The son of Aravir, who succeeded his father to become Chieftain of the Dúnedain. He ruled during the time known as the Watchful Peace, during which Sauron had withdrawn for a time into the East of Middle-earth. Sauron's retreat, though, did not mean that the Westlands were free of danger or evil, and even in those days Eriador was infested with wild wolves. After a few short years as Chieftain, it seems that Aragorn went out on a hunt2 and fell prey to the wolves himself.
The date of Aragorn's birth appears only in The History of Middle-earth volume XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth. It cannot therefore be considered completely reliable.
2
The details of Aragorn's loss are sketchy at best. The Lord of the Rings tells us only that 'it is said' that he was slain by wolves (Appendix A I (iii)). A selection of the notes behind this comment appear in The Peoples of Middle-earth (volume XII of The History of Middle-earth), which variously suggest that he was lost while on a hunt, or at the hands of Orcs, or (as in the final version) was slain by wolves. It is not easy to piece together a coherent account from this, but probably the most consistent reading would be that he was lost while out hunting the very wolves that turned on him and slew him.
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