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Originally Posted by davem
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?
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Denethor would like to think so. But he can hardly be credited with clear vision; perhaps once he had it, but lately his favorite viewing was what Sauron allowed him to see, which thoroughly skewed his judgement. And Aragorn had looked into the palantir by then, so Sauron knew about him. Certainly Sauron didn't want Denethor welcoming Aragorn back.
This is a whole book ahead of ourselves!
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Originally Posted by davem
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?
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That's what the houses of healing are all about
: "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and thus shall the true king be known." With his use of Athelas near Weathertop, his kingship is foreshadowed even then.
But in Gondor, such things were dismissed as Old Ioreth Tales, and much wisdom was (almost) lost.