I was just thinking, as usual, and had this one little question pop up in my mind, again, as usual.

So, I was wondering about The Houses Of Healing. It is said,



or something similar. I wonder why the King is given so much importance?

I mean, I read in the forums about the line of Kings, Stewards and Princes. (I think it was in the thread about Imrahil) and I can't see why the same principle would apply to the Stewards and the Princes.

I wonder why the King is given so much importance.

Umm, does this question seem stupid? Well, if you don't understand what I mean, it might seem stupid. Anyways.

I wonder if Isildur had a brother

Hmm. That shut me up. But then, did Elendil have a brother?

Hang on. Now, I'm a bit confused. Where exactly does the line of Denethor and Imrahil start from?

If I'm not right with the throne of Gondor, will someone please explain to me how it works?

I mean consider that all the three lines came to an end, who would then be the King?

Imrahil would never have the throne of Gondor. He is not a direct descendant of Isildur. He's just related to Faramir and Boromir because Finguilas - Denethor's wife - was his sister. And Imrahil would never have the hands of a healer. Aragorn had knowledge of healing because he was raised in Rivendell by Elrond, and there he learned... a lot. The art of healing is something he learned, not something he magically inherited since the day Elrond told him he was of the line of Kings.

Besides, Aragorn would never die as he was predestined to succeed in everything he wanted to do. If Aragorn had died, Gondor would never have a King again as the last direct descendant of Isildur would be awol.

I think what she was doing here was remembering more of a prophesy, which Aragorn's training was able to fulfill.

On Weathertop after Frodo had been stabbed, Aragorn is speaking to the hobbits:To go along with Ioreth's rememberance was that of the herb-master, which he relegated to just a rhyme of the old days, also with no understanding:So basically I think it was just knowledge that came from Numenor and Aragorn had learned it as part of his ranger training, or more probable, when he read about it in the library of Minas Tirith, back when he was working for Denethor's daddy.

Hey people, I need an answer about the Kingship of Gondor. Can anybody please explain to me how it would change hands???

The Kingship of Gondor, as well as that of Arnor, was hereditary, passed down from father to eldest living son (or daughter if there was no son) it could also be usurped, but that broke the line and it reverted back to the line from Elendil when the usurper was overthrown. In the Third Age the line of the King of Gondor ran out with no heir aparent, and the Stewards took charge in the Kings name.

Prior to this, Angmar defeated Arnor and the Northern line directly decended from Isildur, took the title 'Chieftain of the Dunedain', Aragorn was a direct decendent from Isildur via this northern line and thus he had a right to the Kingship, if anyone would choose to follow him.

As he had proved himself a leader in battle by leading the forces of the West against the Black Gate, had proved himself Isildur's heir by leading the Oath Breakers against Pelargir, and had shown he had the hands of a healer in the Houses of Healing. Thus they all decided, "Your it!" and Gandalf jammed the crown on Aragorn's head.

No one in this thread said Aragorn's healing powers had "nothing whatsoever" to do with being of the children of L’thien. Elven blood? Maian blood would be more exact.

Art of healing : at one point in his life, Rivendell perhaps, someone learned Aragorn that "that plant overthere - athelas, Estel - has healing powers!". Aragorn learned what plants were poisonous and what plants could be used for healing or food, etc.

But how to use the healing powers of athelas : that's something else. After all, Aragorn used it to cure the Black Breath. I said his healing powers come from his Numenoran lineage, so what's the problem? Aragorn's Numenoran lineage tracks him back all the way to Elros, who himself was a direct descendant from Melian, who was a Maia ’nd L’thien's mother. The whole of the Numenoran line of kings, of which Aragorn was a descendant, has maian blood. So this maian blood made Aragorn have the healing powers he had. Or don't you think Elros and all Numenorean Kings after him weren't children of L’thien then?

But regardless of this, even Aragorn must've learned from someone how to use his 'powers' he had inherited, for instance for use of healing. Elrond was a great healer as well, as Aragorn himself pointed out, for the same reasons as Aragorn, but even he must've learned from someone how to heal, how to use the talents he had inherited. I don't think his ability to heal was something he could magically do when it was needed but something he learned. He just inherited the power, the ability to heal but not the skill. I think he learned that in Rivendell, from Elrond. Aragorn learned what plants had healing powers and such, he learned what plants could heal the body, but he also learned how to heal the spirit, which was the case with the Black Breath. So basically, i think Aragorn's talent for healing was inherited due to being a descendant of Melian, but the skill of healing (how to use his talent) was learnt by him in Rivendell.

Perhaps i confused you and made you think that any Numenoran would have healing powers, as it looked like i was generalizing Numenoran blood. Well, as to Numenorean lineage, i was only referring to the Numenorean line of Kings who descended from Elros and thus from Melian. You can say i didn't stress the maian blood enough, which should be the biggest contributing factor to Aragorn's 'special powers'.

Actually, the use of 'children of L’thien' when regarding any of Aragorn's special powers must not be considered lightly. I know every Elf in LOTR speaks about it, because they're all obsessed about L’thien because she - the fairest of all children of Illuvatar who has ever lived - left their race and truly died, but it would be more exact to use 'children of Melian' if someone is referring to special powers. Melian, as a Maia, had special powers and was responsible for L’thien having special powers since she was her mother. L’thien was very special indeed, but only due to her Maian blood was she able to do what she did... for instance enchanting Morgoth Bauglir himself.

Hey, no big deal.

It is confusing when a post is edited after being replied to - is this the bit you added? Now it makes sense to me but this is not how I interpreted your opinion before.

Seems we agree.

If Aragorn et al had failed to defeat Sauron the only way for the Kingship to continue would be for Aragorn to survive and have children, probably with Arwen. Then they would inherit his 'healing hands', sword and ring. If he had no children then either the line of Kings would end and that would probably put paid to prophecies being fulfilled or a bastard line of heirs might have to be looked for in the hope that one of Aragorn's ancestors (or Aragorn) had been naughty. Obviously Tolkien intended for Aragorn to take the Kingship, and he did, otherwise Return of the King may have been called Search for the King.