| This article is about the inhabitants of Mirkwood. For the inhabitants of Brethil, see Men of Brethil. Additionally for the inhabitants of the woods south of Brethil, see Woodmen. |
- "This was dreadful talk to listen to, not only because of the brave woodmen and their wives and children, but also because of the danger which now threatened Gandalf and his friends."
- —The Hobbit, "Out Of The Frying-Pan Into The Fire"
The Woodmen of Western Mirkwood,[1] or simply Woodmen,[2] were those groups of Northmen who had established themselves in the vast forest of Greenwood the Great. Despite being troubled by evil creatures of Dol Guldur such as Orcs and Spiders, they survived until the War of the Ring and into the Fourth Age.
Origins[]
The Woodmen of Western Mirkwood were descended from the Edain who migrated to the West or from Northmen who were closely related to the Edain. As a consequence, their language was related to Adûnaic.[1]
At the end of the First Age some of those Men had settled in the northern and eastern borders of Greenwood.[3] Some migrated from the east of the Greenwood along its southern edge and up the Vales of Anduin, or between its northern edge and the Grey Mountains. During the First and Second Age the Northmen, such as the ancestors of the Woodmen,[4] had been allies of the Longbeards and the Dwarves of the hills surrounding the Greenwood, and were enemies of the Orcs and Easterlings.[5] The Woodmen maintained friendly relations with the Elves of the Greenwood.[6]
History[]
On October 4[7][8] in the second year of the Third Age,[9] the Woodmen noticed the disastrous battle between the Dúnedain and the Orcs at the Gladden Fields. They sent runners to Thranduil and assembled a force to ambush the Orcs in order to rescue the Dúnedain, but by the time they arrived at the site of the battle it was too late: Isildur and almost all his Guards had been killed. All the Woodmen could do was to drive away the surviving Orcs, before they could mutilate the bodies of the dead. It was probably those Woodmen who found the stunned Estelmo alive under his master Elendur's dead body.[6]
Around the year 1050, a shadow fell on Greenwood and men began to call it Mirkwood.[9]
In the year 1636, the Great Plague spread north from Gondor,[9] but it is not recorded how the Woodmen fared.
The Eagles used to feed on the Northmen's sheep, who defended them with their bows of yew; thus they were afraid to fly anywhere near where men lived. The Wargs and the Northern Orcs of the Misty Mountains also usually did not dare to approach as they were brave and well-armed.[10]
At the time of the Quest of Erebor in the year 2941,[9] the Woodmen settled in Mirkwood south of the Menn-i-Naugrim near the western edges of the forest.[11] Around this time some bold Woodmen and their families were attempting to make their way back to the north, cutting down trees, and building settlements among the woods in the valleys and along the river-shores. During this time, the Orcs and Wargs started planning a joint raid against them to capture slaves. When the Orcs discovered Thorin and Company in their meeting-place by chance, they thought they were spies of those Woodmen and hunted them down, fearing that they would warn their people.[10]
The raid never took place thanks to the subsequent events, including the Battle of Five Armies where the Orcs and Wargs were devastated. After the battle, Men could travel without fear, and many came to Beorn's home to celebrate Yule, some gathering under him as their chieftain.[12]
A couple of years later, Gollum traversed Mirkwood in search for his Ring and its new bearer; this terrified the Woodmen who talked about "a ghost that drank blood" and crept into houses to steal babies.[2]
It is possible that the Woodmen fought against forces of Sauron from Dol Guldur in Mirkwood during the War of the Ring since Frodo Baggins had a vision on the Seat of Seeing on Amon Hen of a fight between Elves, Men, and fell beasts under the branches of western Mirkwood.[13]
After the war and the cleansing of the forest, the Woodmen and the Beornings were given the large central portion of Eryn Lasgalen between Thranduil's Woodland Realm and the Narrows of the Forest to dwell in.[14]
In other versions[]
In three manuscript versions of what would later become the chapter The Muster of Rohan, "messengers from the Woodmen of Mirkwood" came to Rohan with Dunlenders, Rangers, "and wanderers of the empty lands", after they had all received a message that all who hate Mordor should come there.[15]
In adaptations[]
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey[]
In Peter Jackson's 2012: film adaptation, Gandalf mentions at the meeting of the White Council that Greenwood the Great is now called "Mirkwood" by the Woodmen. In the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien men began to call it Mirkwood in the year 1050, almost 2000 years before this meeting of the White Council.
The Lord of the Rings Online[]
Woodmen in The Lord of the Rings Online
In a 2019 expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online, the Woodmen live in the Vales on both sides of the river Anduin. They are self-reliant and very isolated people, with even the nearby villages having very little contact with one another. Woodmen settlements include the larger town of Hultvís, the smaller villages of Blómgard and Arhaim, the recently-destroyed Waldfast and the long-abandoned Audaghaim. During the closing weeks of the War of the Ring the Woodmen were attacked by the Orcs and Wargs of the Misty Mountains, but a united force of Beornings and Woodmen pushed back and eventually defeated them in the Battle of the Old Ford.
The Woodmen are deeply superstitious due to the long years of living under the darkness of Mirkwood, but many of their folk tales bear a seed of truth in them. For example, the real events of Gollum stealing Woodmen babies have been attributed to "Úbil the Snatcher", who over the years have transformed into the hunger-crazed "Old Mad Ubb" used to scare the children.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Bosmense |
| Albanian | Njerëzit e pyllit |
| Amharic | የደን ሰዎች |
| Arabic | سكان الغابات |
| Armenian | Անտառային մարդիկ |
| Assamese | বন মানুহ |
| Azerbaijani | Meşə adamları |
| Basque | Basoko jendea |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Лясныя людзі |
| Bengali | কাঠ পুরুষ |
| Bosnian | Šumski ljudi |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Горски хора |
| Burmese | သစ်တောလူတွေ |
| Cambodian | មនុស្សព្រៃ |
| Catalan | Homes dels Boscos |
| Cebuano | Mga tawo sa lasang |
| Chinese | 森林人 |
| Croatian | Šumski ljudi |
| Corsican | Genti di a Foresta |
| Czech | Lesníci |
| Danish | Træ mænd |
| Dogri | वन लोक |
| Dutch | Hout mannen |
| Esperanto | Arbaraj homoj |
| Estonian | Metsarahvas |
| Filipino | Mga Tao sa Kagubatan |
| Finnish | Puu miehet |
| French | Hommes des bois |
| Frisian | Wâldfolk (Western) |
| Galician | Madeira homes |
| Georgian | ტყის ხალხი |
| German | Waldmenschen |
| Greek | Άνθρωποι του δάσους |
| Gujarati | વન લોકો |
| Haitian Creole | Moun forè yo |
| Hebrew | אנשי יַעַר |
| Hindi | वन लोग |
| Hungarian | Fa férfiak |
| Icelandic | Skógarfólk |
| Indonesian | Orang Hutan |
| Irish Gaelic | Daoine foraoise |
| Italian | Boscaioli di Bosco Atro |
| Japanese | ウッドメン |
| Kannada | ವುಡ್ ಪುರುಷರು |
| Kazakh | Орман адамдары (Cyrillic) Orman adamdarı (Latin) |
| Konkani | रानांतले लोक |
| Kurdish | خەڵکی دارستان (Sorani) Mirovên daristanê (Kurmanji) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Токой адамдары |
| Laotian | ຜູ້ຊາຍໄມ້ |
| Latin | Arbor homines |
| Latvian | Meža cilvēki |
| Lithuanian | Miško žmonės |
| Luxembourgish | Bësch Leit |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Шумски луѓе |
| Malagasy | Lehilahy hazo |
| Malayalam | ഫോറസ്റ്റ് ആളുകൾ |
| Malaysian | Orang hutan |
| Maltese | Nies Foresti |
| Marathi | जंगलातील लोक |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Ойн хүмүүс |
| Nepalese | वनका मानिसहरू |
| Norwegian | Skogsfolk |
| Old English | Holt leode |
| Pashto | د ځنګل خلک |
| Persian | مردان چوب |
| Polish | Leśni Ludzie |
| Portuguese | Homens de árvore |
| Punjabi | ਜੰਗਲ ਲੋਕ |
| Romanian | Oamenii Pădurii |
| Romansh | Guaud umans ? |
| Russian | Лесные люди |
| Samoan | Laau tagata |
| Scottish Gaelic | Daoine coille |
| Serbian (Cyrillic) | Шумски људи |
| Serbian (Latin) | Šumski ljudi |
| Shona | Vanhu vemusango |
| Sindhi | جنگل جا ماڻهو |
| Sinhalese | වනාන්තර ජනතාව |
| Spanish | Hombres de los Bosques |
| Slovak | Lesní ľudia |
| Slovenian | Gozdni ljudje |
| Somali | Dadka kaymaha |
| Swedish | Skogsmänniskor |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Одамони чангал |
| Tamil | வன மக்கள் |
| Tatar | Урман кешеләре |
| Telugu | అటవీ ప్రజలు |
| Thai | คนป่า |
| Turkish | Orman insanları |
| Turkmen | Tokaý adamlary |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Лісові люди |
| Urdu | جنگل کے لوگ |
| Uzbek | Ўрмон одамлари (Cyrillic) O'rmon odamlari (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Cây đàn ông ? |
| Welsh | Pobl y Goedwig |
| Xhosa | Iinkuni amadoda |
| Yiddish | וואַלד מענטשן |
| Yoruba | Awọn eniyan igbo |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Men"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Lord of the Rings, vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, ch. II: "The Shadow of the Past", pg. 58
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, X: "Of Dwarves and Men", "The Atani and their Languages", first paragraph
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, Regional Maps, "Wilderland"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, X: "Of Dwarves and Men", "Relations of the Longbeard Dwarves and Men", third, fourth and seventh paragraph
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", "The sources of the legend of Isildur's death", first paragraph
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", Notes, note 9
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", sixth paragraph
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Hobbit, ch. VI: "Out Of The Frying-Pan Into The Fire"
- ↑ The Hobbit, "Map of Wilderland"
- ↑ The Hobbit, ch. 18: "The Return Journey"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, ch. X: "The Breaking of the Fellowship", pg. 400
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Great Years"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. VIII: The War of the Ring, Part Three: Minas Tirith, II: "Book Five Begun and Abandoned", (ii) The Muster of Rohan, pgs. 242, 247, 249, 253