"J.R.R. Tolkien - The History of Middle-Earth - 00" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tolkien J.R.R)

Edain of Eriador asked Gil-galad to arrange a meeting between them and the Dunedain.
Presumably, the two groups established a friendship which would have lasted for a thousand
years.




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Parma Endorion


The Edain of Eriador lived between the North Downs and the Baranduin river. They may also
have lived in or near Nenuial (Lake Evendim) but that area was originally an Elvish domain.
During the War of the Elves and Sauron all of Eriador was overrun by Mordor's forces. Sauron
killed or drove off the Men living in those lands and he devastated the countryside, destroying
the forests and presumably the homes and fields of the Edain. What happened to them afterward?
Tolkien really does not say.

Some of the Men fled to Elrond, and perhaps some others took refuge beyond the river Lhun,
where the Dunedain had reinforced Gil-galad's army. But when Tar-Minastir sent his great navy
to Middle-earth to help Gil-galad, Eriador suffered more devastation and destruction. The region
became a wasteland. Probably the surviving Edain were unable to live there any longer, and I
think at least some may have crossed the Hithaeglir and entered the Vales of Anduin. But these,
too, suffered grievously in the war, and it may be the Edain had no choice but to reconstruct their
homes as best they could.

The Edain of Rhovanion
These were the Northmen, who (according to Tolkien) were "for the most part descendants of
those peoples from whom the Edain of old had come". Faramir told Frodo they were direct
descendants of the Edain of Beleriand, although not from Hador himself.

The history of the Edain has now been made more clear with the publication of THE PEOPLES
OF MIDDLE-EARTH. Tolkien wrote that the Edain migrated westward until they reached the
great forest. Some passed south around the Greenwood until they reached Anduin, and passing
north along the river settled in the Vales. Others passed north along the eastern fringes of the
forest and then moved west between the Greenwood and Ered Mithrin.

The Edain left behind communities throughout Rhovanion and Eriador, and the fact that some of
the Edain of Beleriand returned east during the War of the Jewels does not imply a significant
number of the eastern Edainic peoples were closely related to the Edain of Numenor at all.

In the Second Age the Edain of Rhovanion formed an alliance with the Longbeards, the Dwarves
of Durin's Folk, when Orcs began migrating east from the ruin of Beleriand. This alliance lasted
until the War of the Orcs and Sauron, at which time Sauron sent one or more armies into the
Edainic lands causing great slaughter. The Edain were nearly wiped out and many retreated to
the mountain valleys and the deep woods, apparently mostly in the northern vales, where the
Longbeards retained strongholds.

It would not be until Sauron was removed from Middle-earth that these Edainic peoples would
be able to return to their old lands. They were the "Free Men of the North" who gradually