


In Jackson's films, though, Aragorn is brought down to a level that the viewer can personally relate to. This means that in the books, Aragorn comes across as a larger-than-life character who is able to save the day and is a confident and fearless leader, because that's how the hobbits see him. For instance, the register of "The Lord of the Rings" is from the perspective of hobbits - their presence in most of the scenes provides the reader with a relatable viewpoint from which to engage with the story. When Aragorn (son of Arathorn) first appears in The Fellowship of the Ring, he looks like your classic scruffy bad boy, the kind of guy you wouldnt.

Other differences in the transition from Tolkien to Jackson's adaptation are more significant. In addition, the book "The Nature of Middle Earth" definitively states that men normally had beards, but due to a racial characteristic unique to Aragorn's bloodline, he doesn't have any shaggy scruff. This was clarified by Tolkien in a letter to a fan in 1972. For instance, Mortensen's iconic beard is non-canonical. An inn where the hobbits take refuge is attacked by the riders at night, but they are saved by a mysterious stranger called Strider, a friend of Gandalf. So his search for an older face finally led Jackson to the lesser-known Mortensen, who got a call after Townsend had been let go. He was helming a project in a fantasy genre that was still in its infancy, and the big-name actors turned the role down. Of course, at the time, Jackson wasn't a world-famous director. The descendent of Isildur, Aragorn is the heir to the throne of Gondor, but at the beginning of the trilogy, he hides this identity and pretends to be a. The director had already offered the job to multiple big-wig celebrities, including Russell Crowe and Daniel Day-Lewis (via Yahoo Entertainment). Even then, as he restarted his search - this time looking for an older actor - Mortensen wasn't the next person in line for the role. It was a similarity that didn't look right to Jackson, and he made the difficult decision to recast Aragorn even as filming was beginning. An exact reason for this name has never been given in The Lord of the Rings, but many assume it's because he wandered the land and his tall Nmenrean stature compared to the other races in the area. In fact, for comparison, Townsend was the same age as the youthful hobbit actors surrounding him on the set. With Aragorn being one of the most prominent Rangers, he gained his nickname of Strider. This may not sound too young for a warrior character, but it was difficult to see the venerable, aged wisdom of the 87-year-old Aragorn in the face of a twenty-something actor from Ireland. Despite being "a great actor," Townsend was just 27 years old when he arrived on set. Strider is a name that Aragorn uses as a Ranger to keep doing his work in Arnor (the fallen North Kingdom, including the Shire, Bree, and the road from the. But it had nothing to do with Townsend's acting - the problem came with his age, as Viggo Mortensen later explained in an interview (via Yahoo Entertainment).
