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A Tolkien Virgin: The Return of the King - Book VI - Chapter 5 - The Journey Continues
August 13, 2002
Submitted By Jonathan
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Book VI
Chapter 5
The Steward and the King
The story screeches to a halt and we get to read about Faramir and Eowyn. I'll be honest, at first I was annoyed because I actually thought that Eowyn and Aragorn were supposed to end up together. So, when Faramir starts hitting on Eowyn, I was like, "easy there buddy, that's Aragorn's girl!" So, I thought that Faramir's love for Eowyn, who would end up with Aragorn anyway, was going to cause complications between Faramir and Aragorn, the Steward and the King. But, I was wrong. As I read on and it became clear that Aragorn wasn't sending word to her or anything, I was okay with the fact that Eowyn realized she loved Faramir. But, it was still jarring to go from battles and the destruction of the ring and all that to Faramir and Eowyn strolling in a garden.
Aragorn's return to Minas Tirith was pretty awesome. I could do without Ioreth, though. When Gandalf said, "Now come the days of the King and may the be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!" I was pleased to actually understand the reference to the Valar. Is it just me or is this the first mention of the word "Valar" in the Lord of the Rings?
After the Return of the King, the crowning of Aragorn, Aragorn judges Beregond, and Eowyn and Eomer set off for home. It was nice to see all the surviving members of the Fellowship together again. I actually would have liked Tolkien to dwell on this a little more. The interactions of the members of the Fellowship--Legolas, Gimli, the hobbits, Gandalf--was something I enjoyed earlier.
When Gandalf leads Aragorn to find the sapling of Nimloth, again I was pleased to understand the significance of the sapling, having, of course, read the Silmarillion first. But almost more noteworthy than the sapling itself is Gandalf's speech about the Fourth Age belonging to Men and his description of himself as "the Enemy of Sauron." Gandalf, will finally return to his home with the Valar after all this time.
Tolkien briefly mentions Aragorn's wedding with Arwen. Although she has barely been mentioned at all in the story to this point somehow she seemed a better fit for Aragorn than Eowyn. Part of that has to do with the change in Aragorn himself as he becomes the King and Strider fades. He seems more distant now than ever, more lofty and aloof. And it just seems right that this Aragorn marry an Elf.
till next time,
keep thinking,
Mark-Edmond Howell
Kanazawa, Japan
far(out)
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... 33 Comments
I would like Tolkien to mention more about the Fellowship together, because I liked that too, and it would have been nice to read more about the wedding. I'm glad Faramir and Eowyn ended up together. I just wish the Three Rigns didn't have to fade, and that the elves could also remain, and travel back and forth at will.
Comment by fishy071 - August 14, 2002 @ 1:35 AM
I would like Tolkien to mention more about the Fellowship together, because I liked that too, and it would have been nice to read more about the wedding. I'm glad Faramir and Eowyn ended up together. I just wish the Three Rigns didn't have to fade, and that the elves could also remain, and travel back and forth at will.
Comment by fishy071 - August 14, 2002 @ 1:35 AM
Mark-Edmond's perception that Eowyn was meant to be Aragorn's woman is correct. (This isn't from reading Lord of the Rings alone, but also the books from the History of Middle-earth that deal with the writing of Lord of the Rings.) Once Aragorn became Aragorn, human descendent of kings and aiming to be king himself, Tolkien had written in Eowyn to be his bride. Once he got to Rohan, however, Aragorn had grown too much, and he perceived this as a mismatch. Now what to do? He considered killing her in battle, but then Faramir walked out of the woods of Ithilien, much to his surprise. Arwen was retrofitted into the story at a late stage in its development, which is one of the reasons we see so little of her in Rivendell, and why it's easy to forget her and wonder what's going on with Faramir and Eowyn.
I agree also that the interactions of the remaining Fellowship are enjoyable. To me on first reading, it was a surprise that one of the sorrows of victory was the knowledge that with the quest accomplished, there was no reason for them to stay together anymore.
I think there was one previous mention of the Valar, in Ithilien when the "oliphaunt" headed toward them during the ambush.
I was very glad to see this article, I do enjoy Mark-Edmond's insights, and the thought they provoke.
Comment by RunawayRose - August 14, 2002 @ 3:56 AM
Mark-Edmond's perception that Eowyn was meant to be Aragorn's woman is correct. (This isn't from reading Lord of the Rings alone, but also the books from the History of Middle-earth that deal with the writing of Lord of the Rings.) Once Aragorn became Aragorn, human descendent of kings and aiming to be king himself, Tolkien had written in Eowyn to be his bride. Once he got to Rohan, however, Aragorn had grown too much, and he perceived this as a mismatch. Now what to do? He considered killing her in battle, but then Faramir walked out of the woods of Ithilien, much to his surprise. Arwen was retrofitted into the story at a late stage in its development, which is one of the reasons we see so little of her in Rivendell, and why it's easy to forget her and wonder what's going on with Faramir and Eowyn.
I agree also that the interactions of the remaining Fellowship are enjoyable. To me on first reading, it was a surprise that one of the sorrows of victory was the knowledge that with the quest accomplished, there was no reason for them to stay together anymore.
I think there was one previous mention of the Valar, in Ithilien when the "oliphaunt" headed toward them during the ambush.
I was very glad to see this article, I do enjoy Mark-Edmond's insights, and the thought they provoke.
Comment by RunawayRose - August 14, 2002 @ 3:56 AM
RunawayRose, you are very right. When Tolkien first was writing the Trillogy, he had no idea who Strider would be when we met him in Bree. I had heard that he "found out" when the fellowship flowed beneath the the Argonath, and then went back and re-wrote a lot.
There were some refrences to the Valar in the books-"Elbereth" is the elven name for Varda, whom they adore for the creation of the stars, the spouse of Manwe. Also, when Gandalf tells Frodo that there are forces guiding events that are not malevolent (aka how they all came to be at the Council of Elrond), I've always taken that as Gandalf insinuating to the Valar.
Comment by eowyn1420 - August 14, 2002 @ 10:23 AM
RunawayRose, you are very right. When Tolkien first was writing the Trillogy, he had no idea who Strider would be when we met him in Bree. I had heard that he "found out" when the fellowship flowed beneath the the Argonath, and then went back and re-wrote a lot.
There were some refrences to the Valar in the books-"Elbereth" is the elven name for Varda, whom they adore for the creation of the stars, the spouse of Manwe. Also, when Gandalf tells Frodo that there are forces guiding events that are not malevolent (aka how they all came to be at the Council of Elrond), I've always taken that as Gandalf insinuating to the Valar.
Comment by eowyn1420 - August 14, 2002 @ 10:23 AM
Now here's the Mark-Edmond I like to read! Good to see Mark Edmond enjoying himself a little more. He writes much more interesting comments when he likes what he is reading. He isn't much into the darker sections, but I think he'll find the rest of the book much more enjoyable. If only his comments would get posted a little faster, so it would be enjoyable for us too!
Tomday, Tolkien was not a class snob. Many of his best stories involve relationships which cross class (and even racial) barriers: from major tales like Thingol and Melian, or Beren and Luthien, to those intriguing half-told sketches like Aegnor and Andreth, or Valacar and Vidumavi (probably have that name wrong). We can add Elessar and Arwen to the list, especially the part told in Appendix A.
A lot of people seem to forget that Tolkien himself was in a persecuted minority in the England of his boyhood. No Catholic growing up in the turn of the (last) century in England could be indifferent to the sufferings of second-class citizens.
Undeniably, ancestry and bloodline is very important in Tolkien's world, just as it is in the mythology that underlies all Germanic culture. Unfortunately this fundamental cultural trope has been vulgarized and misused by people like Hitler, and has given it a bad name--which saddened Tolkien greatly. We must try to ignore these perversions when judging Tolkien's work.
Comment by Daeron - August 14, 2002 @ 3:09 PM
Now here's the Mark-Edmond I like to read! Good to see Mark Edmond enjoying himself a little more. He writes much more interesting comments when he likes what he is reading. He isn't much into the darker sections, but I think he'll find the rest of the book much more enjoyable. If only his comments would get posted a little faster, so it would be enjoyable for us too!
Tomday, Tolkien was not a class snob. Many of his best stories involve relationships which cross class (and even racial) barriers: from major tales like Thingol and Melian, or Beren and Luthien, to those intriguing half-told sketches like Aegnor and Andreth, or Valacar and Vidumavi (probably have that name wrong). We can add Elessar and Arwen to the list, especially the part told in Appendix A.
A lot of people seem to forget that Tolkien himself was in a persecuted minority in the England of his boyhood. No Catholic growing up in the turn of the (last) century in England could be indifferent to the sufferings of second-class citizens.
Undeniably, ancestry and bloodline is very important in Tolkien's world, just as it is in the mythology that underlies all Germanic culture. Unfortunately this fundamental cultural trope has been vulgarized and misused by people like Hitler, and has given it a bad name--which saddened Tolkien greatly. We must try to ignore these perversions when judging Tolkien's work.
Comment by Daeron - August 14, 2002 @ 3:09 PM
I don't know, maybe it is just me, but even though Aragorn grew amazingly in the book, Strider kept popping up and lightening things a bit. For instance, there's that part where they meet Merry and Pippin in Isengard and "Aragorn" takes out his pipe and relaxes a little; one of the Hobbits says "Look, old Strider is back!" And "Aragorn" says (and I can just see the smile) something like "But Strider never really left." Always makes me laugh. Oh, by the way, I ALWAYS knew Aragorn was gonna get with Arwen, and I thought that Eowyn was the drattiest little hussy for a long time. But then, I'm such a hopeless romantic.... And I now think Eowyn is cool. I was only ten at the time, after all.
Comment by Harpist_of_Rohan - August 14, 2002 @ 3:35 PM
I don't know, maybe it is just me, but even though Aragorn grew amazingly in the book, Strider kept popping up and lightening things a bit. For instance, there's that part where they meet Merry and Pippin in Isengard and "Aragorn" takes out his pipe and relaxes a little; one of the Hobbits says "Look, old Strider is back!" And "Aragorn" says (and I can just see the smile) something like "But Strider never really left." Always makes me laugh. Oh, by the way, I ALWAYS knew Aragorn was gonna get with Arwen, and I thought that Eowyn was the drattiest little hussy for a long time. But then, I'm such a hopeless romantic.... And I now think Eowyn is cool. I was only ten at the time, after all.
Comment by Harpist_of_Rohan - August 14, 2002 @ 3:35 PM
Eowyn a dratty little hussy????? How dare you! :P ;)
Comment by eowyn1420 - August 14, 2002 @ 5:29 PM
Eowyn a dratty little hussy????? How dare you! :P ;)
Comment by eowyn1420 - August 14, 2002 @ 5:29 PM
While it was really fascinating to see more and more of Aragorn's character revealed as the story progressed, it saddened me more that he had become this lofty, distant king. The scene that first endeared me to Strider was in FotR, when Frodo had been stabbed by a Nazgul and Sam was getting all freaked out and paranoid and suspicious of Strider. Strider knelt down and went, "I am not a black rider Sam, nor am I in league with them" very gently (or something like that), and towards the very end I really had to struggle to find traces of that original Ranger.
On a side note, Runawayrose, it's really interesting to find out that both of the main romantic relationships in LOTR were almost "accidental." Faramir's and Eowyn's relationship seems very real and fleshed out, whereas in the main body of the novel, Arwen is stuck in at the beginning and end with all attnetion of a Post-it note!
Comment by Aliana - August 14, 2002 @ 9:35 PM
While it was really fascinating to see more and more of Aragorn's character revealed as the story progressed, it saddened me more that he had become this lofty, distant king. The scene that first endeared me to Strider was in FotR, when Frodo had been stabbed by a Nazgul and Sam was getting all freaked out and paranoid and suspicious of Strider. Strider knelt down and went, "I am not a black rider Sam, nor am I in league with them" very gently (or something like that), and towards the very end I really had to struggle to find traces of that original Ranger.
On a side note, Runawayrose, it's really interesting to find out that both of the main romantic relationships in LOTR were almost "accidental." Faramir's and Eowyn's relationship seems very real and fleshed out, whereas in the main body of the novel, Arwen is stuck in at the beginning and end with all attnetion of a Post-it note!
Comment by Aliana - August 14, 2002 @ 9:35 PM
While I don't doubt that Tolkien's storyline-changes followed the pattern noted above, let's keep in mind that the story IS written from the hobbit's perspectives. Frodo had no more idea of what was going on than we did until he saw the arrival of Arwen, at which point he understood. I think if you go back to the chapters set in Rivendell you will see little hints.
The first time I read LotR (I was about 12) I didn't pick up on the Arwen thing until this chapter. At the same time I just KNEW that Eowyn wasn't meant for Aragorn. I thought the way he treated her were just pity, because she wasn't his "type", not that he was already in a relationship.
The final thing that strikes me is when I consider Aragorn and Arwen against the Silmarillion. Silmarillion is written in such a sweeping scale that the characters seem larger than life, and rather hard to picture in a mundane setting. Having had a much closer glimpse into Strider's/Aragorn's life make him seem more...relatable. But Aragorn truly would fit in with the great forefathers of old. And the bloodline of Arwen place here above almost all other elves.
(Idle thought: if Lord of the Rings had been written as part of the Silmarillion, I suppose it would only have taken up one chapter :-)
Comment by Shular - August 14, 2002 @ 10:13 PM
While I don't doubt that Tolkien's storyline-changes followed the pattern noted above, let's keep in mind that the story IS written from the hobbit's perspectives. Frodo had no more idea of what was going on than we did until he saw the arrival of Arwen, at which point he understood. I think if you go back to the chapters set in Rivendell you will see little hints.
The first time I read LotR (I was about 12) I didn't pick up on the Arwen thing until this chapter. At the same time I just KNEW that Eowyn wasn't meant for Aragorn. I thought the way he treated her were just pity, because she wasn't his "type", not that he was already in a relationship.
The final thing that strikes me is when I consider Aragorn and Arwen against the Silmarillion. Silmarillion is written in such a sweeping scale that the characters seem larger than life, and rather hard to picture in a mundane setting. Having had a much closer glimpse into Strider's/Aragorn's life make him seem more...relatable. But Aragorn truly would fit in with the great forefathers of old. And the bloodline of Arwen place here above almost all other elves.
(Idle thought: if Lord of the Rings had been written as part of the Silmarillion, I suppose it would only have taken up one chapter :-)
Comment by Shular - August 14, 2002 @ 10:13 PM
tomday--
I agree that Sam's growth especially points towards things to come--but what's to come is more of the same, just with occasionally changing casts.
_That's_ English society between Chaucer's time and Victoria, maybe even now.
And I remember being very, very confused at this chapter the first time I read it, many moons ago...:)
Comment by Axordil - August 15, 2002 @ 9:12 AM
tomday--
I agree that Sam's growth especially points towards things to come--but what's to come is more of the same, just with occasionally changing casts.
_That's_ English society between Chaucer's time and Victoria, maybe even now.
And I remember being very, very confused at this chapter the first time I read it, many moons ago...:)
Comment by Axordil - August 15, 2002 @ 9:12 AM
Eowyn is a young princes who has problems accepting her role as a woman and as the heir of a momentarily degenerating house. She does not love the man Aragorn she loves the king Aragorn. (she would never fall in love with the ranger Strider). Her love is the strong romantic love of a young fan. She will do everything, even die for that love. A marriage to that ideal figure would solve all her fears and problems at once she thinks and thousands of young fans have done so at all times.
But even if it were not for Awen a wise and old man like Aragorn would always have the experience to know that affection for what it really is.
Awen really loves the man behind the position, she would give everything even to the the ranger Strider.
It is one of the most beautiful parts of Tolkiens novel when he shows that growth and developement in Eowyn and her real love for Faramir. She loves him and not what he stands for.
Comment by ehn - August 16, 2002 @ 4:01 AM
Eowyn is a young princes who has problems accepting her role as a woman and as the heir of a momentarily degenerating house. She does not love the man Aragorn she loves the king Aragorn. (she would never fall in love with the ranger Strider). Her love is the strong romantic love of a young fan. She will do everything, even die for that love. A marriage to that ideal figure would solve all her fears and problems at once she thinks and thousands of young fans have done so at all times.
But even if it were not for Awen a wise and old man like Aragorn would always have the experience to know that affection for what it really is.
Awen really loves the man behind the position, she would give everything even to the the ranger Strider.
It is one of the most beautiful parts of Tolkiens novel when he shows that growth and developement in Eowyn and her real love for Faramir. She loves him and not what he stands for.
Comment by ehn - August 16, 2002 @ 4:01 AM
Through all this conversation I just wanted to point out that RunawayRose was right - when Sam sees the Oliphaunt in Ithilien the guard, Mablung, says 'May the Valar turn him aside!' Also, when the Rohirrim come at last to the aid of Gondor in The Ride of the Rohirrim, it says of Theoden: "He was born up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Orome the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young." So just wanted to point that out.
Anyway, getting back to what everyone else was talking about, I really like Strider the Ranger and Aragorn King of Gondor. Because, although maybe outwardly Strider isn't always there, he's still really Strider on the inside. It might not come out too often any more when he becomes King, but it's still there. That's what I love so much about Aragorn. I have a great respect for him and I am held in awe of him, but at the same time he is just your friend, Strider the Ranger. He's both at once, though he conceals the other side of him most of the time.
Comment by nerdanel14 - August 17, 2002 @ 4:56 PM
Through all this conversation I just wanted to point out that RunawayRose was right - when Sam sees the Oliphaunt in Ithilien the guard, Mablung, says 'May the Valar turn him aside!' Also, when the Rohirrim come at last to the aid of Gondor in The Ride of the Rohirrim, it says of Theoden: "He was born up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Orome the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young." So just wanted to point that out.
Anyway, getting back to what everyone else was talking about, I really like Strider the Ranger and Aragorn King of Gondor. Because, although maybe outwardly Strider isn't always there, he's still really Strider on the inside. It might not come out too often any more when he becomes King, but it's still there. That's what I love so much about Aragorn. I have a great respect for him and I am held in awe of him, but at the same time he is just your friend, Strider the Ranger. He's both at once, though he conceals the other side of him most of the time.
Comment by nerdanel14 - August 17, 2002 @ 4:56 PM
It’s hard to look particularly regal when you spend most of your time in the woods hunting goblins.
Strider does clean up nicely though. I see very little difference between Aragorn Strider and King Aragorn Elf Stone. A nice bed and a bath will do wonders for anybody.
Don’t forget to read the appendices.
Comment by woodley - August 21, 2002 @ 12:46 PM
It’s hard to look particularly regal when you spend most of your time in the woods hunting goblins.
Strider does clean up nicely though. I see very little difference between Aragorn Strider and King Aragorn Elf Stone. A nice bed and a bath will do wonders for anybody.
Don’t forget to read the appendices.
Comment by woodley - August 21, 2002 @ 12:46 PM
that there are hints--HUGE hints-- all the way through the trilogy that Arwen and Aragorn were meant to end up together.
I think the first comes in Rivendell when Bilbo tells Frodo about Arwen and how Elrond won't let her marry any man who is not king of Gondor and all the surrounding lands (or something like that... I don't have my books with me). Then there's the banner/standard Arwen made for him, and her hint about the paths of the dead.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought of Arwen as Aragorn's motivation, his reason for pursuing the throne. She is, in a sense, the true strength behind Aragorn.
Comment by dragonfire42 - September 7, 2002 @ 9:59 PM
that there are hints--HUGE hints-- all the way through the trilogy that Arwen and Aragorn were meant to end up together.
I think the first comes in Rivendell when Bilbo tells Frodo about Arwen and how Elrond won't let her marry any man who is not king of Gondor and all the surrounding lands (or something like that... I don't have my books with me). Then there's the banner/standard Arwen made for him, and her hint about the paths of the dead.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought of Arwen as Aragorn's motivation, his reason for pursuing the throne. She is, in a sense, the true strength behind Aragorn.
Comment by dragonfire42 - September 7, 2002 @ 9:59 PM
If/when you read the History of Middle Earth books dealing with the writing of the Lord of the Rings, the tale of Aragorn and Arwen is a late addition, fitted back into the rest of the story. (In the first version of the arrival at Bree, the character in the Strider spot is a hobbit. If I remember right, they got almost to Moria before Tolkien decided that character had to be human.) In the first outlines of the story of how Aragorn interacted with the Rohirrim, Eowyn was intended to be his bride. But Aragorn kept growing in stature as the story progressed; by the time they got to Rohan, Tolkien was seeing this as a mismatch. He had to go back and fit in those hints about Arwen once he had decided against Eowyn, they weren't there in the first drafts. One of the fascinating and sort of scary things about reading the History books is watching the story thrash around, change, and grow. I'd read Lord of the Rings over forty times before I read the LotR history books; it was surprising how many of the things I had regarded as firm as rock had mutated many times before appearing in their final form. He knew where he wanted to go, but the path to get there kept changing and growing.
Comment by RunawayRose - September 18, 2002 @ 3:12 AM
If/when you read the History of Middle Earth books dealing with the writing of the Lord of the Rings, the tale of Aragorn and Arwen is a late addition, fitted back into the rest of the story. (In the first version of the arrival at Bree, the character in the Strider spot is a hobbit. If I remember right, they got almost to Moria before Tolkien decided that character had to be human.) In the first outlines of the story of how Aragorn interacted with the Rohirrim, Eowyn was intended to be his bride. But Aragorn kept growing in stature as the story progressed; by the time they got to Rohan, Tolkien was seeing this as a mismatch. He had to go back and fit in those hints about Arwen once he had decided against Eowyn, they weren't there in the first drafts. One of the fascinating and sort of scary things about reading the History books is watching the story thrash around, change, and grow. I'd read Lord of the Rings over forty times before I read the LotR history books; it was surprising how many of the things I had regarded as firm as rock had mutated many times before appearing in their final form. He knew where he wanted to go, but the path to get there kept changing and growing.
Comment by RunawayRose - September 18, 2002 @ 3:12 AM
its the final product that counts in my mind. What an author thought of doing and what actually happened can be two entirely different things and its how it all fits together that makes the story. Maybe I'm just too grounded in reality to think about what might've been, but I'm willing to concede that both points are right. Its all in how you want to read it.
ps I would actually love to read the History of the Rings, but I can't find them in the Billings, MT library. I would buy it, but let's face it: I'm a poor college student.
Comment by dragonfire42 - September 21, 2002 @ 9:29 PM
its the final product that counts in my mind. What an author thought of doing and what actually happened can be two entirely different things and its how it all fits together that makes the story. Maybe I'm just too grounded in reality to think about what might've been, but I'm willing to concede that both points are right. Its all in how you want to read it.
ps I would actually love to read the History of the Rings, but I can't find them in the Billings, MT library. I would buy it, but let's face it: I'm a poor college student.
Comment by dragonfire42 - September 21, 2002 @ 9:29 PM
the thing abut eowyn is [she kicks ass] but she is not for Aragon. At first yes. but they grow away from each other and she did not love him ~ truely~ anyway. When he becomes less and less Strider she realizes that . His biggest mistake was in showing her pitty, she was to proude.That of course is where Faramir and the stupid garden come in.
Comment by `eowyn - January 13, 2003 @ 6:09 PM
the thing abut eowyn is [she kicks ass] but she is not for Aragon. At first yes. but they grow away from each other and she did not love him ~ truely~ anyway. When he becomes less and less Strider she realizes that . His biggest mistake was in showing her pitty, she was to proude.That of course is where Faramir and the stupid garden come in.
Comment by `eowyn - January 13, 2003 @ 6:09 PM
This is my first visit to the site, and I can see that the last comment previous to mine is quite old, but I need to have my say anyway. Aragorn never loved Eowyn, he admired her, and perhaps there was a kind of love between them, but it is not the love that either needs. Eowyn is not beneath Aragorn, but her love for him is motivated by the wrong things. Eowyn loves what Aragorn represents, all of the things she longs for, strenght, and honour, and because she has no hope for the survival of middle-earth, she sees in him the glorious and tragic hero. She quite literaly loves a dead man. Her love for Faramir grows out of hope, he brings her light that Aragorn never did, even as Arwen is Aragorn's light.
Also, I must comment on this Strider fading business. He does not fade, the kingly Aragorn has always been a part of Strider, just as Strider has always been a part, and always will be a part of King Elassar. The two sides of his nature are what allow him to be a king for all men. He is everything to everyman, his noble heritage is tempered with the humility and common touch that many of his ancestors lacked. Strider is the core of Elissar's strength. It is not Aragorn's noble blood that allows him to defeat the evil that destroyed his family, it is the person he has become, it is the life he has lived as Strider that gives him that strength. He faced the same evil and defeated it, Elessar was his destiny, but Strider got him there. He will ever and always be both, and he obviously considers his "Strider quatlities as the most important, because though he will be Elessar, his house will be called Telcontar, and he will pass Strider on to all the future kings of his line. Oh, my I hope that is not to convoluted. It likely is but oh well.
Comment by Wynlar - November 22, 2003 @ 9:42 PM