Galdor

Lineage

Galdor was born in F.A. 417, the year after his father Hador received the lordship of Dor-lómin from Fingolfin. He was the elder of Hador's two sons; his brother Gundor was younger and his sister Glóredhel married Haldir of Brethil. Galdor was called the Tall, and even among the tall people of Hador he stood out.

Marriage

Galdor married Hareth, the daughter of Halmir, lord of the House of Haleth, at the same time that his sister married Hareth's brother Haldir. This double marriage bound the houses of Hador and Haleth closely in the last years before the wars. Galdor and Hareth had two sons: Húrin, born in F.A. 441, and Huor, born in 444. Both were fostered for a time in Brethil with their mother's kin, and it was from Brethil that they were carried by the Eagles to Gondolin.

Lord of Dor-lómin

When Hador and Gundor died at Eithel Sirion in the Dagor Bragollach of F.A. 455, Galdor became lord of Dor-lómin. His lordship fell in the hardest years of the war. The Siege of Angband was broken, Fingolfin was dead, and Fingon as High King depended heavily on the Men of Hador to hold the eastern passes of the Ered Wethrin. Galdor held the fortress of Eithel Sirion, the sources of the Sirion, in Fingon's name.

Death

In F.A. 462 Morgoth sent a fresh assault against Hithlum. Galdor was defending the fortress at Eithel Sirion when an arrow struck him in the eye and killed him. Húrin, who had been fighting with his father and was then twenty-one years old, took command and drove the Orcs back into the sands of Anfauglith. So Galdor's elder son became lord of Dor-lómin in the same fortress where his father and grandfather had died.

Legacy

Galdor's chief legacy was his sons. Húrin became the greatest warrior of the Edain and the father of Túrin; Huor was the father of Tuor, and through Tuor of Eärendil. The tale of the Children of Húrin names Galdor as the standard by which Túrin's own height and strength were measured.

Slain by an arrow defending Eithel Sirion in F.A. 462; his son Húrin succeeded him.