Men
Also calledAtani, Hildor, the Followers, the Secondborn, Apanónar, Engwar, Fírimar, the Usurpers, the Aftercomers
Men are the Younger Children of Ilúvatar, the second speaking people to awaken in Arda. Mortal, short-lived and restless, they were given the Gift of Ilúvatar, the freedom to leave the world at death, and by the end of the Third Age all of Middle-earth had passed into their keeping.
Description
The Secondborn
Men are the second of the two kindreds that Eru Ilúvatar brought into being by his own will rather than through the Valar. Where the Elves woke under the stars at Cuiviénen, Men woke in the land of Hildórien in the far east of Middle-earth at the moment the Sun first rose, at the beginning of the First Age. For this reason the Elves called them the Followers or the Aftercomers, and associated them always with the Sun, the daylight and the passing of time.
The Elves gave them many names. Atani and Hildor were the kindly ones; Engwar (the sickly), Fírimar (the mortals) and Apanónar (the after-born) marked what set them apart. Among themselves the peoples of Men had countless names for their own tribes and nations, and it is through the eyes of the Elves and of the Edain, the Elf-friends, that most of their early history has come down.
The Gift of Men
What divides Men most sharply from Elves is death. Elves are bound to Arda for as long as it lasts; if their bodies are slain their spirits go to the Halls of Mandos and may in time return, and even those who live untouched grow weary under the weight of the years. Men are given something else. Their span within the world is brief, and when it ends their spirits leave the circles of the world entirely, going to a destination that not even the Valar know. This is the Gift of Ilúvatar, and with it comes a second gift: the freedom to shape their own lives beyond the Music of the Ainur, so that the fate of Men is not wholly fixed by the pattern laid down before the world was made.
To the Elves this seemed a strange and even enviable thing, for they foresaw that they themselves would fade while Men grew. To Men it came to seem a punishment. The shadow of Melkor lay upon them from their earliest days, and he taught them to fear death and to see darkness where there had been trust. Much of the history of Men, from the first tribes wandering westward to the Downfall of Númenor, is the story of that fear and what it drove them to.
The shadow on early Men
The published tales say little of what happened in Hildórien, but they are clear that Melkor came among Men soon after their waking, that many of them fell under his sway and worshipped him, and that those who later came into the west were the descendants of a minority who repented and fled from him. The Edain never spoke willingly to the Elves about that time, and what darkness lay behind them is only hinted at. The Dwarves and the Dark Elves in the east were the first friends the wandering tribes found, and from the Avari they learned something of speech and craft.
The Three Houses of the Edain
Around the year 310 of the First Age the first companies of Men crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand, where Finrod Felagund found them camped in Ossiriand. These were the Edain, and they came in three main peoples: the House of Bëor, the House of Haleth and the House of Hador. They took service with the Elven-kings, received lands in Dorthonion, Brethil and Dor-lómin, and fought in every great battle against Angband.
From these three houses came the heroes whose deeds shaped the ending of the Elder Days: Beren who took a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth, Húrin who held the rearguard at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Túrin who slew Glaurung, and Tuor who brought the warning of Ulmo to Gondolin. Through the marriages of Beren with Lúthien and Tuor with Idril, the blood of Men, Elves and even the Maiar was joined in Eärendil and his sons.
Númenor and its fall
When Morgoth was overthrown at the end of the First Age, the Valar rewarded the Edain with an island raised from the sea between Middle-earth and Aman. Númenor became the greatest realm Men have ever made. Under Elros and his heirs the Númenóreans grew long-lived, wise and mighty, and their ships reached every coast of Middle-earth. But the Ban of the Valar forbade them to sail west toward the Undying Lands, and as the centuries passed the fear of death returned. The kings turned against the Elves and the Valar, Sauron was brought to the island as a captive and became its true master, and in the year 3319 of the Second Age Ar-Pharazôn sailed against Aman itself. The world was changed, Númenor sank beneath the sea, and only the Faithful under Elendil escaped to found the realms in exile of Arnor and Gondor.
The Dúnedain and the many peoples of the Third Age
The Third Age belonged to Men more than to any other people. The Dúnedain, the Men of the West descended from Númenor, held the north and south kingdoms; the northern realm failed and its line survived only as the Rangers and their chieftains, while Gondor endured under kings and then stewards. Beside them lived many peoples who had never gone to Númenor: the Northmen of Rhovanion, from whom came the Rohirrim, the Men of Dale and the Beornings; the Dunlendings of the western hills; the Drúedain of the woods; the Men of Bree; the Lossoth of the frozen north; and the Easterlings and Haradrim who so often served the Enemy. The War of the Ring brought them all into one conflict, and its outcome was decided in large part by the courage of Men at Helm's Deep, on the Pelennor Fields and before the Black Gate.
Language and culture
The Edain brought their own tongues into Beleriand, but the Bëorians and Hadorians soon adopted Sindarin for daily use, keeping their ancestral speech only in Dor-lómin. From that speech came Adûnaic, the language of Númenor, and from Adûnaic mingled with other tongues along the western coasts came the Common Speech, Westron, that all the free peoples used by the end of the Third Age. Men were makers of halls, ships, roads and songs; their craft never equalled that of the Elves or Dwarves, but their kingdoms grew larger than any other people's and their memories were kept in verse and in the archives of Gondor.
The Dominion of Men
With the destruction of the One Ring the power of the Three Rings failed, the Elves departed over the Sea, and the Dwarves and other kindreds dwindled. Aragorn restored the united kingdom of Arnor and Gondor and reigned as King Elessar, and the Fourth Age that followed was the age of Men. The tale of the later ages is the tale of Men alone, and in the end all the histories of the Elder Days survived only because Men remembered them.
Physical traits
Men are in body much like the Elves, but heavier, less enduring and more subject to sickness, injury and age. They grow old visibly: their hair greys, their strength fails and they die, most before their eightieth year. Among the Edain the House of Hador were tall, fair-haired and blue-eyed; the House of Bëor were darker-haired and grey-eyed and thought most like the Noldor in mind; the House of Haleth were shorter and broader. The Númenóreans, blessed by the Valar, grew taller than other Men and lived several times as long, a gift that dwindled through the Third Age but never wholly left the line of the kings. The Men of the east and south are described as swarthy or dark-skinned, and the Drúedain were squat and heavy-browed. In all their kinds, Men are the most varied of the speaking peoples.
Culture
Because Men are so many and so various, their cultures differ more than those of any other people. The Edain of the First Age lived in halls of wood and stone under hereditary lords, kept oaths of service to the Elven-kings, and treasured their friendship with the Eldar above all else. The Númenóreans built cities of stone, a great navy and a tradition of learning in Elvish and Adûnaic, and their kings were honoured almost as priests of the One at the hallow on the Meneltarma. The Dúnedain of the Third Age inherited this stonework, lore and kingship. Other Men lived as herders, farmers, hunters and warriors: the Rohirrim as horse-lords in timbered halls, the Northmen as traders and riverfolk, the Haradrim and Easterlings as tribes and kingdoms under chieftains and kings often sworn to Sauron. The Common Speech, Westron, spread from the Númenórean coasts until it was the language of trade and daily life across the western lands, though most peoples kept their own tongues besides.
Origins
Ilúvatar himself devised the Children in the third theme of the Music, and neither Elves nor Men were fully understood by the Ainur before they came to be. Men awoke in Hildórien in the east of Middle-earth at the first rising of the Sun, which the Valar had made from the last fruit of Laurelin after the Trees were poisoned. Ulmo alone of the Valar took much thought for them in those days, and through water and dream sent them what guidance he could, but Melkor reached them first and the earliest tales of Men are a tale of a fall. A remnant repented and wandered westward over many generations, and it was their children who came at last over the Blue Mountains into the lands of the Elves.
Fate
Men do not fade or depart from the world as the Elves do. Instead their numbers grow and their kingdoms swell, until in the Fourth Age they rule all the lands from the Sea to the far east. Their individual fate remains hidden: at death they leave Arda by the Gift of Ilúvatar, and it is said that at the end of days they will join in the Second Music of the Ainur.
Sub-kindreds10
- Kindred
The Edain were the Men of the three houses who came west into Beleriand in the First Age, befriended the Elves and fought beside them against Morgoth. Their descendants became the Númenóreans and later the Dúnedain of Arnor and Gondor.
- Kindred
The Númenóreans were the descendants of the Edain who were given the island of Númenor by the Valar after the War of Wrath. They became the mightiest of mortal peoples, seafarers and kings, until pride, the fear of death and the counsel of Sauron led Ar-Pharazôn to assail Aman and the island was drowned. The Faithful who escaped founded Arnor and Gondor.
10 figures - Kindred
The Northmen were the free Men of Rhovanion and the Vales of Anduin, kin of the Edain who had never gone west into Beleriand. Allies and sometimes kin by marriage of the kings of Gondor, they were scattered by the Wainriders and became the ancestors of the Rohirrim, the Men of Dale, the Beornings and the Woodmen.
1 figure - Kindred
Easterlings is the name given by the Elves and the Men of the West to the many peoples of Men who came out of the east: in the First Age the followers of Bór and Ulfang, and in the Third Age the Wainriders, the Balchoth, the Variags of Khand and the other nations of Rhûn who marched under Sauron's banners.
4 figures - Kindred
The Haradrim, or Southrons, were the Men of Harad, the wide lands south of Gondor. Ruled in the Second Age by Númenórean colonists and later by kings sworn to Sauron, they fought Gondor for three thousand years and marched with their mûmakil to the Pelennor Fields in the War of the Ring.
- Kindred
The Corsairs of Umbar were the sea-raiders of the great haven south of Gondor, descended from the rebels of the Kin-strife who fled there in 1448 and from the Black Númenóreans before them. For fifteen centuries they raided Gondor's coasts and served Sauron's designs, until Aragorn seized their fleet at Pelargir on the eve of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
- Kindred
The Dunlendings were the hill-men of Dunland on the western skirts of the Misty Mountains, remnants of an ancient people who had once lived across Enedwaith and the White Mountains before the Númenóreans and later the Rohirrim displaced them. Their long grievance against the Horse-lords made them the tools of Wulf in the Long Winter and of Saruman in the War of the Ring.
2 figures - Kindred
The Drúedain were a small, squat, ancient people of Men, unlike any other in body and speech, who lived in the forest of Drúadan Forest beneath the White Mountains and carved the Púkel-men statues of Dunharrow. Hunted by the Rohirrim as beasts for centuries, they guided Théoden's army to the Pelennor Fields in 3019 and were rewarded with their forest for ever.
1 figure - Kindred
The Men of Bree were the Big Folk of the four villages around Bree-hill at the crossing of the Great East Road and the Greenway, the oldest settled Men in Eriador and the only ones apart from the Dúnedain to survive the fall of Arnor in their own homes. Comfortable, gossiping and inward-looking, they shared their land with Hobbits and were guarded without their knowledge by the Rangers.
2 figures - Kindred
The Lossoth, the Snowmen of Forochel, were a hardy and secretive people of the frozen north, the last of the ancient Forodwaith. They sheltered Arvedui, the last King of Arthedain, in the winter of 1974, warned him against the sea, and received the ring of Barahir in payment when he sailed to his death.
Notable figures
Of the wider kindred
Twenty-fifth and last King of Númenor
Ar-Pharazôn
NúmenóreansAr-Pharazôn the Golden, the last and mightiest King of Númenor, usurped the sceptre from his cousin Míriel, humbled Sauron and carried him to Númenor as a captive, and was corrupted by him into the worship of Melkor. In S.A. 3319 he sailed with the Great Armament to seize immortality from the Valar, set foot on Aman, and brought about the drowning of Númenor and the changing of the world.
NúmenorChieftain of the Dúnedain of the North
Aragorn II
Dúnedain of the NorthAragorn II, son of Arathorn, was the last Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the first King of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Fostered in Rivendell as Estel, he spent sixty years as a Ranger and a captain in foreign lands before the War of the Ring, in which he guided the Fellowship, walked the Paths of the Dead, won the Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate, and took the crown as King Elessar. He reigned for a hundred and twenty years with Arwen as his queen.
Arnor and GondorLord of the House of Bëor
Beren
House of BëorBeren son of Barahir, last of the outlaws of Dorthonion, won the love of Lúthien Tinúviel and with her took a Silmaril from the iron crown of Morgoth. The first Man to marry an Elf, he died twice and returned once, and from his line came Elrond, Elros and the kings of Númenor.
Dorthonion; later Tol Galen in OssiriandCaptain of the White Tower
Boromir
Men of GondorBoromir, elder son of Denethor II and Captain-General of Gondor, was the man of the Fellowship of the Ring. Proud, valiant and devoted to his city, he tried to take the Ring from Frodo at Amon Hen and then died defending Merry and Pippin against Saruman's Orcs, redeeming his fall with his last breath.
GondorRuling Steward of Gondor
Denethor II
Men of GondorDenethor II was the last Ruling Steward of Gondor, a proud, far-seeing and formidable lord who governed Minas Tirith through the years of Sauron's return and the siege of the War of the Ring. Worn down by his secret use of the palantír and by the death of Boromir, he despaired at the height of the siege and burned himself alive in the tombs of his fathers.
GondorHigh King of Arnor and Gondor
Elendil
NúmenóreansElendil the Tall, son of Amandil of Andúnië, led the Faithful out of the Downfall of Númenor in nine ships and founded the realms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. With Gil-galad he formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and in S.A. 3441 the two of them overthrew Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom and died in doing it. His sword Narsil, broken beneath him, became the heirloom of his heirs down to Aragorn.
Arnor; High King over GondorThird Marshal of the Riddermark
Éomer
RohirrimÉomer son of Éomund, nephew and foster-son of Théoden, was Third Marshal of the Mark when he met Aragorn on the plains of Rohan and lent him horses against the king's orders. He fought at the Hornburg and the Pelennor, took the kingship when Théoden fell, and reigned for sixty-five years as the eighteenth King of Rohan, the friend of King Elessar and the renewer of the Oath of Eorl.
RohanLady of Rohan
Éowyn
RohirrimÉowyn, sister of Éomer and foster-daughter of King Théoden, rode to the Pelennor Fields in disguise as the Rider Dernhelm and there, with Merry's help, slew the Witch-king of Angmar whom no man could kill. Healed of the Black Breath by Aragorn, she found in the Houses of Healing a love for Faramir that turned her from despair, and became Lady of Ithilien.
RohanCaptain of the Rangers of Ithilien
Faramir
Men of GondorFaramir, younger son of Denethor II, was Captain of the Rangers of Ithilien, the man who let Frodo and the Ring go on into Mordor when he could have taken them, and the last Ruling Steward of Gondor. Healed by Aragorn after his father's despair, he married Éowyn of Rohan and became Prince of Ithilien under the restored king.
GondorLord of Dor-lómin
Húrin
House of HadorHúrin Thalion, lord of Dor-lómin, was the greatest warrior of the Edain. He held the Fen of Serech alone at the end of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, was taken alive to Morgoth, defied him and was cursed with his whole house, and sat bound on Thangorodrim for twenty-eight years watching the ruin of his children Túrin and Nienor.
Dor-lóminSecond High King of Arnor and Gondor
Isildur
NúmenóreansIsildur, elder son of Elendil, stole a fruit of the White Tree in Númenor, founded Minas Ithil in Gondor, and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand at the end of the Last Alliance. He refused to destroy it, and two years later he was slain by Orcs at the Gladden Fields when the Ring slipped from his finger, so that his name was bound to it as Isildur's Bane.
Gondor; later Arnor as High KingKing of the Mark
Théoden
RohirrimThéoden son of Thengel was the seventeenth King of Rohan, the king whom Gríma Wormtongue and Saruman had made old before his time and whom Gandalf roused to lead his people again. He won the Battle of the Hornburg, mustered the Rohirrim at Dunharrow, and broke the siege of Minas Tirith in the great charge across the Pelennor, where he died beneath his horse after felling the chieftain of the Haradrim.
RohanLord of the House of Hador
Tuor
House of HadorTuor son of Huor, born after his father's death at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, was raised by Grey-elves in Mithrim, enslaved by Easterlings, and chosen by Ulmo to carry his warning to the hidden city of Gondolin. There he married Turgon's daughter Idril, fathered Eärendil, and led the survivors out of the city's fall. At the end of his life he sailed into the West, and alone of Men he is said to have been numbered among the Elves.
Hithlum; Gondolin; the Havens of SirionLord of Dor-lómin
Túrin
House of HadorTúrin, son of Húrin and Morwen, was the greatest and most ill-fated warrior of the Edain. Cursed by Morgoth through his father, he wandered from Doriath to outlawry, to Nargothrond and to Brethil, killed his friend Beleg by mischance and unknowingly married his own sister, and slew the dragon Glaurung before taking his own life.
Dor-lómin; Doriath; Nargothrond; BrethilLast Lord of Andúnië
Amandil
NúmenóreansAmandil, last Lord of Andúnië and father of Elendil, was the leader of the Faithful in the reign of Ar-Pharazôn. Dismissed from the King's council when Sauron rose to power, he withdrew to Rómenna, and when the Great Armament was planned he sailed secretly into the West to plead with the Valar, as Eärendil had, and was never heard of again.
Númenor; Andúnië and RómennaLord of Minas Anor
Anárion
NúmenóreansAnárion, younger son of Elendil, escaped the Downfall of Númenor with his brother Isildur and founded with him the realm of Gondor, building Minas Anor. He held Osgiliath against Sauron's first assault and was killed by a stone from Barad-dûr in the seventh year of the siege. Through his son Meneldil the Kings of Gondor descended.
GondorKing of Arthedain
Arvedui
Dúnedain of the NorthArvedui was the fifteenth and last King of Arthedain, the northern remnant of Arnor. Named Last-king at birth on a prophecy of Malbeth the Seer, he claimed the crown of Gondor in 1944 and was refused, saw his kingdom destroyed by the Witch-king of Angmar in 1974, and drowned in the Ice-bay of Forochel the following spring, taking two palantíri with him.
ArthedainLord of the House of Bëor
Barahir
House of BëorBarahir, younger son of Bregor, saved the life of Finrod Felagund in the Dagor Bragollach and received from him the ring that became the heirloom of his house. He held out with twelve companions in the highlands of Dorthonion until Gorlim's betrayal, and he was the father of Beren.
DorthonionKing of Dale
Bard
Men of Dale and EsgarothBard the Bowman, a captain of archers in Lake-town and the heir of Girion of Dale, killed the dragon Smaug with the Black Arrow in 2941 as the dragon burned Esgaroth. He then led the Lake-men to the Lonely Mountain, fought in the Battle of Five Armies, and with his share of the treasure rebuilt Dale and became its king.
DaleFirst lord of the House of Bëor
Bëor
House of BëorBëor, born Balan, led the first company of Men over the Blue Mountains into Beleriand in F.A. 310 and became the vassal and friend of Finrod Felagund. The first house of the Edain bears his name, and from him descended Barahir, Beren and the kings of Númenor.
Estolad; later NargothrondChief of the Beornings
Beorn
BeorningsBeorn was a skin-changer who lived alone in a great wooden hall between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood, a huge black-bearded man who could take the shape of a bear. He sheltered Thorin's company in 2941, broke the Goblin army at the Battle of Five Armies in bear-form, and became the founder and chief of the Beornings.
Vales of AnduinRuling Steward of Gondor
Cirion
Men of GondorCirion, twelfth Ruling Steward of Gondor, faced the Balchoth invasion of 2510 and summoned the Éothéod to his aid. After Eorl's riders saved Gondor on the Field of Celebrant, Cirion gave them the province of Calenardhon and swore with Eorl the oath that bound Gondor and Rohan together for the rest of the age.
GondorKing of Gondor
Eärnil II
Men of GondorEärnil II was the general who saved Gondor from the Wainriders at the Battle of the Camp in 1944 and was chosen king over Arvedui of Arthedain the following year. He sent his son Eärnur north to destroy Angmar, and was the second-to-last king of Gondor.
GondorKing of Gondor
Eärnur
Men of GondorEärnur, son of Eärnil II, was the thirty-third and last King of Gondor. As a young captain he led the fleet that destroyed Angmar at the Battle of Fornost in 1975; as king he accepted the Witch-king's challenge to single combat in 2050, rode to Minas Morgul, and was never seen again.
GondorLord of the Éothéod
Eorl the Young
RohirrimEorl the Young, lord of the Éothéod, led his horsemen south to save Gondor at the Field of Celebrant in 2510 and received the province of Calenardhon as the reward. He swore the Oath of Eorl with the Steward Cirion, founded the kingdom of Rohan, and was the first of its kings; his people were named the Rohirrim after him.
RohanQueen of Númenor
Erendis
NúmenóreansErendis of the Westlands was the wife of Tar-Aldarion, the Mariner-King of Númenor. Their long courtship and short marriage were destroyed by his voyages, and she withdrew with their daughter Ancalimë to her house at Emerië, where she raised the future Queen to distrust men. She died in the sea in S.A. 985.
Númenor; the Westlands and EmeriëCounsellor of King Théoden
Gríma Wormtongue
RohirrimGríma son of Gálmód, called Wormtongue, was the counsellor of King Théoden who secretly served Saruman and poisoned the king's mind and body until Gandalf exposed him. Driven from Edoras, he became Saruman's wretched servant in Orthanc and in the Shire, and at the very end of the War of the Ring he cut his master's throat on the doorstep of Bag End and was shot by hobbit archers.
RohanLord of Dor-lómin
Hador
House of HadorHador Lórindol, Goldenhead, was the beloved of Fingolfin who received the lordship of Dor-lómin in F.A. 416 and gathered the people of Marach there. The Third House of the Edain took his name. He fell with his younger son Gundor defending Eithel Sirion in the Dagor Bragollach.
Dor-lóminChieftain of the Haladin
Haleth
House of HalethHaleth was the daughter of Haldad and the chieftain who saved the Haladin from destruction in Thargelion, refused the protection of Caranthir, and led her people west to the forest of Brethil. The second house of the Edain took her name, and she is the only woman recorded as ruling one of the three houses.
BrethilKing of the Mark
Helm Hammerhand
RohirrimHelm Hammerhand, ninth King of Rohan, killed the Dunlendish lord Freca with a single blow of his fist and so began the war in which Wulf, Freca's son, overran the Mark. Besieged in the Hornburg through the Long Winter, Helm went out alone at night to kill his enemies with his hands, and died standing on the Dike, frozen in the snow. The fortress of Helm's Deep bears his name.
Rohan- House of Hador
Huor, younger son of Galdor of Dor-lómin, was carried with his brother Húrin to Gondolin as a boy and fell beside him holding the Fen of Serech in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Before he died he foretold to Turgon that a new star would rise from their two houses; his son, born after his death, was Tuor, father of Eärendil.
Dor-lómin Prince of Dol Amroth
Imrahil
Men of GondorImrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, was the greatest of the lords of Gondor's fiefs in the War of the Ring and the uncle of Boromir and Faramir. He brought his knights to Minas Tirith, fought on the Pelennor Fields, ruled the city between Denethor's death and Faramir's recovery, and marched with Aragorn to the Black Gate.
GondorSteward of Gondor
Mardil Voronwë
Men of GondorMardil Voronwë, Steward to the last two kings of Gondor, took up the rule of the realm when Eärnur vanished into Minas Morgul in 2050. He was the first of the Ruling Stewards, whose house governed Gondor in the king's name for nearly a thousand years until the return of Aragorn.
GondorLady of Dor-lómin
Morwen
House of BëorMorwen Eledhwen, daughter of Baragund of the House of Bëor, was the wife of Húrin and the mother of Túrin and Nienor. Proud, beautiful and unbending, she held her house in Dor-lómin under the Easterlings for more than twenty years and died at the grave of her children beside the Teiglin.
Dor-lómin- House of Hador
Nienor, daughter of Húrin and Morwen, was born after her father's capture and never knew her brother Túrin. Robbed of her memory by Glaurung, she was found by the woodmen of Brethil, named Níniel, and married Túrin unknowing. When the dying dragon restored her memory she threw herself into the Teiglin.
Dor-lómin; Doriath; Brethil Sixth King of Númenor
Tar-Aldarion
NúmenóreansTar-Aldarion, born Anardil, was the sixth King of Númenor and the first of its great mariners. He founded the Guild of Venturers, built the haven of Vinyalondë in Middle-earth, and befriended Gil-galad, but his voyages destroyed his marriage to Erendis. He changed the law of succession so that his daughter Ancalimë could reign after him.
NúmenorRightful Queen of Númenor
Tar-Míriel
NúmenóreansTar-Míriel, only child of Tar-Palantir, should have been the fourth Ruling Queen of Númenor. Her cousin Pharazôn forced her into marriage against the law and took the sceptre in her name, and she lived as his queen under the name Ar-Zimraphel until the Downfall, when the sea took her as she sought the summit of the Meneltarma.
NúmenorTwenty-fourth King of Númenor
Tar-Palantir
NúmenóreansTar-Palantir, born Inziladûn, was the twenty-fourth King of Númenor and the last to repent of the pride of the kings. He restored the reverence of the Valar, tended the White Tree, and foretold that when it died the line of kings would end; but his brother Gimilkhâd led the King's Men against him, and after his death his daughter Míriel was dispossessed by Ar-Pharazôn.
NúmenorChieftain of the Dúnedain of the North
Arathorn II
Dúnedain of the NorthArathorn II was the fifteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the father of Aragorn. He ruled for only three years before an Orc-arrow killed him while he rode against the enemy with the sons of Elrond, leaving a two-year-old heir who was hidden in Rivendell.
EriadorInnkeeper of the Prancing Pony
Barliman Butterbur
Men of BreeBarliman Butterbur was the fat, bustling and forgetful landlord of the Prancing Pony at Bree, whose failure to forward a letter from Gandalf nearly cost Frodo his life. Good-hearted for all his muddle, he sheltered the hobbits on the night the Black Riders came and welcomed them back a year later to a troubled Bree.
BreeGuard of the Citadel, Third Company
Beregond
Men of GondorBeregond, a Guard of the Citadel of Minas Tirith, befriended Pippin during the siege and left his post to save Faramir from Denethor's pyre, killing the porter of the tombs to do it. Judged by Aragorn, he was removed from the Guard and made Captain of the White Company, the guard of the Prince of Ithilien.
GondorLord of Brethil
Brandir
House of HalethBrandir the Lame, son of Handir, was the last lord of the House of Haleth in Brethil. A gentle man who preferred healing to war, he took in Túrin and later Níniel, whom he loved, and was slain by Túrin after telling him the truth of Nienor's death.
BrethilKing of the Mark
Brego
RohirrimBrego, son of Eorl the Young, was the second King of Rohan. He cleared the last Easterlings from the Wold and built the Golden Hall of Meduseld at Edoras, and at the feast for its completion his eldest son Baldor vowed to walk the Paths of the Dead and never returned. Brego died of grief the following year.
RohanLord of the House of Bëor
Bregolas
House of BëorBregolas was the elder son of Bregor and lord of the House of Bëor in Dorthonion at the breaking of the Siege of Angband. He fell in the Dagor Bragollach, and his sons Baragund and Belegund were the fathers of Morwen and Rían.
DorthonionCaptain of Ships
Castamir the Usurper
Men of GondorCastamir was the Captain of Ships of Gondor who led the Kin-strife, the rebellion of the pure-blooded lords against King Eldacar in 1437. He reigned ten years as a usurper, cruel and hated, before Eldacar returned with the Northmen and killed him at the Crossings of Erui. His sons' flight to Umbar founded the Corsairs.
GondorRuling Steward of Gondor
Ecthelion II
Men of GondorEcthelion II, father of Denethor, was the wise and generous twenty-fifth Ruling Steward of Gondor, who strengthened the realm against the growing shadow and took many able men into his service. The most famous of them was Thorongil, the stranger from the North who was Aragorn in disguise.
GondorLady of the House of Bëor
Emeldir
House of BëorEmeldir the Man-hearted was the wife of Barahir and the mother of Beren. After the Dagor Bragollach she led the women and children of the House of Bëor out of Dorthonion over the mountains to safety, among them Morwen and Rían.
Dorthonion; later Brethil and Dor-lóminLord of the Westfold
Erkenbrand
RohirrimErkenbrand, Lord of the Westfold and master of Helm's Deep, gathered the scattered Rohirrim after the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen and came down over the Dike at dawn with Gandalf and a thousand men to break Saruman's siege of the Hornburg. Under King Éomer he became Marshal of the West-mark.
RohanLord of Dor-lómin
Galdor
House of HadorGaldor the Tall, elder son of Hador, was lord of Dor-lómin for seven years after the Dagor Bragollach. He married Hareth of the Haladin and was the father of Húrin and Huor. He was slain by an arrow at Eithel Sirion in F.A. 462.
Dor-lóminHeadman of the Wild Men of Drúadan Forest
Ghân-buri-Ghân
DrúedainGhân-buri-Ghân was the headman of the Wild Men of the Drúadan Forest. In March 3019 he guided the Rohirrim by a forgotten road through the hills to the Pelennor Fields, past the Orcs who had blocked the Great West Road, asking in return only that his people be left in peace.
Drúadan Forest- Dúnedain of the North
Gilraen the Fair, a woman of the Dúnedain of the North, was the wife of Arathorn II and the mother of Aragorn. Widowed after four years of marriage, she carried her son to Rivendell to be hidden and raised, and lived to see him a grown man but not a king.
Eriador - House of Bëor
Gorlim son of Angrim was one of the twelve companions of Barahir in Dorthonion. Deceived by Sauron with a phantom of his lost wife Eilinel, he betrayed the outlaws' refuge, was killed for it, and as a ghost warned Beren too late in a dream.
Dorthonion Ranger of the North
Halbarad
Dúnedain of the NorthHalbarad was a Ranger of the North and a kinsman of Aragorn who led the thirty Dúnedain of the Grey Company south in the War of the Ring. He carried Arwen's standard through the Paths of the Dead and unfurled it on the Pelennor Fields, where he was killed.
EriadorLeader of the Third House of the Edain
Marach
House of HadorMarach led the third and largest people of the Edain over the Blue Mountains into Beleriand in F.A. 313 and settled them in Estolad. His great-great-grandson Hador gave the house its lasting name.
EstoladKing of Gondor
Meneldil
Men of GondorMeneldil, son of Anárion, was the last man born in Númenor and the first king to rule Gondor alone. Left in charge of the South Kingdom by his uncle Isildur in T.A. 2, he made Gondor an independent realm and founded the line of kings that descended from Anárion.
Gondor- House of Bëor
Rían, daughter of Belegund of the House of Bëor, married Huor two months before the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and bore his son Tuor after his death. Leaving the child with the Elves of Mithrim, she went to the Hill of the Slain and died there.
Dor-lómin Seventh Ruler of Númenor
Tar-Ancalimë
NúmenóreansTar-Ancalimë, daughter of Tar-Aldarion and Erendis, was the first Ruling Queen of Númenor under her father's new law of succession. Raised by her mother to distrust men, she married Hallacar only to secure the sceptre, ruled for two hundred and five years, and let her father's havens and alliances in Middle-earth decay.
NúmenorLieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dûr
The Mouth of Sauron
Black NúmenóreansThe Mouth of Sauron was the Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dûr, a Black Númenórean sorcerer who had served Sauron so long that he had forgotten his own name. He rode out from the Black Gate on 25 March 3019 to offer the Captains of the West terms of surrender, and was answered by Gandalf.
MordorKing of the Mark
Thengel
RohirrimThengel, sixteenth King of Rohan and father of Théoden, spent his youth in Gondor in the service of the Steward Turgon, married Morwen of Lossarnach, and returned unwillingly to rule the Mark on his father's death. A good king, he restored the realm after Fengel's greedy reign, and the young Aragorn served him under the name Thorongil.
RohanSecond Marshal of the Riddermark
Théodred
RohirrimThéodred, only child of King Théoden and Second Marshal of the Mark, commanded the defence of the Westfold against Saruman and fell at the First Battle of the Fords of Isen on 25 February 3019. His death left Éomer as the king's heir and was the grief that Gríma used to keep Théoden from acting.
Rohan
Relations with other peoples
- Related toElves(the Elder Children; allies of the Edain and later estranged from Númenor)
- Related toHalf-elven(the marriages of Beren and Lúthien and of Tuor and Idril)
- Allied withDwarves(early friendship in the east; trade in Dale and Erebor)
- Enemy ofOrcs
- Related toHobbits(held to be a branch of the same kindred)
- Allied withAinur(the Valar raised Númenor for the Edain; the Istari were sent to counsel Men)
- Allied withEntwives(taught the first agriculture to Men east of Anduin)
- Allied withIstari
- Allied withValar(gave Númenor to the Edain; later sent the Istari)
- Related toAvari(possibly the first teachers of Men in the east)
- Related toChildren of Ilúvatar(the Followers)
- Allied withElves(Edain in Beleriand, Númenor, the Last Alliance)
- Descended fromHalf-elven
- Descended fromHobbits(an offshoot of the race of Men, of unrecorded separation)
- Allied withStoors(less shy of Men than other Hobbits; lived beside them in Dunland and Bree)
- Descended fromEasterlings
- Descended fromEdain
- Descended fromHaradrim
- Bred fromHalf-orcs(by the judgement of Treebeard and Gandalf)
- Enemy ofMonsters and Servants of the Shadow
- Enemy ofStone-trolls(raided villages in Eriador)
- Enemy ofTrolls
- Descended fromDead Men of Dunharrow(the Men of the White Mountains)
- Corrupted fromNazgûl(kings, sorcerers and warriors, three of them Númenóreans)
- Corrupted fromThe Undead and Shades(the Nazgûl and the Dead of Dunharrow were Men)
Places
Timeline
- F.A. 1
Awakening at Hildórien
Men wake in the far east of Middle-earth at the first rising of the Sun. Melkor soon comes among them and many fall under his shadow.
- F.A. 310
Bëor meets Finrod in Ossiriand
The first company of the Edain crosses the Blue Mountains. Finrod Felagund finds them and takes Bëor into his service.
- F.A. 313
The Haladin and the people of Marach arrive
Two further peoples of the Edain enter Beleriand and settle in Thargelion and Estolad.
- F.A. 455
Dagor Bragollach
The houses of Bëor and Hador suffer heavy losses; Dorthonion is lost and Hador falls at Eithel Sirion.
- F.A. 466
Beren takes a Silmaril
A mortal Man, with Lúthien, cuts a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth.
- F.A. 472
Nirnaeth Arnoediad
The Edain of Hador's house die around Húrin and Huor holding the Fen of Serech, while Easterlings betray the sons of Fëanor.
- F.A. 499
Túrin slays Glaurung
The tragedy of the Children of Húrin ends at Cabed-en-Aras.
- F.A. 590
Morgoth overthrown
The War of Wrath ends the First Age. The Edain who fought for the Valar are offered a new home.
- S.A. 32
Founding of Númenor
The Edain reach the island of Elenna and Elros Tar-Minyatur becomes its first king.
- S.A. 2221
The shadow falls on Númenor
Tar-Atanamir refuses to lay down his life, and the kings begin to speak openly against the Ban.
- S.A. 3319
Downfall of Númenor
Ar-Pharazôn assails Aman; the world is bent and Númenor is drowned. Elendil and the Faithful escape to Middle-earth.
- S.A. 3441
Sauron overthrown by the Last Alliance
Elendil and Gil-galad die, and Isildur takes the One Ring.
- T.A. 1974
Fall of Arthedain
The last of the North-kingdom falls to Angmar; the Dúnedain of the North become a wandering people.
- T.A. 2510
Oath of Eorl
The Northmen of Eorl ride to Gondor's aid at the Field of Celebrant and are granted Calenardhon, the future Rohan.
- T.A. 3019
War of the Ring
Men of Rohan and Gondor stand against Sauron at Helm's Deep, the Pelennor and the Morannon while the Ring is destroyed.
- Fo.A. 1
The Dominion of Men
With the departure of the Ring-bearers, the Fourth Age begins and the lordship of Middle-earth passes to Men.
Sources
- The SilmarillionQuenta Silmarillion chapters 1, 12, 17 to 24; Akallabêth; Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
- The Lord of the Rings: AppendicesAppendix A (I and II), Appendix F
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earthPart Two (Númenor), Part Three
- The Children of Húrinthroughout