Home » Reading & Literature » J.R.R. Tolkien » Of Thegns and Kings and Rangers and Things - Page 6

Of Thegns and Kings and Rangers and Things - Page 6

© Michael Martinez

'Behold the sun setting in a great fire! It is a sign of the end and fall of many things, and a change in the tides of the world. But this City and realm has rested in the charge of the Stewards for many long years, and I fear that if I enter it unbidden, then doubt and debate may arise, which should not be while this war is fought. I will not enter in, nor make any claim, until it be seen whether we or Mordor shall prevail. Men shall pitch my tents upon the field, and here I will await the welcome of the Lord of the City.'

Now, while Eomer and Imrahil recognized the wisdom of Aragorn's conservative approach to Minas Tirith, they also felt he deserved better than to "remain like a beggar at the door". To which Aragorn replied, "Not a beggar. Say a captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone." Aragorn's assertion has always seemed like a dissimilation, but that would be uncharacteristic of him. In fact, it would be contrary to his purposes for him suddenly to reverse course and distance himself from the royal claim he had just said he was standing by. Although Aragorn expresses some uncertainty earlier in the story, he is by now resolute and committed to the course of action he has taken. He is not going to back down. So his claim to be a captain of the Rangers implies that he is merely asserting one of his titles. He would never lie about something like that, nor would it be necessary for Aragorn to rely upon a generic application of a word with such special meanings. Which is not to say that Tolkien doesn't use the word chieftain in the sense of a tribal or clan leader. That usage occurs throughout the book, from the Prologue, where he speaks of the Hobbit chieftains of the Shire who elect their Thain, to the chieftains of the Haradrim. Some of the uses, however, appear to be similar to the way Aragorn speaks of himself. There is the orc-chieftain in Moria who attacks Frodo. Later on, Aragorn tells his companions that the "orcs will often pursue foes for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge". The Lord of the Nazgul, referred to as the Black Captain, and the Captain of Mordor, is also the Chieftain of the Nazgul. So how is the reader to know whether Tolkien is speaking of a clan or tribal leader, or of a military leader? The distinction seems to be defined only by the application of both words to a given character. There are no captains among the Hobbits. There are captains among the Orcs. There are both captains and chieftains among the Rohirrim. So a chieftain among the Hobbits is a traditional leader of a people or clan; yet a chieftain among the Orcs or Dunedain, or in Sauron's direct service, is a captain. Among the Rohirrim, a chieftain of a local people (such as Dunhere, the "chieftain of the folk of Harrow-dale") may be appointed a captain within the Muster of Rohan, although Tolkien's description of the Muster of Rohan in Unfinished Tales does not allow for the placement of captains within the formal structure. He seems to use the term generically to refer to the leaders of the Rohirrim.

The copyright of the article Of Thegns and Kings and Rangers and Things - Page 6 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Of Thegns and Kings and Rangers and Things - Page 6 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.