Lore Question: Halbarad, and the rangers during TOR

[WellImBackHeSaid]

Hello,

I don't have all the TOR books, so I do not know if my question has been developed by the game writers, but I've looked through my books written by tolkien and Can't find much information on this.

I am trying to figure out who was in charge of the Dunedain during TOR (Roughly 5 years after the Hobbit). It seems that Aragorn would be around 14 or 15 years old at this time. I know that Elrond kept Aragorn's lineage a secret from him until he was 21, so Aragorn is likely living in Rivendell, and the Rangers probably have the equivalent of a stewart standing in aragorn's place. Do the TOR books go into this? I have found some sources online that put Halbarad's DOB well before TOR (making him over 100 by the time LOTR starts), but I don't know the source of this DOB. Its mostly seen on WIKIS, and the source of the DOB is the appendices. In my books, its not in the appendices. It makes me wonder if that's just a movie or game date that was developed by writers other than tolkien.

[Otaku-sempai]

Yes, young Aragorn (known as Estel) was ten years old when Thorin and Company visited Rivendell. Chances are that Bilbo and the others saw him, having no idea who he was--perhaps not even realizing that he was a Mannish child.

We don't know when the Ranger Halbarad was born. He might have been old enough to lead the Dúnedain after the death of Arathorn II or he might have been much closer to Aragorn in age. I think that the only sources that provide a year of birth for Halbarad are non-canon ones.

I suggest that it might have been Halbarad's father (Tolkien loved legacies) or some other Dúnadan who led the Rangers during the time of Aragorn's childhood.

[Jussi Marttila]

Why not have Gilraen serving as the leader of the Rangers in Aragorn's stead?

[Otaku-sempai]

Why not have Gilraen serving as the leader of the Rangers in Aragorn's stead?

Gilraen seems to have remained in Rivendell the entire time that Aragorn was being fostered there. It is also unclear when she did return to her people. My own read is that it was several years after Aragorn and Arwen were reunited in Lothlórien (in TA 2980) and plighted their troth upon Cerin Amroth. I'm also unsure whether the Dúnedain of the North, as Tolkien wrote them, were enlightened enough to take orders from a woman, or whether Gilraen would have been qualified to lead. She's a bit of a cipher.

[Glorelendil]

Story hook!

[Jussi Marttila]

Why not have Gilraen serving as the leader of the Rangers in Aragorn's stead?

Gilraen seems to have remained in Rivendell the entire time that Aragorn was being fostered there. It is also unclear when she did return to her people. My own read is that it was several years after Aragorn and Arwen were reunited in Lothlórien (in TA 2980) and plighted their troth upon Cerin Amroth. I'm also unsure whether the Dúnedain of the North, as Tolkien wrote them, were enlightened enough to take orders from a woman, or whether Gilraen would have been qualified to lead. She's a bit of a cipher.

I think that there's an interesting plot hook there, since Gilraen might not be willing to leave Rivendell for long stretches of time (but considering she arranged for Elrond to foster Aragorn, she probably did travel from time to time), she might have to use trusted allies for Ranger business. Even if Halbarad would be the guy who's in charge in the field most of the time, player characters might come in useful for the Rangers.