According to the appendices of The Return of the King, Aragorn, named after his ancestor Aragorn I, was born on March 1 in 2931 of the Third Age, the son of Arathorn II and his wife Gilraen. Through his ancestor Elendil (whom he closely resembled) Aragorn was a descendant of Elros Tar-Minyatur, Master Elrond's Half-elven twin brother and the first king of Númenor. Aragorn is descended from both of Elendil's sons, from Isildur through Arvedui, last King of Arthedain, and from Anárion through Arvedui's wife Fíriel.

When Aragorn was only two years old, his father was killed while pursuing Orcs. Aragorn was afterwards fostered in Rivendell by Elrond. At the request of his mother, his lineage was kept secret, as she feared he would be killed like his father and grandfather if his true identity as the descendant of Elendil and Heir of Isildur became known. Aragorn was renamed Estel and was not told about his heritage until he came of age in 2951.

Elrond revealed to "Estel" (hope in Sindarin) his true name and ancestry when he came of age, and delivered to him the shards of Elendil's sword, Narsil, and the Ring of Barahir. He withheld the Sceptre of Annúminas from him until he "came of the right" to possess it. It was also around this time that Aragorn met and fell in love with Arwen, Elrond's daughter, who had newly returned from her mother's homeland of Lórien.

Aragorn thereafter assumed his proper role as the sixteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North, and went into the wild, where lived the remnants of his people, whose kingdom had been destroyed through civil and regional wars centuries before.

Aragorn met Gandalf the Grey in 2956, and they became close friends. At Gandalf's advice he and his followers began to guard a small land known as the Shire, inhabited by the diminutive and agrarian Hobbits, and he became known among the peoples just outside the Shire's borders as Strider.

From 2957 to 2980, Aragorn undertook great journeys, serving in the armies of King Thengel of Rohan (King Théoden's father), and Steward Ecthelion II of Gondor (father of Denethor). Many of his tasks helped to raise morale in the West and counter the growing threat of Sauron and his allies, and he acquired invaluable experience which he would later put to use in the War of the Ring. Aragorn served his lords in disguise and his name in Gondor and Rohan during that time was Thorongil (Eagle of the Star). With a small Gondorian squadron of ships, he led an assault on the long-standing rebel province of Umbar in 2980, burning many of the Corsairs' ships and personally slaying their lord during the battle on the Havens. After the victory at Umbar, "Thorongil" left the field and to the dismay of his men, went East.

Later in 2980, he visited Lórien, and there once again met Arwen. He gave her the heirloom of his House, the Ring of Barahir, and, on the hill of Cerin Amroth, Arwen pledged her hand to him in marriage, renouncing her Elvish lineage and accepting the Gift of Men: death.

Elrond withheld from Aragorn permission to marry his daughter until such time as his foster son should be king of both Gondor and Arnor. To Elrond's as well as Aragorn's knowledge, in order to marry a mortal his daughter would be required to choose mortality, and thus deprive the deathless Elrond of his daughter while the world lasted. Elrond was also concerned for Arwen's own happiness, fearing that in the end she might find death (her own and that of her beloved) too difficult to bear.

Before the events of The Lord of the Rings proper take place, Aragorn also travelled through the Dwarven mines of Moria, and to Harad, where (in his own words) "the stars are strange". Tolkien does not specify when these travels occurred.

In 3009, Gandalf grew suspicious of the ring belonging to the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, which later turned out to be the One Ring, the core of the Dark Lord Sauron's evil power. Aragorn went at his request into Rhovanion in search of Gollum, who had once possessed the Ring. He caught the creature in the Dead Marshes near Mordor, and brought him as a captive to Thranduil's halls in Mirkwood, where Gandalf questioned him.

In The Lord of the Rings Éowyn, a daughter of the House of Eorl and the niece of King Théoden, is introduced in Meduseld, the king's hall at Edoras. She was the daughter of Théodwyn (sister to Théoden) and Éomund, and the sister of Éomer. When she was only three years old, her father was killed fighting Orcs and her mother died of grief. Éowyn and Éomer were raised in her uncle's household as if they were his own children.

Tolkien writes she fell into depression since she longed to win renown in battle - more so because she was noble - but being female, her duties were reckoned to be at Edoras. When Théoden's mind was poisoned by his adviser Gríma Wormtongue, Éowyn was obliged to care for her uncle, and his deterioration pained her deeply. To make matters worse, she was stalked by Gríma.

However, when Gandalf (along with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) arrived, he healed Théoden from Wormtongue's corruption, and Éowyn became infatuated with Aragorn. It soon became clear that Aragorn could not return her love (though he did not mention his betrothal to Arwen), and would not allow her to join him in going to war. As Aragorn pointed out, her duty was with her people; she had to shoulder the responsibility of ruling Rohan in Théoden's stead of when the war-host of Rohan went to war. Aragorn also said her duties were no less valiant. Likening her situation to a "cage", Éowyn said she feared

"...[t]o stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire."

Frustrated by unrequited love for Aragorn and longing for death in battle, she disguised herself as a man and under the alias of Dernhelm, travelled with the Riders of Rohan to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields outside the White City of Minas Tirith in Gondor, carrying with her Merry, who had also been ordered to remain behind.

During the battle of the Pelennor Fields, she confronted the Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgûl, after Théoden was injured. The Witch-king boasted that "no living man can slay me," referring to the 1,000-year-old prophecy by the Elf-lord Glorfindel, foretelling that the Witch-king would not "fall by the hand of man". Éowyn then removed her helmet and declared:

"I am no man!."

The Witch-king was distracted by Merry, who stabbed him behind the knee, and Éowyn seized the opportunity to strike a killing blow, stabbing him "between crown and mantle".

Éowyn was severely injured in this fight (her shield-arm was broken) and believed dead until Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth realized she still lived. Because of the poisonous effect of the Black Breath of the Nazgûl and her hopeless love for Aragorn, she faced near-certain death and was brought up to the Houses of Healing together with Merry. However, she was treated in time by Aragorn. Éomer, while not blaming Aragorn, believed that unrequited love was at the root of her depression. Aragorn answered that she loved Éomer more truly than himself, as her feeling for Aragorn was largely fantasy about the idea of Aragorn as a great leader and warrior representing the heroic life she could not have; and Gandalf pointed out the deeper roots of her depression.

While recuperating in the Houses of Healing, she met Faramir, with whom she soon fell in love, understanding that her previous "love" for Aragorn was more of hero-worship. Her outlook on life also changes:

"Then the heart of Éowyn changed, or else she understood it... ...'I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.' "

After the demise of Sauron, the happily wedded couple settled in Ithilien, of which Faramir was made the ruling Prince by King Elessar (the name with which Aragorn ascended the throne of the Reunited Kingdom). Faramir and Éowyn had at least one son (likely Elboron), and their grandson was Barahir, who wrote The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen in the Fourth Age. Tolkien nowhere gives the cause and date of Éowyn's death.

 Characteristics

Éowyn is described to be very beautiful; she was tall, slim, pale, and graceful, with long golden hair. In temperament she was idealistic, spirited, brave, high-minded, and lonely.

Folk tradition

The Alphabet of Ben Sira is considered to be the oldest form of the story of Lilith as Adam's first wife. Whether this particular tradition is older is not known. Scholars tend to date Ben Sira between the 8th and 10th centuries CE. Its real author is anonymous, but it is falsely attributed to the sage Ben Sira. The amulets used against Lilith that were thought to derive from this tradition are in fact, dated as being much older.The concept of Eve having a predecessor is not exclusive to Ben Sira, and is not a new concept, as it can be found in Genesis Rabbah. However, the idea that Lilith was the predecessor is exclusive to Sira. According to Gershom Scholem, the author of the Zohar, R. Moses de Leon, was aware of the folk tradition of Lilith. He was also aware of another story, possibly older, that may be conflicting.

The idea that Adam had a wife prior to Eve may have developed from an interpretation of the Book of Genesis and its dual creation accounts; while Genesis 2:22 describes God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib, an earlier passage, 1:27, already indicates that a woman had been made: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." The text places Lilith's creation after God's words in Genesis 2:18 that "it is not good for man to be alone". He forms Lilith out of the clay from which he made Adam, but the two bicker. Lilith claims that since she and Adam were created in the same way, they were equal, and she refuses to submit to him:

After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone.' He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air.

Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof, to bring her back.

Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, what is made is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.’

'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.’

When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels' names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers.

 

Malaika, which means "angel" in Swahili, was a song first recorded by Kenyan musician Fadhili William and his band Jambo Boys in 1960. Authorship of the song is often attributed to Fadhili William, but that is somewhat disputed.

It was later re-recorded at Equator Sound Studios by the British-born Kenyan music promoter Charles Worrod, who marketed the ballad to eventually becoming an internationally acclaimed song. The song went on to be popularised by international artists such as Helmut Lotti, Hep Stars, Rocco Granata, Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, Boney M and Angélique Kidjo.

 

This elf appears dwarfish in height, though very handsome; he explains that at his christening, an offended fairy cursed him to the height (an example of the wicked fairy godmother folklore motif), but relented and as compensation gave him great beauty. As Alberich features as a dwarf in the Nibelungen, the dwarfish height was thus explained.