Men (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is a race of humans.Origins
The race of Men is the second race of beings created by the Supreme God, Ilúvatar. Because they awoke at the start of the First Age, while the Elves awoke three Ages before them, they are called the Afterborn (Quenya Atani, Sindarin: Edain) by the Elves. Men are unlike Elves gifted by the so called Gift of Men, Death.In other words, Elves are immortal, Men are not. While the destiny of the Elves is to go west to dwell with the Valar in Valinor, the destiny of Men is to hold dominion over Middle-earth.
Groups and alignments
Although all Men are related to one another, there are many different groups with different policies. The most important group in the First Age were the Edain. Although the word Edain refers to all Men, the Elves use it to distinguish those Men who fought with them in the First Age against Morgoth in Beleriand and those who didn't. Those Men who fought against Morgoth in the First Age were divided into three Houses.
The First House of the Edain was led by Bëor and entered Beleriand in 305 T.A. and were granted the fief of Ladros in Dorthonion by Finrod Felagund. The Second House of the Edain, the House of Haleth was led by Haldad and later by his daughter Haleth and settled in the Forest of Brethil. And the most famous Third House was led by Hador and they settled in Dor-lómin.
Other Men didn't cross the Misty Mountains or fought against Morgoth. Some such as the Easterlings fought openly on his side. Later on the Haradrim would fight on Sauron's side against the descendants of the Edain. Here below follow the short descriptions of the most important groups of Men in the First, Second and Third Age.
Edain and Dúnedain
Through their services and assistance rendered to the Elves and the Valar in the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, the Edain were rewarded a new continent of their own between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. This was the island of Númenor, an island in the form of a five-pointed star far away from the evil of Middle-earth.
They were led to this island by Elros with the help of his father Eärendil who controlled the bright star of the same name. Once there Elros became the first king of Númenor as Tar-Minyatur and the Edain became known as the Dúnedain (Sindarin for Men of the West). The kingdom of Númenor grew steadily in power and the Dúnedain became the noblest and highest of all Men on Arda. Allied to the Elves, Númenor fought against Morgoth's lieutenant Sauron.
Now that the Men of the West had become powerful they no longer enjoyed the Gift of Men, Death. They wanted to become immortal like the Elves and enjoy their power. The Númenoreans turned away from the Valar, began to call the Gift of Men the Doom of Men and cursed the Ban of the Valar which prevented them to enter Valinor. In 2899 S.A. Ar-Adûnakhôr became the first king of Númenor who took his royal name in Adûnaic, the language of Men instead of Quenya, the language of the Elves. This led to civil war in Númenor.
The people of Númenor were divided into two factions: the King's Men, who enjoyed the support of the King and the majority of the people. They favoured Adûnaic as language. The minority faction, the Faithful, were led by the lord of Andunië, the westernmost province of Númenor, and favoured Quenya.Sauron who by the second millennium of the Second Age was nearly defeated by the Elves took advantage of the division. He surrendered to the last Númenorean King, Ar-Pharazôn and advised him to attack Valinor and claim immortality. This he foolishly did, and as a punishment Númenor, the island of the Men of the West fell and only the Faithful escaped and founded the twin kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.
Black Númenoreans and Haradrim
The Faithful weren't the only Númenoreans left on Middle-earth when Númenor sank. When Númenor grew in (naval) power many Númenoreans founded colonies in Middle-earth. In the second millennium of the Second Age there was an exodus of Men from overcrowded Númenor. The King's Men because they wanted to conquer more lands, and the Faithful because they were persecuted by the Kings. The Faithful settled in Pelargir and the King's Men settled in Umbar. When Númenor was destroyed the King's Men became known as the Black Númenoreans and remained hostile against the Faithful of Gondor. From their ranks Sauron managed to recruit the Ringwraiths in the second millennium of the Second Age. Umbar was conquered by Gondor in 933 Third Age.
Further east another group of Men lived, the Haradrim. They were dark skinned Men and waged war on great Oliphaunts or Mûmakil, the Haradrim are excellent horsemen, although not as good as the Rohirrim. Hostile to Gondor they were conquered by Gondor in 1050 T.A. by Hyarmendacil I. They fought against Gondor in the the War of the Ring.
Easterlings
Most Men who fought in the armies of Morgoth and Sauron were Easterlings, who came from the region around the Sea of Rhûn. Some Easterlings offered their services to the Elvish kingdoms in Beleriand, among them were Bor and his sons and Ulfang the Black and his sons. This proved to be disastrous for the Elves in the Nirneath Arnoediad when Ulfang and his clan switched sides and defected to Morgoth, while Bor and his sons died bravely fighting on the side of the Eldar.
After Morgoth's defeat Sauron extended his influence over the Easterlings and although Sauron was defeated by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of the Second Age, the Easterlings were the first enemies to attack Gondor again in 492 T.A. They were soundly defeated by King Rómendacil I, but invaded again in 541 T.A. and took revenge by slaying King Rómendacil. Rómendacil's son Turambar took large portions of land from them. In the next centuries Gondor held sway over the Easterlings. When Gondor's power began to decrease in the twelfth century Third Age, the Easterlings took the complete eastern bank of the Anduin except Ithilien crushing Gondor's allies, the Northmen.
The Easterlings were divided in different tribes, such as the Wainriders and the Balchoth. The Wainriders was a confederation of Easterlings which was very active between 1856 T.A. and 1944 T.A. In 1856 T.A. the Wainriders defeated the Gondorian army under King Narmacil II and slew him. The tide was temporarily turned when Narmacil's son Calimehtar defeated them at Dagorlad. But in 1944 T.A. they once again descended upon Gondor in combination with the Haradrim. They met the Gondorian host near Dagorlad, slew King Ondoher and all his heirs and won the battle. After their victory there was nothing that stood between them and Minas Anor, the capital of Gondor. But instead of marching to Minas Anor the Wainriders held a feast to commemorate their victory. While they were feasting their host was suddenly attacked by Gondor's southern army under General Eärnil who had thwarted the attack of the Haradrim. This eventually led to the demise of the Wainriders.
When Gondor lost its royal dynasty in 2050 T.A. the Easterlings started to reorganize themselves and a fierce tribe called the Balchoth became the most important tribe. In 2510 T.A. they invaded Gondor again and cut the main Gondorian army off from Minas Tirith. They pushed the army into the strip of land between the Limlight and the Celebrant. On the moment of their victory the Rohirrim suddenly took the field at Gondor's side. Until the War of the Ring the Easterlings didn't launch any invasion. In the War of the Ring they were amongst the fiercest warriors deployed at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields by Sauron.
Northmen and Rohirrim
Not all the Men who didn't cross the Misty Mountains were tempted by Morgoth or Sauron. The Northmen who dwellt in Greenwood the Great and Dagorlad were friendly to the Dúnedain and were after the Dúnedain the most noble Men on Arda. The were descended from the same group of Men as the Edain. The only difference was that they didn't cross the Misty Mountains into Beleriand and didn't dwell on Númenor. The result of them not participating in the War against Morgoth was their considerably shorter lifespan if compared to the lifespan of the Dúnedain. The were important allies of Gondor and served as buffer against the Easterlings and in the Army of Gondor. Their region was called Rhovanion and the princes of the Northmen warred amongst themselves for supremacy. In the fourteenth century of the Third Age King Rómendacil II of Gondor sent his son Valacar as an ambassador to Vidugavia, the selfstyled "King of Rhovanion". Valacar loved Rhovanion and the daughter of the King, Vidumavi. He married her and she bore him a son whom she called Vinitharya in her mother tongue. In Gondor Vinitharya became known as King Eldacar and caused a civil war, the Kin-strife because of his mixed Dúnadan/Northmen blood. In the following centuries the Northmen were enslaved by the Easterlings.
Shortly after the death of Vidugavia a small group of Northmen moved the the vales of the Anduin between the Gladden Fields and the Mirkwood. After the evil Kingdom of Angmar was defeated by Gondor in 1977 T.A. these Northmen moved north and began to call themselves the Éothéod. They were skilled horsebreeders and horsemen. In 2510 T.A. they responded to a plea of help from the trapped Gondorian army at the Field of Celebrant. After they helped Gondor win this important victory they were rewarded the province of Calenardhon and became known as the Rohirrim. More about the Rohirrim can be read in the corresponding article.
Dunlendings and Woses
When Elendil founded the Kingdom of Arnor its borders were quickly extended towards the river Greyflood (Sind:Gwathló). Between Eriador and the Greyflood lies the region of Minhiriath (Sindarin for Land between the Rivers). In this region a group of Men said to descend from the House of Haleth lived, they are known as the Dunlendings. This group apparently didn't move to Númenor like their kin. They lived in the woods and when the Númenoreans started to chop these woods down to build their ships, the Dúnedain of Númenor earned the hostility of the Dunlendings. They moved the the White Mountains or to Eriador. In Eriador they mixed with the Dúnedain and they soon ceased to exist. But in the White Mountains the Dunlendings were driven to the lands between the Greyflood and the Isen by Gondor. This land became known as Dunland. In 2510 T.A. the province of Calenardhon was given to the numerous Rohirrim. The Dunlendings claimed the area between the Isen and the Adorn, an area that was considered Rohirric. During the reign of Helm Hammerhand (2741-2759 T.A.), a Dunlending named Freca claimed the throne of Rohan. Helm killed him with a single blow with his fist, hence the nickname "Hammerhand".
War followed and Freca's son Wulf successfully took Edoras in 2758 T.A. but the Rohirrim held out the next winter in the Hornburg until the Dunlendings were defeated by Frealaf, successor of Helm Hammerhand, the next year.
The Dunlendings served Saruman in the War of the Ring and participated in the Battle of the Hornburg.
Another group of Men were the Woses. They were small and bent compared to other Men. The lived among the House of Haleth in the First Age and were despite their different appearance reckoned amongst Men by the Elves, who called them Drúedain (the exact meaning of this name is unknown, the Sindarin word for Men: Edain is incorporated). After the First Age they were driven to Dunland, and subsequently driven out by the Dunlendings. At the end of the Third Age they lived in the Drúadan forest, small in number but experienced in wood life. They held off Orcs with poisoned arrows and were vital in securing the aid of the Rohirrim in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
King Elessar granted the Drúadan Forest "forever" to them in the Fourth Age.
Notable Men
