A while back I created a video detailing all the clans of the elves,
explaining the different types and how each was formed…and today
I thought it was high time to do a similar video for the race of Men.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the three houses of the Edain.
Like the elves thousands of years earlier,
the first men would awake in the far east of Middle-earth, in a land called Hildorien.
Their waking coincides with the first ever sunrise, the only sunrise to occur in the West
before it would take on our well-known pattern of rising in the east and setting in the west.
Having awaited the coming of the second children of Iluvatar,
Morgoth springs into action when men awake, seeking to corrupt them to his will. This
would bring about conflict between the groups of men, and one such group would migrate westward,
seeking for the rumored Great Sea and the Light that lived there.
For a time, this group of men consisting of three distinct tribes, traveled together.
At some point in their travels, the tribes divide into two hosts - two tribes move north, and the
other south. The Lesser Folk arrive at the Sea of Rhun and would live at the feet of the nearby
hills in the southwest. The Greater Folk would arrive later and live in the north-east woods
near the shores of the Sea. As the Greater Folk come to craft boats with which to sail the sea,
they discover the Lesser Folk. They would maintain a kinship with this tribe of men,
though their languages had already diverged greatly from their original common tongue.
In their wandering, the Lesser Folk meet the Moriquendi, or the Dark Elves - those
who did not seek out the light of Valinor. The Lesser Folk adopt many words and devices
that influence their language. Not only did they befriend the elves,
but they also encountered the Dwarves of the East whenever they traveled near the mountains.
Eventually, both the Lesser Folk and the Greater Folk would continue their
great journey westward. Some among the greater folk would break away and settle
in the lands of Rhovanion, becoming the ancestors of the Northmen. The Northmen
themselves would be the ancestors of the men of places like Rohan and Lake-town.
As for the tribe taking the southern route, they would settle for a time in the valleys
of the White Mountains - the range that runs through what will much later become
the realm of Gondor. Eventually, they would continue their journey west. At this time,
they are joined by a group of folk who they refer to as Drûg - the peoples we would later
know as the Druedain or Woses. While the people of this house would make their way ever westward,
some of their number remain behind, settling in Minhiriath and Eridaor - becoming the ancestors of
the Enedwaith and the Gwathuirim. The Gwathuirim will be better known as the Dunlendings - the
men often at war with Rohan and would later side with Saruman in the War of the Ring.
Eventually the three tribes cross Eriador and come to the Blue Mountains. A leader
of the Lesser Folk named Beor leads his people to become the first Men to enter Beleriand in 310 FA.
One night, as Beor and his men are camped in Ossiriand, Finrod son of Finarfin stumbles upon
them, becoming the first elf of Beleriand to learn of the arrival of men. As they begin to wake,
Finrod plays his music, enchanting these early men and befriending them. Finrod advises Beor
and his people to settle in Estolad, a realm ruled by twin sons of Feanor Amrod and Amras.
But Beor would travel back with Finrod to Nargorthrond,
serving as his vassal until 355 FA, when he dies at the age of 93. In one
of Tolkien’s most bittersweet passages on the topic of mortality, it is said:
“And when [Bëor] lay dead, of no wound or grief, but stricken by age,
the Eldar saw for the first time the swift waning of the life of Men, and the death of weariness
which they knew not in themselves; and they grieved greatly for the loss of their friends.
But Bëor at the last had relinquished his life willingly and passed in peace;
and the Eldar wondered much at the strange fate of Men, for in all their lore there was no account of
it, and its end was hidden from them.” In memory of their great forebear,
the group descended from the Lesser Folk would be known as the House of Beor - everafter known
as the First House of the Edain. The House of Beor would remain loyal to the House of Finarfin.
The House of Beor is remembered as men who were dark-haired and stoutly built. And it is said
that among the elves, they most resembled the Noldor. Years later, under the rule of Boromir,
great grandson of Beor, their people would be given the lands of Ladros in Dorthonion as a
fiefdom of their own under Finrod’s brothers Angrod and Aegnor. The House of Beor would
bring about such famous members as Beren, the husband of Luthien, and his father Barahir.
The Second House would enter Beleriand in 312 FA,
arriving in small groups and coming to the woods of Ossiriand. Known at this time as the Haladin,
we are told these men often had strife amongst themselves. In addition, the wood-elves of
Ossiriand were unfriendly to them. Unlike the House of Beor, they would dwell in Thargelion,
without the permission of it’s ruler Caranthir - another of Feanor’s sons.
Morgoth, having heard of the arrival of hostile Men to Beleriand, sends his forces to attack in
375 FA. After being raided by orcs, the scattered groups of the Haladin come under the leadership of
Haldad, who builds a stockage between the angle of the rivers Gelion and Ascar, south of Sarn Athrad.
When both Haldad and his son are slain, his daughter Haleth takes leadership of their house,
and leads her people in holding back the onslaught of Morgoth’s forces for a week,
when Caranthir’s army comes to their aid.
In honor of her valour, Caranthir offers Haleth’s people a fiefdom in his lands. However,
Haleth declines and leads her people through Estolad and the dreadful valley of Nan Dungortheb,
which is famously inhabited by the spawn of the spider creature Ungoliant.
They come for a short time to Talath Dirnen, the Guarded Plain. Finally, King Thingol of Doriath
gives to the Haladin the Forest of Brethil in which to dwell - the only condition being that
they defend the Crossings of Teiglin. The Second House of the Edain is ever after known for the
brave woman who led them in war and wandering, and the House of Haleth settles around the capital
of Amon Obel, becoming great woodsmen of the realm. Among them still are some of the Drug,
who likewise inhabit the forests of Brethil and are counted among the Edain.
Finally, we come to the Third House. The final group of the Edain to enter Beleriand do so from
the south. This group, initially known as the Folk of Marach, was the largest of the three Houses
and also the most warlike. So much so, that they frightened the Green-elves of Ossiriand and were
therefore bidden to continue their travels to Estolad as the House of Beor had done.
Of all the houses, they would remain in Estolad the longest and would in
time become close allies with the House of Fingolfin. Fingolfin would rule from Barad
Eithel as High King of the Noldor, and allows the Folk of Marach, now ruled by his grandson
Magor to settle in the southern slopes of the Ered Wethrin. In 416 FA, Magor’s own grandson
Hador leads his people as they are given a land of their own as a fiefdom. Thus,
the House of Hador comes to rule the lands of Dor-lomin. As a gift, Hador is given the
Dragon Helm by Fingolfin’s son Fingon, which would become a great heirloom of his house.
The House of Hador would fight bravely alongside the Noldor in all the coming wars of Beleriand.
From the House of Hador, we see great heroes arise such as Hurin and Turin, and Huor and Tuor.
And it is these three houses of men that would stand against Morgoth in the First Age,
and it would be for their bravery and valor that their descendants would be given the
great land of Numenor. For in the face of the Dark Lord himself, we see their unflinching
will to stand against him, as evidenced by the words of Hurin of the House of Hador:
Throughout the wars of the First Age, the Houses of the Edain would intermarry and
their differences would become less distinct. The Second House would nearly be wiped out throughout
the course of the First Age, with few surviving the War of Wrath. The Edain surviving the war
would be led to their new island home by their first King - Elros the brother of Elrond. Elros,
being a descendant of not only both unions of Man and Elf, but also of all three houses of
the Edain, leads his people to their glorious new future. And while the Edain had lifespans nearing
90 years, the Numenoreans are blessed with life thrice that of normal men. But as we will see,
even this great lifespan would not always be enough for the Numenoreans to come…
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