[Rumil]

Hi All,

another point to throw into the mix is that the Dunedain stronghold in the Third Age was in the 'Angle', South of Rivendell, this was noted by Michael Martinez when going through the Marquette papers. So there was a Ranger 'HQ' if you like where presumably the non-combatant Dunedain lived.

Since the leaders of the Rangers were Chieftains rather than Kings, I'm more tempted to think of them as organised similarly to some Dark Age societies. A chieftain/local king/prince/whatever, would have a bodyguard of 'full time' warriors. These were variously called Hearthtroops, Huscarls, Loafeaters, or Bucellarii in Byzantium, showing that they ate their Lord's bread, ie were maintained by the power and fortune of their leader.

The bodyguard were available for military use at any time, but were only a small proportion of the available fighting men. The majority would be freemen, who were mostly farmers etc and turned out to fight only when something really serious was happening, eg Anglo-Saxon Fyrd.

Exactly how this might relate to the Dunedain is an open question!

Re Eonwe on Dunedain economics, well, JRRT wasn't exactly crystal clear on that sort of thing. In the system mentioned above, (pre-feudal I guess) the Lord and his bodyguard were supported by taxes or contribution from the general population, and often by loot acquired in campaigns against the neighbours. The Dunedain did have a 'special relationship' with Elrond & co. but that's another kettle of fish. I suppose they could trade with the Dwarves and Bree as well maybe? Just to speculate I guess it would be a great 'cover story' for a Ranger to act as a trader while patrolling and keeping the peace, and give the chance to make the odd silver penny too.