(Well, like a fool I just posted this in the thread on the last chapter because I wasn't paying attention! It belongs here, but
Encaitare placed a response there to it, so I don't want to delete it & make anyone else look silly, so I'm copying it here)
Quote:
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Gimli and Legolas looked at their companion in amazement, for they had not seen him in this mood before. He seemed to have grown in stature while Eomer had shrunk; and in his living face they caught a brief vision of the power and majesty of the kings of stone. For a moment it seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the brows of Aragorn like a shining crown.
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This is an odd thing - why would Legolas see that? Is he actually seeing something - some kind of 'spiritual' flame-like crown on Aragorn's head, or did is just seem to be there - is Legolas having a 'psychic', precognitive vision of the real crown of Gondor which Aragorn will eventually come to wear, or is he just so impressed with Aragorns newly revealed royalty that he imagines it?
Or is it something else - a kind of 'divine right of kings' thing. Has Aragorn worn this 'spiritual' crown all along, or has it just appeared in this moment? If Aragorn truly wears a 'spiritual' crown, then who placed it on his head? Surely only Illuvatar could place such a crown on Aragorn's head - has Aragorn been divinely appointed ruler of Middle earth by God?
I suppose this is a central question as far as leadership in Middle earth is concerned. Are kings simply appointed by their people, or at the least, must they rule with the consent of their people? Does this shed light on the Kinstrife which nearly brought Gondor to ruin, & on Denethor's dismissal of Aragorn as 'last of a ragged house, long bereft of Lordship & dignity'? Is there some sense in which the Stewards have a role in deciding who has been divinely appointed to rule? So that they must be satisfied not simply that the claimant is a suitable ruler, with the right inheritance, but also that he has been divinely appointed.
Certainly this would make Denethor's reluctance to accept Aragorn more significant - if he believes Aragorn's house has long since been bereft of Lordship & dignity, then he would have some case. And that leads on to a further question - he dosen't say Aragorn's house has lost its 'lordship & dignity' he says it has been bereft of those things - they have been taken away - but by whom, & for what reason? If Illuvatar is the one who bestowed Lordship & dignity (ie the divinely appointed right to rule) then wouldn't that imply that Illuvatar was the one who took it away?
In the end (at the end), we see the people of Gondor accepting Aragorn as their ruler - but is that simply because he has lead them to victory in the war against Sauron, or is there more to it - has he shown, besides that, that he is truly the divinely appointed King?