Hmm. I formerly thought that each individual smelled in the athelas what was appropriate for them, but then again the others smelled it too. And how could that be? (And one wonders if all would share Ioreth’s thought that it was a ‘wholesome’ fragrance.) It seemly likely that Aragorn must have been some special skill such as directing a specific scent, or else kingsfoil would have been used for more than headaches in Gondor! And I suspect that that specific talent was considerably less common than finding a store of athelas in the city!
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Frodo has been touched by the weapons of the Enemy,’ said Strider, ‘and there is some poison or evil at work that is beyond my skill to drive out. But do not give up hope Sam!”
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This whole subject of WK induced illness (notice the obvious self-conscious sidestepping of the terms Black Breath and Black Shadow), got me rather curious and thinking about the long term effects of Frodo’s encounter, and Aragorn’s attempts at healing him at the time. Granted Frodo was on the receiving end of the blade and a shard of it remained in him, but it is interesting to look at both these and see perhaps what Aragorn might have had in mind when treating Frodo with athelas, or perhaps what he had learned or realized since.
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When he (Aragorn) had looked upon the faces of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed. ‘Here I must put forth all such power and skill as is given to me,’ he said. Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has greater power.’
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Beside acknowledging his skill, is Aragorn counting Elrond’s half-human side here? I had to go pull out my pristine ‘newer’ copy of RoTK to check if this ‘race’ hadn’t been changed to ‘races’ in the interval between printings. No change. But then Aragorn has his own drop or two of elven blood, as well. Still this and the comparison to Gandalf is making Aragorn seem somewhat superhuman, if you’ll excuse the term, one giant step better than your typical man of Westernesse, or perhaps closer to its roots.
Another question that I’d like to place before this group concerns Aragorn’s removal of the Star of the North-kingdom from his banner as he set up his camp outside the gate. What does this mean to you? Is it simply an outward sign that Aragorn did not wish to challenge Denethor?