Hobby, I wanted to respond to this, but I didn't want to osgiliate Queen B's thread into a discussion about Aragorn and the Kings of Gondor.Hobby, in another thread, wrote:Aragorn, too, proves his Kingship by becoming a healer!
According to the rhyme of the people in Minas Tirith, Athelas takes on its miraculous healing power only when applied by a king, and when Aragorn heals Faramir, he reveals himself as king.
Before, we hear from the 'herb-master': "I see you are a lore-master, not merely a captain of war."
The man surely has his priorities right! No one is a king just for being good at fighting here!
It is in healing/creating/growing that evil is overcome, not merely in destroying evil.
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I have always loved that line of the herb-master that you quote, and I really like the way you put it. That man not only has his priorities right, he is obviously expressing Tolkien's priorities here.
But the thought that occurred to me that I hadn't thought of before was the contrast between Elessar and the previous king of Gondor, Eärnur. Eärnur was a man like Boromir; his only pleasure was in fighting or fighting sports. He no interest in lore or arts and he never married or had any children I think that it is very symbolic that the Kingship was ended with someone who was the very antithesis of a healer, one who's interest was "merely in destroying evil" not in "healing/creating/growing".
Whether Tolkien meant it that way or not.
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