The Hill-men were a group of indigenous Men from whom came an evil lord who seized power in Rhudaur in the Third Age. They lived in small tribes disparately across northern Middle-earth in the Third Age.
History[]
Origins[]
Almost nothing can be said about the origin of the Hill-men, except that they were Men and that they probably lived in or near Rhudaur.
It is possible that they were Pre-Númenóreans related to the Dunlendings and the Bree-men whose ancestors had lived in the valleys of the White Mountains and moved to the southern valleys of the Misty Mountains and then as far north as the Barrow-downs during the Dark Years.[1]
It is also possible that they were Men of evil kinds who were not related to the Edain who were hostile to the Dúnedain.[2] They may have been descendants of Easterlings who fled over the Blue Mountains back to the east after the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age or descendants of Easterlings who had not crossed over the Blue Mountains into Beleriand.[3]
Third Age[]
It is possible that the Hill-men lived in the Ettenmoors or in the western Misty Mountains near the Angle[4] at the time of King Argeleb I of Arthedain. It was during this time that an evil lord of the Hill-men made a secret alliance with the Witch-king of Angmar, who ruled the Men of Carn Dûm, and seized control of Rhudaur since there were few Dúnedain.[5] The Hill-men under this lord were "workers of sorcery"[6] who fortified the hills with dark structures.[7]
In the year 1409,[8] a great army came from Angmar and invaded Cardolan, burning the Tower of Amon Sûl, defeated the Dúnedain and killed King Arveleg I of Arthedain. Afterwards, some Men of Angmar who were "much given to sorcery"[9] occupied Rhudaur and the Dúnedain of Rhudaur were killed or fled to the west.[5]
The fate of the Hill-men is not known. They may have been among the "evil folk" that inhabited Fornost Erain after it was conquered by Angmar in the year 1974.[8] The following year,[8] the first Host of the West, consisting of Elves from Lindon, Men of Arnor, an expeditionary force from Gondor led by Eärnur, and Elves from Rivendell led by Glorfindel defeated the forces of Angmar so that no Man or Orc of Angmar "remained west of the Mountains".[10] In the year 1977, the Men of Éothéod "drove away the remnants of the people of Angmar on the east side of the Mountains",[11] leaving their ultimate fate untold. During the War of the Ring, Rhudaur and Angmar remained uninhabited.[12]
In adaptations[]
The Lord of the Rings Online[]
In The Lord of the Rings Online, many tribes of Hill-men still roam the land in the late Third Age. These include the Corcur of the Trollshaws and the Misty Mountains (descendants of the Men of Rhudaur), the Créoth of the Lone-lands, and the Trév Duvardain of Angmar. A second tribe of Angmar, the Trév Gállorg, are shown to be friendly towards the Free Peoples of the World. These tribal names are original to the game and do not exist in the works of Tolkien.
The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king[]
Rhudaur Axethrowers, as seen in The Rise of the Witch-king.
Rhudaur Spearmen led by a Thrall Master in The Rise of the Witch-king.
In EA's video game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king, the Men of Rhudaur are corrupted Hill-men who ended up serving Angmar and the Witch-king. Their warriors were Rhudaur Spearmen (who bear sharp spears), Rhudaur Axemen (who throw sharp axes), and Thrall Masters (who in gameplay can summon them, Gundabad Orcs, or Wolf Riders). Hwaldar the Chieftain of Rhudaur was their leader, and was disloyal to Arnor's royalty. He was defeated by the Men of Arnor once becoming hostile, but Angmar came to free him, as Morgomir, the Witch-king's second, recognized a valuable ally to control the forces of Men of Rhudaur. Angmar then destroyed two camps of Arnor and of the Dúnedain. King Argeleb I and his army were all slain, and Rhudaur was now of Angmar's dominion.
Gallery[]
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Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Heuwel mense |
| Albanian | Njerëz të kodrave |
| Amharic | ኮረብታ ህዝብ |
| Arabic | سكان التلال |
| Armenian | Բլուր-Ժողովուրդը |
| Azerbaijani | Təpə Adamları |
| Basque | Muino-herri |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Узгорак-народ |
| Bengali | পাহাড় সম্প্রদায় |
| Bosnian | Brdo-narod |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Хълм-народ |
| Cambodian | ប្រជាជននៅលើភ្នំ |
| Catalan | Gent dels turons |
| Chinese | 丘 人民 |
| Croatian | Brdo-narod |
| Czech | Vrchovci |
| Danish | Bakke folk |
| Dutch | Heuvelvolk |
| Esperanto | Popolo de la montetoj |
| Estonian | Küngas-rahvas |
| Finnish | Vuorilaiset |
| French | Gens des collines |
| Friulian | Omis des Colinis |
| Galician | Pobo dos outeiros |
| Georgian | ბორცვი ხალხი |
| German | Bergmenschen |
| Greek | Οι άνθρωποι των λόφων |
| Hebrew | אנשי הגבעות |
| Hindi | पहाड़ी लोग |
| Hungarian | Domb-emberek |
| Icelandic | Hóllfólk |
| Indonesian | Bukit-rakyat |
| Irish Gaelic | Daoine Sléibhe |
| Italian | Uomini delle Colline |
| Japanese | 丘 人民 |
| Javanese | Paredèn-wong |
| Kannada | ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಜನರು |
| Kazakh | Төбе халық (Cyrillic) Töbe xalıq (Latin) |
| Korean | 언덕인 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Дөбө-эл |
| Laotian | ປະຊາຊົນເຂດພູ |
| Latvian | Paugurs-tauta |
| Lithuanian | Kalva-žmonės |
| Luxembourgish | Hiwwelleit |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Брдо-луѓе |
| Malaysian | Bukit-orang |
| Marathi | टेकडी लोक |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Гүвээ-ард түмэн |
| Nepalese | पहाड मानिसहरु |
| Norwegian | Ås folk |
| Occitan | Gents del colinas |
| Pashto | غونډۍ خلگ |
| Persian | تپه مردم |
| Polish | Wzgórze-lud |
| Portuguese | Povo do colinas |
| Punjabi | ਪਹਾੜੀ ਲੋਕ |
| Romanian | Oamenii dealurilor |
| Russian | Люди Холмов |
| Sardinian | Òmines de sos Collinas |
| Serbian | Брдо-народ (Cyrillic) Brdo-narod (Latin) |
| Sicilian | Uomini di li Cullini |
| Sinhalese | කන්ද මහජන |
| Slovak | Kopec-ľudia |
| Slovenian | Grič-narod |
| Spanish | Gente del colinas |
| Swahili | Kilima watu |
| Swedish | Kulle folk |
| Tajik Cyrillic | одамони теппа |
| Tamil | குன்று மக்கள் |
| Telugu | కొండ ప్రజలు |
| Thai | ประชาชนเนินเขา |
| Turkish | Tepe Adamları |
| Turkmen | Depe Erkekleri |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Пагорб-народ |
| Urdu | پہاڑی لوگ |
| Uzbek | Адирлар-халқ (Cyrillic) Adirlar-xalq (Latin) |
| Venetian | Uomini de le Colline |
| Vietnamese | Đồi-nhân dân |
| Welsh | Pobl Bryn |
| Yiddish | בערגל פאלק |
References[]
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Men"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, X: "Of Dwarves and Men", "Notes", note 59
- ↑ The Silmarillion, "Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor"
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, pg. 196 (entry "Hill-men")
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part One: The Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, VII: "The Heirs of Elendil", manuscript C, The Northern Line of Arnor: the Isildurioni, 18. Arveleg I
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part One: The Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, VII: "The Heirs of Elendil", manuscript C, The Northern Line of Arnor: the Isildurioni, 16. Malvegil
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part One: The Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, VIII: "The Tale of Years of the Third Age", manuscript T4, entry for the year 1409
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The House of Eorl", first paragraph
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, ch. 12: "Flight to the Ford", pg. 201