# Aragorn's Ancestry



## Sagan369 (Jun 7, 2008)

Did Aragorn have both Isildur's and Anarion's blood in him?


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## Turgon (Jun 7, 2008)

Probably several times over.

I know that one of Aragorn's Ancestors, the famous Arvedui, married the daughter of one of the last kings of Gondor and so Aragorn can definitely trace his line back to both Isildur and Anarion from this marriage.


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## Sagan369 (Jun 7, 2008)

So, Anarion was not only his great great (ad infinitum) UNCLE but also his great great...FATHER as well?


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## Ithrynluin (Jun 8, 2008)

And then we actually have the audacity to condemn Turin...


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## Turgon (Jun 9, 2008)

I think Aranarth, the son of Arvedui had a massive claim to the throne of Gondor, moreso than Earnil II and Earnur, being the grandson of Ondoher and the son of Arvedui.


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## HLGStrider (Jun 9, 2008)

That whole nitpicky, no female inheriting the throne thing didn't help much, of course. 

Personally I think Gondor was just being stubborn. The nobles viewed the Northern Kingdom as outsiders of lesser dignity.

I also still believe, even though I have no real textual backing for it, that Isildur managed to curse his family so that no heir of his could rule Gondor until his evil (in neglecting to destroy the ring) had been rectified. If any of his descendants had attained the throne we wouldn't have had such a determined and experienced Aragorn plodding along with the fellowship. The rangers also may not have kept such a determined guard on the north (the kingdom's resources being already stretched defending the south, it is unlikely the king would've had a mind for both), and generally the stage for the rings return would've been a lot more difficult. 

So it all worked out, but I do like to think of it as a doom or destiny that kept things as it were until Aragorn was able to defeat his grand-sire's demons, as it were, himself rejecting the ring (I'm not referring to that added scene in the movie which I would hate completely but since it supplemented for the much better scene in the Prancing Pony where Strider says he could have the ring if he wanted it and scares the heck out of everybody, I'm just glad we got the idea in there somewhere).


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## Firawyn (Jun 12, 2008)

HLGStrider said:


> That whole nitpicky, no female inheriting the throne thing didn't help much, of course.




I agree with you here - though I wonder, if in England, the line can be passed through woman, and Tolkien was English, why he didn't incorporate that into Middle Earth? Did he perhaps not agree with passing a royal line through woman?


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## HLGStrider (Jun 12, 2008)

It may have had something to do with the Numenorean experience where a female heir was forced into a marriage with an ambitious relative at least once . .. it's a lot harder to do that with male heir. I'd have to look up that story to be sure though. It's been a long time since I read the last bit of the Sil. 

Got to love Tyler's New Tolkien Companion for easy reference Ar Pharazon forcibly married his first cousin (which wasn't well looked upon in itself) Miriel (that is really one of the prettiest names in the story, it's too bad she wasn't a more written about character just so I could say it more . . . Miriel). Pharazon was a disaster as a ruler and he was also the ruler Elendil and his sons fled from in order to form their own kingdom . . . and also to avoid sinking beneath the sea. 

With a monarchy it is better to leave it up to birth than to who is ambitious and cunning enough to marry the king's daughter. In our own world the great female absolute rulers generally tended to be unmarried just for this reason. 

Anyway, that said, Numenor did allow for a female to "receive the sceptre," which may have influenced the decision for Gondor to go the opposite direction.


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