Aragorn’s Backstory Explained (Before He Met Frodo Baggins)

Aragorn’s Backstory Explained (Before He Met Frodo Baggins)

While everyone knows Aragorn is awesome, it turns out that he actually had quite an impressive resume before the entire One Ring business even kicked off. If you’ve ever wondered what he was up to in the years before The Lord of the Rings, keep watching.

To understand how this ranger from the wilderness winds up claiming the throne of the kingdom, you’ve first got to back up about 6,000 years.

At the beginning of the Second Age, a kingdom of men was founded on the island of Númenore, to the west of the coasts of Middle Earth. The first of the kings of the Númenoreans was a man named Elros, the brother of Elrond of Rivendell. While Elrond famously chose to live an immortal life, Elros opts to live out his life as a mortal man.

Elros was the first of a long line of kings that rules Númenor for over 3,000 years. Even when the powerful island nation was destroyed, the bloodline continued to rule over the offshoot kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor on the mainland. Eventually, though, the family line faded into oblivion, ruling a scattered people under the title of the “chieftains of the Dúnedain.”

In Gondor, the last king of the bloodline died a thousand years before The Lord of the Rings takes place, leaving the stewards in charge of the kingdom until a king should come and reclaim the throne. This is what leads to the Steward Denethor leading the city when it’s attacked in The Return of the King.

In the north, though, there are no stewards to serve as long-term place holders. Instead, the kingdom of Arnor is completely destroyed. In reaction to this, the surviving members of the royal family and their descendants eventually head into a sort of semi-exile under the new title of the “chieftains of the Dúnedain.” Under this new name, the chieftains rule over the scattered remnants of their people, who quietly fight against the Dark Lord as rangers. The chieftains of the Dúnedain rule for a thousand years before the last one, Aragorn, arrives on the scene. Keep watching the video to see Aragorn’s entire backstory explained!