I would play a ranger with light armor, 2-handed, archery, sneak, block and either smiting or alchemy.

I love playing no magic-- my Khajit Smuggler doesn't cast or learn a single spell, the only exception being special staves such as Wabbajack or Sanguine's Rose.

1. I would always recommend smithing, especially if you're playing on Master you'll want the extra damage. You should do what I do: Don't buy any crafting materials-- only use what you've acquired through hunting, mining, and gathering.
2. They're still viable, but not nearly as good. As a Ranger, why wouldn't you be sneaking? Rangers are hunters, and to hunt you need to sneak.
3. Imperial imo, Nords always struck my as the warrior/barbarian type-- not a hunter. I would recommend Wood Elf above either, but that's just me.
4. I think a one-handed sword is perfectly viable, especially if you soften up your target with arrows/poison before they even get to you.

Just my 2 cents, have fun

1. No smithing. A typical ranger wouldn't be in all Daedric. Elven is the highest grade armor I can see being used by a ranger, but clothes or leather would work better. Go light.

2. Bows are most useful in sneak, if you don't want to use sneak, you're going to have to be tatical (getting up high, putting obstacles between you and your target).

3.In Oblivion there were many Imperial rangers (although they were members of the Imperial Legion), but I don't it really matters lore-wise.

4.Use a two-handed sword (greatsword). It looks cooler in my opinon than just a single sword.

When I think "Ranger", I think of the following attributes -

1. Archery - A Ranger would definitely have a bow for hunting and be damn good at using it.
2. Stealth - Again, for hunting purposes, he would be very stealthy to sneak up on deer.
3. Alchemy - The Ranger, being in touch with nature, would know how to create healing potions at the very least. Probably poisons too. For RP purposes, I would probably restrict this to plants, fungi, and items that can be gleaned from animal/creature kills for ingredients.
4. Swordsmanship - Whether you went 1H or 2H is up to you, but a Ranger is going to know how to defend himself against wild animals/creatures that suddenly rush him in the wilderness.
5. Light Armor - If he wears armor at all, it will be light.

Aragorn aside, this is MY idea of a Ranger and how I would play it. The best race gamewise would be Bosmer. Redguard and Khajiit are also good gamewise because of the +5 Archery Skill Bonus. But race is not that important for the build. You can be any race you wish.

The reference to ranger seems more of a role than a class in the movie. A ranger in a sense is a forest ranger. Not unlike a huntsman but one of authority.

Skyrim example: A huntsman would live out in the wilderness and hunt for food and furs, trading in nearby town(s) for other necessities. A ranger would live out in the wilderness, hunt for food and furs but not by trade, and clear the area of bandits, thieves, trolls, etc. collecting on bounties whenever possible.

If you are looking for a classic ranger style. Bow and duel wield sword in light armor as the foundation. Try and find the dog as a companion if you want one. If there is a mod that allows the use of bear traps, that might be a good one. With stealth, go up as far as deadly aim on the right side and up as far as muffled movement. Your bow is your primary and the swords are just backup. You shouldn't be trying to sneak up to slit throats so I wouldn't bother with assassin's blade. As far as the left side goes, light foot and beyond is pointless. Light foot, just keep a watchful eye out on the ground as you move. Beyond that and its more about trying to sneak up to melee range.

If you go with smithing, go with heavy for the weapons. The key here for a good defense is a strong offense. Well, once your primary defense of stealth is seen through. you'll find decent enough light armor from quests and loot and what upgrading you can do through the BS skill alone is good enough. You'll want to be able to upgrade that ebony or daedric bow and swords though to top tier.

As far as my sneaking goes, I only do it in dungeons.

Nord
Nordic gauntlets and boots
Stormcloak Armor
Ebony Bow

Skyforged Steel Sword/DawnBreaker sword

This is essentially my Ranger.

I've started using DawnBreaker because it glows brightly near undead (reference to LOTR)

Personally I wouldn't use anything past steel and fur/leather because they don't fit the look of a ranger. IMO steel looks cooler than Deadric anyway. The Deadric sword looks like it's aimed at 12 year olds.

You might want to do the thieves guild just for the nightengale gear. Stick to scaled, or leather armor but get some smithing going just to improve light armor. One handed with no shield, just parry, and don't go nuts on the bow perks. A little bit of restoration and illusion, maybe up to adept level to turn undead, and buff companions, frenzy at low level. Imperial or nord are both good choices. Stay away from civil war, stick to guilds just long enough to get access to vendors. Stay away from evil daedric missions, use stealth companions, focus on thane quests, dragon clearing and main quest. Expect dlc to continue later.

I patterned my ranger after Strider, the ranger that everyone thought Aragorn to be. So archery of course, sneak and one-handed. No spells, and I gave him smithing and alchemy, though he only smiths what he finds himself. Same for alchemy. I do admit to allowing him to learn enchanting from Farengar, however. It's great fun to play. Archery in particular rocks, even if you don't sneak (but you really should consider it. It's really a rush when you one-shot an enemy).

I thought Aragon used a sword?
No mention of him using a bow anywhere in the books.

Aragorn only ever used 2 swords - his ranger sword and Narsil. Both are able to be used with either 1 or 2 hands. From a Skyrim perspective, they would likely be 1-hand swords since the elder scroll 2-handers are too heavy and long compared to aragorns sword.

The best weapon I can think of is a SkyForge Steel sword for a ranger character

Well aragorn did 'sneak' in the movies... They ambushed plenty of orcs in Lotr. If i was to play a similar character id use one handed, light armor and archery as my most focused skills. Block, alchemy and smithing as less focused skills. The point is he can survive off the land and craft his own stuff like id envision a 'ranger' doing.

Legolas was almost a pure archer. Yes, he did use melee weapons, but primarily a elven archer. Aragorn knew the terrain, how to track, where to find food, herbs of the land, wore primarily light armor... What else need a ranger be?

In the films Aragorn's sword is two-handed (Although pretty sure he uses it with one some of the time or swaps to a single hander). If you're going with the book it's more likely to be one-handed.

Like previously said, he throughout the film he uses a blade which is light enough for one hand but has enough room for two hands. When compared to actual 2-handed swords, it would be classed as a Bastard Sword and in Skyrim a 1-handed sword. Skyrim 2-handers need to be put on the back while Aragorns is small enough to be at his side.

I only know this because I love the films