As ever, dear readers, welcome.

In my next-to-last, we were given two riddles:  one, in a dream sent to Faramir and Boromir, the other posed by Bilbo, both appearing in the council of Elrond—

“Seek for the Sword that was broken:

In Imladris it dwells;

There shall be counsels taken

Stronger than Morgul-spells.

There shall be shown a token

That Doom is near at hand,

For Isildur’s Bane shall waken,

And the Halfling forth shall stand.” 

The second is presented by Bilbo:

“All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken:

The crownless again shall be king.”

(The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter 2, “The Council of Elrond”)

As Aragorn displays the sword—originally belonging to Elendil, the founder of Gondor—and Frodo, the Halfling, at Gandalf’s bidding, brings out the Ring (Isildur’s Bane), we might think that both riddles have been solved—but Boromir, for one, has doubts:

“ ‘Isildur’s Bane is found, you say…I have seen a bright ring in the Halfling’s hand, but Isildur perished ere this age of the world began, they say.  How do the Wise know that this ring is his?  And how has it passed down the years, until it is brought hither by so strange a messenger?’ “

And there are greater doubts—as voiced by the Mouth of Sauron:

“ ‘Is there anyone in this rout [“mob”] to treat with me?…Or indeed the wit to understand me?  Not thou at least!’ he mocked, turning to Aragorn with scorn.  ‘It needs more to make a king than a piece of Elvish glass, or a rabble such as this.  Why, any brigand of the hills can show as good a following!’ “ (The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter 10, “The Black Gate Opens”)

(Douglas Beekman—for more on him and his work, see:  https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/beekman_doug )

How, beyond the broken sword

and his claim, can Aragorn prove that he is the wanderer, the light, the crownless?

The wanderer part is perhaps the easiest, because it’s self-evident:  Aragorn

(the Hildebrandts)

 is a ranger, one of those few survivors of the lost north kingdom of Arnor,

(Stephen Raw—you can learn a little more about him here:  https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Stephen_Raw )

of whom the narrator of The Lord of the Rings says:

“In those days no other Men had settled dwellings so far west, or within a hundred leagues of the Shire.  But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers.  The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing of their origin…They roamed at will southwards, and eastwards even as far as the Misty Mountains; but they were few now and rarely seen.”  (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter 9, “At the Sign of the Prancing Pony”)

For further proofs, I’m reminded of Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful musical Into the Woods, 1987,

in which two characters, the Baker and his Wife, to have a witch’s curse removed, must bring her:  “the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold” and much of the plot concerns their journey in the Woods to try to obtain these things—just the sort of objects one might obtain on a quest.  (For more on quests, see:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest )

In Aragorn’s case, although he’s not on a deliberate quest, one piece of his evidence is acquired as he and the Fellowship travel southwards:  the Palantir, inadvertently provided by Saruman.

(the Hildebrandts)

Pippin learns, to his unhappiness, that this isn’t something which one can casually pick up, but Aragorn, having used it, says to Gimli:

“I am the lawful master of the Stone, and I had both the right and the strength to use it…”

and here we see JRRT, in a brilliant bit of plotting, adding the reforged sword to the Palantir:

“…but Sauron has not forgotten Isildur and the sword of Elendil.  Now in the very hour of his great designs the heir of Isildur and the Sword are revealed; for I showed the blade re-forged to him.”  (The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter 2, “The Passing of the Grey Company”)

So, now we have the shattered Sword and a display of Aragorn’s control of a Palantir, the next proof isn’t an object, but an event. 

Aragorn and his company follow the Paths of the Dead under the mountains, coming out at last to the Hill of Erech and its large, round, black stone.

(from Lotro-Wiki—where you can find more details:  https://lotro-wiki.com/wiki/The_Stone_of_Erech_(King’s_Gondor) and here:  https://lotro-wiki.com/wiki/Vandassar )

Behind them have come the “Oathbreakers”, men of long ago, who had pledged to help Isildur against Sauron, but then refused to join him.  In response, Isildur cursed them and they retreated to the hills and gradually faded, becoming uneasy spirits which troubled the land.   (For more, see:  https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Oathbreakers )  Aragorn has summoned them and here we see another proof:

“ ‘The hour is come at last.  Now I go to Pelargir upon Anduin, and ye shall come with me.  And when all this land is clean of the servants of Sauron, I will hold the oath fulfilled, and ye shall have peace and depart for ever.  For I am Elessar, Isildur’s heir of Gondor.’ “  (The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter 2, “The Passing of the Grey Company”)

(Ted Nasmith)

To this, we can add a skill.

In the battles before Minas Tirith, Faramir has been struck down—seemingly by both a Southron arrow and by a Nazgul’s Black Breath—

(Angus McBride)

and both Eowyn and Merry have suffered from their fight with the chief of the Nazgul.

(Ted Nasmith)

They are brought to the Houses of Healing and there Ioreth, “the eldest of the women who served in that house”, looking at Faramir, said:

“ ‘Alas!  If he should die.  Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there were once upon a time, they say!  For it is said in the old lore:  The hands of the king are the hands of a healer.  And so the rightful king could ever be known.’ “

Using the herb athelas/kingsfoil, as well as some unspoken power, Aragorn restores all three, at which Ioreth says:

“ ‘King!  Did you hear that?  What did I say?  The hands of a healer, I said.’ “

(the Hildebrandts)

Her words spread:

“And soon the word had gone out from the House that the king was indeed come among them, and after the war he brought healing, and the news ran through the city.”  (The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter 8, “The Houses of Healing”)

And, finally, a sign.  The White Tree, symbol of Gondor—

“ ‘There in the courts of the King grew a white tree, from the seed of that tree which Isildur brought over the deep waters, and the seed of that tree came from Eressea, and before that out of the Uttermost West in the Day before days when the world was young.’ “  (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter 2, “The Council of Elrond”)

(artist?  So far, no luck in finding one, but I would be glad to credit someone for this impressive image.)

but now—

“A sweet fountain played there in the morning sun, and a sward of bright green lay about it, but in the midst, drooping over the pool, stood a dead tree, and the falling drops dripped sadly from its barren and broken branches back into the clear water.”  (The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter 1, “Minas Tirith”)

(from Jackson’s film)

As this is the emblem of Gondor itself,

a replacement would certainly be a sign of renewal, which even after the defeat of Sauron seems doubtful to Aragorn:

“ ‘The tree in the Court of the Fountain is still withered and barren.  When shall I see a sign that it will ever be otherwise?’ “

Gandalf leads him to a place high on Mount Mindolluin and reveals to him:

“…a sapling tree no more than three foot high.  Already it had put forth young leaves long and shapely, dark above and silver beneath, and upon its slender crown it bore one small cluster of flowers whose petals shone like the sunlit snow.”

“Then Aragorn cried:  ‘Ye!  Utuvienyes! I have found it!  Lo!  Here is a scion of the Eldest of Trees!’  “

Gandalf is vague about its origins there, but says to Aragorn:

“ ‘Here it has lain hidden on the mountain, even as the race of Elendil lay hidden in the wastes of the North.’ “

Aragorn transplants it to the Court of the Fountain and sees its growth as a kind of prophecy—

“ ‘The sign has been given…’ “

On “the day before Midsummer”, the whole of the household of Elrond then appears at Minas Tirith, Elrond himself “bearing the sceptre of Annuminas”.  (The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter 5, “The Steward and the King”)

In Appendix A, this object is explained:

“The sceptre was the chief mark of royalty in Numenor…and that was also so in Arnor, whose kings wore no crown, but bore a single white gem, the Elendilmir, Star of Elendil, bound on their brows with a silver fillet.”  (The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, “The North-kingdom and the Dunedain”)

(not the sceptre of Annuminas, described as a simple silver rod, but it will give you the idea)

Then—

“…the King welcomed his guests, and they alighted; and Elrond surrendered the sceptre…”

And here we have a final proof:  the shattered sword, the ranger, the Palantir, the healing hands, the White Tree, and now the sceptre of Numenor—just as the acquisition by the Baker and his Wife of  “the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold” will allow them to break the curse, with the sceptre the confirmation that Aragorn is the rightful king is complete—although we should also add:

“And Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undomiel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfillment.” 

(the Hildebrandts)

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Stay well,

And remember, as always, that there’s

MTCIDC

O