Aragorn is one of the most significant and beloved characters in the entire series. He comes from a long line of heroes of Middle-earth and his family tree contains some significant individuals. Whether fans love Aragorn for his commitment to honor or his willingness to sacrifice nearly anything in the name of the people he loves, fans everywhere universally adore him.
He comes from a long line of men just as heroic as him. From the kings of Doriath to the , Aragorn's lineage is full of incredible figures who make it easy to see just who he inherited his greatest traits from. His family comes from legendary elves and men who shaped the world and the fate of each age of Middle-earth.
Aragorn's epic lineage begins with Thingol (also known as Elwe), . His story begins when he joins Orome on his journey to Valinor as ambassadors of the Teleri. He fell so in love with its beauty that he coaxed many of his people to accompany him when he returned, though they lingered in Beleriand rather than continuing to the coast like their companions.
He met his wife, Melian, and disappeared into the forest with her. He was considered lost for years.
When he returned to the public eye, he was highly regarded, and many of his people followed him once again to the forest of Doriath. There, he established the first major Elven kingdom - the group that went on to become the Sindar. Thingol later became involved in the war against Morgoth when his daughter, Luthien, fell in love with a man named Beren whom Thingol did not consider to be worthy of her. To prevent their marriage, he requested a Silmaril in exchange for her hand in marriage - a demand that turned out to be fatal, as once he acquired it, he was lured out of safety by a group of Dwarves who desired the prize as well.
They ambushed and killed him.
Melian, Thingol's wife, was one of the legendary Maia who aided the Valar when they first created the world. Before her time in Middle-earth, she worked heavily with Vana and Este and was renowned by her compatriots for her wisdom, beauty, and enchanting singing voice. She filled the new world with song and was the chief of the five Guardians - the Maia tasked by the Valar with making sure the newly-awakened Elves were safe and understood the Valar's identity and significance.
While in the forests of Middle-earth, She was a friend and mentor to Galadriel and a remarkable enchantress. It was she who put the Girdle, a protective spell so powerful that even Ungoliant could not bypass it, around Doriath to keep her family safe. She returned to Valinor when Thingol fell, as she could not stand to be in a world without him.
Barahir was the fifth chieftain of the Beor - the first subset of Edain to migrate to Beleriand in the First Age.
which Aragorn wears throughout the trilogy. He worked closely with the House of Finarfin, whose favor he gained after he saved Finrod Felagund's life at the Dagor Bragollach. This friendship led to a close relationship between the Elves and the Dunedain - an alliance that would become more and more important as time went on.
However, perhaps the most important aspect of his life was that he was the leader of a band of rogues, who followed him until his untimely death. They formed the foundation of the Dunedain (which, at the time of the original series of movies, included Aragorn). Barahir met his end when Gorlim, one of the men he was traveling with, betrayed him to Sauron.
They ended up in a stand-off at Tarn Aeluin, and the entire party fell save for Barahir's son Beren.
Emeldir, Barahir's wife, was just as heroic as her husband. A fellow member of the House of Beor, she felt a great loyalty to her people and was willing to sacrifice everything for them. When Dorthonion fell to Morgoth's forces after the Dagor Bragollach, she took it upon herself to lead the surviving women and children to safety while her husband and son stayed behind.
She managed to successfully bring her people to Brethil, where the Haladin (another group of the Edain) resided.
This earned her the title of "Man-hearted," as her courage and persistence could rival anyone's. However, she never saw her husband and son again, and not much is known about her beyond that point.
As the only survivor of the massacre that killed his father Barahir, Beren had massive shoes to fill. He spent the first part of his life alone. After he avenged his father, he remained in the forest of Dorthonion, though he was eventually forced out by the forces of Morgoth when the bounty on his head increased and it was no longer safe for him to stay in his homeland.
However, he was able to pass through the Girdle Melian put around Doriath. There, he fell in love with Thingol's daughter Luthien.
To marry Luthien, Thingol insisted that Beren bring him back one of the Silmarils. He succeeded in acquiring the jewel, but in the process, he was mortally wounded and passed away. However, he returned to life when Mandos granted both him and Luthien a second chance to live and love. Their relationship was remarkably important to the alliance between Men and Elves, as he was so heroic that Men as a race earned greater respect. .
Luthien, Thingol, and Melian's daughter, was perhaps the most beautiful maiden to ever exist. It's no surprise Beren fell in love with her. She accompanied Beren on his quest for the Silmaril, and when he was slain, she fell and died in her grief. When she passed to the Halls of Mandos, she sang to its lord. He was so moved by her sorrowful tale that he was willing to do all in his power to restore the two of them to life.
There was one catch, however: to be with him, she had to forsake her immortality and become human with him.
She accepted this offer. They returned to life and inhabited Tol Galen. Because of both her beauty and that of the Silmaril they now possessed, it became the most wonderful realm to exist other than Valinor.
Dior, the son of Beren and Luthien, was the first Half-elven in Middle-earth. As the only potential heir, he succeeded Thingol on the throne of Doriath. His rule was fairly uneventful until the Sons of Feanor found out about his Silmaril and made a claim to it.
He disagreed with them, and this conflict quickly devolved into an all-out war.
Dior met a tragic end during the Sack of Menegroth, . The Sons of Feanor and the Elves of Doriath clashed in the Thousand Caves. Dior fell, though not before he brought Celegorm, one of Feanor's sons, down with him. The battle was a tragic loss for the Elves of Doriath and resulted in the fall of the kingdom entirely. However, the Sons of Feanor did not manage to take back the Silmaril.
Nimloth was the wife of Dior and one of the Elves of Doriath. Before Thingol's death, she and her family lived near Lantir Lamath, a waterfall in the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
It was there that her children were born and raised.
However, after Thingol's death, she returned to Doriath and ruled alongside her husband. Like her husband, Nimloth was one of the casualties of the Second Kinslaying. Unfortunately, due to the Second Kinslaying, her life was cut short, and not much is known of Nimloth and her impact on Middle-earth.
The daughter of Dior and Nimloth,
. While her parents were slain, she managed to escape with the Silmaril and a few of her kinsmen who remained loyal to her family. They made for the Havens of Sirion, the realm of the Edain of Beleriand. There, she met her husband Earendil, with whom she had two sons, Elrond and Elros. However, they were separated when the Sons of Feanor began to hunt her in search of her Silmaril. Rather than forsake her family, she leaped into the sea. Ulmo, one of the Valar, transformed her into a bird rather than letting her die.
She flew for days until she stumbled upon Earendil's ship, the Vingilot. Together, they set their course for Valinor.
There, they sought to convince the Valar to aid those crushed under Morgoth's thumb back on Middle-earth. The Valar agreed to their demands, and in doing so, allowed Earendil and Elwing to choose which race they would become when they traveled to Middle-earth. They became Elves in honor of Elwing's ancestor Luthien.
Another Half-elf, Earendil first met his wife Elwing in the Havens of Sirion, where he and his family took refuge after the Siege of Gondolin.
After the birth of their sons, he began his search for his parents, Tuor and Idril, who had long ago traveled across the Sea. However, he changed his purpose in the aftermath of Elwing's transformation into a bird to protect the Silmaril. Earendil shifted his course to Valinor and was the first mortal to walk upon its shores. He begged the Valar for aid - and they granted it.
Earendil participated in the battle that resulted, taking up arms alongside the Valar in defense of Middle-earth. He fought next to Thorondor and the Eagles, and with their assistance, . However, when the dragon's body fell on and crushed the volcanoes of Thangorodrim, leading to the ruin of Beleriand, Earendil had to be punished for the destruction he brought to the world.
He was forced to be a mariner forever, wandering the Great Ocean with the Silmaril his wife gave her life to protect and guard the sun and the moon above all else. However, he is not there forever. According to the Second Prophecy of Mandos, he will return from the sky during the Dagor Dagorath and take up his sword against evil one final time.
Elros, son of Earendil and Elwing and brother of Elrond, had a tragic beginning to his life. He and his brother didn't spend their early years with their parents. When the Sons of Feanor raided Arvenian, the young boys were taken by Maedhros and Maglor. Maglor then raised them. They knew love, as their captor was not proud of his actions and wanted them to have a chance at a normal life. Their Half-elven heritage led the Valar to allow Elrond and Elros to decide what race they wanted to belong to after the end of the War of Wrath. Elros chose to become a leader of men rather than Elves.
The Valar
and prepared it for his arrival with beautiful gifts. When he was ninety years old, Elros took the throne in the city of Armenelos. He ruled for 410 years and was a just ruler beloved by many. He had four children with an unnamed mortal wife.
Numenor was a particularly prosperous kingdom ruled by a series of just kings. Very little is known about any of them, but their rules allowed the realm to thrive. Elros's line prevailed and the legendary kingdom became well known in the world.
However, all good things must come to an end, and this beautiful world was no exception. When the Numenoreans broke the Ban of the Valar, which prevented them from sailing so far west that their land was out of sight, Two rival factions broke out: the King's Men, who opposed the Valar, and the Faithful, who stayed true to the demands placed upon them in the years prior.
Amandil, the king of Numenor during its fall, was the head of the Faithful, the faction that still honored the Valar's wishes for the realm. When he determined that Numenor was going to crumble, he encouraged his son Elendil to prepare to leave the island to preserve his safety.
Rather than traveling with his child, however, Amandil traveled to Valinor to beg the Valar to show mercy on his people, as a few remained true to their wishes.
With three servants he trusted above all else, . Nobody ever heard from him again. It's unknown if the Valar heard his plea. However, a huge wave carried Elendil and his companions safely to Middle-earth, suggesting that they took pity on him and honored his wishes.
Once he arrived at Middle-earth, Elendil and the survivors of Numenor founded two new realms - Gondor and Arnor. He was king of both of them, and his bloodline additionally went on to form the beginning of the Dunedain. Upon Elendil's landing on the shores of Middle-earth, He lived in peace for a while.
However, this bliss could not last forever. Sauron returned to power in Mordor, and one of his first acts was to take control of Minas Ithil, which had been founded by Elendil's son Isildur. To combat this, Elendil and Gil-galad joined forces in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and traveled south to defeat Sauron.
They laid siege to Barad-dur for seven years before Sauron emerged to confront his enemies himself. The Allies managed to defeat them at the cost of both of their own lives. Elendil's sword shattered in the process.
After his father fell, and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. He took it for himself. When Elrond brought him to Mount Doom and encouraged him to throw the Ring into its flames, he refused, already entranced by its power despite how briefly he's had it.
Instead, he returned to his homeland and studied its properties. While he did, he determined that the idea of anything happening to the Ring terrified him.
However, he eventually determined that the safest place for the Ring was with Elrond. Isildur and his eldest son set out to deliver it, but tragedy quickly struck. A pack of Orcs found them in the Gladden Fields and attacked them. They were overwhelmed. Isildur tried to escape with the Ring by crossing the river, but the current was too strong. It pulled him under - and the Ring was lost with it. When he rose out of the water, the Orcs shot him.
Thirty-eight generations of Men passed with little incident. Most of these were members of the Dunedain, who, by this point, were split into two major factions. A large percentage of the northern group - those that lived in Arnor - fell during the War of the Last Alliance or the Battle at Gladden Fields that claimed Isildur. Slowly but surely, the remnant split into factions, each of which was destroyed by Angmar one by one.
In the aftermath of these massacres, the. Rather, they became the Rangers of the North and lived a wandering life in the wilderness. They faded into obscurity everywhere but Rivendell, where Elrond took it upon himself to ensure the line of Isildur remained unbroken.
Like his forefathers, while his father fulfilled his wandering duties as the leader of the Dunedain. It was there that he fell in love with Gilraen, though it wasn't easy for him to convince her father to allow them to marry. However, when his future mother-in-law saw that death loomed near, he relented and allowed them to wed.
His mother-in-law's vision was entirely correct. He ruled over the Dunedain for three years before tragedy befell him. While he was hunting Orcs with Elladan and Elrohir, Elrond's twin sons, he was shot in the eye.
Aragorn is one of the most important figures in the history of Middle-earth. As a member of the Fellowship of the Ring, he dedicated himself to ensuring the Ring made it to Mordor at all costs - including his own life if necessary.
In the process, he came to terms with his own identity as the King of Gondor, He was crowned when Sauron fell.
He was considered one of the most just and beloved kings in the history of Gondor. Under his reign, there was an era of prosperity never truly seen before, as he rebuilt everything that had been destroyed during the previous conflicts. Men, Dwarves, and Elves lived in harmony with each other. He reclaimed the territory that had been lost for generations. He was a hero to be remembered for millennia to come.
