He showed great loyalty throughout all of his life. To the Rangers, to King Thengel and of course to Ecthelion II, whom he served well while he was there. Plus in his errands for Gandalf with Gollum and all that. And last and probably greatest, his service to the Fellowship of the Ring and to Frodo.

Certainly a man to have by your side when the going gets tough!

This is a strange topic Bear...I've been thinking for a few days of what I could reply but I just can't crack this nut open! No doubt you are seeing this subject from a different angle, but from where I am standing it is pretty clear cut with not much to be said.

Enlighten me, friend Bear!

The one example that keeps knocking on my memory is the loyalty he showed to Isildor by accepting Anduril reforged and taking the Paths of the Dead to call the lost men of Dunharrow to at last fulfil the oath they had broken.

The thing that comes to mind about Anduril is that for centuries it had lain as the shards of Narsil in the halls of imladris. It is not until he takes up Frodo's cause and the quest to distroy the One that Aragorn takes up the loyal mantal of Isildor and the fight for Middle Earth. A road that will take him to the loyalty of the renewed kingship of Gondor and the heralding of the Age of Men.

I think Anorlas may have been thinking of the film with regards to Anduril. In the film Narsil is not reforged into Anduril and then given to Aragorn until well into the plot. In the book, however, Aragorn has already had the shards for a long time.
Either that or maybe Anorlas meant the Sceptre of Annuminas, with regards to "mantal of Isildur"?

As for loyalty, I think Aragorn's loyalty was proven when the men from the Path of the Dead agreed to serve him. I would have thought that only a person who had shown true loyalty to the lineage of Isildur could have persuaded those men to fight. I would imagine the surety in Aragorn's voice and eyes, and his other apparent virtues would have been enough to show the Dead Men that they were dealing with a noble and true heir.

All,
Let us look at another quality...INSIGHT.
Aragorn had the ability to look into the minds and hearts of humans, some elves, dwarves, and hobbits.
One example I see that may stick in the throats of some of you ladies is the way he reads Eowyn just before he takes the Paths of the Dead.

"For a while she was silent, as if pondering what this might mean. Then suddenly she laid her hand on his arm. 'You are a stern lord and resolute,' she said; 'and thus do men win renown.' She paused. 'Lord.' she said, 'if you must go, then let me ride in your following. For I am weary of skulking in the hills, and wish to face peril and battle.'
'Your duty is with your people,' he answered.
'Too often have I heard of duty,' she cried. 'But am I not of the House of Eorl, a shield -maiden and not a dry-nurse? I have waited on faltering feet long enough. Since they falter no longer, it seems, may I not now spend my life as I will?'
'Few may do that with honor,' he answered. 'But as for you, lady: did you not accept the charge to govern the people until their lord's return? If you had not been chosen, then some marshal or captain would have been set in the same place, and he could not ride away from his charge, were he weary of it or no.'
'Shall I always be chosen?' she said bitterly. 'Shall I always be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win renown, and find food and beds when they return?'
'A time may come soon,' said he, 'when none will return. Then there will be need of valor without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.'
And she answered: 'All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honor, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.'
'What do you fear, lady?' he asked.
'A cage,' she said. 'To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.'
'And yet you counsel me not to adventure on the road that I had chosen, because it is perilous?'
'So may one counsel another,' she said. 'Yet I do not bid you flee from peril, but to ride to battle where your sword may win renown and victory. I would not see a thing that is high and excellent cast away needlessly.'
'Nor would I,' he said. 'Therefore I say to you, lady: Stay! For you have no errand to the South.'
'Neither have those others who go with thee. They go only because they would not be parted from thee - because they love thee.' Then she turned and vanished into the night.
When the light of day was come into the sky but the sun was not yet risen above the high ridges in the East, Aragorn made ready to depart. His company was all mounted, and he was about to leap into the saddle, when the Lady Eowyn came to bid them farewell. She was clad as a Rider and girt with a sword. In her hand she bore a cup, and she set it to her lips and drank a little, wishing them good speed; and then she gave the cup to Aragorn, and he drank, and he said: 'Farewell, Lady of Rohan! I drink to the fortunes of your House, and of you, and of all your people. Say to your brother: beyond the shadows we may meet again!'
Then it seemed to Gimli and Legolas who were nearby that she wept, and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous. But she said: 'Aragorn, wilt thou go?'
'I will,' he said.
'Then wilt thou not let me ride with this company, as I have asked?'
'I will not, lady,' he said. 'For that I could not grant without leave of the king and of your brother; and they will not return until tomorrow. But I count now every hour, indeed every minute. Farewell!'
Then she fell on her knees, saying: 'I beg thee!'
'Nay, lady,' he said, and taking her by the hand he raised her. Then he kissed her hand, and sprang into the saddle, and rode away, and did not look back; and only those who knew him well and were near to him saw the pain that he bore.
But Eowyn stood still as a figure carven in stone, her hands clenched at her sides, and she watched them until they passed into the shadows under the black Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, in which was the Gate of the Dead. When they were lost to view, she turned, stumbling as one that is blind, and went back to her lodging. But none of her folk saw this parting, for they hid themselves in fear and would not come forth until the day was up, and the reckless strangers were gone.
(The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter II - "The Passing of the Grey Company", pg 784 - 785)

Where is this INSIGHT?
It is in asking Eowyn what she fears.
When Aragorn is called to the Houses of Healing he reveals his INSIGHT about Eowyn,

"Then Eomer was silent, and looked on his sister, as if pondering anew all the days of their past life together. But Aragorn said: 'I saw also what you saw, Eomer. Few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man's heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned Sorrow and pity have followed me ever since I left her desperate in Dunharrow and rode to the Paths of the Dead; and no fear upon that way was so present as the fear for what might befall her. And yet, Eomer, I say to you that she loves you more truly than me; for you she loves and knows; but in me she loves only a shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds, and lands far from the fields of Rohan.'
'I have, maybe, the power to heal her body, and to recall her from the dark valley. But to what she will awake: hope, or forgetfulness, or despair, I do not know. And if to despair, then she will die, unless other healing comes which I cannot bring. Alas! for her deeds have set her among the queens of great renown.'
Then Aragorn stooped and looked in her face, and it was indeed white as a lily, cold as frost, and hard as graven stone. But he bent and kissed her on the brow, and called her softly, saying:
'Eowyn Eomund's daughter, awake! For your enemy has passed away!'
She did not stir, but now she began again to breathe deeply, so that her breast rose and fell beneath the white linen of the sheet. Once more Aragorn bruised two leaves of athelas and cast them into steaming water; and he laved her brow with it, and her right arm lying cold and nerveless on the coverlet.
Then, whether Aragorn had indeed some forgotten power of Westernesse, or whether it was but his words of the Lady Eowyn that wrought on them, as the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed to those who stood by that a keen wind blew through the window, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam.
'Awake, Eowyn, Lady of Rohan!' said Aragorn again, and he took her right hand in his and felt it warm with life returning. 'Awake! The shadow is gone and all darkness is washed clean!' Then he laid her hand in Eomer's and stepped away. 'Call her!' he said, and he passed silently from the chamber." (The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter VIII - "The Houses of Healing", pg 867)

I'm sure there are more and better examples of this scattered through Tolkien's writings.
How about it Forum friends?
Have a thought about Aragorn and INSIGHT?


-- Edited by Bear on Wednesday 7th of April 2010 02:53:27 AM

I think Aragorn showed insight in picking his time to say good-bye to Arwen and Middle Earth. Either his mind was slipping badly or he truly didn't grasp the truth that when Arwen chose to be his wife and to stay behind when Elrond took ship she would lose her immortality like Tinuviel whom she was often compared to.

If he knew that he was becoming senile maybe his keen sense of insight told him it was time before he become a dottering old man with no memory of his loved ones at all?

Mr. Baggins,
Good question.
And I think it could be both, insight and foresight.
Foresight is usually directed in terms of future events.
Insight is a gift that usually deals with internal, not visible, motivations, and/or character.
The piece that Anorlas brings does have both elements...especially in the emotional interaction between Aragorn and Arwen as he decides to lay himself down.
These few paragraphs contain both.  The insight is mainly Arwen's...the foresight mainly Aragorn's...but there is a crossover.
(The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Appendix A - Annals Of The Kings And Rulers, Part I - "The Numenorean Kings", pg 1063)
What Anorlas shares has both foresight and insight.

All,
Certainly there are many qualities need ed to be a great king.
And Tolkien has painted Aragorn with qualities that we have noted;
LOYALTY, INSIGHT, FORESIGHT.
There are many more qualities that our ideal king would have: COURAGE, FAITH, SELF CONFIDENCE,CHARISMA.  And we will look for examples of these at a later date...
But there are qualities that were part of Aragorn before his winning any throne.
One role he had to play was that of WARRIOR.
And here may be the debate; what about MERCY? 
Should Aragorn have that quality?
Does Aragorn ever show this quality?
Please show me my friends.

I think all the good virtues can be found in Aragorn. That is his purpose, to personify the noble race of the men of Numenor.

I also think the men of Numenor are a good example of Imperialism without corruption. Numenor also showed how Imperialism can turn to corruption if not kept in check. They ended up believing their superiority of advancement was sufficient to warrant claiming unending life by force, and to subdue and terrorise the lesser peoples of Middle-earth instead of just govern them.