Rangers of the North

"Can you see anything?" "Nothing. There's nothing." The descriptive majority of this article's text is unsourced, and should be supported with references.

"Few now remember them... yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless."

—Tom Bombadil on the Rangers

Rangers of the North, simply known as the Rangers, were a northern wandering people of Eriador, the last remnant of the Dúnedain of Arnor, who had once peopled the North-kingdom of Arnor. They protected the lands, wandering the wastes of Eriador, although their secretiveness made the people of Bree and the Shire consider them dangerous and distrustful.

They were grim in appearance and were usually dressed in grey or dark green, with a cloak-clasp shaped like a seven-pointed star.

The term "Rangers of the North" was used most often by those who lived in the southern lands of Rohan and Gondor, perhaps to distinguish this people from their distant cousins, the Rangers of Ithilien. Like the Rangers of the North, these were also Dúnedain, but belonged to the South-kingdom of Gondor, and their ancestors had been divided from the Northern Dúnedain for some three thousand years.

History

"Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters - but hunters ever of the servants of the Enemy, for they are found in many places, not in Mordor only."

—Aragorn

The Dúnedain of Arnor dwindled after the breaking of Arnor into three kingdoms and the wars with Angmar. Cardolan and Rhudaur soon fell and only the petty-kingdom of Arthedain maintained the royal line of Isildur. Arthedain too was destroyed in the Battle of Fornost and Arvedui, the last King of Arthedain, was lost at sea.

Arvedui's son and heir, Aranarth, claimed the title of Chieftain of the Dúnedain, sixteen Chieftains in total ruling the remnant of the Dúnedain. For safekeeping, Elrond was given the heirlooms of the House of Isildur: the shards of Narsil, the Elendilmir, the Sceptre of Annúminas, and later the Ring of Barahir, ransomed from the Lossoth.

Each of Aranarth's heirs (who, like him, could trace their descent back to Isildur) would be secretly fostered in Rivendell.

The remaining Dúnedain became the Rangers, a secretive wandering and nomadic people around Eriador, far from Sauron's spies, little known or remembered, and their deeds seldom recorded.

The Watchful Peace followed the loss of the North-kingdom and after its end, the Rangers' enemies concentrated attacks mostly against Rhovanion and Gondor. During that time, the Rangers fought minor battles and skirmishes against Orcs and wolves in order to keep the scattered peoples of their former realm safe. The hobbits of the Shire flourished under their protection.

During Arassuil's reign, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains became more bold, daring to invade Eriador. The Rangers fought many battles trying to hold them back, but one party managed to reach the Shire, and were fought off by a party of brave Hobbits under Bandobras Took in TA 2747. Soon after, the Long Winter arrived, many lives were lost, and Gandalf and the Rangers helped the Hobbits of the Shire survive.

In TA 2911, during Argonui's rule, the Fell Winter began with the Brandywine freezing over. This was a catalyst for White Wolves invading Eriador from the North which must have harassed the Rangers. The following year, great floods devastated Enedwaith and Minhiriath leaving Tharbad ruined and deserted. The next century was mostly peaceful although Arador was killed by hill-trolls and his son Arathorn II was killed while hunting Orcs.

Aragorn while a Ranger, as depicted in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Arathorn's son, Aragorn II succeeded him, who between 2957 to 2980 took great journeys, serving in the armies of King Thengel of Rohan, and Steward Ecthelion II of Gondor. In the following decades of the Third Age at the behest of Gandalf, the Rangers maintained a guard on the Shire to keep at bay the malign influence of Saruman and protect the (as yet unproven) One Ring. The Rangers guarding Sarn Ford were either driven off or killed when the Nazgûl entered the Shire in TA 3018.

At the time of the War of the Ring, Aragorn's Rangers were scattered and diminished. When Halbarad led a company of Rangers into the south to Aragorn's aid in the War, in haste he could muster no more than thirty, who fought in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Aragorn eventually became King Elessar of the Reunited Kingdom and the Rangers became once more a united people under the House of Telcontar in the Fourth Age.

For over a thousand years, the Rangers of the North faithfully preserved the Line of Elendil and the ways of the Dúnedain, and the four known heirlooms of the House of Isildur. Like all Dúnedain, they were friendly with the Elves, particularly those of Rivendell, where each heir would be raised. They secretly guarded and protected Eriador from spies, invaders, brigands, and worse.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Veldwagters van die Noord
Albanian	Rojet e Veriut
Amharic	ሰሜናዊ መርከበኞች
Arabic	رينجرز الشمال
Armenian	Հյուսիսային ռիզերսներ
Azerbaijani	Şimalın Mühafizəçiləri
Belarusian Cyrillic	Следапыты Поўначы
Bengali	উত্তরের রেন্জার্স
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Северни пазители
Cambodian	មន្ត្រីអនុរក្សរបស់កូរ៉េខាងជើង
Catalan	Guardaboscos del Nord
Chinese (Hong Kong)	北方遊俠
Croatian	Rendžeri Sjevera
Czech	Hraničáři Severu
Danish	Nordlige Værger
Dutch	Rangers van het Noorden De Dúnedain-Dolers
Esperanto	Gardistoj de la Nordo
Faroese	Norðlýsingar
French	Rôdeurs du Nord, Coureurs du Nord (In the new French translation of The Lord of the Rings)
Galician	Gardiáns do Norte
Georgian	ჩრდილოეთის მეურვეები
German	Waldläufer
Greek	Φύλακες του Βορρά
Gujarati	ઉત્તરી રેન્જર્સ
Hebrew	(Rangers of the North) ריינג'רס של הצפון (Forest rangers) שומרי היער
Icelandic	Forráðamenn Norðursins
Indonesian	Penjaga-penjaga Utara
Italian	Raminghi del Nord, Forestali del Nord (In the new Italian translation of The Lord of the Rings)
Japanese	北のレンジャーズ
Kannada	ಉತ್ತರ ರೇಂಜರ್ಸ್
Kazakh	Солтүстік жолсеріктер (Cyrillic) Soltüstik jolserikter (Latin)
Korean	북쪽의 레인저
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Рангэрс оф тhэ Нортh
Macedonian Cyrillic	Ренџерс на север
Malayalam	വടക്കൻ വനപാലകർ
Malaysian	Renjer Utara
Marathi	उत्तर रेंजर्स
Mongolian Cyrillic	Хойд нутгийн байгаль хамгаалагчид
Nepalese	उत्तर रेंजर्स
Norwegian	Nordlige Verger
Persian	رنجرز از شمال
Polish	Strażnicy Północy
Portuguese	Guardiões do Norte
Russian	Следопыты Севера
Sanskrit	उत्तरीय रेन्जर्स
Sicilian	Rangers dû Nord
Sinhalese	උතුරු රේන්ජර්ස්
Sindhi	اتر رينجرز
Slovak	Strážcovia Severu
Slovenian	Potikavci Severa
Somali	Waqooyiga ilaaliyeyaasha
Spanish	Montaraces del Norte
Swedish	Nordlig Vårdnadshavare
Tamil	வடக்கு ரேஞ்சர்ஸ்
Tatar	Төньяк опекуннары
Telugu	ఉత్తర రేంజర్లు
Thai	เรนเจอร์ของภาคเหนือ
Turkish	Kuzeyin Kolcuları
Turkmen	Demirgazyk Reýnjers
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Слідопити Півночі
Urdu	شمالی رینجرز
Uzbek	Чимолий Йўлбўйи (Cyrillic) Shimoliy Yo'lbo'yi (Latin)
Vietnamese	Tuần du phương Bắc
Welsh	Ceidwaid ogleddol
Yiddish	ראַנגערס פון די צפֿון