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Originally Posted by Rumil
Was the black shape that jumped over the gate Aragorn or a Nazgul? I feel I ought to know but can't remember at present.
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Definitely Aragorn; he later says that in the following chapter. The shadow was only meant to look sinister, but it wasn't, of course. That by itself shows that it was Strider
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The rest of the party claim to be 'honest' and if not a deceit, who are they? Dunlendings perhaps, though they speak the common tongue and seem more 'civilised' than the Dunlendings we meet later. Maybe Rohirrim from the far-Westfold being squeezed out by Saruman's incursions? Alternatively men from some unknown settlement of Enedwaith or Minhiriath, perhaps in the area of now-ruined Tharbad? Tricky one!
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Tharbad was ruined a long time ago; unless someone survived in its ruins (which, from the way it's put, is improbable; also don't forget that Boromir passed there and obviously met no one, and had people been living there even until very recently, surely at least a remnant would have been found there, even if most of the inhabitants went away). However it may be that these folks came from Enedwaith or Minhiriath, or Dunland, threatened by Saruman's "imperialism". They may be some simple Minhiriath folk threatened by increasing range of Saruman's operations (where would the Uruk-hai of Isengard get their supplies, right?), or even "dissidents" from Dunland, indeed, "escaping from trouble".
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On Lebensraum Esty, I think that its a bit of a strange idea, for as far as we know Minhiriath and Enedwaith are pretty much deserted. There appears to be plenty of free land available for the taking (population densities in ME being very low after all). To speculate maybe Saruman's support has led to the Dunlendings expanding their territory and forcing out isolated older settlements of men??
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Why not? There's the thing that probably also "evil things" were multiplying in the wilderness, and they wanted to live in a more secure place.