children of the Sun
Second-born
[the] strangers
men
Humans have been a mainstay throughout nearly the entire history of Fantasy fiction and tolkien's works are no exception
generally, they are cited as being the most common most versatile and most indomitable of the species and of course the ones that we
as readers can best relate to
Just like the videos on elves and dwarves we will omit most specific names for the sake of this overview
Men much like elves were created by the [Supreme]. [God] eru iluvatar
Other than the [obvious] physical differences the most notable difference between men and elves is the so-called gift of men
The gift of men is more or less their mortality meaning that unlike elves they can die and depart from [arda]
Whereas elves cannot escape the fate of Arda and are continually kept there
When men die they are freed from the bounds of the world in its troubles?
Men are also free from the designs of the music of creation and Thus can craft their own fates
Men awoke on Arda years after the elves and thus were referred to as the second born or after born
They awoke in a land in the far east of Middle-Earth
And it said among elves that morgoth went to them and put darkness in their hearts
Some fled this corruption however and went west across middle-earth while some that stayed in [the] [east] would serve more Gotham later Sauron
Those that went west settled across Middle-earth and began mingling with elves and dwarves
They learned many things from the elves and many adopted their language
But most notable was their assistance to the elves in the war against morgoth
many, men were killed in these battles, but men eventually united under one banner and helped win the war of wrath and defeat morgoth as
their reward for helping in the war against morgoth
These men were given a new land to settle for themselves an island to the west of Middle-Earth known as [numenor]
in
Addition they were also blessed with increased Lifespans and knowledge
The núMEnóreans prospered for many years becoming extremely skilled in crafting the forging of weapons and armor it
Is said that their weapons armor and horse riding skills were second only to [the] valar?
their main Specialty however was shipbuilding and sailing
númenóreans became great explorers traveling across [arta] except for the west for the valar had forbidden
NúMenóreans from Sailing West Towards [Valinor] they began meeting with the men of Middle-Earth
Teaching them what they knew and it also continued to be friends with the elves, but of course
Happiness and prosperity were not to last for long and slowly the núMEnóreans began to resent the elves for their immortality
Even [though] they now lived on average for 350 years the fear of death continued to creep into them and they envied the elves
The NúMEnóreans began to speak out against the ban of sailing [west] and spoke of their resentment of the elves abandoning their language
The arrival of Sauron is a captive and later a counselor only worsened this process as he poisoned their minds with lies
And convinced them to worship morgoth instead
Sacrifices were [made] in morgoth's name and things came to a head [when] Sauron convinced the king to sail west to become immortal
breaking the ban the valar had set erhu himself intervened and sunk numenor killing nearly all núMenóreans in the process a
small minority of
NúMenóreans known as the faithful because they kept loyal to the baal are in the elves were spared the fate of their kinsmen a
group of nine ships were pushed eastward towards middle-earth and there they [formed] the two kingdoms of arnor and gondor the
Former núMEnóreans who became known as do [nadine] meaning men of the West
Began interbreeding with the men of Middle-Earth which continued to dilute the blood of NúMenor?
After Sauron attacked gondor the Doudna [Dyne] allied with elves and dwarves to defeat Sauron once again at the end of the second age
Afterwards the kingdom of arnor eventually became wrought with [Civil] [war] and split into various smaller States
the Doudna dine of the [North] continued their legacy in the form of rangers of the North
With their chieftain being able to trace his legacy back to the ancient kings of NúMenor
The most notable of these is aragorn the second who later reunited the kingdoms of gondor [and] our [nor]
Not all núMenóreans who rebelled against the valar were killed however as some had settled in Middle-Earth prior to the [downfall] [of] NúMenor
Many people in Middle-Earth came to fear some of these núMenóreans who would take them as sacrifices to morgoth
These men became known as black núMenóreans and three of the ring wraiths and later the mouth of Sauron could be counted among these
other groups of men include the North men
Men who didn't fall under morgoth or Sauron sway as well as men who didn't wish to go to [numenor]?
many of these men became subjects of gondor and the [towns] of dale and Lake town were populated by [North] Men [as]
Mentioned many of the men in the east as well as the desert dwellers of the [south]
Fought for Sauron throughout the war of the ring
Hobbits can also be considered an offshoot of men, but they are outside the scope of this video
Men of course were instrumental during the war of the ring Rallied by aragorn later known as king a lesser
king a lesser ruled both gondor and [arnor] bringing both the prosperity and renewing cooperation between elves men and dwarves if
The prophecy of Mandos is to be believed
After morgoth returns and is defeated forever men will participate in the second song of creation creating a new world to live in
Physically men in Middle-Earth have gone through a number of changes
Early men especially núMenóreans were perhaps the closest in appearance to elves
Although they lacked the same grace and connection in Nature
Ordinary Men lived an average Lifespan for humans
Whereas NúMEnóreans had greatly increased lifespans which began to diminish as their bloodline weakened?
Aragorn who was the sixty-fifth descendant of the first king of NúMenor died at 210 years old?
men ranged in height from an average of seven feet four núMEnóreans to three and a half feet four Hobbits and
Despite their mortality and relative fragility men have been capable of incredible feats
Notably every single named dragon in tolkien's works was slain by a man
Although humans are often deemed as uninteresting in the world of fantasy fiction as they are generally the least fantasy element present
humans are included so often for a specific reason as
Fantasy fiction is by definition
Fantastical in some way we benefit [from] the inclusion of something to ground it in a relatable way
amidst a world of elves
Dragons dwarves and Wizards the presence of humanity in a recognizable form allows for us to identify with the world
Men are often the most versatile and most indomitable because we are so share those traits and in a world of fantasy
Perhaps that is the most fantastical thing of all