Could Aragorn have taken the Ring to 🌋Mordor?

[Idril Celebrindal]

Aragorn could have claimed the Ring, had he wanted to, as he was Isildur's heir. If he had been made Ringbearer, do you think he would have been able to take the Ring to Mordor like Frodo (or better) or would he succumb to it like Boromir? Aragorn was certainly mightier than Frodo, but Gandalf was mightier than both and he was afraid to even touch the Ring, while Bilbo, a lowly Hobbit, had it for over 50 years and was still able to give it up willingly, so maybe might is a hinderance when it comes to the Ring... What do you think? And how do you think the changing of the Fellowship (Frodo would have probably gone home if the burden of the Ring was taken from him, and the rest of the hobbits would have followed him) would have affected the events of Middle Earth?

 

[d4rk3lf]

No.
Aragorn is undoubtably a character with very strong will, but he is also somewhat ambitious (book Aragorn of course, not the weakling from the movie), therefore making him easier target for the ring.
He is also very wise, and he wouldn't accept it.
Remember that even with Palantir, he succeeded, but struggled... he got older...
He couldn't submit ring to his will... even for a short time, imho.

Maybe, but only maybe, if all the fellowship died, save him, and he wouldn't have other choice, almighty Illuvatar might give him a strength to complete the task.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

He couldn't submit ring to his will... even for a short time, imho.

I think he might have been able to, if, to paraphrase Galadriel's words to Frodo, he had "trained his will to the domination of others" -- but of course Aragorn was not the kind of person who would do that.

And he was wise enough not to try; as Gandalf said to Frodo, when he begged him to take the Ring:

'With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.' His eyes flashed and his face was lit as if by a fire within. 'Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself.'

Aragorn's "power" was different from Gandalf's, and comes from different sources, but the results of taking possession of the Ring would have been similar: a new "Dark Lord" simply displacing the old one. This was clearly Sauron's greatest fear.

Aragorn could have claimed the Ring, had he wanted to, as he was Isildur's heir.

Maybe, but he didn't think so:

'Then it belongs to you, and not to me at all!' cried Frodo in amazement, springing to his feet, as if he expected the Ring to be demanded at once.

'It does not belong to either of us,' said Aragorn;

Gandalf was mightier than both and he was afraid to even touch the Ring

Actually, he held the Ring at one point, though he had told Bilbo not to "give" it to him earlier. There seems to be a contradiction here, as he later asks Frodo to "give me the Ring for a moment". I believe the solution lies in varying meanings of "give"; I made a couple of admittedly didactic posts on the subject in an old thread:
Post in thread 'Incomplete Victory of the Last Alliance: Weaknesss or Inevitability ?' https://thetolkien.forum/threads/in...-weaknesss-or-inevitability.23609/post-517224

As to the original question, I do think it's possible that Aragorn could have taken the Ring to Mt. Doom; his struggles would have been different from Frodo's, but he'd likely have succumbed in the end, as Frodo did.

But we'll never know.

 

[Olorgando]

It would have been a very different story - and a very conventional, almost humdrum one.
It was the whole point of LotR that Sauron's downfall was caused by small people usually far below his contempt, the Hobbits Frodo, Sam and Sméagol.
And Aragorn had an important role to play in aiding the Hobbits:
By wrenching the Orthanc Palantir from Sauron, he caused the latter to strike sooner than he had originally planned, prematurely.
And by leading that small force to the Black Gate, he caused Sauron to send all of his forces there, emptying the way to Mount Doom for the Hobbits.
And, without Merry and Pippin to rouse the Ents, Saruman would probably not have been defeated in his attack on Helm's Deep.

 

[Radaghast]

Yes, Aragorn could have taken the Ring to Mordor. But could he have take it into Mordor? That's a different ballgame entirely. If fate determined that he would be the one to carry the Ring I expect a way would be found, i.e. Tolkien would find a way to write it. But as we follow the hobbits' journey into Mordor we see that it's no easy feat, either to write or to actually do, considering the parameters. Aragorn could not believably use the way the hobbits did and obviously the Black Gate would not be an option for anyone. He would most likely have to go the long way around which would take time.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Or, he could be a champion rock climber.

 

[d4rk3lf]

I've always despised theory of the "eagles brings Frodo and ring to the Mount Doom and throwing it into the fire (with or without Frodo)", because in the Lore it was clearly explained why that can not be (to name few: Sauron would surely detect them with Fell Beasts and Nazguls, and would bring them down... the eagles purpose on M.E. was not solving it's problems, neither they would agreed to that.. etc).

But I was puzzled when I heard the theory: "You give the one ring to a chicken, then you tie rope on a chicken neck, and lead it to Mordor".

Now... that could actually work.

 

[Radaghast]

Or, he could be a champion rock climber.

What would the chapter be titled? "The Walls of Doom" 🤔

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

"The Land of Gnarly Heights"?

Now... that could actually work.

Nah -- you'd still end up with the same problem.

 

[Radaghast]

"The Land of Gnarly Heights"?


Nah -- you'd still end up with the same problem.
View attachment 35394

 

[Radaghast]

Maybe this chicken could pull it off.

 

[Radaghast]

It occurs to me that this Idril's is a very interesting question for the reason that Aragorn and Arwen are a parallel or echo (or what have you) of Beren and Luthién. So, it would seem to make sense in light of this theme to have Aragorn to be the one to take the Ring to its destruction to mirror Beren's quest for the Silmaril. Of course, as @Olorgando points out, the book is about hobbits so Aragorn cannot take the spotlight, for that and other reasons. However, it makes me wonder. Did Tolkien himself probably realize this himself and come up with a different quest for Aragorn, namely the Paths of the Dead? And he gives Arwen something to do to aid Aragorn in his labors, even if her role is nowhere near as active as Luthién's.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Hmm. Well, taking the first meeting at Bree, where he was envisioned as a hobbit (either Bilbo, or one of his maternal uncles) as a starting point, I'd say "not initially". Only when confronted with the image of a "tough hobbit ranger" reduced to helplessness on Caradhras did he realize he must be a Man.

After that, Tolkien being Tolkien, he must also have a backstory of some kind. He'd have to be out of the ordinary, so it would be natural to develop a heroic story for him, and the Hidden Monarch trope parallels, while also playing against, the theme of the previously little-known and undistinguished hobbits rising into recognition.

It's been a while since I made a thorough reread of the drafts, but you can see the development there.

As for the Paths of the Dead, that's an example of the Night Journey the Hero must undertake; it parallels Frodo's in the Barrow, but there's a sense in which everything after the crossing of the Anduin can be seen as a Night Journey for Sam and Frodo, even if some of it takes place in daylight.

IIRC Tolkien mentions in a letter that Aragorn's story is getting out of hand, and it will probably be necessary to remove some of it to an appendix.

 

[Olorgando]

It occurs to me that this Idril's is a very interesting question for the reason that Aragorn and Arwen are a parallel or echo (or what have you) of Beren and Lúthien. So, it would seem to make sense in light of this theme to have Aragorn to be the one to take the Ring to its destruction to mirror Beren's quest for the Silmaril.

Yes, the story of Aragorn and Arwen echoes that of Beren and Lúthien. Lúthien is Arwen's great-great-grandmother, and Aragorn's ancestress with sixty-odd more generations thrown in. There are significant differences, though, as so often in JRRT'S writings.
But as to Aragorn, the conventional hero, so to speak, being the one to bring the quest to a successful conclusion?

It somehow doesn't happen that way in Middle-earth.

Beren? Beren's quest for the Silmaril would have been hopeless without Lúthien.
Tuor? He doesn't manage to convince Turgon to take Ulmo's advice. His crucial contribution is becoming Eärendil's father.
Eärendil? He makes no headway until Elwing (with Ulmo's help) brings him the Silmaril. Morgoth's downfall is accomplished by others.
So one could propose that it would have been "out-of-character" for Middle-earth for the conventional hero to accomplish a quest.

 

[Radaghast]

Don't forget the biggest Tolkien screw-up of all: Túrin Turambar.

 

[Olorgando]

Don't forget the biggest Tolkien screw-up of all: Túrin Turambar.

I purposely left him out of the list as he was the tragic hero, almost anti-hero, and he didn't really have any set quest ... unless it was self-destruction. In that, at least, he "succeeded".

 

[Radaghast]

I purposely left him out of the list as he was the tragic hero, almost anti-hero, and he didn't really have any set quest ... unless it was self-destruction. In that, at least, he "succeeded".

One could argue his goal was not getting into trouble and not being a jerk 😁

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

In that case: Epic Fail! 😄

 

[Idril Celebrindal]

There are a few other similarities between Aragorn and Beren that I have noticed... Firstly, they both forsook cities and lived alone in the wild for a while, Aragorn as a ranger and Beren after Gorlim's treason. Secondly, they both took a scary road that no one else dared before them: Aragorn through the paths of the dead, Beren through the Ered Gorgorath and Dungortheb. Thirdly, both fell in love with an elf-maiden but were refused by the father untill they had proven themselves. Forthly, they both married an elf, Beren being the first man to do so and Aragorn the last... Also, note that the tale of Arda follows the Silmarils. From Fëanor to Beren to Ëarendil and finally to Frodo, who's starglass held the light of a silmaril. If Aragorn had been the ringbearer, then Galadriel would have probably given the starglass to him, and then he would have continued the tale. It would make sense, seeing as Aragorn is the decendant of Beren and Ëarendil and was loosely related to Fëanor. Also. the prophesy that Huor made to Turgon at the Nirnoeth Ardoniad concerning Ëarendil "... out of your house shall come the hope of Elves and Men" can also apply to Aragorn, seeing as he had Elvish ancestry and his Sindarin name Estel meant "hope". He's the obvious choice for a main character who could both continue the tale of the Silmarils and save Middle Earth like Ëarendil (by destroying the Ring). So why doesn't Tolkien make him this main character? I think that it's most likely that Tolkien thought Aragorn was not strong enough to bear the Ring and so he gave it to Frodo, even though Aragorn was a much more likely choice, not only because he was Isildur's heir but because he could have also continued the tale of the Silmaril. There is also a similarity between Beren and Frodo in that they both lost body parts while achieving their quests, and they both left the world in an unusual way. Of course, maybe all this is coincidental and my overenthusiastic brain is making connections where there aren't any. But I think that it is not so.

 

[Radaghast]

So why doesn't Tolkien make him this main character? I think that it's most likely that Tolkien thought Aragorn was not strong enough to bear the Ring and so he gave it to Frodo, even though Aragorn was a much more likely choice, not only because he was Isildur's heir but because he could have also continued the tale of the Silmaril.

Because the book was supposed to be about hobbits and Tolkien held true to that (there is only a few chapters in the book where no hobbits are present, and those are the ones where Aragorn and co. are looking for two of them). Also, Aragorn came later in the process. His prototype was actually another hobbit who had prosthetic feet.