Oxonmoot 2024

In March of 2004, Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King won the Academy Award for Best Picture, becoming the first fantasy film to do so.  While Viggo Mortenson did not take home an Oscar for either best actor or best supporting actor, his portrayal of Aragorn was nonetheless key to the success of the Lord of the Rings movie franchise. Mortenson’s performance was defined by new scenes, written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, that made him appear as a diffident candidate for kingship and a reluctant lover.  These scenes are worthy of study in their own right, but they also serve to highlight the radically different Aragorn found in Tolkien’s original book series. This presentation will deploy the movie Aragorn as a foil to the literary Aragorn, differentiating between the contrasting models of heroism and leadership upon which they are based.