June 23, 2003

Re: Aragorn's Age
Bob Praz

In response to Paradox, I don't think Tolkien ever mentions Aragorn's specific age anywhere in the actual book, although Aragorn does say, at one point "I am older than I look." But if you look in the Tale of Years, in the Appendices, you'll see that Aragorn was born on March 1st, 2931 (Third Age), which would make him 87 years old when Frodo first meets him.
And if you're wondering, the reason why he's so old and yet not crippled with age, is because he's of high numenorean blood, and the numenoreans had a much longer lifespan than normal men. Aragorn died at around 200 years old, which makes him the longest living man since the early kings of Gondor, I believe. But Aragorn also says he was gifted with long life even by the standards of his bloodline.