The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien - The One Ring

by **Aragornlover** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 3:06 pm

I mean, when I envision him, I picture young (35-40 at most) but I've heard that he is like 80!! Well if he is, he is certainly well preserved and fit to do all he does! Plus he didn't look that old to me in the movie, or was that just an error in the movie? Thanks

by **Aragorn-KingOfNúmenor** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 3:09 pm

Remember that Aragorn is of the race of Numenor, and Men of Numenor are granted a very long lifespan.

by **Aragorn-KingOfNúmenor** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 3:10 pm

Or he might just be Well-preserved, as you say

by **Gandalf150** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 5:10 pm

In Appendix B of ROTK it says he's born on March 1st 2931 of the 3rd Age.

by **Lady_Elsbeth** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 7:16 pm

In the appendices it mentions that Aragorn was born in 2931 which makes him 88 when the Lord of the Rings starts. He died in the fourth age at the age of 210.

by **Eluchil** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 10:14 pm

Aragorn was old, as has been said, but appeared much younger by normal standards since he was a Numenorean with an expected lifespan of well over 100 years, and in fact he retained vigour, if not youth, longer than any of his sires for many generations.

by **ArPharazon** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 12:39 am

I think the film decided to ignore the "Men of Numenor have long lives" theme as too complicated to explain and not that relevant to the plot - although it is possible that it will be brought out in TTT or ROTK. On the other hand they don't say how old Aragorn is exactly in the film. This is one example of where relying on the film will misguide people - if having seen the film the story grabs you read the books and imbibe the whole picture. there's a lot more (and that is not to criticise the fim in any way - I thought it excellent). But this is the books forum so back to the thread. I don't think Aragorn's calendrical age should change your view of him. Like the elves age and appearance don't match in human terms. He has had a long life and might thus look worn and craggy, and lives rough most of the time so is probably pretty unkempt - but then don't forget his inborn nobility of character and bearing. I always imagined him as not unlike Gary Cooper in his prime (ie before High Noon) - handsome but not in a pretty way, with that same exceptional height, and eyes that can signal kindness, or ruthlessness, be warm or hard as diamonds as the moment requires. He had done a lot in his life had Aragorn, including serving in the army of Gondor under Denethor's father Ecthelion II (Aragorn used an assumed name, Thorongil meaning "Eagle of the Star")and had previously served in Rohan. It's worth reading the story of Aragorn and Arwen in Appendix A of ROTK if any of this interests you.

by **scirocco** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:31 am

I was surprised when I first worked out that he was five years older than Denethor. I had always thought of Aragorn as the same generation as Boromir and Faramir. Denethor certainly gives the impression of being much older than Aragorn.

by **ElveSong** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:34 am

How odd...I expected him to be in his late thirtys and the most...oh well, glad you lot are more observant than me ^^

by **Lady_of_the_Stars** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 6:28 pm

Hehehehe! I can't believe that you people thought he was that young!!! Being in the line of Elros, and of Elendil, and because the Edain were granted a much longer lifespan than any other men of Middle Earth (but not the extent of those in the line of Elros, him being granted the longest life span, along with his choice to be mortal) the Numenoreans age as normal men do, but when they reach theri full growth, they stop aging completely, untill the last 10-15 yrs of their life when the simply wear out (deteriorate). When the Shadow passed over the minds of the Numenoreans, and they began clinging to their lives, their life spans, slowly but surely shortened. And in the destruction of Numenor their lives were much less than before. I'm pretty sure, that in the peak of Numenor, the average age for those in Elros's line was about 400, Elros, himself being about 500. the average age for a commoner was 200. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!!) Anyway, so considering how much the lives of the edain were shortened, he still lived a long time. And Arwen, I believe still had many years left when she died, cast her soul to Mandos, of being mortal, wherever men's souls go, because she no longer had reason to live. Hope this helps!!! Elwen

by **Eric_Reese** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:22 pm

Actually, ArPharazon: it was hinted at that he was far older than he looked in the film. WHen he was talking with Arwen in Rivendell, she mentioned that it was "long ago" when they first met, and that he did not have the cares he did at that point when they met. Also, he mentioned his journey to Minas Tirith many years earlier.

by **ArPharazon** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 6:14 am

Eric_Reese, I would not dispute what you say. PJ has a very effective way of throwing out things to the audience which mean something to the initiated but are equally understandable to newcomers. Thus he speaks at various levels. Those of us who have read LOTR and know something of ME can interpret the line in that way - but long ago could mean 10 years in certain circumstances. There was thus nothing jarring in the script for anyone assuming Aragorn was 30ish. I would still maintain that FOTR (film) does not make a big thing about Aragorn's longevity. TTT or ROTK may, of course, and if so, the markers as you say, are there.

by **Maedhros** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 8:41 am

Aragorn is 87 in the Lord of the Rings. Also, the scene in Rivendell with Arwen happened 27 years earlier and in Lothlorien. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0> I always assumed that men of Numenor had a lifespan of "thrice that of lesser men" to use Tolkien's words. They live to about 210.

by **Eluchil** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 5:50 pm

Tolkien's exact ideas about Numenorean longevity, especially the relationship of the royal house with the common people, varied with time. 210 seems like a good esitmate for the general average (70 is mentioned as a full lifespan in the Bible), agreeing with the thrice statement in LotR. The Royal House lived about 400 years in the beginning which began to fall to close to 200 as the Numenoreans fell under the shadow. The Faithful escaped and estabilished realms in Middle-Earth. Dates are hard to find but the first King of Gondor (Meneldil) lived for 281 years and of Arnor (Valandil) about 260. Their lifespans shrunk since they were deprivedof their ancestral home, Numenor, and Aragorn's 250 was extraordinary. I have always pictured Aragorn as apppearing in his 40's at Bree, experienced and weatherbeaten but with vigour undimminished. PJ may spend some time with this issue in the upcomming films since Aragorn's death is reportedly pictured. But we shall see.

by **Uriel_Black** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 9:53 pm

In the movie he is made to look about 30ish, but it is mentioned that he met Arwen several decades before.

by **gwynwhyfar** » Sat Mar 30, 2002 10:59 am

Wow! I knew Aragorn was older he looks (used to think he was about 80 when FOTR stars, but had no idea he was older than Denethor. Isn't there some place in ROTK in which Denethor proudly asserts, either to Gandalf or Pippin or both, that he has the "blood of Numenor" in him as well as the "usurper", Aragorn? When you think of their relative ages, Eomer seems like a little kid!<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>

by **Lyraina** » Fri Jun 07, 2002 5:39 am

I'm pretty sure that Denethor was 1 year older than Aragorn. It says it in the timeline in the appendix.It is really hard to tell who's old than who cause Frodo is actually older than Boromor with I didn't realised til i read it.About the thing with the Numeorean blood it ran through Aragorn's veins true while Denethor had some but it wasn't completley true, i think that's right anyway. hope that helps a bit.

by **Nessamelda** » Sun Jun 09, 2002 6:14 am

I've assumed that it was the wrestling with the Palantir that made Denethor look prematurely aged - my recollection is that there is some oblique reference to this somewhere (maybe in UT in the stuff on the Palantir, but i could be wrong?) And it is clear that not only is Aragorn a Numenorean he is also of Elendil's line who get to live longer than the other Numenoreans. Someone could check this by comparison with the line of the stewards - I don't have the appendices handy to check how much longer (I think that the dates of the stewards are given in there somewhere). And Aragorn lived longer than his recent ancestors.

by **Eluchil** » Wed May 21, 2003 9:34 am

The aging of Denethor by the palantir and his contests with Sauron is found at the end of the chapter "The Pyre of the Denethor" in LotR as well as in an extended discussion in UT. The length of the lives of the Edain in Middle-earth is difficult to calculate since the Appendices give only death dates not those of birth. Checking Gilraen, Argaron's mother, whose birth but not death is known exactly, we get a normal lifespan of c.100.

by **Elessar15** » Fri May 23, 2003 2:11 pm

Did you know that when Aragorn was young and in Gondor in disguise as Thorongil, he looked exactly like Denethor, who was just about the same age.

by **-Rómestámo-** » Fri May 23, 2003 4:46 pm

Eluchil: The length of the lives of the Edain in Middle-earth is difficult to calculate... The Edain lived similar lifespans to the modern human (witness "Bëor the Old" , held to have had a long life at ninety-three). After the granting of Elenna and the extension of their life-spans, it is more difficult to quantify exactly how long the Dúnedain lived. The Line of Elros in Unfinished Tales gives the lifespans of the Royal House, and The Heirs of Elendil from HOME XII (The Peoples of Middle-earth ) gives the ages of the direct lines of Isildur and Anárion, plus ages of the Ruling Stewards and the Princes of Dol Amroth. Thus, for members of the nobility it is possible to establish some ranges- how closely this corresponded to the lifespans of the commons is another matter... In Númenor, a lifespan into the two hundreds may not have been uncommon. A note in Unfinished Tales to The Line of Elros says:<UL>I There are several references to the greater life-span of the descendants of Elros than that of any others among the Númenóreans, in addition to those in the tale of Aldarion and Erendis. Thus in the Akallabêth, (The Silmarillion p.261) it is said that all the line of Elros 'had long life even according to the measure of the Númenóreans' ; and in an isolated note the difference in longevity is given a precise range: the 'end of vigour' for the descendants of Elros came (before the waning of their life-span set in) about the four hundredth year, or somewhat earlier, whereas for those not of that line it came towards the two hundredth year, or somewhat later. It may be noted that almost all the Kings from Vardamir to Tar-Ancalimon lived to or a little beyond their four hundredth year, and the three who did not died within one or two years of it. But in the latest writing on this subject (which derives, however, from about the same time as the latest work on the tale of Aldarion and Erendis) the distinction in longevity is greatly diminished. To the Númenórean people as a whole is ascribed a life-span some five times the length of other Men (although this is in contradiction to the statement in The Lord of the Rings Appendix A (I, i ) that the Númenóreans were granted a span 'in the beginning thrice that of lesser Men', a statement made again in the preface to the present text); and the difference of the Line of Elros from others in this respect is less a distinct mark and attribute than a mere tendency to live to a greater age.</UL>However, with the coming of the Shadow, spans began to shorten and once the Land of the Gift foundered, lifespans began to contract towards the human norm. So within Middle-earth, disregarding deaths by misadventure... Elendil and his Heirs lifespans ranged between 322 years (Elendil) and 155 (Argonui, Aragorn II's great-grandfather). There is a steady decrease in lifespan from the time that the Land of the Gift foundered. Aragorn's 210 years (not 250) is exceptional, being the longest life since Celebrindor ( Fifteenth King in the Northern line) or since Telumehtar Umbardacil, the sixth last king of the line of Anárion. Gilraen is not a good example- although she died sometime after her seventy-third year (when Aragorn and Arwen plight their troth; Gilraen was alive for some years after this) and before the War of the Ring (when she would have been 111 ), she is noted to have been "[...] aged by care, even as one of lesser Men [...] " The House of Húrin (The Ruling Stewards) lived between 150 years (Hador, the Seventh Ruling Steward) and 98 years (Ecthelion II ). Faramir lives 120 years. The Lords of Dol Amroth lived between 143 years (Imrazôr's grandson) and 93 years (Adrahil, Imrahil's father). As a contrast, the House of Eorl lived between 99 years (Aldor the Old, and noted to be exceptional) and 72 years (Fréaláf Hildeson). Given that they probably enjoyed better living conditions than most of their subjects, it is likely that the common Rohirrim lived only into their sixties and seventies. [Edit : unfortunately for this supposition, JRRT writes in Unfinished Tales<UL>[...] the King's health began to fail. This occurred early in the year 3014, when Théoden was sixty-six; his malady may thus have been due to natural causes, though the Rohirrim commonly lived til near or beyond their eightieth year. The Battles of the Fords of Isen</UL>Thus by the end of the Third Age, the difference in lifespan between the Dúnedain and so-called 'Lesser Men' had greatly diminished.] It seems by the time of the War of the Ring that the Men of the West live only about as long as a long-lived modern human (which would still greatly exceed the usual life-span of most in a historical medieval society). However unlike 'Lesser Men', the Númenóreans (and presumably the Dúnedain) retained their vigour and soundness of mind up until the point where they would voluntarily accept the Gift of Men or, from that point, if they clung to life, would rapidly pass into decrepitude and senility within ten or so years.<pre> -------------------------</pre>Elessar15: Did you know that when Aragorn was young and in Gondor in disguise as Thorongil, he looked exactly like Denethor, who was just about the same age. Appendix A actually says:<UL> 'Denethor II was a proud man, tall, valiant, and more kingly than any man that had appeared in Gondor for many lives of men; and he was wise also, and far-sighted, and learned in lore. Indeed he was as like to Thorongil as to one of nearest kin, and yet was ever placed second to the stranger in the hearts of men and the esteem of his father.</UL> Which is to say they resembled each other like 'nearest kin' - brothers or cousins. Pippin remarks on their resemblance ( Then the old man looked up. Pippin saw his carven face with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and his long curved nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded not so much of Boromir as of Aragorn. ) Thus they are similar but not 'exactly like'. As Lyraina noted, Appendix B confirms that Denethor was one year Aragorn's senior. [Edit(s) : to include Rohirrim Age quotation; typos & layout ]

by **greenleaf5000** » Fri May 23, 2003 5:26 pm

wasn't Aragorn 20 when he first met Arwen. I cant exactly remember but I think he was 16-20 when he came to Rivendell? And then the thing with Arwen in Lothlorien was when he was 48 I thought.

by **Finrod_the_Faithful** » Fri May 23, 2003 6:15 pm

I believe there was a passage in TTT where Aragorn told Eomer that he had travelled in Rohan long ago and had known Eomund, Eomer's father.

by **Elessar15** » Fri May 23, 2003 6:35 pm

-Rómestámo-, my mistake, I was going by memory. Finrod_the_Faithful, I think I remember reading somewhere that he went by Thorongil while he was in Rohan too.

by **stuffer501** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:08 am

i though he was like 100

by **stuffer501** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:08 am

i though he was like 100

by **Isilwen_Inglorin** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:29 pm

Lady_Elsbeth wrote:In the appendices it mentions that Aragorn was born in 2931 which makes him 88 when the Lord of the Rings starts. He died in the fourth age at the age of 210.

Yes 88 they got it wrong in the movie! Tsk tsk!

by **Arwenslove** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:06 am

Isilwen_Inglorin wrote:
Lady_Elsbeth wrote:In the appendices it mentions that Aragorn was born in 2931 which makes him 88 when the Lord of the Rings starts. He died in the fourth age at the age of 210.

Yes 88 they got it wrong in the movie! Tsk tsk!

Yes they did get it wrong in the movie, however, some of you are wrong about his age at the time he met the Hobbits in Bree. He was 87. (I did the math and checked it). He turned 88 the day he met Gandalf the White in Fangorn Forest. He met Arwen when he was 20. The day after he was told his ancestry. He and Arwen became trothed when he was 49. Just after he spent 24 years in Rohan and Gondor under guise of Thorongil (Eagle of the star). He lived to be 210 and died on March 1. (Kind of a bummer to die on your birthday huh.) He had one son, (that we know of) Eldarion. And several daughters, their names and number I have yet to find. I think I'll stop there. If you want more info, just notify me.... aragornlike@hotmail.com

by **elvenlegened** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:53 pm

how many times do we have to clear this up?

by **Arwenslove** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:02 am

dun't know. :lol:

The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien - The One Ring

How old IS Aragorn?!

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