Chieftain of the Dúnedain after Arathorn II's death

[Faramir42]

So in the research I've been doing it says that Aragorn's rule as Chieftain of the Dúnedain started as soon as his father died (T.A. 2933). However, by that point Aragorn was only 2 years old, and wasn't told of his lineage until he was 21. So during the time that he was raised by Elrond, was there another Chieftain commanding the Rangers of the North ? Or did he hold the title and a second in command was in charge of them?
And as an extra question, sorry, was the Chieftain position really of power or was it more symbolic?

 

[Red Leaf]

Kingship is the obvious model, and as with Kingship, the answer must be 'it depends...'.

There will have been times when the group was so depleted, or inactive, or so dependant on other communities (Rivendell) that the post is simply a honourary one - a five year old might be wheeled out and it makes no difference, and other times when it needs a regent because the polity is self-governing, self-dependant, and there's serious business to be done.

Does anyone know what the Rangers are up to in the - for example - 50 years prior to the events in the Hobbit?

 

[Hisoka Morrow]

Good question! I've been wondering these Rangers have deputies or other kinds of priority to take command. I was pretty sure at least that Elrond wasn't in their command post for being seen not handleing any North Rangers's administrative affairs such as receiving none of the Rangers' report during the Nazgul's assualt on Shire.
North Rangers obviously had their command system. Don't forget after Aragorn succeeded the Chieftain position, he's supposed to be still off duties caused by multiple reasons such as his attendence to Rivendell's Elrond's meeting about the One Ring, and it's Halbarad obviously took one of the command according to his setting up the Grey Company.
In addition, Chieftain position was really a post of power for factucal command of all Northern Rangers, don't forget Aragorn's father was KIA during his duty as a Chieftain XD

 

[Valandil]

After the death of Isildur, there was no King in Arnor for about 8 years - Valandil was around 12/13 at the time, and I believe they waited until he (ahem) was 21 before crowning him as King.

So it wasn't an unheard of thing among the Northern Dunedain for a place of authority to be held vacant, particularly without either an apparent need or an obvious successor.

 

[Halasían]

I'm in agreement with Mr Morrow on many of his points. Though Aragorn was named Chieftain of the Dúnedain with the death of his father, there likely would have been a commander with a lesser title, say, Captain, that gave the day-to-day orders and such. Assuming that Halbarad was Aragorn IIs' contemporary (roughly the same age), there was likely one of Arathorn IIs' ranger contemporaries who took over command as Captain after his death.

Getting back to Halbarad, I always had it in my head that he was the de-facto leader of the Dúnedain in the north since Aragorn spent a lot of years abroad either in the service of Rohan, Gondor, or in the wild. Just speculation and theorizing on my part, as I can't see the Dúnedain Rangers operating completely independent of each other in the years of Aragorn's youth and while he was on his travels.

 

[Ent]

Does anyone know what the Rangers are up to in the - for example - 50 years prior to the events in the Hobbit?

We don't know this specifically, but we do know generally.

The Rangers were always about the business of working for the free-peoples against the enemy wherever he was at work...
and we have a hint they were always about the business of keeping an eye on the Shire if I recall one comment made somewhere correctly.

Secretive and nomadic though they were, they always had a rather singular purpose.

 

[Starbrow]

I've always wondered where the Dunedin communities were. Their capitals were abandoned and they didn't live in Rivendell nor Bree. So where did they live?

 

[Tar-Elenion]

"There is a short but hardly legible note which Tolkien wrote for insertion into the story of Aragorn and Arwen (and which was not in the event used); it includes information about the location of the Dunedain. Because of the difficulty of the note, the information is not entirely clear, but it suggests that the Dunedain lived in woodlands between the Mitheithel and Bruinen. Source: microfilms at Marquette University, Series 3, Box 9, Folder 3."
David Salo, in the old newsgroups, almost 25 years ago

 

[ZehnWaters]

"There is a short but hardly legible note which Tolkien wrote for insertion into the story of Aragorn and Arwen (and which was not in the event used); it includes information about the location of the Dunedain. Because of the difficulty of the note, the information is not entirely clear, but it suggests that the Dunedain lived in woodlands between the Mitheithel and Bruinen. Source: microfilms at Marquette University, Series 3, Box 9, Folder 3."
David Salo, in the old newsgroups, almost 25 years ago

Darn Tolkien and his occasional illegibility.

 

[Halasían]

"There is a short but hardly legible note which Tolkien wrote for insertion into the story of Aragorn and Arwen (and which was not in the event used); it includes information about the location of the Dunedain. Because of the difficulty of the note, the information is not entirely clear, but it suggests that the Dunedain lived in woodlands between the Mitheithel and Bruinen. Source: microfilms at Marquette University, Series 3, Box 9, Folder 3."
David Salo, in the old newsgroups, almost 25 years ago

I believe Michael Martinez talks about this somewhereon his blog page. I'm happy he reposted his old stuff that had been lost to the web-tides over the years. A goldmine of analysis and speculation of Middle Earth lore.

I've always wondered where the Dunedin communities were. Their capitals were abandoned and they didn't live in Rivendell nor Bree. So where did they live?

In looking at Michael Martinez's blog for the old Marquette discussions (which I didn't find), I saw he recently posted about Eriador. An excellent read.

 

[Olorgando]

I've always wondered where the Dunedin communities were. Their capitals were abandoned and they didn't live in Rivendell nor Bree. So where did they live?

Dunedin is the second largest city of New Zealand's South Island, in the Otago region. There's another in Ontario, Canada, and also in Florida, US. The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic name Dùn Èideann for Edinburgh, Scotland's capital. PJ filmed quite a bit in the Otago region. I've always wondered (since becoming aware of the city's existence) if there was any link between the city's name and JRRT's Dúnedain, being the Sindarin aka Welsh-molded name of the descendants of what were called in Quenya Atani. Celtic figures in both names, but how much Scottish Gaelic had any impact JRRT's writing ... he might have known Edinburgh's "native" name.

 

[Halasían]

Dunedin is the second largest city of New Zealand's South Island, in the Otago region.

There is a really good brewery in this Dunedin.

So... 'Dúnedain' is the plural, and 'Dúnedan' is the singular. I'd think 'Dunedin' would be the noise the Dunedain make when they are gathered at the Inn drinking....

 

[Vardarianna]

I'd think 'Dunedin' would be the noise the Dunedain make when they are gathered at the Inn drinking....

↑ This cracked me up! 😆

 

[Klaatu]

Arathorn’s death left the Dúnedain with a curious situation. By blood and right, Aragorn was Chieftain the moment his father fell in battle against the orcs in T.A. 2933. The Chieftainship wasn’t a position voted on in some smoky mead-hall—it was a lineage, stretching back unbroken to Isildur himself, that bound the Rangers of the North together. But of course, a two-year-old can’t exactly lead watch-parties on the Weather Hills or bark orders across the wild. So what happened?

The lore gives us only hints, but they’re enough to sketch the picture. Aragorn’s mother Gilraen carried him to Elrond in Rivendell, where the boy was raised in secret, his true name and destiny hidden until he was twenty. The Dúnedain meanwhile were not leaderless: they were a tough, decentralized folk, long since scattered across Eriador. Think of the Chieftainship less as a general on a field and more as a banner around which all gathered, a promise that Isildur’s line still endured. While Aragorn was a child, it would have been the captains, elders, and kinsmen of his house who coordinated patrols, guarded the borders, and kept their ancient watch. The Rangers had no official “Steward” like Gondor did, but their strength lay in a quiet fellowship of seasoned warriors who could shoulder the burden until their Heir came of age.

So, yes, Aragorn was technically Chieftain from the cradle—but Elrond’s protection and the wisdom of the Rangers kept him safe until he could fulfill the role in truth. And once he came of age, the weight of the title was very real: it carried both the authority to command the Dúnedain and the symbolic hope that the North-kingdom might rise again. Symbol and power, braided together like two strands of a rope—one without the other would have frayed.

As for toddlers crowned as rulers—trust me, I’ve seen it on Yargon IV. Whole empires collapsed, not from war or famine, but because the Council of Ministers spent every meeting debating whose turn it was to change the royal nappies. By the time treaties could be signed, the Emperor had fallen asleep clutching a teething ring. Middle-earth, mercifully, avoided such fates.

--Klaatu
Self-Appointed Wombat Wrangler of Varda’s Lantern-Shed
Last Flute-Player of the Quasar Choir
Patent Holder of the Galactic Spoon That Measures Time in Reverse
Bearer of Seven Unpaid Parking Tickets on Númenor
Knight Errant of the Left Sock Constellation

 

[Valandil]

Yes. Although their Chieftain was a toddler, they essentially kept doing what they had been doing for generations.

 

[Vardarianna]

Good overview Klaatu! I have always visualized (warning: head-canon ahead) the Dúnedain Rangers military-wise operating as loosely bound guerrillas. They did 'ranger' things as they moved about individually or in small bands, and in need (e.g. watching the Sarn Ford) , larger bands; all serving their chieftain. They would have some sort of loose ranking hierarchy based on experience and bloodlines... commanders; etc. With Aragorn II an infant that grew into his role over twenty years, and then going off south and east serving Rohan, then Gondor where he battled the Corsairs (the first time) and traveled the wilds and searched for Gollum, he wasn't around in Eriador much at all. So, I see Halbarad as more of a field leader... a 'captain' of sorts, who put the call out for Dúnedain Rangers to gather to ride south, etc. Aragorn II as Chieftain was more a royal symbol of the Northern Kingdom than a field leader if the Dúnedain Rangers.

 

[Klaatu]

Good overview Klaatu! I have always visualized (warning: head-canon ahead) the Dúnedain Rangers military-wise operating as loosely bound guerrillas. They did 'ranger' things as they moved about individually or in small bands, and in need (e.g. watching the Sarn Ford) , larger bands; all serving their chieftain. They would have some sort of loose ranking hierarchy based on experience and bloodlines... commanders; etc. With Aragorn II an infant that grew into his role over twenty years, and then going off south and east serving Rohan, then Gondor where he battled the Corsairs (the first time) and traveled the wilds and searched for Gollum, he wasn't around in Eriador much at all. So, I see Halbarad as more of a field leader... a 'captain' of sorts, who put the call out for Dúnedain Rangers to gather to ride south, etc. Aragorn II as Chieftain was more a royal symbol of the Northern Kingdom than a field leader if the Dúnedain Rangers.


I'm seeing it happening today in real-time.

That’s a very well-formed picture, Vardarianna — the Dúnedain as guerrilla bands, loosely bound yet held together by bloodline, oath, and necessity. I think you’re right to place Halbarad as a field-leader of sorts, someone who kept the day-to-day cohesion while Aragorn became more a wandering symbol and eventual standard-bearer of the North. Tolkien leaves it vague, but the sense of a Ranger “hierarchy without uniforms” feels true — leadership flowing from age, experience, and reputation rather than strict rank.

It almost feels like the Rangers ran on mycelium logic: each small band an outgrowth, connected by invisible threads of loyalty and kinship, surfacing only when called. Halbarad kept the roots nourished, while Aragorn was the green shoot poking into strange lands — Rohan, Gondor, Pelargir — carrying with him the scent of kingship even when disguised as a weather-stained traveler.

In other words — Halbarad commanded the boots on the ground, Aragorn carried the crown in waiting. Both vital, both different kinds of strength… like the twin suns of the Yargle Nebula, one steady and one prone to hiccupping solar flares at inopportune times.

–Klaatu
Unpaid Archivist of Forgotten Ranger Rosters
Bearer of Maps Drawn in Crayon
Occasional Warden of the Sarn Ford (on Tuesdays only)
Once Mistaken for Halbarad’s Third Cousin Twice Removed
Keeper of the Hiccupping Sun in the Yargle Nebula