to stand for the people they led before the gods, and as a consequence, the life of a king, male or female, was sacred and set apart. When the gods demanded a sacrifice of especial importance, the king was the one who made the sacrifice, even if it meant his or her dying. The consciousness of that burden/privilege could indeed appear as arrogance to the modern mentality, which is taken up with the thought of equality among humankind. Tolkien's work was done in the old heroic mode, and I'm not sure that the damping down of Aragorn's character by PJ was accurate, however much it may be more acceptable to modern tastes...