Editing Men in Middle-earth (section)

==In the fictional world==

=== Creation ===
{{further|History of Arda}}

The race of Men in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s fictional world, in his books ''[[The Hobbit]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' and ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', is the second race of beings, the "younger children", created by the [[God|One God]], [[Ilúvatar]]. Because they awoke in the [[First Age]] at the start of the [[Years of the Sun]], long after the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]], the Elves called them the "afterborn", or in [[Quenya]] the ''Atani'', the "Second People". Like Elves, Men first awoke in [[Rhûn|the East]] of [[Middle-earth]], spreading all over the continent and developing a variety of cultures and ethnicities. Unlike Tolkien's Elves, Men are mortal; when they die, they depart to a world unknown even to the godlike [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]].<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/>

=== Free peoples ===
{{anchor|Free peoples}}
{{further|Middle-earth peoples#Free peoples}}

Men are one of the four "free peoples" in the list-poem spoken by the [[Ent]] [[Treebeard]]; the others being Elves, [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]], and Ents.<ref group=T name="Treebeard">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954}}, book 3, ch. 4 "Treebeard"</ref> [[Hobbit]]s, not included on that list, were a branch of the lineage of Men.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, "Prologue"</ref><ref group=T>{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |editor-last=Lobdell |editor-first=Jared |editor-link=Jared Lobdell |chapter=Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings, "The Firstborn" |title=[[A Tolkien Compass]] |date=1975 |publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company|Open Court]] |page=162 |isbn=978-0875483030 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/tolkiencompass00lobd/page/162}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#131 to [[Milton Waldman]], late 1951 }}</ref> Hobbits were not known to the Ents, but on meeting [[Merry Brandybuck|Merry]] and [[Pippin Took|Pippin]], Treebeard at once worked that people into the list.<ref group=T name="Treebeard"/>

The concept of the free peoples is shared by [[Elrond]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 2, ch. 3 "The Ring Goes South"</ref> The Tolkien scholar [[Paul H. Kocher]] writes that, in the style of the medieval [[Great Chain of Being]], this list places Men and the other speaking peoples higher than the beasts, birds, and reptiles which he lists next. "Man the mortal, master of horses" is listed last among the free peoples, who were created separately.{{sfn|Kocher|1974|pp=73–78}}

=== Diversity ===
{{anchor|Easterlings|Variags of Khand|Dunlendings|Edain|Dúnedain|Dunedain}}
[[File:Witan hexateuch.jpg|thumb|Tolkien modelled the [[Rohirrim]], the Riders of Rohan, on the [[Anglo-Saxons]] (here in an 11th-century illustration).{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=144–149}}]]

Although all Men in [[Tolkien's legendarium]] are related to one another, there are many different groups with different cultures. Those on the side of the hobbits in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are the [[Dúnedain]], the men who fought on the side of the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] in the First Age against [[Morgoth]] in [[Beleriand]], from whom other friendly groups, the Rangers including [[Aragorn]], and the men of [[Gondor]] are descended; and their allies the [[Rohirrim]].<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/>

[[File:Варяги.jpg|thumb|The Variags of Khand are named for the [[Varangians]], medieval Germanic mercenaries.<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/> Painting by [[Viktor Vasnetsov]]]]

[[File:Pyrrhus and his Elephants.gif|thumb|upright|The [[Harad]]rim used battle-elephants, as [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]] did. Illustration by Helene Guerber<ref name="Kennedy 2016"/>]]

The main human adversaries in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are the [[Haradrim]] and the Easterlings.<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/> The Haradrim or Southrons were hostile to Gondor, and used elephants in war. Tolkien describes them as "swart",<ref name="Sinex 2010"/> meaning "dark-skinned".<ref>{{cite web |title=swart in British English |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/swart |publisher=[[HarperCollins|Collins]] |access-date=25 July 2022 |quote=[[Old English]] ''sweart''; related to [[Old Frisian]] ''swart'', [[Old Norse]] ''svartr'', [[Old High German]] ''swarz'' black, [[Latin]] ''sordēs'' dirt}}</ref> The Easterlings lived in Rhûn, the vast eastern region of Middle-earth; they fought in the armies of [[Morgoth]] and [[Sauron]]. Tolkien describes them as "slant-eyed";<ref name="Sinex 2010"/> they ride horses or wagons, leading to the name "wain-riders".<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/> The Variags of Khand formed a third but smaller group, who appear as vassals of Mordor in the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]]. Their name is from {{langx|ru|Варяги}} (''Variag''), meaning the [[Varangians]], Viking or other Germanic warriors who served as [[mercenaries]].<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/> Other human adversaries include the Black Númenóreans, good men gone wrong;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Wayne G. |author1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |author2-link=Christina Scull |title=The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion |title-link=The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] | year=2005 |isbn=978-0-00-720907-1 |pages=283–284}}</ref> and the [[Corsairs of Umbar]], rebels of Gondor.<ref name="Bowers 2019">{{cite book |last=Bowers |first=John M. |title=Tolkien's Lost Chaucer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5OwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 |year=2019 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-258029-0 |page=170}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Cultures of Men in the Third Age
|-
! Nation/group !! Culture !! Language !! Real-world analogues
|-
| [[Bree (Middle-earth)|Bree]]<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 1, ch. 9 "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"</ref> || Village; agriculture;<br/>houses of wood, earth, stone || [[Westron]] || [[Medieval England]]{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=124}}
|-
| [[Beornings]]<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937}}, ch. 7 "Queer Lodgings"</ref> || Wooden hall; [[beekeeping]],<br/>[[dairy]] || Westron || [[Norse myth]] ([[Bödvar Bjarki]]);<br/>[[Beowulf]]{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=91}}
|-
| [[Dale (Middle-earth)|Dale]]<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937}}, ch. 10 "A Warm Welcome"</ref> || Towns, trade, taverns || their own || Germanic medieval Europe 
|-
| [[Drúedain]]<ref group=T name="Muster">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Book 5, ch. 3, "The Muster of Rohan"</ref><ref group=T name="Rohirrim">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Book 5, ch. 5, "The Ride of the Rohirrim"</ref><br/>Wild men,<ref group=T name="Rohirrim"/> Púkel-men,<ref group=T name="Muster"/> Woses<ref group=T name="Rohirrim"/> || Forest || their own || [[Wild man]] legends<br/>of medieval Europe{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=74, 149}}
|-
| Dunlendings<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, b, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age"</ref><br/>Wild men of Dunland || Agriculture || Westron,<br/>Dunlendish || [[Celtic Britons]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Panshin |first1=Cory Seidman |title=Old Irish Influences Upon the Languages & Literature of ''The Lord of the Rings'' |journal=[[Tolkien Journal]] |date=1969 |volume=3 |issue=4 |at=article 4 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/tolkien_journal/vol3/iss4/4}}</ref>
|-
| Easterlings<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954}}, book 4, ch. 5 "The Window on the West"</ref><br/>People of Rhûn, Wainriders || Horses, war-wagons || their own || [[Huns]]{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=18, 20}}
|-
| [[Gondor]] and the [[Dúnedain]]<ref group="T">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 5 ch. 1 "Minas Tirith"</ref> || Cities, stone architecture;<br/>literature, music ||  Westron,<br/>[[Sindarin]],<br/>[[Quenya]] || [[Byzantine Empire]],<ref name="Libran-Moreno"/><br/>[[Ancient Egypt]],{{sfn|Garth|2020|p=41}}<br/>[[Goths]],<ref name="Libran-Moreno"/><br/>[[Langobards]]<ref name="Libran-Moreno">{{cite book |title=Tolkien and the Study of his Sources |last=Librán-Moreno |first=Miryam |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7864-6482-1 |editor-last=Fisher |editor-first=Jason |editor-link=Jason Fisher |pages=84–116 |chapter='Byzantium, New Rome!' Goths, Langobards and Byzantium in ''The Lord of the Rings'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98VQ3gHsVsMC&q=Gondor+Byzance&pg=PA98}}</ref>
|-
| [[Harad]]rim<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954}}, book 4, ch. 3 "The Black Gate is Closed"</ref><br/>Southrons || Desert; war-elephants; raiding in ships || their own || Enemies of [[Ancient Rome]]<ref name="Kennedy 2016">{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |author-link=Maev Kennedy |title=Tolkien annotated map of Middle-earth acquired by Bodleian library |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/03/jrr-tolkien-annotated-map-middle-earth-bodleian-lord-rings-hobbit |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 May 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Riders of Rohan]]<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954}}, book 3, ch. 6 "The King of the Golden Hall"</ref> || Wooden [[mead-hall]]s,<br/>agriculture, horsemanship || Rohirric,<br/>Westron || [[Anglo-Saxons]],<br/>[[Goths]]{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=144–149"}}
|-
| Variags of [[Khand (Middle-earth)|Khand]]<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 5, ch. 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"</ref> || [[Mercenaries]] || their own || [[Varangians]]<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/> 
|}

[[Sandra Ballif Straubhaar]] notes<!--p. 416--> in ''[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'' that [[Faramir]], son of the [[Steward of Gondor]], makes an "arrogant"<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/> speech, of which he later "has cause to repent",<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/> classifying the types of Men as seen by the Men of [[Númenórean]] origin at the end of the [[Third Age]]; she notes, too, that his taxonomy is probably not to be taken at face value.<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Faramir]]'s taxonomy of Men of Middle-earth<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/>
|-
! High Men<br/>Men of the West<br/>[[Númenórean]]s !! Middle Men<br/>Men of the Twilight !! Wild Men<br/>Men of the Darkness
|-
| The Three Houses of Edain who went to [[Númenor]], and their descendants 
| Edain of other houses who stayed in Middle-earth; they became the barbarian nations of Rhovanion, [[Dale (Middle-earth)|Dale]], the House of [[Beorn]], and the [[Rohirrim]].
| All other Men, not connected to the Elves, including Easterlings and Dunlendings.<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/>{{efn|It is unclear whether the friendly Lossoth (Snow-Men of the Ice Bay of Forochel) and [[Drúedain]] are part of this group.<ref name="Straubhaar 2013"/>}} 
|}

=== History===
{{further|The Silmarillion}}

In a world with other intelligent and cultured races, Men in Middle-earth interact with each other and with the other races in a complex history, narrated mainly in ''[[The Silmarillion]]''. Men are in general friendly with the other free peoples, especially Elves; they are implacable enemies of the enslaved peoples, especially [[Orc]]s. In the First Age, Men, the '''Edain'''<!--redirects here-->, lived in [[Beleriand]] on the extreme West of Middle-earth. They form an alliance with the Elves and join a disastrous war against the first Dark Lord, [[Morgoth]], which destroys Beleriand. As a reward for fighting in the war, the creator, [[Eru Iluvatar]], gives the Edain the new island of [[Númenor]] as their home.{{sfn|Kocher|1974|pp=109–116}}<ref group=T name="Silm ch 17ff">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 17 "Of the Coming of Men into the West" and subsequent chapters</ref>

The key difference between Men and Elves now becomes central to the story: Elves are [[Immortality|immortal]], and return to [[Valinor]], home of the godlike [[Valar]], when they become weary of Middle-earth, or are killed in battle. Men, however, are mortal.<ref name="Parker 1957">{{cite journal |last=Parker |first=Douglass |author-link=Douglass Parker |title=Hwaet We Holbytla ... |journal=[[The Hudson Review]] |date=1957 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=598–609 |jstor=4621633}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |chapter=Two Norths and Their English Blend |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |title-link=Perilous Realms |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=978-0-8020-3806-7 |pages=12–29}}</ref> Morgoth's servant, [[Sauron]], tempts the Men of Númenor to attack Valinor, in their search for immortality: Sauron has falsely insinuated that Men can become immortal just by being in that place. The Men and Númenor are destroyed: the island is drowned, [[Atlantis]]-like, beneath the waves; the world is made round; and Valinor is removed from the world, so that only the Elves can reach it. Sauron's body is destroyed, but his spirit escapes to become the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth. A remnant of the Men of Númenor who remained faithful, under [[Elendil]], sail to Middle-earth, where they found the kingdoms of [[Arnor (Middle-earth)|Arnor]] in the North and [[Gondor]] in the South, remaining known as the Dúnedain, "Men of the West". Arnor becomes fragmented, and declines until its kings become Rangers in the wilds, but they retain their memory of Númenor or "Westernesse", through many generations down to [[Aragorn]], a protagonist in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The line of kings in Gondor eventually dies out, and the country is ruled by [[Stewards of Gondor|Stewards]], the throne empty, until Aragorn returns.{{sfn|Kocher|1974|pp=109–116}}<ref group=T name="Silm ch 17ff"/>

=== Intermarriage and immortality ===
{{further|The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen|Death in Middle-earth}}

Tolkien stated that the core [[Themes of The Lord of the Rings|theme of ''The Lord of the Rings'']] was death and the human desire to escape it.<ref name=Letter 203" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#203 to Herbert Schiro, 17 November 1957 }}</ref><ref name="Letter 211" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958 }}</ref> The theme, which recurs throughout the work, is sharply visible in an appendix, "[[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]", in which the immortal Elf [[Arwen]] chooses mortality so that she can marry the mortal Man [[Aragorn]]. The result, as with the earlier intermarriage of their ancestors [[Lúthien|Lúthien and Beren]] in the [[First Age]] in Beleriand, was to make Aragorn's line exceptionally long-lived among Men, and as the royal family intermarried with other people of Gondor, to maintain or extend the lifespan of the entire race.<ref name="RoTK" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix A: "Annals of the Kings and Rulers": I "The Númenórean Kings": (v) "Here follows a part of the tale of Aragorn and Arwen"</ref><ref name="Hannon 2004">{{cite journal |last=Hannon |first=Patrice |title=The Lord of the Rings as Elegy |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=2004 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=36–42 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol24/iss2/4/}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Straubhaar |first=Sandra Ballif |author-link=Sandra Ballif Straubhaar |year=2005 |title=Gilraen's Linnod: Function, Genre, Prototypes |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |volume=2 |pages=235–244 |doi=10.1353/tks.2005.0032 |s2cid=170378314 }}</ref><ref name="Cunningham 2005">{{cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=Michael |year=2005 |title=A History of Song: The Transmission of Memory in Middle-Earth |journal=[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]] |issue=43 |pages=27–29}}</ref>

=== Fading ===
{{further|Decline and fall in Middle-earth}}
[[File:Tolkien&#039;s Imagined Prehistory.svg|thumb|Tolkien imagined [[Cosmology of Middle-earth|Arda]] as the [[Earth]] in the distant past.<ref name="Letter 211" group=T/>{{sfn|Kocher|1974|pp=8–11}} With the loss of all its peoples except Man, and the reshaping of the continents, all that is left of Middle-earth is a dim memory in [[folklore]], [[legend]], and [[Etymology|old words]].<ref name="Lee Solopova 2005">{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Stuart D. |author1-link=Stuart D. Lee |last2=Solopova |first2=Elizabeth |author2-link=Elizabeth Solopova |title=The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien |title-link=The Keys of Middle-earth |date=2005 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |isbn=978-1403946713 |pages=256–257}}</ref> Shapes of continents are purely schematic.]]

The overall feeling in ''The Lord of the Rings'', however, despite the victories and Aragorn's long-awaited kingship and marriage, is of [[Decline and fall in Middle-earth|decline and fall]], echoing [[Tolkien and the Norse|the view of Norse mythology]] that everything will inevitably be destroyed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ford |first1=Mary Ann |last2=Reid |first2=Robin Anne |chapter=Into the West |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=[[Picturing Tolkien]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA172 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |pages=169–182}}</ref> As the Tolkien scholar [[Marjorie Burns]] put it, "Here is a mythology where even the gods can die, and it leaves the reader with a vivid sense of life's cycles, with an awareness that everything comes to an end, that, though [the evil] Sauron may go, the elves will fade as well."<ref name="Burns 1989">{{cite journal |last=Burns |first=Marjorie J. |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=J.R.R. Tolkien and the Journey North |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=1989 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=5–9 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol15/iss4/1/ |jstor=26811938}}</ref> This fits with Tolkien's equation of Middle-earth with the real Earth at some distant epoch in the past, and with his apparent intention to create a [[England in Middle-earth|mythology for England]]. He could combine medieval myths and legends, hints from poems and nearly-forgotten names to build a world of [[Wizards (Middle-earth)|Wizards]] and Elves, Dwarves, [[Rings of Power]], Hobbits, Orcs, [[Troll (Middle-earth)|Trolls]] and [[Ringwraiths]], and heroic Men with Elvish blood in their veins, and follow their history through long ages, provided that at the end he tore it all down again, leaving nothing, once again, but dim memories. By the end of ''The Lord of the Rings'', the reader has learnt that the Elves have left for the Uttermost West, never to return, and that the other peoples, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents and all the rest, are dwindling and fading, leaving only a world of Men.<ref name="Lee Solopova 2005"/><ref name="Burns 1989"/><ref name="Hannon 2004"/>

Kocher writes that the furthest look into Man's future in ''The Lord of the Rings'' is the conversation between the Elf [[Legolas]] and the Dwarf [[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]], close friends, at the moment when they first visit [[Minas Tirith]], the capital city of the Men of Gondor, "and see the marks of decay around them".{{sfn|Kocher|1974|p=53}} Gimli says that the works of Men always "fail of their promise"; Legolas replies that even if that's so, "seldom do they fail of their seed", in marked contrast to the scarcity of children among Elves and Dwarves, implying that Men will outlast the other races. Gimli suggests again that Men's projects "come to naught in the end but might-have-beens". Legolas just replies "To that the Elves know not the answer".{{sfn|Kocher|1974|p=53}}<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 5, ch. 9 "The Last Debate"</ref> Kocher comments that this "sad little fugue" is at variance with the hopeful tone of the rest of the work, remaining cheerful even in the face of apparently insuperable odds.{{sfn|Kocher|1974|p=53}}