Is Aragorn an Elf or a Man?

[Lhunbelethiel]

Okay, I'm half way through ROTK and am confused as to what race Aragorn belongs? He mentioned that his relatives are elves, but I thought he was a Man. I didn't think he had pointy ears...

Is he an Elf? A Man? An ElfMan??? Thanks.

[Araen]

Go way back in Aragorn's linage and you will see that he is a distant relitive of Elrond. Elrond's brother chose to be mortal but his life was long, as was that of his decendencts (sp). SO he does have some elven blood in him I beleve. Do correct me if I am wrong.

[Lhunbelethiel]

Thanks, as a follow up-- Elrond's last name is HalfElven-- does that mean he's mortal (or half mortal?) too?

Geeze, Aragorn has a million different names in ROTK! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Araen]

Aragorn's names can get confusing.

Elrond is not mortal. He is called half elven because Beren(Man) and Luthien(Elf) were his great grandpaerents, I think they were at least, and that caused him to have some mortal blood in his veins. He chose to become immortal where as his brother, Elros I think, did not. Did I help at all? Yet again I'm not sure if I'm compleastly right....

[Orodhromeus]

I'll let someone else to answer this more fully, but I know that Elrond & his descendants have the choice to be immortal or mortal. Arwen chose to become mortal. And one of Aragorn's far-far-away ascendant was an Elf. I think it was a somehow closer ascendant of Elendil, father of Isildur, ascendant of Aragorn. But considering that ascendant was so far in the past, Aragorn is very human. Someone will have to explain the presence of elven blood in the Númenóreans, please!

[Thingol]

Elrond's father was Earendil and Earendil's father was Tuor, who was a mortal man. Elrond's mother was Elwing, who was the granddaughter of Beren (mortal man) and Luthien (half elf, half Maia). If one posses any mortal blood then their Fea (spirit) must leave Middle Earth when their body dies (as opposed to pure elven spirits, which remain in Middle Earth). Because of the great deeds of Earendil (of which, many are recounted in the Silmarillion) he and his progeny are given the choice of which race they wish to belong to. Earendil chose to be counted among the elven race, as did his elder son Elrond. Elros, Elrond's brother, chose to be counted among mortal men, he becomes the first king of Numenor. Aragorn is related to Elros, but of coarse many generations removed. Arwen chose to be counted among the mortals as well in order to remain with Aragorn. The fait of Elrond's twin sons is never revealed to us, all that is said is that they dwelt in Rivendell for some time. I've always believed they sailed into the west some time later.

[ April 12, 2002: Message edited by: Thingol ]

[lathspell]

Aragorn was a Dunadan, and these men are the last remnant of the Numernorians of old. He is the rightfull heir if Isildur and therefore he becomes King of Gondor.

His many names he got from the elves had to do with the deeds which he did, and most of all with the deeds his ancestors did. As far as I know he got all of his 'nicknames' from the elves except three:
- Thé Dunadan by Bilbo
- Strider by Barliman Butterbur
- Wingfoot by Eomer

also he is called Longshanks by Bill Ferny but I don't reckon it among his names. He has many other names and titles which is told in full by Faramir - The steward and the King - RotK - LotR :

'...Aragorn son of Arathorn, chieftain of the Dunedain of Arnor, Captain of the Host of the West, bearer of the Star of the North, wielder of the Sword Reforged, victorious in battle, whose hands bring healing, the Elfstone, Elessar of the line of Valandil, Isildur's son, Elendil's son of Numenor...

These are all his titles, but not all his names. Thorongil and Estel are two of them which are missing, maybe someone else can put some more in this thread.

I see the Elrond-question has been answered fully. smilies/biggrin.gif

[Lhunbelethiel]

Thank you all for your help and information. What's great about this site is people react very nicely when I (or other people) ask what might be perceived as dumb questions. That is a relief. Sometimes when people are very involved in a book/tv show/movie group, they can be very condescending to newcomers or people who don't know as much as they do. I have not found that vibe here, and that rules! Thank you all!

Now that I know what he is, WHERE is Aragorn from? He says he is from the North, but where exactly is that? (be specific, my map in my LOTR books is small and crummy)

[Daegwenn]

All of his names are like nicknames. Estel and Elessar... He also was Elrond's foster son for a while, so I am assuming they gave him a name to see him fit in with their kind.

His name Strider became rather important because he then took the name in elfish, Telcontari, and used it as a family name. He also was known as Elessar for his remarkable abilities in the third book...I don't want to mention them because I might ruin it for the ones that haven't read it yet.

Thé Dunadan by Bilbo

I thought that that name was just a general name for the men that were the remnants of the Edain.

~~Daegwenn

[Orodhromeus]

"Estel" means hope in elvish; that was the name given to Aragorn when he was young at Imladris (Rivendell). "Telcontar" means Strider in elvish, so I guess Aragorn liked that name a lot. It's all in the LotR appendices. The Dúnadan (=Man of the West) is the name given to him by Bilbo; Dúnedain (=Men of the West) is the name given to the descendants of Númenóreans in general. Aren't most inhabitants of Gondor Dúnedain too? Does "Elessar" mean elfstone?

[Ahanarion]

Aragorn is from the lost kingdom of Arnor. Arnor was in Eriador but it was destoyed. The Rangers are the remnant of Arnor's people. I beleive the title Dunadan was reserved for those descended from the Numenorians since it means Man of the West.

[ April 13, 2002: Message edited by: Ahanarion ]

[Ahanarion]

Darn my slow typing!

[Airetalathwen]

Aragorn was born in Fornost, which is north of the shire in Eriador. (First find the shire, and the run your finger up on the map until you see 'fornost'.) When he was two years old he was taken to live in the house of Elrond (in Rivendell), because of the death of his father. His mother went with him also. There he was given the name Estel, which means hope. When he was twenty, he met and fell in love with Arwen.

Here is a little clip from their first meeting.
Then Aragorn wondered, for she had seemed of no greater age than he, who had lived yet no more than a score of years in Middle-earth. But Arwen looked in his eyes and said:"Do not wonder! For the children of Elrond have the life of the Eldar."

So, it could probably be assumed that Elrond's sons were immortal.

~Airetalathwen

[lathspell]

Daegwenn - You are correct, a Dunadan is also one the Dunedain... but Bilbo specifically calls him THE Dunadan. And that is the reason why it is another name of his.

greetings,
lathspell

[Elfalmari]

At the end of the Second Age, the Valar basically didn't know what to do with the 'part-elven' men (or part-human elves), so they gave each of these the choice of which race to belong to. Elrond, Elros, and the children of Elrond were given this choice. Elrond decided to become Elvish, while Elros decided to become Human. From this time on, the choice was final and complete. If you checked their DNA, it would be identical, but in every way Elros was human and Elrond was elvish. Elros and his descendents were given a longer life span than other men, but this was due to a gift from the Valar for their valour against Sauron, and not because of their elvish ancestors. Aragorn can trace his lineage back to Elros, and therefore also has a longer life (he is 76 when LotR starts, I think, and he lives to be about 200). When Arwen decides to remain with Aragorn, she also become completely mortal.

[Peregrin Boffin]

If Telecontar was elvish for Stider, what would it have been if Tolkien kept the name Trotter?