The legendary saga "The Lord of the Rings" by one of the prominent English writers of the 20th century, D. R. R. Tolkien, has won the hearts of millions of fans around the world. As a continuation of the no less famous story “The Hobbit, or There and Back”, the book has been translated into more than 38 languages of the world. Its influence on world culture, and in particular on literature in the fantasy genre, is invaluable.
One of the main characters of the saga is the first king in the Reunited Kingdom and the leader of the trackers - Aragorn. The film, or rather the film trilogy of the hand of Peter Jackson, recreates an image almost identical to that described in the book. The role of Aragorn (or Elessar) is performed by American actor Viggo Peter Mortensen.
Nicknames and Names
One of the main characters of the saga is found in the trilogy under different names. All of them were given to him by the inhabitants of Middle-earth at different times. The name Aragorn (actor V. Mortensen in his role in the photo) is translated from one of the elven dialects of Sindarin as "revered king." It is noteworthy that the author of the saga invented and developed several languages, including the one mentioned above. The second name of the character is Elessar, it is translated from the dialect of the elves of Quenya as "precious" or "elven stone." This is due to the gift of a special eponymous magic stone. His great mistress Galadriel presented to Aragorn.
Residents of the northern part of Middle-earth called the future king a wanderer (a tramp, a walker) from the time when he was the leader of the trackers. And up to 20 years, Aragorn was called Estelle, translated from elven - “hope”, which indicates the fateful significance of the character.
Biography of Elessar
The royal descendant in a straight line Aragorn (actor V. Mortensen in the trilogy of P. Jackson) was born in the family of Gilraen and Arathorn II. When the young heir was only two years old, his father died in a battle with the orcs. After that, at the request of his mother, he was given a middle name. Aragorn himself was brought up for education to half-elf Elrond in a deep valley at the foot of the Misty Mountains - Rivendell. Hidden from the whole world, he did not know anything about his real name, or about his origin exactly until adulthood.
Before the War of the Ring, the future king spent his life in wanderings and wanderings, then he met Arwen - the daughter of Erlond. The lovers were engaged, but the girl was forced to abandon the eternal life peculiar to the elves and accept the Gift of Death. However, father Arwen made a condition that he would give his daughter only if Elessar became king.
After winning the battle and coronation, a wedding took place. In the marriage, Aragorn and Arwen (in the photo below - shots from the film) lived 120 years, they had three children.
Description of Aragorn
In his book The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien gives a very brief and accurate description of Aragorn. He characterizes him as a tanned, tall, thin man with black hair with gray hair, a strict pale face and gray eyes. As a matter of fact, the description ends here. An interesting fact is that in his books the author uses the phrase “pants of Aragon” as a characteristic of the character. This fact suggests that the fictional world of Tolkien is so large and deep that he simply physically cannot describe it in the smallest detail.
Much later, after the release of the books, he mentioned that the character has a height of at least 1.98 m, which is exactly what Aragorn should be. Actor V. Mortinsen, who performed his role in the trilogy, is not so high. His height is 1.8 m, the desired visual effect was achieved by camera techniques.
In later annexes to the trilogy, namely in the story of Aragon and Arwen, some characteristics of the king are added to the characteristics of the king. Often he is sad and gloomy, but with unexpected moments of fun and laughter. Elven upbringing added wisdom and insight to him.
Adaptations to the cinema
The epic film adaptation of the book with the participation of Peter Jackson is familiar to many, and few represent the characters of the saga performed by other actors. We must pay tribute: they are all selected perfectly and getting into the image is almost one hundred percent. Aragorn - actor V. Mortensen - is absolutely convincing, moreover, coincides with the character described in the book. There are only slight differences in the fine details. So, according to the book, Aragorn uses a single weapon - a sword. However, in the film, the king possesses not only a sharp blade, but also a dagger, as well as a bow with arrows. The second nuance is growth. The actor is almost 20 cm below the book of Aragorn. This fact absolutely does not spoil the impression; it’s enough to recall that in the Hobbit trilogy of the gnome Torrin Duboshchit performs R. Armitage, whose height is 1.89 m (you must admit, it’s too big for a little gnome).
Actor Viggo Mortensen
The role of Aragorn brought V. Mortensen world fame and drew attention to his acting talent. He was born in a family of an American and a Dane, and spent his childhood and youth in Venezuela and Argentina, which explains the knowledge of the Spanish language perfectly and the demand for Spanish-language films.
The role of King Aragorn got him by accident, only after S. Townsend, whom the director considered too young, was removed from the shootings. It is noteworthy that in the "Brotherhood of the Ring" the actor performed all the tricks on his own.
Participation in the project brought him not only worldwide fame, but also the award of the US Screen Actors Guild in the nomination "for the best cast in feature films."