I'm sure we can all picture the Battle Ready Dunedain in our minds:
Dour, stoic, hard-faced men, grim of mien, maybe in hand-me-down armour and notched swords, patched cloaks, not-to-be-messed with stares. Men bound to Aragorn by oaths of loyalty, mutual history, and kinship.
But what about the Battle Unready Dunedain ?
Have we got them in our unit roster?
All military units, even elite ones, have shirkers, malingerers, and lazy sods.
The Behind the bike sheds having a fag Dunedain:
"What? I didn't hear no alarm. Look, I'm on my break."
The Unready Dunedain:
"I'm sure my sword's here somewhere...you just carry on ahead and I'll catch you up."
The First Excuse Dunedain:
"Thousands of orcs, you say? I'd be right there but I have a dental appointment. Don't worry, we can have a catch up later and you can tell me all about the battle."
The Second Excuse Dunedain:
"Here's a letter from my Mum. I'm excused combat till my armour comes back from the cleaners."
The Unreforged Dunedain
"Arnor? What's that, a change of employer? My contract doesn't cover it. Will this New Kingdom of yours pay me, with time-and-a-half for fighting on Sundays? No sorry, I'm not going to kill any orcs, goblins, or evil men, till my Trade Union rep informs me otherwise, guv."
Tolkien somehow managed to overlook some of these less-than-doughty warriors.