An unwashed (by which presumably is meant 'common') person would in Aragorn's place probably say 'My life's been long and hard'. The sentence could be phrased 'I have had a hard life and a long
one', or 'A hard life and a long have I led'. None of these is incorrect, and neither is Tolkien's version. The second indirect object is indicated by the fact that here a second occurrence of 'life' has been omitted in a standard inverted elliptical construction. Tolkien typically uses inversion to emphasise the key words in his sentences; an old technique often used in Old English. This often results in sentences that are not phrased quite as they would be by a modern native speaker. Probably the best explanation for Tolkien's preference for this sort of writing is his own.
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Originally Posted by JRRT
Of course, not being specially well read in modern English, and far more familiar with works in the ancient and 'middle' idioms, my own ear is to some extent affected; so that though I could easily recollect how a modern would put this or that, what comes easiest to mind or pen is not quite that.
Letters #171
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That being said, I like the fall of that sentence. For me it stands out not at all in a chapter crammed with more or less watered archaism, and it is reasonably typical of Aragorn's long speech about the part played by the Rangers in defending the North. It suits Aragorn perfectly, since during the the course of
LR he uses both mildly archaic and entirely colloquial language. Tom Shippey sees his use of the former in
The Council of Elrond as a response to Boromir; a tacit challenge to his grandiloquence. However, his easy use of both everyday and archaic language helps to underline the fact that Aragorn is both a legendary king in waiting and a ragged wanderer, at home in a pub in Bree just as much as in Elrond's council chamber. The relative formality and archaism of the various characters in this chapter would bear close scrutiny, but I lack the time for that this evening.