« Master » n'est qu'un mot commun dans le SdA, et c'est seulement par politesse qu’il est d'abord appliqué à Tom; de la même manière, c'est innocemment que « grim » caractérise Aragorn la première fois, mais la seconde fois, et la troisième, et la quatrième etc etc... ça commence à devenir suspect ;-)
Or cette caractéristique d'Aragorn disparaît dans les livres suivants : on retrouve “grim” pour décrire Sam, Frodo, Denethor, Faramir, etc...mais plus rien quant à Aragorn à partir des « Cavaliers de Rohan » (III.2)...
plus rien jusqu’en V.2 où, à nouveau, on retrouve le petit mot qui revient s’accumuler autour d’Aragorn seulement (et non pas ponctuellement comme dans les autres occurrences). Aragorn qui désormais se révèle le leader des Rôdeurs (qu’on n’avait jamais vu si ce n’est dans la vision des Hobbits!) et comme le Roi revenu qui manifeste sa volonté et sa... maîtrise à Sauron (I am the lawful master of the Stone). Et là encore, derrière l'aspect sévère et néanmoins « commun » d’Aragorn, les mots indiquent qu’il y a plus que ce que les yeux peuvent voir ( he saw me, but in other guise than you see me here) :
« ‘They are a strange company, these newcomers,’ said Gimli. ‘Stout men and lordly they are, and the Riders of Rohan look almost as boys beside them; for they are grim men of face, worn like weathered rocks for the most part, even as Aragorn himself; and they are silent.’ » V.2 [776/759]{832}« But Merry had eyes only for Aragorn, so startling was the change that he saw in him, as if in one night many years had fallen on his head. Grim was his face, grey-hued and weary. » V.2 [778/761]{834}
« (…) for some time Aragorn sat silent (…) “Come!” said Legolas at last. “Speak and be comforted, and shake off the shadow! What has happened since we came back to this grim place in the grey morning?”
“A struggle somewhat grimmer for my part than the battle of the Hornburg,” answered Aragorn. “I have looked in the Stone of Orthanc, my friends.”
“You have looked in that accursed stone of wizardry!” exclaimed Gimli (…)
“You forget to whom you speak,” said Aragorn sternly (…) “ (…) Nay, Gimli,’ he said in a softer voice, and the grimness left his face, (…) “Nay, my friends, I am the lawful master of the Stone, and I had both the right and the strength to use it, or so I judged. (…) I spoke no word to him, and in the end I wrenched the Stone to my own will. (…) And he beheld me. Yes, Master Gimli, he saw me, but in other guise than you see me here. (…) To know that I lived and walked the earth was {837} a blow to his heart (…) Sauron has not forgotten Isildur and the sword of Elendil. Now in the very hour of his great designs the heir of Isildur and the Sword are revealed; for I showed the blade re-forged to him.” » (V.2 {836-837})
Là encore, la manière dont Aragorn décrit la vision qu’il a donnée à Sauron (« savoir que je vis et que je cours la terre (and walked the earth) ») est un référence directe à la vision des Hobbits (« still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness ».
Cette sévérité du roi caché est bien une caractéristique des Rôdeurs qui se concentre en Aragorn, le dernier de la lignée d’Elendil ; je ne vois pas comment les thèmes de la vision des Hobbits ou du récit d’Aragorn de sa lutte avec Sauron se retrouveraient dans la description de la personne d’Aragorn dans « l’Histoire d’Aragorn et d’Arwen » :
« With [Gandalf] he made many perilous journeys, but as the years wore on he went more often alone. His ways were hard and long, and he became somewhat grim to look upon, unless he chanced to smile; and yet he seemed to Men worthy of honour, as a king that is in exile, when he did not hide his true shape. » [1060/1035]{1132} Ap. A