffersonville, Indiana, 1965.
The True Trend Of the Church As Viewed Through Revelation Chapters 2 & 3 by Pastor Rocky Veach
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.
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Seven churches of Asia
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