The Chieftains of the Dúnedain
the heirs of Arnor who led the Rangers of the North
Definition
The Chieftains of the Dúnedain were the hereditary lords of the remnant of the Dúnedain of the North after the ending of the kingdom of Arnor — the heirs of the line of Isildur, who laid aside the style of king and led the hidden people and the Rangers of the North. The first Chieftain was Aranarth, the son of Arvedui, the last King of Arnor, whose own heirs held the claim of the North-kingdom in any or until the return of the king.
The Line of the Chieftains
The succession is recorded in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings: after Aranarth came Arahael, Aranuir, Aravir, Aragorn I, Araglas, Arahad I, Aragost, Aravorn, Arahad II, Arassuil, Arathorn I, Argonui, Arador and Arathorn II — and at the last Aragorn, who after the War of the Ring became King Elessar, ending the Chieftainship in the restored kingship.
The Hidden Lordship
- The Chieftains claimed no title of king while Arnor lay fallen; they were lords of a hidden people, wandering with the Rangers, and their sons were fostered at Rivendell in the household of Elrond, where the heirlooms of the line — among them the shards of the sword Narsil — were kept.
- Many of the Chieftains died young in the unceasing wars against the servants of the Enemy; Arathorn II, the father of Aragorn, was slain by an orc-arrow when his son was a child, and the boy was afterwards fostered at Rivendell under the name Estel until he came of age and took up the Chieftainship.
Significance
The Chieftains keep the kingship of Arnor and Gondor alive in a hidden form through the long age of the Rangers: the undying claim of Isildur’s house, at last fulfilled when Aragorn took up the crown of the Reunited Kingdom — the return of the King long looked for by the Dúnedain.