Saturday, 12 March 2016

lord of the rings - Did Elrond want and expect Aragorn to become the King of Gondor and Arnor?

Yes.



That was unhelpful; I'll try to do better.



Does Elrond support Aragorn becoming King?



Sort of. Elrond supported the heirs of Isildur generally, but with Aragorn he seems to recognize early on that they're in the middle of an important historical moment, and Aragorn is going to be the one who either succeeds or fails utterly. He doesn't appear have much preference for either outcome, and is content to let Aragorn succeed or fail of his own accord:




'"Here is the ring of Barahir," [Elrond] said, "the token of our kinship from afar; and here also are the shards of Narsil. With these you may yet do great deeds; for I fortell that the span of your life shall be greater than the measure of Men, unless evil befalls you or you fail at the test. But the test will be hard and long. The scepter of Annúminas I withhold, for you have yet to earn it."



Return of the King Appendix A "Annals of the Kings and Rulers" (v) "Here Follows a Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"




Even after Aragorn falls madly in love with Arwen, Elrond is of the same opinion:




"Aragorn, Arathorn's son, Lord of the Dúnedain, listen to me! A great doom awaits you, either to rise above the height of all your fathers since the days of Elendil, or to fall into darkness with all that if left of your kin. Many years of trial lie before you. You shall neither have wife, nor bind any woman to you in troth, until your time comes and you are found worthy of it."



Return of the King Appendix A "Annals of the Kings and Rulers" (v) "Here Follows a Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"




Did Elrond set an impossible barrier for Arwen's hand?



No, not remotely. In fact, Elrond seemed to believe that hope of marrying Arwen would motivate Aragorn (emphasis mine):




'When Elrond learned the choice of his daughter, he was silent, though his heart was grieved and found the doom long feared none the easier to endure. But when Aragorn came again to Rivendell he called him to him1, and he said:



'"My son, years come when hope will fade, and beyond them little is clear to me. And now a shadow lies between us. Maybe, it has been appointed so, that by my loss the kingship of Men may be restored. Therefore, though I love you, I say to you: Arwen Undómiel shall not diminish her life's grace for less cause. She shall not be the bride of any Man less than the King of both Gondor and Arnor. To me then even our victory can bring only sorrow and parting - but to you hope of joy for a while.



Return of the King Appendix A "Annals of the Kings and Rulers" (v) "Here Follows a Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"




Obviously Elrond isn't exactly thrilled about this - and it's hard to blame him - but he seems more resigned than upset. Tolkien doesn't discuss why this is, but we can speculate.



To me, the most likely explanation is that Arwen's choice was already made, and there's nothing Elrond could do about it. We get to see the moment where Arwen falls in love with Aragorn, and it's written like this:




And thus is was that Arwen beheld [Aragorn] again after their long parting; and as he came walking towards her under the trees of Caras Galadhon laden with flowers of gold, her choice was made and her doom appointed.



Return of the King Appendix A "Annals of the Kings and Rulers" (v) "Here Follows a Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"




Arwen is only the second Elf we know of (the first being Elrond's brother Elros2) who made the Mortal choice, so we don't know if it was even possible for her to change her mind; however, the passage suggests it was not; "her doom was appointed" seems pretty definitive. So, from Elrond's perspective, there's not a whole lot of point arguing over it. The choice is made, so he may as well make sure it's worth something.




1 Seriously, Tolkien? "He called him to him"? I expected better.



2 I initially had Lúthien here as well, but on reflection that seems inappropriate; Lúthien didn't exactly choose mortality in the same way Elros or Arwen did; she was already dead, and was just allowed to return for a limited period. There's no question in my mind that there was a "no backsies" clause on that agreement

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