XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm   
      
   On Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:10:05 -0700, Ronald O. Christian wrote:   
   >   
   > On Thu, 24 Jul 2014 00:25:44 -0500, Morgoth's Curse   
   >  wrote:   
   >   
   > >   
   > >Who taught Aragorn the arts of war? I know that Elrond raised him as   
   > >his own son, but somehow I never thought that Elrond was especially   
   > >interested in the martial arts. (He must have been a competent   
   > >warrior, but he always struck me as the type who would rather think   
   > >his way out of a jam than fight.)   
   >   
   > Thinking through the events in the novels, didn't Aragorn consistently   
   > think his way out of jams?  It seems to my admittedly hazy memory that   
   > the times he fought, he had no other alternative.   
      
   I get the impression that the scholar-warrior was Tolkien's ideal:   
   Aragorn was of this type, and Faramir perhaps had even a stronger mix   
   of "scholar" with warrior. Boromir was warrior pure and simple.   
      
   It's sound military strategy, I believe, to fight only necessary   
   battles. Tolkien made the point that "necessary battles" and "battles   
   I can win" are not necessarily the same thing.   
      
   The "no other alternative" thing failed when Aragorn agreed to lead a   
   desperate band to fight in front of the Gate of Mordor. I imagine he   
   had every expectation of dying in that battle, but he did it just to   
   give Frodo (who might already have been dead, for all he knew) a   
   chance of reaching Mount Doom.   
      
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