When and Where should the term 'Ranger' be applied?
Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:35 pm
I got into a short discussion with someone on social media yesterday involving what exactly defines a "Ranger" in Middle-earth. I described loosely my knowledge on the origin of the word in Eriador and its non-military source (the Breefolk and those living in the surrounds), and came across a stumbling block. If the Breelanders use the term 'Ranger' to describe a bunch of misunderstood wanderers, how did the term make its way to Faramir's troops in Ithilien? So I did some digging, and this is where I've arrived:
It is tricky, the way Tolkien uses the word...in Eriador, it is a term Given to the wandering exiled Dunedain by the locals in the Breelands and thereabouts, as an identifier for a people and a lifestyle they do not understand. In Ithilien, it is odd that the word then comes up again (and only once is it used in reference to Faramir's company) as a descriptor for these, who are soldiers of Gondor. A group with somewhat similar leanings--being less-mixed Numenorean descendants and wanderers of a previously openly occupied land formerly populated by their ancestors--would lend them towards being called Rangers...but why, then, would the term be the same leagues upon leagues away from a small area in the north where it was given seemingly by chance by the local population?
In short...I am struggling with thinking of the Ithilien company as referring to themselves as Rangers, or using that as a Militaristic label. The one time it is mentioned plays out as this:
"After a while he [Frodo] spoke to them; but they were slow and cautious in answering. They named themselves Mablung and Damrod, soldiers of Gondor, and they were Rangers of Ithilien; for they were descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun. From such men the Lord Denethor chose his forayers, who crossed the Anduin secretly (how or where, they would not say) to harry the Orcs and other enemies that roamed between the Ephel Duath and the River."
- LotR: TTT; Chapter 4. Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
My best conjecture is that Frodo and Sam (who are the witnesses to these events, and later the authors of what text we read here) are labeling them in their minds based on the Dunedain descendants they know of who live in their part of the world. Mablung and Damrod are not directly quoted as calling themselves Rangers, and they are only described as such "...for they were descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun." In essence, they mirror Aragorn's people and their wanderings in Frodo's mind.
So maybe it is better for us to translate Tolkien's use of the word 'Ranger' into what we would call today "Exiled Wanderer" rather than to assume it as a 'Character Class' or 'Military Position'. The text goes on to say that Denethor chose among the more pure-blooded Dunedain descendants to become these "Forayers"...which is more of a Military term, so even in this sense, Denethor himself is not calling this group his "Rangers".
Thoughts? I don't think this means that the Ithilien group should henceforth NOT be called 'Rangers', since, by Eriadoran (is that a thing?) definition, they fit the requirements of Dunedain Ancestry, unappreciated protector, and general all-purpose wanderer...but I don't think that their UNIT, as it were, is known in a Gondorian context as the Rangers of Ithilien. Make sense?
It is tricky, the way Tolkien uses the word...in Eriador, it is a term Given to the wandering exiled Dunedain by the locals in the Breelands and thereabouts, as an identifier for a people and a lifestyle they do not understand. In Ithilien, it is odd that the word then comes up again (and only once is it used in reference to Faramir's company) as a descriptor for these, who are soldiers of Gondor. A group with somewhat similar leanings--being less-mixed Numenorean descendants and wanderers of a previously openly occupied land formerly populated by their ancestors--would lend them towards being called Rangers...but why, then, would the term be the same leagues upon leagues away from a small area in the north where it was given seemingly by chance by the local population?
In short...I am struggling with thinking of the Ithilien company as referring to themselves as Rangers, or using that as a Militaristic label. The one time it is mentioned plays out as this:
"After a while he [Frodo] spoke to them; but they were slow and cautious in answering. They named themselves Mablung and Damrod, soldiers of Gondor, and they were Rangers of Ithilien; for they were descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun. From such men the Lord Denethor chose his forayers, who crossed the Anduin secretly (how or where, they would not say) to harry the Orcs and other enemies that roamed between the Ephel Duath and the River."
- LotR: TTT; Chapter 4. Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
My best conjecture is that Frodo and Sam (who are the witnesses to these events, and later the authors of what text we read here) are labeling them in their minds based on the Dunedain descendants they know of who live in their part of the world. Mablung and Damrod are not directly quoted as calling themselves Rangers, and they are only described as such "...for they were descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun." In essence, they mirror Aragorn's people and their wanderings in Frodo's mind.
So maybe it is better for us to translate Tolkien's use of the word 'Ranger' into what we would call today "Exiled Wanderer" rather than to assume it as a 'Character Class' or 'Military Position'. The text goes on to say that Denethor chose among the more pure-blooded Dunedain descendants to become these "Forayers"...which is more of a Military term, so even in this sense, Denethor himself is not calling this group his "Rangers".
Thoughts? I don't think this means that the Ithilien group should henceforth NOT be called 'Rangers', since, by Eriadoran (is that a thing?) definition, they fit the requirements of Dunedain Ancestry, unappreciated protector, and general all-purpose wanderer...but I don't think that their UNIT, as it were, is known in a Gondorian context as the Rangers of Ithilien. Make sense?