Strider Said This Strider Did That

[Inziladun]

This just now occurred to me (I blame a whirlwind of activity the past couple of weeks ).

Aragorn does go back to being Strider late in LOTR.

When Pippin meets him again in Minas Tirith:

'Strider! How splendid! Do you know I guessed it was you in the black ships.'

And then Merry does it shortly thereafter:

Merry smiled. 'Well then,' he said, 'if Strider will provide what is needed, I will smoke and think.'

And Sam, at the Field of Cormallen:

'Well if this isn't the crown of all!' he said. 'Strider, or I'm still asleep!'

I like that. It's a nice callback to the earlier parts, when the mysterious man at Bree was trusted by the hobbits and came through. Sort of a full circle for Aragorn, from a wandering Ranger held to little account, to a warrior/healer/king who plays a major part in saving the West from Sauron, and back to old Strider again. As he says, he is still Strider, and etches that name into history by making it the name of his royal house.