Well, these posts have certainly made me laugh! Before I go on, I have to say...I admire Faramir too.
But I'm going to sit on a rickety old fence and say I like them both! Now, I'll put my Aragorn fan 'hat' (hood?) on and defend him.
First of all, I'm always struck by how close the name Aragorn is to the word arrogant. Bear with me here... I am thinking of two types of arrogance. There is the type which can also be termed 'pride', and as the cliche goes, comes before a fall. But there is also the type which can be applied to a person who is sure of themselves, which denotes a person with
bearing, and immense confidence, as seen in great military commanders. They must maintain their appearance of command in order to inspire others to follow them. This would certainly apply to Aragorn in the latter stages of the War of the Ring.
And a little more linguistics. Aragorn is also a word remarkably close to Argent, which means gold, if I am not mistaken?
Now, as for Aragorn being a 'prig' (
Mithalwen, I love that word!), I had to go and find an instance where he was definitely
not a prig! When Boromir dies, Aragorn's emotions spill to the surface, and he is distraught. What is more, this shakes his own faith in himself.
Quote:
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"Now the company is all in ruin. It is I that have failed. Vain was Gandalf's trust in me. What shall I do now?"
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This scene has always deeply affected me, not only as I found Boromir fascinating, but I hated to see Aragorn so distressed and shaken.
I have been trying to think of the best word to describe the loyalty and love which Aragorn inspires in others, and I think the word is
fealty. He inspires fraternal love, the urge to follow his lead, to strive to be like him. Again, this reminds me of certain military leaders who have been admired by their troops. Interestingly, it is this which attracts Eowyn to him, showing that this admiration is not just felt by the males in Middle Earth!