My favorite scene from Lord of the Rings, and the history behind it.

This is one of my favorite shots of the entire film series because of the immense history in it. In this scene, Aragorn is in effect claiming the palantír, his by right as heir to the kingdom of Gondor, to declare himself openly to Sauron.

The palantíri were "seeing stones" brought by king Elendil, following the destruction of Númenor. This is one of seven, ranging from about bowling ball sized, to the biggest, originally kept in the capitol city of Osgiliath. They were gifted to the men of Numenor by the Elves of Tol Eresëa, and were used to communicate across vast distances. But they were created by Fëanor, the greatest craftsman who ever lived. The palantíri were nearly indestructible, and of what substance they were made, and with what skill is a mystery. Fëanor would go on to construct the Silmarils, the three holy jewels that contained the light of the Two Trees of Valinor before they were destroyed. This makes the palantíri at least 7,100 years old. For reference, the sphinx of Giza is thought to be about 4,500 years old.

On Aragorn's finger is the Ring of Barahir. The ring originally belonged to Finrod Felegund, brother of Galadriel. The ring was given to Barahir, a man who defended him against an onslaught of orcs and saved his life in the Dagor Bragollach, or Battle of Sudden Flame in the first age. It was given as a token of friendship between men and elves for all eternity. Barahir barely escaped the battle alive and wandered with his son, Beren and a few of his surviving men as outlaws. Sauron tricked one of his men and tortured him for Barahir's whereabouts, then killed him cruelly. Barahir and his men were killed, but Beren was out on a scouting mission. He came across the orcs who had killed them, mockingly playing with Barahir's severed hand, still wearing the ring. Beren charged the reveling orcs, running through their camp and snatched his father's dismembered hand and ran off into the darkness. He lived in the wild, and managed to cross the Ered Gorgoroth, the Mountains of Terror, haunted by monsters and possibly the birthplace of Shelob. He came after a time to Neldoreth, where he first saw Lúthien dancing in the woods.

This brings us to the third artefact in the image, which is harder to see. The veins in the back of Aragorn's hand contain the blood of Men, Elves and Ainur. As stated before, Beren found Lúthien in the woods of Neldoreth, and the two fell in love. But Lúthien was the child of Thingol, the Elf king of Doriath, and Melian of the Maiar. The Maiar were immortal beings that existed before, and physically created the world. They were not gods, but angelic spirits that came from the mind of the one God, Eru Iluvatar. Melian was of the lesser order of these spirits, collectively called Ainu, and wedded Thingol when the Elves were first emerging into the wider world. Beren and Lúthien had a son named Dior, who fathered a daughter named Elwing, who wedded Eärendil, a Man. They had twin sons, Elros and Elrond. The twins, having being half Elf and half man were granted a choice of which kindred they would live as. Elrond chose to remain an Elf, but Elros chose men. He would go on to be the first king of Númenor. Thus the blood in Aragorn's veins is that of Man, Elf and Ainur.