men of middle-earth ⧎ easterlings and southrons ⧎ headcanon disclaimer
While many tales tell of the Three Houses of the Edain, those mortal Men who came to Beleriand and became elf-friends, there are fewer stories in the West of those Men who arrived in the westernmost continent in later years. They are called Easterlings, for like all Men they Awoke in the East of the world, and spent more time there than did the West-men before moving to other lands. The Easterlings who eventually made their way to Beleriand were related in kin and culture to the Khundolar and Chayasír tribes who were active in later Ages. They were led by two major chieftains, Kulren and Pegmûl, both of whom allied themselves with the House of Fëanor and were given lands around Himring and Thargelion in which to dwell. One such Easterling who entered the service of Maglor was the healer Tanrad, who took the name Ídhron and married the Bëorian woman Arasdil, the sometimes-lover of her elven-lord. In the Fifth Battle, these Easterlings were crucial to turning the tide of the war: for though Kulren’s folk remained faithful to the Union of Maedhros, the sons of Pegmûl had secretly pledged their service to Morgoth and betrayed Caranthir, ultimately leading to the Union’s utter defeat. After the battle, Kulren and his sons were given Sindarin names honoring their bravery and loyalty, all with the prefix Bór-, “faithful,” while in memory of their hideous treachery, Pegmûl’s family were named with the prefix Ul-, “ugly.” In the aftermath of the Nírnaeth Arnœdiad, those Easterlings who survived were treated to Morgoth’s twisted sense of repayment. Kulren’s people were rounded up and enslaved in the mines of Angband, while Pegmûl’s folk were corralled into the mountainous lands of Hithlum and shut out from the more fertile lands of Beleriand, cheated of their promised reward. Ban was a Man who had marched under the banner of Kulren in the Battle, and had been friendly with the dwarves of Belegost, learning a little of their tongue. Though he and his wife Tandra were slain, their son Blodren survived, and escaped the captivity of Morgoth before reaching Angband. Blodren found no refuge in any land, for he had fought against Pegmûl’s allies and was now hated by the Edain for his distant kinship to the traitors of the Nírnaeth, for they did not distinguish between the two groups of Easterlings. Thus Blodren became an outlaw, falling in with the Gaurwaith, who also held him in suspicion but did not turn him away for his skill in hunting. Blodren found a strange fellowship with the dwarf Mîm when the Gaurwaith took up residence in the Bar-en-Danwedh, for he had inherited his father’s proclivities toward dwarves, but in the end this was not enough to save him when Mîm betrayed his captors, and he was slain by an orc-arrow in the Battle of Amon Rûdh. In Hithlum, the attempts of Pegmûl’s folk to till the rocky lands were mostly unsuccessful. While a portion of these folk continued to eke out a quiet existence in the mountains, others turned to cruelty toward the House of Hador who had dwelt there before the Fifth Battle. Brodda, one of Uldor’s captains, seized the lands of Dor-lómin and claimed Húrin’s halls as his own, taking Húrin’s kinswoman Aerin to wife against her will. Later he would be slain but Húrin’s son Túrin, who returned to Dor-lómin searching for his mother and sister, but Brodda’s death only brought about harsher treatment to those Hadorians who remained. Another tyrant in Dor-lómin was Lorgan, who set about attacking and enslaving the Grey-elves of Mithrim and any Hadorian refugees who had escaped his dominion. He allied himself with orcs to flush out the Folk of the Swan from their hiding-place in the caves of Androth, and though many escaped, Lorgan’s greatest prize was the capture of Tuor, son of Huor, who had been fostered by the elves. Lorgan kept Tuor as a slave for three years, treating him cruelly, but eventually Tuor escaped and began to harry his servants as an outlaw. Lorgan put a price on his head, but after four years of failing to recapture him, Tuor vanished, never to return. When Húrin Thalion was released from Angband, he was given an escort of Easterlings back to his homeland of Dor-lómin. His reappearance alongside the soldiers of the Enemy made the men of Dor-lómin believe he was in league with the Dark King, and thus Húrin was shunned by his own people and prevented from rousing any rebellion against the Easterlings who had occupied his land. Only a small company of outlaws dared to follow Húrin when he departed, following him first to the halls of Lorgan, who had enslaved his nephew Tuor, though Húrin did not know this. Lorgan feigned friendship with Húrin, but when Húrin declared he was not in Morgoth’s service Lorgan allowed him to leave unhindered, guessing his Master’s purpose was to use Húrin’s bitterness to sow discontent among the remnant of the Edain. Lorgan lived out his days in tyranny, eventually perishing when one of his cronies killed him and took his place. Though the Easterling Incomers who occupied Hithlum never thrived in their lands, they lived there until the War of Wrath, mingling with the House of Hador sometimes in oppression and sometimes in cooperation. When Morgoth called upon them to fight at his side against the Host of the Valar, the more prosperous Easterling lords heeded his orders, but others fled with the remnant of Hador’s folk to the Havens of Sirion, where they were absorbed into the contingent of Men led by Elros Tar-Minyatur, who would in time become their King.