Aragorn’s Lost Line: The Lord of the Rings Movie Cut That Changed Everything

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was a masterful adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel, but translating a story into the medium of film necessitates some changes, especially regarding pacing. Jackson made several scenes quicker, both to maintain the interest of theatergoers and to keep the films’ total runtime manageable. An example of a truncated scene is that in which Frodo Baggins, Samwise “Sam” Gamgee, Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck, and Peregrin “Pippin” Took met Aragorn at the inn of The Prancing Pony.

In Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn dragged Frodo into a side room, spoke with him briefly, and then rushed him to safety before the Nazgûl arrived. In the chapter “At the Sign of the Prancing Pony” in the novel version of The Fellowship of the Ring, he had a longer conversation with the four hobbits, and it included one oft-overlooked line that highlighted a tragic aspect of Aragorn’s character.

Aragorn Was Used to Solitude Before The Lord of the Rings

At first, the hobbits were unsure if they could trust Aragorn, but he eventually set their minds at ease by revealing that he was there at Gandalf’s request. Frodo questioned why Aragorn did not lead with this information. The Ranger had a few reasons, but the last and most significant was his desire to win Frodo over on his own merits, because “a hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship.” In other words, Aragorn was lonely, and he hoped to form a genuine connection with the hobbits.

This makes sense when examining Aragorn’s backstory. As a Ranger of the North, he spent the majority of his time on the road or in the wilderness. He was treated with fear and suspicion by most, including those he was sworn to protect. As Aragorn said in the chapter “The Council of Elrond” from The Fellowship of the Ring, “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.”

Aragorn needed to be even more closed-off than most Rangers, because his status as Isildur’s heir made him a target for the Dark Lord Sauron and other evildoers. If he revealed his true identity to the wrong person, it could cost him his life. In “At the Sign of the Prancing Pony,” Aragorn gave this as another reason that he did not divulge his allegiance to Gandalf right away: “I had to study you first, and make sure of you. The Enemy has set traps for me before now.”

On the rare occasions that Aragorn was able to form strong bonds with others, circumstances often separated him from them. His duties as a Ranger prevented him from staying in any one place for too long. For example, he could only make occasional visits to the Elven realms of Rivendell and Lothlórien, so he was unable to spend much time with his beloved Arwen. The same was true for any friends Aragorn might have made while serving in the armies of Gondor and Rohan before The Lord of the Rings.

Aragorn’s Connections Were Key to His Success in The Lord of the Rings

Image via New Line/courtesy Everett Collection

Aragorn’s loneliness rendered him more sympathetic. Tolkien’s readers may have struggled to relate to a mysterious, long-lived warrior who was destined to become the King of Gondor, but his longing for companionship was a very normal, human desire. Over the course of The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn gradually grew his social circle. He formed close bonds with his companions among the Fellowship, especially Legolas and Gimli, as well as with some of the Rohirrim.

Those bonds allowed Aragorn to save Middle-earth, because he never could have succeeded in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields or the Battle of the Black Gate without the help of his allies. Even after the War of the Ring, he maintained these friendships for decades. Merry and Pippin, for instance, were buried next to Aragorn after they died.

Jackson may have cut Aragorn’s line to Frodo about wearying of distrust, but his need for friendship still came across in films. He was presented as a loner at first, but he acquired a friend group who would do anything for him, even charge into seemingly certain death at the Battle of the Black Gate. In his final line of the trilogy, Aragorn told the hobbits who were once suspicious of him, “My friends, you bow to no one.” Upon becoming the King of Gondor, he was no longer a hunted man who wearied of distrust.

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The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

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