Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

For discussion of Dunedain culture, what it might have looked like and how it worked.

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Elleth
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Elleth »

Oh, I'd missed that one Mirimarn! How cool!

And iiiiinteresting quote he references:
‘Not a beggar,’ said Aragorn. ‘Say a captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone.’ And he commanded that his banner should be furled; and he did off the Star of the North Kingdom and gave it to the keeping of the sons of Elrond.
- ROTK Bk V Chapter 8 The Houses of Healing
.... I'm thinking I'm going to read that as a bit poetic - meaning rather that the Dunedain of the North no longer maintain grand dwellings and fortresses, not that they've lost the art of throwing up a fieldstone cottage.

The question of numbers is such a tantalizing just-out-of-reach topic though! Mr. Martinez' suppositions seem supportable, but I do hope something more definitive crops up at some point from all those papers. :)
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Mirimaran »

Elleth wrote:Oh, I'd missed that one Mirimarn! How cool!

And iiiiinteresting quote he references:
‘Not a beggar,’ said Aragorn. ‘Say a captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone.’ And he commanded that his banner should be furled; and he did off the Star of the North Kingdom and gave it to the keeping of the sons of Elrond.
- ROTK Bk V Chapter 8 The Houses of Healing
.... I'm thinking I'm going to read that as a bit poetic - meaning rather that the Dunedain of the North no longer maintain grand dwellings and fortresses, not that they've lost the art of throwing up a fieldstone cottage.

The question of numbers is such a tantalizing just-out-of-reach topic though! Mr. Martinez' suppositions seem supportable, but I do hope something more definitive crops up at some point from all those papers. :)
Yep, I love his essays, and I missed that bit of quote as well, but it is telling. To me, I would think they'd keeping moving from time to time, if only to keep the Enemy guessing on their numbers.

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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Harper »

I think that Aragorn was just being diplomatic in that quote.

After all, he was fostered in Imladris and served Gondor in the Stewardship of Ecthelion II.
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Greg »

Harper wrote:I think that Aragorn was just being diplomatic in that quote.
He absolutely was, but that doesn't discount the cultural cue given there regarding what a "normal" Ranger would be used to. The statement was meant to be believable...even if it wasn't necessarily true about himself.
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Harper »

Greg wrote:
Harper wrote:I think that Aragorn was just being diplomatic in that quote.
He absolutely was, but that doesn't discount the cultural cue given there regarding what a "normal" Ranger would be used to. The statement was meant to be believable...even if it wasn't necessarily true about himself.
Certainly, that is a reasonable interpretation.

I read it more as Aragorn playing off of a "stereotype" of Rangers as opposed to a revealing a "cultural clue." I would point to Butterbur's comments in the FOTR as an example of that Ranger stereotype--and we know that he was way off.

Great stuff in this thread!
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Kortoso »

Elleth wrote:So... we know the rangers spend long periods in the wilds of Eriador - but as we've discussed before, they must have "home bases" they return to occasionally.

Physically, what do we think those places might be like? Shared halls akin to those of Beorn or Theoden? Small stone houses like those of Bree? Certainly not hobbit holes or dwarf mines! Would their home have a center hearth like those of the early medieval period? Or a fireplace built into a wall with mantlepiece, much as Bilbo enjoyed?

As nicely done as the Born of Hope fan film was, the Anglo Saxon village never felt quite right. It was mostly nicely lived in, but felt too plain and generic-iron age.

Personally I'm inclined to envision a variety of homes of the Dunedain, based on what's available in their region - sometimes mostly-restored stone ruins of elder days, sometimes small collections of post&beam, thatched wattle-and-daub cottages on the medieval English model, sometimes rude shacks not unlike an American frontier (or Nordic!) log cabin. Generally I think fireplace hearths rather than open firepits, but I'm less certain on that.

What are your thoughts?
I hear you asking about hearths versus fireplaces. It's a worthy consideration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_hous ... fireplaces
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http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/skarabrae/hearth.htm
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Greg »

Harper wrote:I read it more as Aragorn playing off of a "stereotype" of Rangers as opposed to a revealing a "cultural clue." I would point to Butterbur's comments in the FOTR as an example of that Ranger stereotype--and we know that he was way off.
True, Butterbur was wrong, but I think the "stereotype", if we can call it that, was based a bit too much on truth to leave it as a "stereotype". Remember:

[quote=""Aragorn, FotR, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"]‘It would take more than a few days, or weeks, or years, of wandering in the Wild to make you look like Strider,’ he answered. ‘And you would die first, unless you are made of sterner stuff than you look to be.’[/quote]
At the end of the day, it's one of those things we'll never 100% know, but that's where I'd plead my case.

Awesome thread! I'm gonna remember this one...
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Harper »

Speaking of fireplaces, hearths, etc. it occurs to me that I haven't seen any mention of the PBS series A Taste of History with Chef Walter Straib here on the site.

For those who haven't seen the show, it is all about Colonial cooking: techniques, history and recipes.

In my opinion, it translates pretty good to ME, too. He uses Dutch ovens, Spiders, fireplaces and beehive ovens.

I could easily see him working at The Pony.

It is worth a look.
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Udwin »

Seconded^. Worth checking out, as it's not just focused on American cuisine but he often travels to foreign locations to try out their period recipes. 18th century foodporn.
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Straelbora »

Harper wrote:Speaking of fireplaces, hearths, etc. it occurs to me that I haven't seen any mention of the PBS series A Taste of History with Chef Walter Straib here on the site.

For those who haven't seen the show, it is all about Colonial cooking: techniques, history and recipes.

In my opinion, it translates pretty good to ME, too. He uses Dutch ovens, Spiders, fireplaces and beehive ovens.

I could easily see him working at The Pony.

It is worth a look.
Have you seen the series by Jason Townsend & Company on Youtube? They are an Indiana-based company that provide all sorts of clothing, utensils, etc. for 18th century reenactors, and do a very nice series about Colonial cooking.
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Greg »

Udwin and I regularly use their dumpling "recipe" (really more of a tutorial) in our trekking diets. Fantastic in virtually ANY soup or stew.
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Udwin »

Greg wrote:Udwin and I regularly use their dumpling "recipe" (really more of a tutorial) in our trekking diets. Fantastic in virtually ANY soup or stew.
Or just by themselves, dipped in honey or crushed cone sugar for breakfast! Mmmm!
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by Greg »

Udwin wrote:
Greg wrote:Udwin and I regularly use their dumpling "recipe" (really more of a tutorial) in our trekking diets. Fantastic in virtually ANY soup or stew.
Or just by themselves, dipped in honey or crushed cone sugar for breakfast! Mmmm!
Tried them with raw lump maple sugar yet? *swoon* The extra lumps and touch of pizzazz there make for an awesome addition to hot oats in the morning.
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by jbook »

53bb2c59c6e2f2f9e92c6c9a0ced1d32.jpg
53bb2c59c6e2f2f9e92c6c9a0ced1d32.jpg (62.75 KiB) Viewed 19936 times
ei702.jpg
ei702.jpg (45.97 KiB) Viewed 19936 times

What about something like a Celtic round-house?
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Re: Cot, hall, and hearth ... what does a Ranger come home to?

Post by jbook »

Celtic_settlement-Open-Air_Archaeological_Museum_Liptovska_Mara_-_Havranok,Slovakia_opt.jpg
Celtic_settlement-Open-Air_Archaeological_Museum_Liptovska_Mara_-_Havranok,Slovakia_opt.jpg (112.33 KiB) Viewed 19927 times
This reminds me of what Greg posted earlier in the thread.
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