"Aragorn - silly observation" Topic

I consider myself a big fan, have read many of the books, seen all the movies (except I refuse to watch Rings of Power) – heck, even enjoyed the Hobbit movie (loved the actor who played Bilbo).
So now I am re-reading the main trilogy for the first time in who knows how long (a few decades at least), when something odd occurs to me.
The book goes to great lengths to explain how few people of Numenorian stock there are left in the north. Aragorn's Grey Company was more of a platoon as it only had 30 members. Counting women and children, I don't suppose there could have been more than 150 or so. And after centuries (if not millennia) of living in exile, and being so few in number, Aragorn must have been related to all of them – probably more than once.
Which means Aragorn's forefathers either frequently married outside the bloodline, taking "common folk" for wives, or Aragorn is the most inbred individual this side of Cleopatra.

Well, the same genes that granted long life also served to counteract any drawbacks to close breeding. It seems. Perhaps. In all likelihood.

Well, Tolkein didn't mention if Aragorn had webbed fingers or toes or a vestigal tail, so he probably wasn't that inbred… ;-)

YouTube link

And after centuries (if not millennia) of living in exile, and being so few in number, Aragorn must have been related to all of them

The fall of Arthedain took place in 1975 TA. Aragorn was born in 2931 TA, so slightly under thousand years afterwards. Dunedain were relatively long-lived, so Aragorn was only 16 generations removed from the kings of Arthedain.

I always thought Aragorn should marry Eowyn, cement the ties between Gondor and Rohan. Out-live her, woodja wooodja woo, then go home to Arwen. She's immortal, she'll wait.

thosmoss –
that's a good one

Regarding the Grey Company of 30 that travelled from the north to join Aragorn, please notice Halbarad's words on their meeting – these were all that could be gathered in a hurry.

It is pretty clear that this force was gathered from the Dunedain that were in Rivendell or in the neighbourhood when the word arrived (from Galadriel) for them to assemble and ride south – though some of them may have joined the company on the way. It is not entirely clear when the message arrived in Rivendell, but presumably it was not sent until the Fellowship left Lorien – and mere three weeks passed from that day until Halbarad's arrival in Rohan. Considering the distance needing to be travelled, that leaves limited time to assemble.

The northern Dunedain were scattered around Eriador, which covers quite a large area, and Rivendell was located at the eastern edge of that land, so there was only a limited area that messengers could scour in the time to assemble. That said, since Rivendell was an important base for them, and the time was late winter, there may have been a larger than normal assembly of rangers present on winter quarters.

So I would rather suggest there having been at least 500-1000 Dunedain left in the north during Aragorn's time (including women, children, elderly etc.).

Ah yes, the famed 'Numenorian Jaw'…..

Aragorn died at 210 so in theory could have been as little as 5-6 generations removed from the fall of the Northern Kingdoms. He was actually the 15th chieftain of the Dunedin.

I always thought Aragorn should marry Eowyn, cement the ties between Gondor and Rohan. Out-live her, woodja wooodja woo, then go home to Arwen. She's immortal, she'll wait.

Arwen's immortality in Middle-Earth was tied to the presence of her father; when Elrond departed at the end of the Third Age, she became mortal. Had it not been for her marriage with Aragorn, she might have chosen to sail with her father to the Undying Lands.

As for cementing the ties with Gondor, Eowyn ended up marrying Faramir, while Eomer married the daughter of prince of Dol Amroth. And the relationship between Eomer and Aragorn was a very good one.

Aragorn waited over six decades to be able to marry Arwen; would he have really wanted to wait another six decades until Arwen passed away? (I could not find year of Eowyn's death, but her brother Eomer was quite long-lived – they both actually had some Gondorian blood through their grandmother).

omg, Middle-Earth's family tree would have made for an epic Jerry Springer show… ;-)