Children of Ilúvatar
Also calledEruhíni, The Children, Elves and Men, The Firstborn and the Followers
The Children of Ilúvatar are the two speaking peoples whom Eru conceived by himself and set within the world: the Elves, the Firstborn, and Men, the Followers. Neither the Valar nor Melkor had any part in their making, and their coming was the purpose for which Arda was shaped.
Description
The third theme
When the Ainur sang before Eru and the Music of the Ainur took shape, Eru raised a third theme over the discord of Melkor. Into this theme the Ainur had put nothing of their own. It carried the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, the Eruhíni, and none of the Holy Ones understood it fully until the vision of the world was shown to them. Even then the Ainur perceived the Elves and Men only as strangers who would one day walk in the world they had sung. This is why the Valar, when they entered Arda, loved the Children and yet could never fully govern them: they were Eru's own thought, not theirs. The Valar were forbidden to compel the Children or to dominate their wills, and much of the history of the world turns on the Valar trying to protect the Children without mastering them, and on Melkor and later Sauron trying to do the opposite.
Two kindreds
Two peoples fall under this name. The Elves are the Firstborn, who awoke first beside the lake of Cuiviénen under starlight before the Sun rose. Men are the Followers, the Younger Children, who awoke in Hildórien in the far east at the first rising of the Sun. The Elves are called the Quendi, the speakers, because they were the first to make language; Men are called the Atani or Hildor, and Elves later called them the Sickly, the Strangers, or, in kinder moods, the Secondborn.
The two kindreds are alike in body and can marry, though this happened only a few times in all the ages of the world. The line of the Half-elven descends from those unions. The Dwarves are not counted among the Children in the strict sense, because they were shaped by Aulë and only afterwards adopted by Eru; Tolkien names them the Adopted Children. Hobbits are a branch of Men, and the same is true of all the mannish peoples from the Edain to the Haradrim.
The gifts of Ilúvatar
What divides the two kindreds most sharply is their relation to time and death. The Elves are bound to the circles of the world: they do not die of age or sickness, and if their bodies are slain their spirits go to the Halls of Mandos and remain within Arda. Their fate is tied to the fate of the world, and as the world ages they grow weary and fade. Men, by contrast, live briefly and then leave the world altogether, going to a destination that even the Valar do not know. This departure is called the Gift of Ilúvatar, and it is given only to Men. With it came freedom: the wills of Men are not fixed within the Music as the wills of other creatures are, and they can shape their lives beyond what was foreseen. Melkor darkened this gift, and taught Men to see death as a curse rather than a release, and the fear of it drove the Númenóreans to ruin.
The Elves have the stronger bodies and keener senses, the better memories, and the deeper craft. Men have more of Ilúvatar's freedom and are foretold to have a share in the Second Music at the end of days, which the Elves may not. Each kindred has envied the other's portion.
Shared history
The two peoples first met in Beleriand in the First Age, when the folk of Bëor came over the Blue Mountains and were found by Finrod. The alliance of the Edain with the Eldar in the war against Morgoth is the theme of the greatest tales of the age: Beren and Lúthien, Túrin, Tuor and Idril, and Eärendil who bore the blood of both. When Morgoth was overthrown, the Edain were rewarded with the island of Númenor, and the Elves of Beleriand were called into the West.
Through the Second and Third Ages the two kindreds drifted apart. Númenor fell, and its survivors founded Arnor and Gondor in alliance with Gil-galad; after the Last Alliance the Elves withdrew into their few remaining refuges and Men multiplied. The marriage of Aragorn and Arwen at the end of the Third Age rejoined the sundered lines of the Half-elven for the last time, and after it the dominion of Men began.
The end of the story
In the Fourth Age the Elves who remained in Middle-earth faded or sailed, and Men inherited the whole of the world. What lies beyond that is only hinted: a prophecy that the world will be broken and remade, and that the Children will sing the Second Music together with the Ainur.
Physical traits
Elves and Men share the same general form, and neither kindred was easily told from the other in youth. The Elves are taller and stronger on the whole, do not sicken, and their beauty does not decay with age; instead, their bodies are slowly consumed by their spirits over long years. Men are subject to age, injury and disease, and their span of life shortened after the shadow fell on them, though the Númenóreans regained a longer measure for a time.
Culture
The Elves invented language and taught it to Men; nearly every tongue of the free peoples descends in some way from Elvish speech or from contact with it. Elves and Men worshipped no idols; the Elves reverenced the Valar and Eru, and the faithful Men of Númenor kept the hallow of the Meneltarma. Marriage between Elves and Men occurred in only a handful of famous cases: Beren and Lúthien, Tuor and Idril, Aragorn and Arwen, and Imrazôr and Mithrellas in the tradition of Dol Amroth.
Origins
In the Music of the Ainur, Eru introduced a theme no Ainu had devised, and in the vision that followed the Ainur saw the Elves and Men, whom Eru had conceived alone. The Elves awoke by the waters of Cuiviénen under the stars, and Men awoke in Hildórien when the Sun first rose in the west.
Fate
The Elves diminish and depart over the Sea through the Fourth Age; Men inherit the world. The two kindreds are foretold to be reunited in the Second Music at the end of Arda.
Sub-kindreds4
- Race
The Elves, or Quendi, are the Firstborn Children of Ilúvatar, who awoke under starlight at Cuiviénen before the making of the Sun. Immortal within the world, keen of sense and matchless in craft, they were divided for ever by the summons of the Valar into those who went west and those who refused, and their history is the story of that sundering.
- Kindred
The Half-elven, the Peredhil, are the descendants of the marriages between Elves and Men: Eärendil and Elwing, their sons Elrond and Elros, and the children of Elrond. To them alone the Valar granted a choice between the immortality of the Elves and the mortal fate of Men, and the choice divided the family for ever.
7 figures - Race
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.
- Race
Hobbits are a small, unobtrusive branch of the race of Men who settled the Shire in Eriador after long wanderings from the vales of the Anduin. Fond of food, gardens, tobacco and quiet, they nonetheless produced the Ring-bearers whose deeds ended the Third Age.
17 figures
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 GondorQueen of Gondor and Arnor
Arwen
Half-elvenArwen Undómiel, daughter of Elrond and Celebrían, was called the Evenstar of her people because in her the beauty of Lúthien was said to have returned to the world. She loved Aragorn, chose a mortal life to share his, and became Queen of the Reunited Kingdom; after his death she went alone to Lórien and died on Cerin Amroth, where their troth had been plighted.
Rivendell and Lothlórien; afterwards 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 OssiriandRing-bearer
Bilbo Baggins
HobbitsBilbo Baggins of Bag End was the respectable Hobbit whom Gandalf sent as burglar with Thorin Oakenshield's company to the Lonely Mountain, and who came home with a golden ring from beneath the Misty Mountains. His finding of the One Ring, his mercy to Gollum and his book set the whole War of the Ring in motion.
The ShireCaptain 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.
GondorLord of Arvernien
Eärendil
Half-elvenEärendil, son of Tuor and Idril of Gondolin and husband of Elwing, was the mariner who, bearing a Silmaril on his brow, crossed the Shadowy Seas that no ship had passed, stood before the Valar in Valinor, and won the aid of the West against Morgoth. He never came back to mortal shores: his ship Vingilot was raised into the sky, and the light of the jewel he carries is the Evening Star.
Arvernien and the Havens of Sirion; afterwards the heavensHigh 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 GondorLord of Rivendell
Elrond
Half-elvenElrond Half-elven, son of Eärendil and Elwing, chose the fate of the Elves and lived through three Ages of the world: fostered by Maglor, herald to Gil-galad at the Last Alliance, founder and master of Rivendell, keeper of the Ring Vilya, foster-father of Aragorn and father of Arwen. His house was the great refuge and library of the North, and at its Council the fate of the One Ring was decided.
Rivendell (Imladris)Third 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.
GondorHigh King of the Noldor (claimed)
Fëanor
NoldorFëanor, eldest son of Finwë, was the greatest craftsman and the most fiery spirit ever born among the Elves, maker of the Silmarils and of the Tengwar. His Oath to recover the jewels from Morgoth drove the Noldor into rebellion and exile, brought about the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and shaped the whole tragedy of the First Age.
Tirion, then FormenosHigh King of the Noldor
Fingolfin
NoldorFingolfin, eldest son of Finwë and Indis, was the first High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth, who led his people across the grinding ice of the Helcaraxë after Fëanor abandoned them. He held Hithlum through the long Siege of Angband and died in single combat with Morgoth at the gates of Angband, the most famous duel of the Elder Days.
HithlumKing of Nargothrond
Finrod
NoldorFinrod Felagund, eldest son of Finarfin, was the wisest and most generous of the Noldorin princes in exile. He founded Nargothrond, was the first Elf-lord to befriend Men, and kept his oath to Barahir by going with Beren on the quest of the Silmaril; he died in Sauron's dungeon killing a werewolf with his bare hands to save his mortal friend.
NargothrondRing-bearer
Frodo Baggins
HobbitsFrodo Baggins, Bilbo's heir, was the Ring-bearer who carried the One Ring from the Shire to the fire of Mount Doom. Wounded in body and spirit by the journey, he saved the Shire but could not enjoy it, and sailed into the West with the last of the Elves.
The ShireLady of Lothlórien
Galadriel
NoldorGaladriel, only daughter of Finarfin and the greatest of the Noldor after Fëanor, left Valinor in the rebellion, learned wisdom from Melian in Doriath, and outlived every other leader of the Exiles by three Ages. Bearer of Nenya, founder with Celeborn of the realm of Lórien, and a member of the White Council, she refused the One Ring when Frodo offered it, threw down Dol Guldur, and at last sailed West with the Ring-bearers.
LothlórienHigh King of the Noldor
Gil-galad
NoldorEreinion Gil-galad was the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth. Sent to the Havens as a child, he took up the kingship after the fall of Gondolin, ruled Lindon through the whole of the Second Age, refused Sauron the gates of his realm, received two of the Three Rings, and led the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Elendil. He died with Elendil on the slopes of Mount Doom overthrowing Sauron.
Lindon- Stoors
Gollum, once the Stoor-hobbit Sméagol of the Gladden Fields, murdered his friend Déagol for the One Ring and was hollowed out by it over five centuries in the dark. Guide and betrayer of Frodo, he took the Ring at the Cracks of Doom and fell with it into the fire, accomplishing the quest that the Ring-bearer could not.
The Gladden Fields; later the caverns beneath the Misty Mountains Lord 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 KingPrince of the Woodland Realm
Legolas
Silvan ElvesLegolas, son of Thranduil of the Woodland Realm, was the Elf of the Fellowship of the Ring. A peerless archer and tracker, he walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate beside Aragorn and Gimli, forged the first true friendship between Elf and Dwarf in an age, and after the death of the King Elessar built a ship and sailed into the West with his Dwarven friend.
The Woodland Realm, later IthilienPrincess of Doriath
Lúthien
SindarLúthien, daughter of King Thingol and the Maia Melian, was the fairest of all the Children of Ilúvatar. For love of the mortal Beren she overcame Sauron, put Morgoth himself to sleep in his own hall, and won a Silmaril from the Iron Crown; she then moved Mandos to pity and chose mortality so that she and Beren might not be parted. Every line of the Half-elven descends from her.
Doriath, later Tol GalenLord of Himring
Maedhros
NoldorMaedhros, eldest son of Fëanor, was the tallest and most temperate of the seven brothers, the captive of Thangorodrim rescued by Fingon, and the lord of Himring who anchored the eastern Siege of Angband. Bound by the Oath, he led the last two Kinslayings and ended his life by casting himself and a Silmaril into a chasm of fire.
Himring and the March of MaedhrosRing-bearer
Samwise Gamgee
HobbitsSamwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardener, was the companion who carried the Ring-bearer to Mount Doom and briefly bore the Ring himself. He restored the Shire after the Scouring, was seven times Mayor, and at the last, as the final Ring-bearer, sailed into the West.
The ShireKing 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.
RohanKing of Doriath
Thingol
SindarElwë Singollo, called Thingol, led the Teleri on the Great Journey, met the Maia Melian in Nan Elmoth and never left Middle-earth again. As King of Doriath he ruled the Sindar for the whole of the First Age, set Beren the impossible price of a Silmaril for his daughter Lúthien, and was slain in his own treasury by Dwarves over the jewel he had once demanded.
DoriathLord 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 SirionKing of Gondolin
Turgon
NoldorTurgon, second son of Fingolfin, was the founder and king of the hidden city of Gondolin, built in secret at Ulmo's prompting and kept from Morgoth for nearly four centuries. He became High King of the Noldor after the Nirnaeth, received Tuor and Ulmo's warning, and died when the city fell through the treason of his nephew Maeglin.
GondolinLord 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.
GondorPrincess of the Noldor
Aredhel
NoldorAredhel, the White Lady of the Noldor, was the daughter of Fingolfin and sister of Fingon and Turgon, a restless huntress who left Gondolin, was taken to wife by the Dark Elf Eöl, and bore him Maeglin. Fleeing back to Gondolin, she died of a poisoned javelin her husband had thrown at their son.
GondolinKing 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.
DaleChief of the Marchwardens of Doriath
Beleg
SindarBeleg Strongbow, chief of the marchwardens of Doriath and the greatest woodsman of the Sindar, was the friend and teacher of Túrin. He followed Túrin into outlawry and into the enemy's country to save him, and died at his hand in the dark of Taur-nu-Fuin, killed by mistake with the very sword he had carried to the rescue.
DoriathFirst 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 AnduinLord of Lothlórien
Celeborn
SindarCeleborn, a Sindarin prince of Doriath and the husband of Galadriel, outlasted three Ages of Middle-earth as lord of the Galadhrim. He shared the rule of Lothlórien with his wife, led the host that stormed Dol Guldur at the end of the War of the Ring, held East Lórien for a season of the Fourth Age, and at last, when the Golden Wood had emptied, went to Rivendell and thence over the Sea.
LothlórienLord of Eregion
Celebrimbor
NoldorCelebrimbor, grandson of Fëanor, renounced his father Curufin's deeds and became the greatest smith of the Second Age. As lord of the Elven-smiths of Eregion he was deceived by Sauron in the guise of Annatar and forged the Rings of Power, but he made the Three alone and hid them when he perceived the One. Sauron destroyed Eregion and slew him, and his body was borne as a banner before the enemy host.
EregionLord of Himlad
Celegorm
NoldorCelegorm the Fair, third son of Fëanor, was a hunter and friend of Oromë, master of the great hound Huan. With his brother Curufin he seized Lúthien in Nargothrond and tried to force a marriage, lost Huan and his honour, and died in the sack of Doriath at the hands of Dior.
HimladLord of the Falas
Círdan
SindarCírdan the Shipwright, a Telerin kinsman of Thingol who stayed on the shores of Middle-earth when the ships sailed West, was lord of the Falas in the First Age and of the Grey Havens through the Second and Third. He built the ships of the Elves for three Ages, bore the Ring of Fire until he gave it to Gandalf, and remained at the Havens until the last ship should sail.
The Falas; afterwards Lindon and the Grey HavensRuling 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.
GondorLord of Himlad
Curufin
NoldorCurufin the Crafty, fifth son of Fëanor, was the son most like his father in skill and temper, and the father of Celebrimbor. With Celegorm he schemed for the lordship of Nargothrond, tried to kill Lúthien, and was repudiated by his own son; he died in the sack of Doriath.
HimladKing of Doriath
Dior
Half-elvenDior Eluchíl, the only child of Beren and Lúthien, was the first of the Half-elven and the heir of Thingol. He restored Doriath after the death of his grandfather, received the Silmaril in the Nauglamír, and refused to yield it to the sons of Fëanor; in the Second Kinslaying he slew Celegorm and was slain, and the kingdom of Doriath ended with him.
Tol Galen, then DoriathKing 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.
GondorFirst King of Númenor
Elros
Half-elvenElros, twin brother of Elrond and son of Eärendil and Elwing, chose under the Choice of the Peredhil to be counted among Men. He led the Edain over the sea to the new land of Númenor and reigned there for four hundred and ten years as Tar-Minyatur, the first of a line of kings that ended with Elendil's heirs on the thrones of Gondor and Arnor.
NúmenorLady of the Havens of Sirion
Elwing
Half-elvenElwing, daughter of Dior and Nimloth and granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien, carried the Silmaril out of the ruin of Doriath and refused to yield it to the sons of Fëanor. When they sacked the Havens of Sirion she cast herself into the sea with the jewel and was borne up as a white bird to her husband Eärendil, with whom she reached Valinor. She chose the fate of the Elves and dwells on the shore of Aman.
Doriath, then the Havens of Sirion; afterwards a tower on the shores of AmanLord 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 EmeriëHigh King of the Noldor
Fingon
NoldorFingon the Valiant, eldest son of Fingolfin, rescued Maedhros from Thangorodrim and so healed the breach in the Noldor, drove Glaurung back at his first appearance, and succeeded his father as High King. He was slain by Gothmog at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the battle he had helped to plan.
HithlumLord of the House of the Golden Flower
Glorfindel
NoldorGlorfindel was lord of the House of the Golden Flower in Gondolin, golden-haired and reckoned among the mightiest of the Noldor of the Hidden City. He died killing a Balrog above the pass of Cirith Thoronath so that the refugees of Gondolin could escape, and by long tradition he is the same Glorfindel who returned to Middle-earth, routed the Witch-king at Fornost, carried Frodo to the Ford of Bruinen, and sat at the Council of Elrond.
Gondolin, later RivendellCounsellor 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
Relations with other peoples
Places
Timeline
Before Arda: the Music of the Ainur
Before ArdaThe third theme of the Music
Eru raises a theme over the discord of Melkor, and in it lies the coming of Elves and Men, whom no Ainu had devised.
- Y.T. 1050
The Elves awake at Cuiviénen
The Firstborn open their eyes under starlight beside a lake in the east of Middle-earth.
- Y.T. 1105
The Great Journey begins
Three hosts of the Eldar set out westward toward Aman at the summons of the Valar.
- F.A. 1
Men awake in Hildórien
At the first rising of the Sun the Younger Children awake in the far east.
- F.A. 310
First meeting of Elves and Men in Beleriand
Finrod finds the people of Bëor camped in Ossiriand and the alliance of Eldar and Edain begins.
- F.A. 466
Beren and Lúthien
The first marriage of a mortal and an Elf, from which the Half-elven descend.
- F.A. 587
Morgoth overthrown
The Host of the Valar, with Elves and Edain, breaks Angband; the Edain are granted Númenor.
- S.A. 3319
Downfall of Númenor
The fear of death, twisted by Sauron, leads the Númenóreans to assail Aman and the island is drowned.
- S.A. 3441
The Last Alliance
Elves and Men together overthrow Sauron; the two kindreds never again march as one host.
- T.A. 3019
Marriage of Aragorn and Arwen
The lines of Elros and Elrond are joined once more; the Elves' time in Middle-earth ends and the dominion of Men begins.
Sources
- The SilmarillionAinulindalë; Quenta Silmarillion chapters 1, 3, 12, 17
- The Lord of the Rings: AppendicesAppendix A, part I
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earthPart Two, A Description of the Island of Númenor