: : Apologies for the misinformation on their archery skill. I was
: : repeating what someone (Martin, I think) said about their skill
: : in his post.

: Martin is posting some interesting speculations, but the Rohirrim even make a point of saying at one point they have few archers. Eomer's eored actually contains some skilled mounted archers who picked off many of the Orcs in a more-or-less Parthian fashion in "The Uruk-hai". And as Martin pointed out there were some archers in Theoden's escort, but for the most part they didn't rely on archers.

: The early Edainic peoples of Wilderland apparently had a much greater emphasis on mounted archers early in the Second Age, according to THE PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH. I believe Martin mentioned this as well.

: : : That's just a guess. But Tolkien did not emphasize the
: : : archery skills of Aragorn's Rangers. Aragorn himself never
: : : touched a bow from the time the Hobbits met him until they
: : : said good-bye at Isengard.

: : : The Numenoreans of the Second Age were pretty good with bows,
: : : and they had steel bows, but they were essentially a
: : : different people.

: : Can you think of any reason as to why the Dunadain did not
: : further their archery skill to a greater degree? As I suggested
: : in my previous post archery would have been a great advantage
: : when they went scouting etc. in small groups and it strikes me
: : as strange that Tolkien did not have develop this skill
: : further.

: I think Tolkien envisioned specialized troops for the larger cultures. Rohan fielded armies which consisted mostly of "generic Riders", but it did possess some companies of mounted archers and the local forces were able to contribute significant infantry companies to campaigns.

: One of the points of contention between us is whether the archers who marched to Minas Tirith were some sort of regular troops or merely a local lord's feudal soldiers. Classical armies (and I believe several Medieval armies, including post-Norman England's) used regional forces which specialized in specific types of weaponry. The Welsh bowmen and Swiss Pikes are two of the most renowned types of specialized regional soldiery. I think the Genoans also marketed companies of crossbowmen as mercenary forces highly prized by the French and Germans.

: The reservation I have about Aragorn's Rangers is that there were supposed to be so few of them. Could Halbarad really have assembled a specialized force in such haste? He says the 30 men he brought were "all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste". He implies he sent out a call for troops, took whomever showed up by a certain date, and left for Rohan. Or maybe he gathered them as he rode south from Rivendell.

: But though archery should certainly have served the Rangers well in certain circumstances, they could not possibly have survived by using archery as their primary method of warfare. I think the role-playing games have struck closer to the mark by making their Rangers almost special forces quality warriors (though they don't do as well as pure fighters, they are nonetheless usually good fighters to have along on campaigns).

The two points you make are reconcilable, the Dunedain Rangers were dedicated full-time warriors, plus they had a long lifespan. It would be odd if they did not, given their constant practice and an extended period at the peak of their faculties, perfect a good many martial techniques. Thus I would envision that all of the Rangers would have been capable of using a bow from horseback, so that any force Halbarad was able to assenble quickly would have been composed of soldiers equally adept at many fighting techniques.

Given that all the men in Halbarad's troop had bows it would be likely that along with Aragorn's horse they would also bring south Aragorn's customary war gear (or an additional set for his use)presumably including a bow.

Aragorn is not described as using a bow but then neither are the other Rangers though they possessed them.