Aragorn and the One Ring

[paranoid marvin]

Aragorn is perhaps the strongest-willed man in Middle Earth , able to turn the Palantir to his own will ; a feat even Gandalf would not attempt

I wonder how he would have coped with the One Ring - could he have cast down Sauron and used the power of the Ring for good ; or would he also have quickly been corrupted , and set himself upon the throne vacated by his nemesis?

 

[Grimward]

Don't know about quickly, but if the Nine Rings corrupted all of their holders, Aragorn would succumb, as well.

"A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, here merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the dark power that rules the Rings. Yes, sooner or later - later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last - sooner or later the dark power will devour him."

The Fellowship of the Ring, Ch. 2, The Shadow of the Past

And the palantiri were not made by Sauron, so wresting it back from Sauron was a contest of wills with Sauron himself, rather than with "the best part of his power" that was imbued in the Ring.

My vote: Aragorn struggles, but in then replaces a Dark King with another Dark King, to paraphrase Galadriel (who herself, a Noldor of great power, would also not take the Ring).

 

[paranoid marvin]

Don't know about quickly, but if the Nine Rings corrupted all of their holders, Aragorn would succumb, as well.


The Fellowship of the Ring, Ch. 2, The Shadow of the Past

And the palantiri were not made by Sauron, so wresting it back from Sauron was a contest of wills with Sauron himself, rather than with "the best part of his power" that was imbued in the Ring.

My vote: Aragorn struggles, but in then replaces a Dark King with another Dark King, to paraphrase Galadriel (who herself, a Noldor of great power, would also not take the Ring).

Obviously Sauron - even without the greater part of his power - was still an incredibly powerful , and one can only assume extremely strong-willed , opponent ; how else would he manage to re-establish his position in Mordor?

This quite evidently makes his conquerer Aragorn a man with an exceptionly strong will ; strong enough to dominate the Ring? Possibly...

I have to agree that it is far more likely than not that with additional power of an extra-long lifespan , the Ring would eventual wear him down and take control

Having said that , the fact that he is aware of the cunning nature of the Ring , and that he has powerful and influential friends to help and guide him , but most importantly his deeply embedded goodness (for want of a better word) may make him the only one capable of being the master of the Ring

It would have certainly made for an interesting novel...

 

[devilsgrin]

if gandalf and galadriel both refused the Ring - when freely offered it( and consider that these, along with Elrond are far and away the strongest (in both will and powerful of the "Heroes")) - then no human could hope to master the Ring... imbued with the greater portion of the strength and malice of a Maiar gone bad... if even Gandalf (a being who IS a Maiar with only the greater portion (though limited)of one's power) would admit to being capable of succumbing to the dark will of the Ring itself. All three represent perhaps the truest Good in Middle Earth and the Greatest Powers therein. Aragorn is an insignificant imitation of will and power by comparison.
Aragorn, also was only able to tear himself away from the palantir through sheer force of will and it would seem at the last desperation. Even Pippin was able to deflect the penetrating interrogation from Sauron not revealing anything to endanger Frodo... and he was the weakest willed of the hobbits. Only because of the shock of Isildur's Heir revealing himself to Sauron was Aragorn able to do this. If Saruman could fall... no man is safe. As a man, yes Aragorn was mighty of will. However he was also both a man with all the flaws inherant to mankind, and a King... power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. His well-meaning friends were all leaving to go into the West... who would then guide him? And if any chose to stay... how long before Elessar's already growing ego found their advice a hindrance and banished/killed them?
A perfect example is the Witch King of Angmar. A truly powerful human, ruler of a nation infinitely greater than the Gondor Aragorn inherited. and gifted with one of the Nine. He fell to the power of Sauron and His One Ring... and the Witch King became the most feared of Sauron's servants. All because of the power of the One Ring and the curse of kingship... "the safest border of a nation is the far border of the neighbouring nation"

 

[j d worthington]

There are several things going on here. For one thing, the palantiri were gifted to the house of Amandil, Aragorn's ancestors; they belonged to Aragorn, in other words, by intent as well as deed. Sauron essentially stole the seeing-stone of Osgiliath, taking what was not his by right (with its mystical as well as legal meaning); his corruption of such could only be temporary, or made permanent by the will of their rightful owner. (Hence the act of Denethor -- a lesser scion of the same house -- perverted forever the stone of Minas Tirith, unless used by one of tremendous strength who also had such right).

On the other hand, the Ring is Sauron, in a very real sense. It isn't an object separate from him, it is a part of Sauron; the two stand or fall together. No matter how strong or good the intent, no one could truly turn the Ring to good or dominate it save he who created it and gave it its power; power which came from his own and to which it was forever tied. Even if someone such as Gandalf or Galadriel were to take the ring and overpower Sauron, what would happen in the end is that they would become Sauron; his spirit would be theirs. The same would occur with any other being who attempted such a feat; and any use of the ring would only hasten such an outcome.

 

[Alexa]

Aragorn was not strong enough to wear to One ring and he knew it. That's why he was the first one to support Frodo in his quest.

When Boromir fell, Aragorn refused again to take the ring. I believe Sam could wear the ring, too. Both Frodo and Sam had the innoncence to protect them long enough and destroy the ring.

 

[Pyan]

I believe Sam could wear the ring, too. Both Frodo and Sam had the innocence to protect them long enough and destroy the ring.

Not so much innocence in Sam's case, as common-sense, the bedrock of Sam's character.
It tempted him when he had to carry it at Cirith Ungol, but:

he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to carry such a burden

and he freely gives it up when asked - the only person so to do, IIRC.

 

[Alexa]

The key word is "freely". Strange characters those hobbits.

 

[goldhawk]

Both Frodo and Sam had the innoncence to protect them long enough and destroy the ring.

Sorry, neither Frodo or Sam destroyed the Ring; Gollum did...accidentally, if accident is what you would call it. In the end, Frodo did claim the Ring as his own.

And Bilbo also gave away the Ring freely, with some not-so-subtle persuasion from Gandalf.

 

[Clansman]

Sorry, neither Frodo or Sam destroyed the Ring; Gollum did...accidentally, if accident is what you would call it. In the end, Frodo did claim the Ring as his own.

And Bilbo also gave away the Ring freely, with some not-so-subtle persuasion from Gandalf.

Which shows the corrupting power of the terrible little thing. Aragorn would have been swamped within a few years, and Sauron would have turned him to his own uses. The ring, after all, WAS Sauron, if not all of Sauron was the ring.

 

[goldhawk]

Which shows the corrupting power of the terrible little thing. Aragorn would have been swamped within a few years, and Sauron would have turned him to his own uses. The ring, after all, WAS Sauron, if not all of Sauron was the ring.

But Aragorn did cope with the Ring by refusing to have anything to do with it. When it was revealed that he was Isildur's Heir, Frodo would have given him the Ring but he said Frodo was to hold it for a while. Later, when Frodo and Sam leave the Company, he does not follow them (a trivial task for a Ranger of his experience). Instead, he lets them go.

The safest way to cope with the Ring is to reject it completely and then have it removed far away to avoid temptation.

 

[Clansman]

The safest way to cope with the Ring is to reject it completely and then have it removed far away to avoid temptation.

This shows Aragorn's great personal strength, knowing that he could not use the ring. It does not show that he could have used it, quite the opposite. Aragorn knew he would be corrupted, and refused the temptation (and thereby refused the failure of his ancestor, Isildur).

 

[afroelf]

Judging by his depiction in the film I suspect he would have ended up as a hippie at festivals selling repicas.

 

[KESpires]

Obviously Sauron - even without the greater part of his power - was still an incredibly powerful , and one can only assume extremely strong-willed , opponent ; how else would he manage to re-establish his position in Mordor?

This quite evidently makes his conquerer Aragorn a man with an exceptionly strong will ; strong enough to dominate the Ring? Possibly...

I have to agree that it is far more likely than not that with additional power of an extra-long lifespan , the Ring would eventual wear him down and take control

Having said that , the fact that he is aware of the cunning nature of the Ring , and that he has powerful and influential friends to help and guide him , but most importantly his deeply embedded goodness (for want of a better word) may make him the only one capable of being the master of the Ring

It would have certainly made for an interesting novel...

Forgive me for not reading to make sure no one else pointed this out, but isn't Aragorn a Numenorian, or however you spell it? One of the old race of men?

He's a different breed, literally. His will is stronger than a normal man because he's not a normal man. He's the last of a dying breed of first men who seem to be superior to the new.

At least that's how I remember it. I think a great many rangers were Numenorians, weren't they?

This, of course, doesn't change the fact that he would have wound up as every other non-hobbit who wore the ring, dead or enslaved.

But he's not a regular man.

 

[goldhawk]

Aragron is a descendant of Elros, son of Eärendil and brother to Elrond. Elros and Elrond, being half-elf, were given a choice to be accounted as Men or Elves. Elros chose Men but Elrond chose Elves. Not all Númenors were descended from Elros, just the line of kings.

 

[Boaz]

Aragorn was not strong enough to wear to One ring and he knew it. That's why he was the first one to support Frodo in his quest.

When Boromir fell, Aragorn refused again to take the ring. I believe Sam could wear the ring, too. Both Frodo and Sam had the innoncence to protect them long enough and destroy the ring.

I'd like to discuss Aragorn's strength. If you don't want to read this entire post, then let me just say that Clansman has summed up my thoughts in his last post.

I firmly believe that Aragorn was strong enough to wear the One Ring. This is why Sauron was so frightened of him. In the short term, Aragorn's righteous zeal would've swayed even more descendents of the Edain to his banner. In the short term, Aragorn's grip on reality would be sufficient for him to use the Ring to empower his Numenorean gifts to attack the Barad-dur itself. With the Ring, Aragorn may have been able to reduce the foundations of Barad-dur to rubble.

The issue is not whether Aragorn had the strength of mind and body to use the One Ring, he did. This is proven by Sauron's hasty assault after Aragorn revealed himself in the palantir. Aragorn resisted Sauron's gaze and then used the palantir independently of Sauron. Sauron launched his war prematurely just to deprive Aragorn the chance of mustering a host. He thought Aragorn might not yet have the Ring... the war was to also drive Aragorn back from linking up with the Hobbits if they still had the Ring.

Having the opportunity to gain the One Ring was Saruman's secret lust, Galadriel's greatest test, and Gandalf's darkest fear. Sauron rightly feared any of them wielding his greatest weapon against him.

Aragorn knew he was not strong enough to resist Sauron in the long run. He knew if he claimed the Ring that after many years It would turn him into an evil tyrant.

Aragorn was also intelligent enough to realize that might not even live that long. The Ring betrayed Isildur to his death in less than three years.

Aragorn and Faramir learned the lessons of the Eldar and the Edain well. Feanor, the sons of Feanor, Thingol, Hurin, Turin, Eol, Turgon, and Earnur all had their hopes dashed at one point or another by taking short cuts, not heeding the wisdom of the Valar, being over proud, or listening to the enemy. Denethor, Boromir and Theoden followed in their footsteps... but Boromir and Theoden threw off their despair and fought valiantly to the end.

If Aragorn had taken the One Ring, he'd have followed the villainous paths of Feanor and Turin. He did not because his idols were Beren and Earendil. Elrond and Gandalf, his tutors, taught him well. And it helped that he was loved by a woman who would never hold a thought about following any lies of Morgoth.

KESpires, the rangers of the north were all Numenoreans. They were the last remnant of the Numenorean kingdom of Arthedain, i.e. the loyal Numenoreans who resisted the Witch-king's destruction of Arnor.

The rangers of Ithilien were Gondorians. The original Gondorians were Numenoreans, but after three thousand years they'd intermarried with the men of middle-earth and had drawn in large populations of non-Numenoreans into Gondor.

In Frodo's time with the rangers of Ithilien, four of them are named... Feanor, Mablung, Damrod, and Anborn. Feanor is a son of the House of Hurin (the most ancient, noble, and powerful family of Numenoreans left in Gondor). Mablung is presumably named after the Sindarin hero of the First Age... if he is, then there's a good chance he's of Numenorean descent. My knowledge of Westernesse and Sindarin are limited but I'll attempt to speculate upon Anborn and Damrod. I believe in Sindarin 'an' means long and 'born' means tree... thus Anborn could mean long-tree and show that he is of Numenorean blood. On the other hand, I cannot read anything into Damrod, except that the sixth son of Feanor was named Amrod... that's not conclusive at all.

 

[Syphon of Oor-Tael]

Aragron is a descendant of Elros, son of Eärendil and brother to Elrond. Elros and Elrond, being half-elf, were given a choice to be accounted as Men or Elves. Elros chose Men but Elrond chose Elves. Not all Númenors were descended from Elros, just the line of kings.

Is this true? For if it is, it'd be a case of incest and Tolkien would not be as wholesome as some claim he was. Of course, I don't care. Whatever floats your boat, you know. But I suspect you're wrong, Hawk.

 

[j d worthington]

Is this true? For if it is, it'd be a case of incest and Tolkien would not be as wholesome as some claim he was. Of course, I don't care. Whatever floats your boat, you know. But I suspect you're wrong, Hawk.

How does this constitute incest, any more than you (or I) marrying someone from the same region from which our families originally came? We're talking about a timespan of thousands of years here, from the choices made by Elros and Elrond to the marriage of Arwen and Aragorn, so what precious little kinship they have would be close to the same as such marriages as I mention throughout history -- quite possibly less.

 

[HareBrain]

What's supposed to be incest, the marriage of Aragorn and Arwen?*

Even if Aragorn were the son of Elros, it would still only be a marriage of cousins, which isn't within the customary definition of incest anyway.

*(If we're talking about something else, er, sorry ...)

 

[KESpires]

By that point any relation is so diluted it doesn't matter.