Aragorn and Arwen Are NOT RELATED

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

The mistake in the thesis is that Amandil too was related to Elros.

[Galadriel55]

I think that Amandil's ancestor was the younger brother of the Numenor king, or something like that.
In a way, Arwen is Aragorn't great (etc) aunt.
Aragorn is also related to Galadriel, Turin, and many other people.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I think that Amandil's ancestor was the younger brother of the Numenor king, or something like that.

Elder sister of Tar-Meneldur, actually.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

In a way, Arwen is Aragorn's great (etc) aunt.
Aragorn is also related to Galadriel, Turin, and many other people.

Actually, Arwen is Aragorn's first cousin, removed something like 50 times (all the generations from Vardamir, son of Elros, who was her first cousin, with no removes). In terms of consanguinity (shared blood) this is such a diminution of relationship that many of us probably have more closely related parents or grandparents than this, if there's a common ethnicity. Of course, there would have been plenty of intermarriage in the descendants of Elros.

For example, Aragorn is descended from Aranarth, son of Arvedui, the first Chieftain of the Northern Dúnedain, by both his parents--meaning that his parents, Arathorn II and Gilraen, were more closely related than he was to Arwen. As another example, Aranarth himself was the son of two descendants of Elendil: Arvedui from Isildur and Fíriel daughter of Ondoher from Anárion. And those are only the documented cases.

Probably, already by the time of Amandil and Elendil, it would have been nigh on impossible, if not totally impossible, for a high nobleman such as the Lord of Andúnië to marry someone who was not a descendant of Elros.. After that many generations on an endogamous island, probably everyone had some touch of Elrosian blood. In fact, the marriage of Valacar of Gondor (an ancestor of Fíriel and thus of Aragorn) to Vidumavi, daughter of Vidugavia the Northman, was quite possibly the ONLY instance in Aragorn's ancestry since the Akallabêth of a forefather marrying a woman who was not a descendant of Elros.

And, of course, any descendant of Elros is, de facto a close relative than Arwen, because the shared ancestor is not Elros, but his father Eärendil, who is a step farther back in the family tree. In fact, Éowyn would probably have been a closer relative than Arwen, since her grandmother was Morwen of Lossarnach, who was probably of noble blood and thus almost CERTAINLY a descendant somehow, somewhere, of Elendil--who is a whole Second Age of descent closer in ancestry to Aragorn than Eärendil.

It's like the crowned heads of Europe... if we all had as much genealogical information as they do, we would all be finding recurring ancestors.

[Galadriel55]

with so many cousins X times removed, the family tree would look more like a spider web.
Anyways, Aragorn is related to Arwen, and that's the proof.
Formendacil, you must know all the books by heart - literally - if you remember all the names and marriages!

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

In fact, Éowyn would probably have been a closer relative than Arwen, since her grandmother was Morwen of Lossarnach, who was probably of noble blood and thus almost CERTAINLY a descendant somehow, somewhere, of Elendil--who is a whole Second Age of descent closer in ancestry to Aragorn than Eärendil.

Well, Aragorn had a direct line to Elendil also. I'd say even more direct then Eowen since his was father-to-son in the elder line (thru Isuldur).
Also, in Aragorn's case, there is no "probably" or "ALMOST" certainly, his descent is documented.

Still, it's an interesting observation that even a "wild shieldmaiden of the North" (Eowen) was likely kin to Arwen and had a (very diluted) strain of Maia blood in her (from Melian).

[Aiwendil]

Puddleglum: Formendacil's point was that Eowyn and Aragorn (likely both descendants of Elendil) may be more closely related than are Arwen and Aragorn (both descendants of Earendil and Elwing).

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Puddleglum: Formendacil's point was that Eowyn and Aragorn (likely both descendants of Elendil) may be more closely related than are Arwen and Aragorn (both descendants of Earendil and Elwing).

Depends how you look at it. Arwen is only a few generations removed from their common ancestor, plus Aragorn must be related to her (and himself, for that matter) many, many ways– I mean, I can't see any way for Isildur's line not to be pretty darned inbred. So I think they would likely share more genes. (Not that anyone in Middle-earth knows about genetics, of course, weird fan-fics notwithstading.)

[Morthoron]

Well, Aragorn's son was known as "Eldarion of the Dozen Toes".

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

So I think they would likely share more genes. (Not that anyone in Middle-earth knows about genetics, of course, weird fan-fics notwithstading.)

If you tell me how any generations are between Elendil and Elros, I will be able to tell you how much maiar is in Aragorn, but I'll have to assume that either only one side of the family is descendants of Luthien, or both are - Since it's kinda hard to figure out when they married their kin and when they didn't. I've already done that for Elrond and Elros: they are 9/16 elf, 6/16 human, and 1/16 Maiar. To be specific, 5/16 Sindar, 3.5/16 Noldor, 0.5/16 Vaniar, 4/16 Beor, 1/16 Haleth, 1/16 Hador, and 1/16 Maiar. These calculations are exact. I love math, don't you?