Men, also known as humans, are a race featured in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings franchises.
The race of Men is the second race of beings created by Eru Ilúvatar. Because they awoke at the start of the First Age of the Sun, while the Elves awoke centuries before them, they are called the Secondborn (Quenya: Atani, Sindarin: Edain) by the Elves. Men awoke in a land located in the far east of Middle-earth called Hildórien. When the Sun rose for the first time in the far West, Men began to wander towards it, a journey which culminated in some of them reaching Beleriand centuries later.
There is much evidence that, soon after their awakening, Morgoth came to Men and incited them to worship him and turn away from Ilúvatar, and that they complied. Though all were seduced by the Enemy, some Men repented and escaped; they were said to be the ancestors of the Edain.
Men bear the so-called Gift of Men, mortality. Elves are immortal, in the sense that even if their bodies are slain, their spirits remain bound to the world, going to the Halls of Mandos to wait until they are released or the world ends. Elves are tied to the world for as long as it lasts. When Men die, they are released from Arda and the bounds of the world and have rest from its troubles. Ilúvatar also gifted Men with the freedom to shape their own future, being rather free from the designs of the Music of the Ainur. However, the influence of Morgoth has caused Men to fear their fate, and view Death as a Doom instead of a Gift.
Although all Men of Arda were related to one another, there were many different sunderings and cultures. The most important group in the tales of the First Age were the Edain. Although the word Edain refers to all Men, the Elves use it to distinguish those Men who fought with them in the First Age against Morgoth in Beleriand from others.
Those Men who fought with them against Morgoth in the First Age were divided into three Houses. The First House of the Edain was the House of Bëor, and entered Beleriand in FA 305, granted the fief of Ladros in Dorthonion by Finrod Felagund. The Second House of the Edain, the Haladin was led by Haldad (and later by his daughter, Haleth) who settled in the Forest of Brethil. The Third House, which became the greatest, was led by Marach, and later his descendant, Hador. They settled Dor-lómin. This house was known both as the House of Marach and the House of Hador.
The Easterlings, or "Swarthy Men", sided openly with Morgoth as of FA 472; nothing is told of the forming of their culture. The descendants of the "Black Men", the Haradrim, would fight on Sauron's side millennia later against the descendants of the Edain. Other tribes of Men remained east of the Misty Mountains, apart from Beleriand, and did not engage with Morgoth. Below follow short descriptions of the most important groups of Men in the First, Second, and Third ages.
Edain and Dúnedain[]
For their services and assistance rendered to the Elves and the Valar in the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, the Edain were rewarded with a new land of their own between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. This was the island of Númenor, an island far away from the evil of Middle-earth.
The Edain were led to this island by Elros with the help of his father Eärendil, who sailed the heavens as the bright star of the same name. Once there Elros became the first king of Númenor as Tar-Minyatur and the Edain became known as the Dúnedain (Sindarin for Men of the West). The kingdom of Númenor grew steadily in power and the Dúnedain became the noblest and highest of all Men on Arda. Allied to the Elves, Númenor fought against Morgoth's lieutenant Sauron.
Now that the Men of the West had become powerful they came to resent the Gift of Men, Death. They wanted to become immortal like the Elves, and enjoy their accumulated power for all time. The Númenóreans turned away from the Valar, began to call the Gift of Men the Doom of Men and cursed the Ban of the Valar which forbade them to sail west beyond sight of Númenor or to enter Valinor. In SA 2899 Ar-Adûnakhôr became the first king of Númenor who took his royal name in Adûnaic, the language of Men instead of Quenya, the language of the Elves. This led to civil war in Númenor.
The people of Númenor were divided into two factions: the King's Men, who enjoyed the support of the King and the majority of the people. They favored Adûnaic as language. The minority faction, the Faithful, were led by the lord of Andúnië, the westernmost province of Númenor, and favored Quenya. Sauron who by the second millennium of the Second Age was nearly defeated by the Elves and Numenoreans, took advantage of the division. He surrendered to the last Númenórean King, Ar-Pharazôn and worked his way into the King's counsels. Ultimately, Sauron advised him to attack Valinor and claim immortality. This he foolishly did, and as a punishment Númenor, the island of the Men of the West fell and only the Faithful escaped and founded the twin kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.
Black Númenóreans and Haradrim[]
Before the fall of Númenor, however, as it was growing in naval power, many Númenóreans sailed east and founded colonies in Middle-earth. In the second millennium of the Second Age there was an exodus of Men from overcrowded Númenor. The King's Men migrated because they wanted to conquer more lands, and the Faithful because they were persecuted by the Kings. The Faithful settled in Pelargir and the King's Men settled in Umbar. When Númenor was destroyed the King's Men became known as the Black Númenóreans and remained hostile against the Faithful of Gondor. From their ranks Sauron recruited the kings who would become the nine Ringwraiths in the second millennium of the Second Age. Umbar was conquered by Gondor in TA 933.
Among the Black Númenórean race was the wicked Queen Berúthiel, wife of Tarannon Falastur, King of Gondor.
Further east of Umbar another group of Men lived, the Haradrim. They were dark skinned Men and waged war on great Oliphaunts or Mûmakil. Hostile to Gondor, they were subdued in TA 1050 by Hyarmendacil I.
Both Umbar and the Harad were left unchecked by Gondor's waning power by the time of the War of the Ring, and presented grave threats from the south. Many Haradrim fought with Sauron's forces in Gondor in that War.
Corsairs Pirates who hail from the havens of Umbar are masters of the sea and ships. Although they were due to fight for Sauron in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, they were mysteriously delayed and their ships were hijacked by the Dead Men of Dunharrow. After the fall of Sauron, the corsairs were not even punished by the West because they were mercenaries.
Variags Although Variags do not appear in the films, it is confirmed that they came from Khand, south of Rhun . They were excellent horsemen and, like the Easterlings, they had wains. They had brown skin and handlebar mustaches and chest-length beards.
Easterlings[]
Most of the Men who fought in the armies of Morgoth and Sauron were Easterlings, who came from the region around the Sea of Rhûn. Some Easterlings offered their services to the elvish kingdoms in Beleriand, among them were Bór and his sons and Ulfang the Black and his sons. This proved to be disastrous for the Free Peoples in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad when Ulfang and his clan switched sides and defected to Morgoth, while Bor and his sons died bravely fighting on the side of the Elves.
After Morgoth's defeat Sauron extended his influence over the Easterlings and although Sauron was defeated by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of the Second Age, the Easterlings were the first enemies to attack Gondor again in TA 492. They were soundly defeated by King Rómendacil I, but invaded again in TA 541 and took revenge by slaying King Rómendacil. Rómendacil's son Turambar took large portions of land from them. In the next centuries Gondor held sway over the Easterlings. When Gondor's power began to decrease in the twelfth century Third Age, the Easterlings took the complete eastern bank of the Anduin except Ithilien crushing Gondor's allies, the Northmen.
The Easterlings of the Third Age were divided in different tribes, such as the Wainriders and the Balchoth. The Wainriders were a confederation of Easterlings which were very active between TA 1856 and TA 1944. They were a serious threat to Gondor for many years, but were utterly defeated by Eärnil IIin1944. When Gondor lost its royal dynasty in TA 2050 the Easterlings started to reorganize themselves and a fierce tribe called the Balchoth became the most important tribe. In TA 2510 they invaded Gondor again and conquered much of Calenardhon, until they were defeated by the Éothéod, coming to Gondor's aid.
Until the War of the Ring, the Easterlings didn't launch any further invasion. During the War of the Ring, they were amongst the fiercest warriors deployed at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields by Sauron himself.
Northmen[]
The Northmen were composed of two principal groups. First, not all the Men who remained east of the Blue Mountains and Misty Mountains were tempted by Morgoth or Sauron. They were joined after the War of Wrath by those of the Edain who did not wish to travel to Númenór (similar to how, at the end of the first age, various eldar remained and went east, becoming lords of the silvan elves). The Northmen who dwelt in Greenwood the Great and other parts of Rhovanion were friendly to the Dúnedain, being for the most part their kin, and many of them became subjects of Gondor. The Men of Dale and Esgaroth were Northmen, as were the Woodmen of Mirkwood, and the Éothéod, who became the Rohirrim.
Dunlendings and Drúedain[]
When Elendil founded the Kingdom of Arnor its borders were quickly extended towards the river Greyflood, and Gondor likewise extended up through Enedwaith. In Enedwaith (Middle-land) and Minhiriath (Sindarin for Land between the Rivers) lived a group of Men related to those Men that became the House of Haleth, and they were known as the Dunlendings. They had lived in the great woods that covered most of Eriador, and when the Númenóreans started to chop these woods down to build their ships in the Second Age, the Dúnedain of Númenor earned the hostility of the Dunlendings. The Dunlendings later became bitter enemies of Rohan. The Dunlendings served Saruman in the War of the Ring and participated in the Battle of the Hornburg.
Another group of Men were the Woses or Druedain. They were small and bent compared to other Men. The Woses had brown to black skin. They lived among the House of Haleth in the First Age, and were held as Edain by the Elves, who called them Drúedain (from Drûg, their own name for themselves, plus Edain). At the end of the Third Age some Woses lived in the Drúadan forest, small in number but experienced in wood life. They held off orcs with poisoned arrows and were vital in securing the aid of the Rohirrim in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. King Elessar granted to them the Drúadan Forest "forever" in the Fourth Age.