[CSteefel]

But I also see this in the context of what follows a few days later, when Aragorn bearing the Narsil announces himself as the heir of Isildur and thus earns the right to pass the Paths of the Dead. I take it that whoever would touch the sword, other than the heir of Isildur, is fated to die (certainly nothing to do with Aragorn killing them). Aragorn has had a premonition here that he is the only one who is going to be able to pass through Death, and the sword as the linkage to Elendil (and Isildur) becomes part of this...