Who is Aragorn

• He's good in a fight. If you're being ambushed by orcs, you definitely want a guy like Aragorn at your side.


• He's a king. Sure, most of the time he was just a scruffy ranger, but he had great things in store for him. He even got to marry an elf!


• He's loyal. He could have fallen for Eowyn, who was hopelessly infatuated with him. The shieldmaiden of Rohan could have been a pleasant diversion at the very least. Instead, Aragorn remained faithful to Arwen.


• He makes stubble look good. (Frankly I think Viggo looks better when he doesn't shave.)

Because Aragorn needed to conceal his true identity until the time was right for him to reclaim the throne, he ended up with an awful lot of names. Here are a few of his identities:

• Aragorn: His true name, which means "kingly valor" according to the Tolkien Wiki Community.


• Strider: The name he was most commonly known as when he was wandering in the Wild, especially around Bree. He was introduced as Strider to the hobbits.


• The Dúnadan: A name given to him by Bilbo Baggins. It means "Man of the West."


• Estel: When Elrond took two-year-old Aragorn under his wing, he renamed him Estel. It means "hope" in the Elvish language. This was the name Aragorn would go by until age twenty.


• Elessar: This means "Elfstone" in the Quenya language.


• Thorongil: Meaning "Eagle of the Star," Aragorn was known by this name when he fought for Rohan and Gondor in his youth.

Narsil was a sword, but not just any sword. It was a sword of kings, and it shone with the light of the heavens. It was made either before or during the First Age by Telchar, one of the greatest dwarven smiths who ever lived. The name "Narsil" comes from two Quenya root words, "Nar" (fire) and "Thil" (white light)... which also refer to the Sun and the Moon, respectively.

Apart from its forging, we know nothing about Narsil's earliest history. The story we do know begins when it became the sword of King Elendil near the end of the Second Age. King Elendil was leading his men against Sauron's fortress in Mordor. Sauron killed Elendil, and Narsil's blade shattered beneath the king. Elendil's son, Isildur, picked up what was left of the king's sword and used it to slice the One Ring from Sauron's hand.

Robbed of his power, Sauron was defeated... temporarily. But Narsil would remain a broken heirloom of Isildur's descendants for many years hence. Finally it was Aragorn, Isildur's heir, who inherited the Shards of Narsil.

At the end of the Third Age, after the One Ring was rediscovered and Sauron regained some of his strength, Narsil was reforged by the Elves. It was engraved with images of the moon, sun, and stars. Its heavenly light returned. Aragorn gave Narsil a new name: Andúril, which means "Flame of the West" in Sindarin.