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The One Ring Forums:
Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
Aragorn's early and later travels:
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Otaku-sempai
Elvenhome
Apr 9 2015, 12:34pm
Views: 4198
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Aragorn's early and later travels
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Tolkien does tell us that Aragorn did not meet Gandalf until he was in his twenty-fifth year and that he did travel at least a bit, both with and without the Grey Pilgrim, before his time in Rohan. Aragorn and Gandalf may have journeyed into the South together where Gandalf was known as Incánus to the Haradrim.
The real problem is that Tolkien contradicts himself. You cite one passage that suggests that his far wanderings were finished by TA 2980. However, there is another in 'The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen' in Appendix A that suggests exactly the opposite. From the paragraph that begins, 'Then Aragorn took leave lovingly of Elrond...' we have this:
'For he went in many guises, and won renown under many names. He rode in the host of the Rohirrim, and fought for the Lord of Gondor by land and by sea; and then in the hour of victory he passed out of the knowledge of Men of the West, and went alone far into the East and deep into the South, exploring the hearts of Men, both evil and good, and uncovering the plots and devices of the servants of Sauron.'
We know that Aragorn left the service of Gondor in 2980 before reuniting with Arwen in Lothlorien where they spent a season together before plighting their troth in the evening on Midsummer's Day. The passage specifically tells us that Aragorn "went alone far into the East and deep into the South after leaving Gondor, but he could not have done this before arriving in Lorien still in the first half of that same year. The journeys referenced there had to have happened after he departed from Lothlorien and probably after also visiting Rivendell again. It also seems that it is a few years after this visit when Gilraen returns to her own folk, so Foster's date of 2954 must be off by about thirty years! This would also confirm that when Aragorn visited his mother in her own lands, it had to be well after 2980. We already know that the last time he saw her was in the year 3006.
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Apr 9 2015, 12:42pm)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by Otaku-sempai
(Elvenhome) on Apr 9 2015, 12:36pm
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Post edited by Otaku-sempai
(Elvenhome) on Apr 9 2015, 12:42pm
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Post edited by Otaku-sempai
(Elvenhome) on Apr 9 2015, 12:42pm
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