Pre-Númenóreans

Pre-Númenóreans
Name	Pre-Númenóreans
Examples	Squint-eyed Southerner, Freca, Wulf, Mogru, Buldar, Hazad, Tal-Elmar, Barliman Butterbur, King of the Dead, etc.
Dominions	Enedwaith, Minhiriath, Dunland, Agar, Udul, Bree-land, Cape of Eryn Vorn
Languages	Pre-Númenórean languages
Divisions	Hill-men Men of Carn Dûm Forest-folk of Minhiriath Udul-folk

"We will burn like heathen kings before ever a ship sailed hither from the West."

—Denethor II

Pre-Númenóreans were the races of the indigenous Mannish peoples of Middle-earth, in contrast to the Dúnedain who drew their heritage from Númenor. These indigenous peoples were the descendants of the second group of the Edain who migrated to the West in the First Age; their relatives who reached Beleriand became the Haladin while they themselves stayed in the eastern regions of Middle-earth that would be later settled by the Númenóreans (hence the name). From the perspective of the Dúnedain, these Middle Men were considered unrelated to them or the Northmen.

History

First Age

The first Men moved from Hildórien to the West-lands; during their migration those of the second group joined the Drúedain near the White Mountains and stayed with them. When the core of their team was pressed to wander on, some Drúedain accompanied them westwards, passing through the Gap of Calenardhon. However some of them did not go through the dense forest covering the Minhiriath and the western half of Enedwaith and stayed behind; those herd-tenders eventually expanded to the forests of the shore-lands south of the Blue Mountains, especially in Minhiriath.

By the end of the First Age the branches of those peoples had spread as far as Cardolan in the north, and as far south as Umbar.

Second Age

By the Second Age, these Men were scattered communities of forest-dwellers without central leadership. With the destruction of Beleriand in the War of Wrath, evil Men and Easterlings fled from Angband and apparently took in larger numbers to the hills of Rhudaur and the Mountains of Angmar. These Men of Darkness terrorized and conquered the Men of the Mountains who had refused to join in the rebellion against the Valar.

The languages of the people who inhabited Eriador and Gondor during this period were collectively called "Pre-Númenórean", because they were spoken there before the Númenóreans arrived with their language from across the Sea. Among these people were also the towns-folk of Agar and the Udul-folk. There was also a primitive harbor of fisherfolk, who feared the Eldar of Edhellond, and fled to the White Mountains. When the Númenóreans returned to Middle-earth, they failed to recognize the Forest-folk of Minhiriath as "kinsmen" of the Edain, and confused them with Men of Darkness because their language was not related to Adûnaic.

Aldarion's successors continued his works and even fought with the natives until they became hostile and ambushed then when they could. These Men became their enemies, giving no thought to husbandry or replanting. The Númenóreans wrecked the banks, the shorelines, and built great tracks and roads around the Gwathló. They continued battling and destroying what lay ahead of them, pushing into Minhiriath and Enedwaith, establishing themselves inland as far as the river Glanduin, beyond which natives and hostile peoples lived, a remnant of the peoples that had once dwelt in the vales of the White Mountains. The natives overcame their fear of the Elves and fled from Minhiriath into the Cape of Eryn Vorn. Those from Enedwaith fled to what later became Dunland.

Some of the pre-Númenóreans were recruited by Sauron during his war against the Free Peoples of the World, using them as spies and guides. However, not all the pre-Númenóreans were hostile to the Dúnedain; in fact, the two races of Men mingled when the Realms in Exile were established after the Akallabêth.

Around the same time, some of the Men of the Mountains fled north to Eriador during the Dark Years. The Bree-men were their descendants.

Eriador was already ruined when Tar-Minastir sent the fleet that defeated Sauron in the year 1700. The surviving pre-Númenóreans now apparently crossed the Glanduin back to Dunland which was safer than Eregion. In the south, the Númenóreans discovered a natural haven already called Umbar by the natives, and then Pelargir in the year 2350. They made contact with Men who dwelt in the valleys on either side of the White Mountains. The Men of the Mountains were among them.

When the Faithful established the Realms in Exile many Men turned from evil and became subject to them; the King of the Mountains first swore allegiance to Gondor. However many natives never learned to distinguish between King's Men and Faithful, while many remembered Sauron's influence so they were hostile to them. When Sauron returned, Isildur summoned the King of the Mountains to fulfill their oath, but they would not because they were afraid of Sauron. They hid in the mountains untill they dwindled and became the Dead Men of Dunharrow.

Third Age

The indigenous Men of Eriador were absorbed by the civilization of Arnor. By the time of Valandil, this mixed population was diminished and there was not enough people to maintain all the places built by Elendil, until eventually Arnor split into smaller realms. However, when the Hobbits came to Arnor, Númenóreans, allies, and enemies were numerous. The Númenóreans were stronger in Arthedain and thinner in Rhudaur. Eventually Angmar was populated by evil men gathered by the Witch-king.

Some tribes known as Hill-men in northeast Eriador practiced magic and from the 14th century on, fortified the hills with dark structures and harassed Rhudaur. Around the year 1300, 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. Rhudaur was annexed to Angmar in the year 1409 and evil subjects of Angmar occupied the land. The Dúnedain were either slain or fled west. The war with Angmar however caused those populations to perish. Cardolan was also deserted and could not be repopulated. Rhudaur came to be inhabited only by monsters. After the Great Plague, Minhiriath was deserted except for some hunters living on the Cape of Eryn Vorn. Other known Mannish settlements included only the Bree-land and the Lossoth on the Cape of Forochel.

The indigenous Men were also absorbed in Gondor, which pursued an expansionist policy. Gondor's borders were extended by the Ship-kings, subduing the pre-Númenóreans. Their blood was mixed and in the following generations the Dúnedain's power and wisdom diminished.

As Gondor expanded, some few remote Dunlendings that had resisted the Númenórean influence and Enedwaith had no such settlements, other than Tharbad. They remained unaffected, independent, and even unfriendly to the Dúnedain, holding their own manners and language. By the time of the Ruling Stewards, they ceased to be subjects of Gondor and moved to now-depopulated Calenardhon until they were later driven away by the Men of Éothéod. Some people remaining between Isen and Adorn were largely of mixed blood, and not loyal to Edoras.

Before the War of the Ring, Saruman found in those peoples an opportunity for creating crossbreeds of Orcs and Men. The Dunlendings allied with him and joined his forces in the Battle of the Hornburg. After the War, under King Éomer, there was relative peace.