History of Men (Volume I): Hildor and Edain

by Boddah

The history of Men in Middle-Earth is quite interesting. It is easy to understand if you take it step by step. Let us begin with the first men. Men first awoke at Hildórien, a land in the far east of Middle-Earth. They awoke in Year One of the First Age when the Sun rose for the first time and the Noldor returned from Valinor. The men saw the sun rise in the west and decided to move out west. After centuries of wandering the men settled in Beleriand. Now the Elves called these creatures Hildor, the Hildor were the youngest of the races of Arda, except maybe for the Hobbits.

Now that we have their origins cleared up, let us move to a very important part of the history of Men, the Edain. The Edain consisted of the Three Houses of Men: the Bëor, the Haleth, and the Hador. Let us begin analyzing the oldest of the Three Houses, the Bëor. In the year 300 of the First Age a group of men headed by Balan crossed the mountains of Ered Luin and entered the northern regions of Ossiriand. The Elves in the area led by Finrod stumbled upon the men. So Finrod was the first Eldar (Elf) to meet a Man.

Often when the Men were sleeping Finrod would make his way to their camp and sing them songs. The Men thought it was a dream and could not understand the words. They named him Nómin the Wise. Because the Men knew little about the Valar and nothing about the Eldar they mistook him for one of the Valar.

Time passed and Finrod began to live with the Men and picked up upon their language. He had long conversations with Balan (also known as Bëor). There Balan informed the Eldar that more Men were crossing the mountains into Ossiriand. After a while the Green-elves of Ossiriand requested Finrod to tell the Men to move to another land. They settled in the lands owned by Amrod and Amras, the Estolad.

After a few years Finrod began to miss his home lands and wished to travel back to them. Bëor had such strong respect and loyalty to the Elf that he insisted on going with him, leaving his oldest son Baran in charge of the House of Bëor. From that day on Bëor stayed loyal to Finrod until his death which is how he earned the name Bëor which means ‘Vassal’ in his tongue. The House of Bëor remained always loyal to Finrod and his House of Finarfin. As time progressed the House of Bëor moved on to the lands of Dorthonion.

For forty some years Bëor served Finrod until he died at the age of ninety three. This was the first time the Eldar witnessed the ‘Gift of Man’. The Gift of Man was simply death. The immortals thought the Men lucky to be able to die and be relieved of all anguish and pain.

References

The Encyclopedia of Arda

Lord of the Rings Fanatics Library

Next- Volume 2: Númenóreans