[Gardener of Gamwich]

The arrival of the Grey Company could also make one reflect on the importance of Aragorn's travels in his earlier years.

The Grey Company does not contain all of the adult male Rangers, but "...all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste..."

There doesn't seem to be a clear answer as to how large the surviving population of Dunedain remained in the north. I've read some articles dealing with it, one conjecturing that there may have been hundreds or many hundreds, but that perhaps not all males became Rangers, but lived in settlements with the women and children, playing their part in supporting village life.

Tolkien describes the Rangers in the chapter, "At the sign of the Prancing Pony":
"But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing of their origin. They were taller and darker than the men of Bree... They roamed at will southwards, and eastwards even as far as the Misty Mountains; but they were now few and rarely seen. When they appeared they brought news from afar, and told strange forgotten tales which were eagerly listened to; but the Bree-folk did not make friends of them."

We know from what Gandalf told Butterbur that they also journeyed north to Fornost.

Suppose for discussion's sake that three times the number of adult male Rangers that rode with the Grey Company were spread across Eriador, defending the Shire and Bree and the surrounding lands from a different kind of danger than that facing Gondor. As Aragorn says to Boromir at the Council of Elrond:

'Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?'
'And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. "Strider" I am to one fat man who lives within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown.'


I don't get the feeling the Rangers ever fought with all of their numbers together, as one unit, in major skirmishes, as did Eomer's Eored. And certainly not as a mounted unit as they have formed as the Grey Company in this particular instance. Clearly, there was a band of them at Sarn Ford who tried to resist the Nazgûl and were scattered or killed. And it seems another band east of Bree. To me they are a bit reminiscent of Barahir's band back in the First Age – a force of irregulars.

Had Aragorn's fighting experience been limited to that kind of guerrilla warfare, while he would still be a great leader of men – partly through his nature, partly through things he learnt from Elrond during his youth and partly through his long life – he would not had the skills of a great general of large armies.

He turned 20 in 2951 and left Rivendell for a life in the wild after learning of his true identity from Elrond and suffering heartbreak after realizing his infatuation for Arwen could come to nothing. "For 30 years he laboured in the cause against Sauron."

We can speculate (I think) that the first six years might have been spent with his people in Arnor. In 2956, he befriended Gandalf. And it is for 23 years starting in 2957 that he undertakes his great journeys across much of the Middle-earth, serving as "Thorongil" with Thengel in Rohan and then with Ecthelion II in Gondor before trekking "...even into the far countries of Rhûn and Harad where the stars are strange."

Surely it is the experience he gleaned fighting in, and then commanding, successively larger and larger military units in his time in Rohan and Gondor that make him the general he is by the time he takes part in the War of the Ring; and beyond that when as King Elessar he took the armies of Gondor (accompanied by that of Rohan), "beyond the Sea of Rhûn and on the far fields of the South..."

Much of the time following his return from those travels must have been spent back in Arnor (though some significant time is spent east of the Anduin in the search for Gollum). During these years in Arnor, he receives the nickname "Strider" from the people of Bree. As Chieftain during this time, did he travel from one sub-group of Rangers to another (with or without Roheryn as the situation required) keeping informed, raising morale, helping deal with issues in various areas? I don't know. I suppose such travel would explain him being a frequent enough visitor to Bree to garner a nickname. Certainly, he had enough flexibility in his role that when he received Gildor's message that Frodo was heading east bearing a great burden, he was able to patrol the East-West Road and intercept the four Hobbits when they finally parted with Tom Bombadil.

Additional thoughts:
Interesting that Aragorn recognised Bombadil as he was saying farewell to the hobbits considering how many at Rivendell seem to have forgotten his existence.
And, clearly, Bombadil knows of the important role the Rangers play in guarding the Shire, referring to it when he gives the hobbits the Barrow-blades – "Few now remember them," Tom murmured, "yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless." Indeed, he might well be referring to Aragorn himself.