Yeah he was borderlining on messiah-ish but I think given Tolkien's distaste for allegories, he didn't want to make any character too messianic.
My reading of Aragorn is not of a messianic figure, but more of an example of what a true leader should strive towards. He left no one behind, " we will not abandon merry and pippin to torment and death." He knew when things were beyond him, parting ways with Frodo, knowing he would eventually be a risk to Frodo.
Most of all, putting his kingship for the betterment of the people.
I think it resonates even louder for me now because of the current geo-political situation.
No worries. I appreciate you coming back to reiterate and elaborate on your thoughts. And having a civil discourse on Tolkien.
I just want to add on some details about Aragorn for those coming to know more.
That whilst he did intend to reclaim the throne, the way he went about it was about as noble and selflessly as possible. He didn't do it by conquering or by force. He did it by proving he was worthy of being king. He rescued Gondor from certain destruction. He healed people " the hands of the king are the hands of a healer. " Then when he finally does reclaim it, he ruled in a way basically the opposite of the last millennium of rulership. And worked to undo a thousand years or more of gradual decay.
"Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons."
Its not difficult to engineer a bit of safety into a cape. The clasps holding the cape around your neck/on your body can be designed to have a low breakaway strength to prevent strangulation(150N is a typical force). This is a feature designed into most safety helmets. Its secure enough to never fall off unintentionally, but weak enough that it removes the risk of strangulation.
They were doing it to save middle earth from a tyrant who would have enslaved everyone under his rule.
That was one of Tolkien's concepts, that a king should protect his people and lead by example. There is no battle in which Aragorn didn't lead from the front.
The 4th age was one of peace and prosperity. Please share the source for the peoples of middle earth living in squalor.
This is the result of having minimal training and not having enough training to be competent.
His description of legs feeling weak and tingly are that of an adrenaline dump.
i.e officer has been trained in handling firearms but not "stress innoculated" he's not been trained to respond properly in a stressful situation.
His firearm handling is also below an acceptable standard. He emptied his mag without so much as landing a single hit on the car and when he goes to reload fumbles numerous times, isn't sure if he wants to reload or find cover and does both badly.
Even simple unarmed $300 drones with an IR camera are proving to be extremely effective. The level of live battlefield information and situational awareness they are bringing to commanders on the ground is at least equivalent to what a platoon of recon troops can offer.
Next up are the drones capable of carrying light loads like air dropped grenades or explosives than can take our expensive vehicles like aircraft. The return on investment for these systems are insane.
A lifetime ago I used to work in the construction field. I have every respect for the people who planned and built the pyramids. The level of coordination, resource management, engineering expertise would have rivalled the biggest projects of the modern day.
Sometimes its nice to be reminded we haven't advanced all that far. For all the machinery and gadgetry we have today, some of the works still require the same techniques and methods used by our ancient ancestors. Like shifting heavy equipment onto its final position. Like rolling it on top of steel pipes and then using a bunch of pulleys and levers to just jimmy it to its exact angle required. For all the laser levellers we have, sometimes nothing beats a bit of clear tubing, water, string and a good eye to level a final coat of flooring.
We like to think we are leaps ahead of our ancestors in terms of ingenuity and problem solving but real difference has only been our few millennia of technological advancement. They were every bit as ingenious and as excellent problem solvers as we are today. Their craftsmanship and cunning never ceases to amaze me.
Refunding simply the sales price means the users lose out because the $100 I paid for my library 5 years ago is worth less now due to inflation. Simply giving me back $100 now would yield a value of $80 back in 2019.
Yeah he was borderlining on messiah-ish but I think given Tolkien's distaste for allegories, he didn't want to make any character too messianic.
My reading of Aragorn is not of a messianic figure, but more of an example of what a true leader should strive towards. He left no one behind, " we will not abandon merry and pippin to torment and death." He knew when things were beyond him, parting ways with Frodo, knowing he would eventually be a risk to Frodo. Most of all, putting his kingship for the betterment of the people.
I think it resonates even louder for me now because of the current geo-political situation.