Dúnedain
Those who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion, settled in Arnor and Gondor.
The Rangers were two secretive, independent groups of Dúnedain of the North (Arnor) and South (Ithilien, in Gondor) in the Third Age.
Like their Númenórean ancestors, they had qualities like those of the Elves, with keen senses and the ability to understand the language of birds and beasts.
The Dúnedain were descended from the Edain, the Elf-friends: the few tribes of Men of the First Age who sided with the Noldorin Elves in Beleriand.
Some returned to Middle-earth, creating fortress-cities along its western coasts, dominating the lesser men of these areas.
In time the Númenóreans split into two rival factions: the Faithful, remaining loyal to the Valar and Elves, and the King's Men, who were eventually seduced by the Dark Lord, Sauron.
[T 1] There is a suggestion, voiced by Faramir, son of the Steward of Gondor, that these descendants of Númenóreans are higher than other Men; but his speech on the matter has been described as "arrogant" and as such not necessarily to be taken literally.
[3] Sauron's spirit also escaped, and fled back to Middle-earth, where he again raised mighty armies to challenge Gondor and Arnor.
The chief of the Nine Ringwraiths, the Witch-king of Angmar, assaulted and destroyed the divided Northern Dúnedain kingdoms from his mountain stronghold of Carn Dûm.
The surviving Dúnedain of Arnor retreated to the Angle south of Rivendell, while smaller populations settled in far western Eriador.
In the Fourth Age, the Dúnedain of Gondor and Arnor were reunited under King Aragorn II Elessar (the Dúnadan), a direct descendant of Elros and Elendil.
Aranarth's successors were raised in Rivendell by Elrond while their fathers lived in the wild; each was given a name with the Kingly prefix of Ar(a)-, to signify his right to the Kingship of Arnor.
They were formed late in the Third Age by a decree of the Ruling Steward of Gondor, for Ithilien was subject to attack from Mordor and Minas Morgul.
[5] This protection of the weak from evil by Aragorn and his rangers has been identified as an inherently Christian motif in Tolkien's design of his legendarium.
[6] The Rangers have been compared to the 'Spoonbills' in John Buchan's 1923 novel Midwinter, while the Ranger-like 'Lakewalkers' in the 2006–2019 The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold have been seen as part of a deliberate commentary on Middle-earth.
[7][8] Thomas Kullmann and Dirk Siepmann comment that Aragorn's pathfinding lifestyle and style of speech resembles that of the ranger Natty Bumppo in James Fenimore Cooper's 1823–1841 Leatherstocking Tales, suggesting that Aragorn's "If I read the sign back yonder rightly" could easily have been spoken by Bumppo.
[4] With the exception of Aragorn, the Rangers of the North are virtually omitted in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, save for a few mentions in the extended cuts.
Arnor is mentioned only in one line in the extended edition of The Two Towers, when Aragorn explains to Éowyn that he is a "Dúnedain Ranger", of whom few remain because "the North-kingdom was destroyed".
