After the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, many lay wounded in the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith. By tradition, the King's hands could bring healing, but Aragorn had not yet claimed that title. Nonetheless, he came into the City to do what he could, but he titled himself simply as the Captain of the Dúnedain of Arnor (as indeed he was, though only some thirty Men of Arnor had fought in the battle). Within the Houses of Healing, Aragorn's knowledge of healing herbs indeed proved invaluable, and he was able to save Steward Faramir, Éowyn of Rohan and Meriadoc Brandybuck with athelas before passing once more out of the City of Minas Tirith.

Notes

'Arnor' is used in this title as a historical reference to the northern lands of the Dúnedain. The realm of Arnor itself had ceased to exist as a unified state in III 861, more than two thousand years before the War of the Ring, but nonetheless the old name was clearly still understood as referring to the homeland of the Northern Dúnedain.

These northern lands had seen strife and conflict during the time they were formally known as Arnor, and also for long afterwards, and so doubtless there would have been other Captains of the Dúnedain of Arnor over the millennia before Aragorn used the title for himself. Nonetheless, Aragorn's choice of this title in III 3019 to hide his true authority is the only recorded use of the term.

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Updated 27 March 2025
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Captain of the Dúnedain of Arnor

A title taken by Aragorn

Notes

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