Dunedain, Northern Ranger, not Dunedain Ranger of the North

ghettoelleth · Joined: 06 Nov 2004 Posts: 1804

Residents of Arthedain, Eriador, all that northerny area above the Shire. I gots a man question here. I'm such a dope I've been scouring looking for this information and didn't even think to come and put y'all on the spot. Here's my query.

I know that the actual Dunedain Rangers of the North...Let me rephrase cuz I don't know shit. I have read...That the Dunedain Rangers of the North have no precise date in history for their inception. I believe it was a paper by Michael Martinez, Not A Canon Piece, that suggested that they sort of just grew from a need to protect the interest of the line of kings, but whole different can of worms. I also think I read that they became nomadic rangers after the fall of Arthedain and the death of Arvedui. My question is this. If it is indeed true that the rangers come into being at the time of the fall of the norther realm, were there other rangers? What I mean is, as the Rangers of Ithilien were commissioned by the king and then the stewards of Gondor, would it be to big of a presumption to think that the king of the North would have commissioned rangers to count among his forces as well. My understanding is that they were a sort of Green Beret's covert ops faction of the royal army and would have served a valuable purpose in the North as well as in Gondor. Now, since the Dunedain dwelt in the North after they broke Numenor, We just can't have nice things Very Happy

, would it also be too much to presume that some of these Men of Numenor would have been members of the King's Rangers? Ergo making them Dunedain rangers? Although not, by any means, one of The Rangers of the Dunedain.
I ask this because one very minor character in my fic who lost his father finds out at some point that his father, one of the Dunedain who was killed in an attack on his encampment, was actually a ranger at the time of the rule of King of Earnil but goes north when the kingdom is divided and settles in Evendim. He remains a friend to Earnil's son Cyriandel however and someone has found a few entries in an old journal of the ship king's from when he was a prince that mention the father of my minor character. Basically, it is simply fodder for a story around the campfire that receives a mention of perhaps a half paragraph, I just thought it was rather touching and warmed this character abit. It would be no skin off the beak to change or omit this from my fic. Its not imperative to any plot point, I just like taking long walks off short bridges. I was just wondering how far off base I am here. Though I keep all my research, this particular piece got injured in a file swap during a disc sweep. At least, that's what the doctors say. Shocked

If anyone's still awake after this mind numbing query and can nswer this for me, I'd be really really grateful.

Thanks
Ghettoelleth

Rhapsody · Joined: 11 Apr 2004 Posts: 1153 Location: Maglor's Lap

As I was flipping through HOME 12, the part of the Line of Elendil does state that thy became into being and shattered after the Kingdom of Arthedain fell apart. But don't forget that in HOME 8, Aragorn refers to them as 'my kin' (this goes waaaay back).

VII THE HEIRS OF ELENDIL.

Arvedui. born 1864 lived 110 years +drowned 1974 [> 1975] He was the last king at Fornost. In [added: the winter of] 1974 the Witch-king destroyed Fornost, laid Arthedain waste, and scattered the remnants of the Dunedain. Arvedui escaped from Fornost and fled north, taking the palantiri of Annuminas and Emyn Beraid. He attempted to go by ship from Forochel to Gondor but was wrecked and the Stones were lost. The sons of Arvedui took refuge with Cirdan of Lune. The following year Elrond and Cirdan, with some belated help from Gondor, sent by sea, defeated the forces of Angmar. The Witch-king was overthrown by Elrond, and his realm brought to an end. The northern lands though desolate were now made somewhat more wholesome again. But it was found later that the Witch-king had fled away secretly southwards, and had entered Minas Ithil (now called Minas Morgul) and become Lord of the Ringwraiths. The remnants of the Dunedain of the North become rangers and errants, living largely in hiding, but waging ceaseless war on all evil things that still are abroad in the land. The sons of their chieftains are usually fostered in Imladris by Elrond, to whose keeping are given the chief remaining heirlooms of their house, especially the shards of Elendil's sword, Narsil.

Also I don't know when the Ithilien rangers started to show up, but I see them more as a military part of an army that tries to gather info and intel over a piece of land over which the Steward lost control. From a research thingie a year ago, I remember one of Gondor's Stewards (I believe the one for Etheclion II) established them, Turgon was his name. For that I need to do some real digging to find that (and I can be mistaken).

So I think it is a question from which angle you want to approach this. Was this guy a ranger as being a scout, and dayum got unlucky while scouting, or do you want them to be reffered to as a Dunedan from the North who became one of those rangers folks after the Kingdom of Arthedain fell apart?

ghettoelleth · Joined: 06 Nov 2004 Posts: 1804

yeah, this part is the part I'm sure of, its the other that I question and I really hate to change anything until I'm sure that it wouldn't be totally out of line to do so. It just seems like I read several canon excerpts about it. The Martinez article didn't catch my eye until after you and I discussed it the first time. Its just really making me curious, and giving me a headache, lol.