Chapter artwork for The Lord of the Rings book 5 chapter 8: the Houses of Healing.
This design is inspired by the “old lore” Ioreth recalls for us: “The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so shall the rightful king be known.” The crown is more subtle than the hands and athelas, looking forward to the official crowning of Aragorn. The crown design takes a few elements from Tolkien's description: wings like a bird, seven stones of adamant in the circlet, and a jewel on top.
The crown in the design is inspired by the description from the chapter The Steward and the King from book six of The Lord of the Rings: an ancient crown, “shaped like the helms of the Guards of the Citadel, save that it was loftier, and it was all white, and the wings at either side were wrought of pearl and silver in the likeness of the wings of a sea-bird, for it was the emblem of kings who came over the Sea; and seven gems of adamant were set in the circlet; and upon its summit was set a single jewel the light of which went up like a flame.” Tolkien himself sketched this crown (illustration below), however I deviated from his sketch to create something more reminiscent of a classic crown shape, combined with the elements described in the text.
“But Imrahil said: ‘So victory is shorn of gladness, and it is bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day bereft of their lords. Éomer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall rule the City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord Aragorn?
And the cloaked man spoke and said: ‘He is come.’ And they saw as he stepped into the light of the lantern by the door that it was Aragorn, wrapped in the grey cloak of Lórien above his mail, and bearing no other token than the green stone of Galadriel. ‘I have come because Gandalf begs me to do so,’ he said. ‘But for the present I am but the Captain of the Dúnedain of Arnor; and the Lord of Dol Amroth shall rule the City until Faramir awakes. But it is my counsel that Gandalf should rule us all in the days that follow and in our dealings with the Enemy.’ And they agreed upon that.
Then Gandalf said: ‘Let us not stay at the door, for the time is urgent. Let us enter! For it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House. Thus spake Ioreth, wise-woman of Gondor: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.’”
—Excerpt from The Lord of the Rings book 5 chapter 8