Knights of the Woods

Rangers in History, Mythology, and Fantasy

by Mercurie

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Although I have had friends who have played MMORPGs for years, it has only been recently that I have started playing MMOs. I don't have a lot of experience with the various classes. In fact, being a relative newbie, I have only played fighter types so far. But once I feel I am up to it, I believe that my chosen class will be the ranger.

Indeed, as far as fantasy oriented pen and paper role playing games go (D&D, Rolemaster), ranger is probably the class I have played the most. I suspect that much of this has to do with the fact that I grew up on a farm which had 20 acres worth of woodland. Growing up I had plenty of opportunity to go hiking, hunting, and camping in the woods. I rather suspect that I am one of those rare people who actually feels safer in the woods than I do on city streets. When I started playing pen and paper RPGs, I was naturally attracted to the ranger class.

Of course, while the ranger class is one of the most popular classes in both pen and paper RPGs and in MMOs, beyond Lord of the Rings and fantasy novels which followed it, there really isn't quite anything like a ranger to be found in folklore, mythology, or pop culture. Greek mythology features several individuals who are described as hunters. Among the ancient Greeks the goddess Artemis governed hunting, wild animals, and the wilderness. She was most often portrayed with bow and arrows. Another personage from Greek mythology associated with hunting was Orion, the son of Poseidon and the mortal Eurayle. While both Artemis and Orion were thought to be great hunters, I do not think either of them quite fit the idea of the ranger as portrayed in most RPGs (either pen and paper or MMO).

In English folklore there is a figure who comes much closer to the modern concept of the ranger. Indeed, except for possibly Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood could be the most famous character to emerge from England. Most of us are familiar with the various legends revolving around him. Robin Hood was an outlaw (sometimes a fallen noble, sometimes a peasant) who was forced to take to Sherwood Forrest as a hideout from the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John. There he gathered around him a band of Merry Men, with whom he robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Robin Hood was supposedly the greatest archer of his time and there can be little doubt that he had other skills that would be of benefit living in the woodland as well. That said, Robin Hood possessed none of the spells or other uncanny abilities often seen in rangers in MMOs.

Another figure found in English folklore that is close to the ranger class of RPGs is Herne the Hunter. The legends of Herne vary, but one of the more popular was that he was a Hunt Keeper in Windsor Forrest who was murdered and became a ghost. Since that time he was said to haunt Windsor Forrest, in particular a large tree called Herne's Oak. Like Robin Hood, however, Herne had none of the spells that rangers in RPGs possess and no special abilities until after he'd become a ghost.

Of course, the United States has had its fair share of frontier heroes. Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett are two examples from history. One from fiction is the hero of The Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper. Cooper detailed the adventures of the character variously known as Leatherstocking, Hawkeye, and Pathfinder, but whose given name was Natty Bumpo, in a series of five books. In many ways Bumpo was nearly a superhero, with abilities far beyond those of most European settlers of his era. Bumpo was an incredible marksman. He could track as well as a bloodhound. He had every skill one could possibly need to survive in the forest. But while Bumpo was nearly superhuman in Cooper's books, he possessed no spells or other abilities that a human being could not attain without extensive training.

Nearly all of these characters resemble rangers as we know them in RPGs to a large degree, but it seems to me that it would not be until the publication of The Lord of the Rings that a character fully resembling the ranger class would emerge. Indeed, I think this is for the simple reason that D&D and every other fantasy RPG to come down the pike has looked to Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings for inspiration. Aragorn, also known as Strider (among the Hobbits) and Elessar (among the Elves), was one of the Rangers of the North. The Rangers of the North roamed the wilderness to guard against such threats as orcs. While the Rangers of the North guarded the North, the Rangers of Ithilien guarded the south (namely, Ithilien, an area of the land of Gondor with the misfortune of bordering the evil land of Mordor). It seems to me that in Lord of the Rings, the Rangers have abilities that are remarkable even when compared to the legendary Robin Hood. Their knowledge of woodlands and stealth is enough that they can actually "hide in plain sight." If the name given the class in D&D, "Ranger," were not enough to show Tolkien's influence the fact that the abilities of Rangers in most RPGs closely match those of the Rangers of Lord of the Rings should be enough to dispel any doubts.

Indeed, I rather think the appeal of the ranger class is also the reason the character of Aragorn has appealed to so many. Rangers are individuals who live in the wilds to defend society against what might possibly exist in the wilds. They possess a remarkable array of skills--stealth, camouflage, and tracking--and are both skilled swordsmen and archers. They are well experienced in fighting monsters; after all, it was the Rangers in Lord of the Rings who protected against invasions from the orcs. In many ways, Rangers can be described as Knights of the Woods. If a player wants to play a character who lives on the fringes of society, but it is still very much in the heroic mould, then I can easily see how the ranger would be his or her choice.

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