History of Men (Volume V): Corrupted Men

by Boddah

This is perhaps the last of my History of Men, for I am deciding whether to examine the Hobbits and the Drúedain. So back on topic: The Wild Men. These Men (also known as the Men of Darkness) were Men from the Far East and far South of Middle-Earth. Most of them fell under Morgoth’s grip. The descendants of the Wild Men, which we will look at, were the Easterlings and the Haradrim. We will first look at the Easterlings.

The Easterlings were Men from the East (as you probably guessed); they have been a constant problem for the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth. They date as far back as the First Age with the man name Ulfang. Ulfang showed up in Beleriand around 463 First Age. He had three sons, and was welcomed by the Sons of Fëanor. There he swore his allegiance to Caranthir who was a son of Fëanor. Ulfang and his sons however were secretly aligned to Morgoth, and during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (the last battle of the Beleriand Wars), they betrayed the Elves and the Edain. Morgoth betrayed Ulfang and his people, and locked them away in the land of Hithlum, which was surrounded by mountains. After the War of Wrath, the survivors of Hithlum ran east until they could no more. They crossed the Ered Luin, Eriador, and beyond.

The Easterlings were also active in the Third Age, but by this time, they had several different races of Easterlings, so let us examine one: the Wainriders. The Wainriders were a group of Easterlings bonded by their hate for Gondor, and were supported by Sauron. After the Great Plague in Gondor, they started their raids upon the weakened kingdom (1856th year of the Third Age). They defeated a Gondorian army and killed King Narmacil II. Armored wagons and chariots are to the Wainriders as horses are to the Rohirrim. After their victory, they began attacking Rhovanion, and enslaved many people there. Gondor slowly lost all of their land east of the Anduin. However, King Calimehtar (son of Narmacil) turned the tide, and defeated the Wainriders at the Field of Celebrant. This victory bought for some time peace and recuperation. Yet the Wainriders were determined, and returned in the year 1944 of the Third Age. This time they allied with the Haradrim of Near Harad and the Variags of Khand. They managed to kill King Ondoher, and all of his heirs (incredible eh?), but instead of pushing further into Gondor, they stopped to celebrate. General Eärnil of Gondor had defeated the Haradrim, and decided to ride North to protect his king (he was not aware of the king’s death). However, he was (obviously) late, but he managed to defeat the Wainriders. Eärnil was crowned King and the Wainriders suffered a blow to their might and retreated East, they still held Rhovanion mind you. As it turns out these attacks were staged by Sauron to divert Gondor’s attention while he retook Mordor.

We will examine one more sect of the Easterlings: the Balchoth. They received orders from Dol Guldur and those orders told them to attack Gondor (Gondor cannot catch a break). In the 2150th year of the Third Age, they overran the plains of Calenardhon, and nearly destroyed the Ruling Steward’s army. The Éothéod led by Eorl the Young retook these fields, and Gondor awarded Eorl the province of Calenardhon which was renamed Rohan.

Now to our next subject: the Haradrim. They dwelt far south past the river of Harnen, they are said to be skilled archers and horsemen and dark skinned. During the Second Age, the Númenóreans built a large city in Umbar (a city far south). This eventually turned into a fortress were the Men could watch the Haradrim. Therefore, they were indeed around in the older ages. In the Third Age, the Haradrim were actively in league with Sauron. They fought aside his Orcs with their giant elephant-resembling Mûmakil. However, when the War of the Ring ended, the Haradrim sent embassies to King Elessar, and made peace.

References
Wikipedia
The Encyclopedia of Arda