davem, you quite movingly wrote:
Quote:
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I could have died for Aragorn
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Allow me to second this. Aragorn is, without doubt, one of my two favourite characters in all literature (the other being, naturally, Hamlet). He is, as
Aiwendil points out, a remarkably simple character to understand: he is a hero.
No, that's not right, is it? He's not a hero, he's a King. It's not just that people -- including myself -- admire him: we love him. And I do love him, with a deep and abiding emotion like that I feel for only a few people. That for me has always been the great strenght of Aragorn. His greatness does not depend upon his soldiery (which is unsurpassed) or his wisdom (which is second only to Elrond's and Gandalf's) or his compassion and pity; his greatness depends instead upon the fact that he is able to inspire, even command, the most profoundly personal love of those who are ready to accept him.
The manner of his introduction in this chapter is entirely appropriate. Aragorn presents everyone he meets with a challenge: it's the challenge of his own presence -- are you worthy of him? Are you wise enough to recognise who and what he is, strong enough to pledge yourself to him, and faithful enough to follow him? The fact that he comes upon the hobbits in such a threatening manner is appropriate, for they are going to have to face up to this challenge. I really don't see it as an overstatement when I say that the whole purpose of Frodo's quest is to prove that he is worthy of Aragorn's love.
The fact that at the end of this journey (to get well ahead of myself) it is Aragorn who bows to Frodo makes me weep.
And now for something that will make
Saucy go nuts when he returns to the Downs. . .
This is an aspect of the story that I think the movie might actually have been able to do more powerfully than the book. At the death of Boromir, in the film, when he pledges his love to Aragorn "my brother, my captain, my King" -- I wept like a babe quite openly for quite a long time, and not just because Boromir is dying, but because I too would gladly lay down my life for Aragorn so deeply do I love that man.
But that is enough of such silliness. End of swoon. Return to more sensible posts.