Intro

If you recall, there were originally three main groups of men who were allied with the Elves in the First Age.  They were the Edain, and consisted of the Houses of Bëor, Haleth, and Hador. 

The Lines of the House of Hador

Marach was one of the original leaders of the Edain into Beleriand.  Malach Aradan was the son and heir of Marach and an ancestor of the House of Hador and its subsequent descendants.  He spent many years with the Elves and was given the name Aradan, meaning "noble man".  The son of Malach was Magor, and there is little, if no mention of him.  Hathol was the son of Magor and grand-son of Malach.  He was one of the first men to cross the Blue Mountains from the eastern lands.  Little is known of Hathol, except that he was the father of the hero Hador Lórindol, for whom this house of the Edain is named. 

Hador was the son of Hathol and the descendant of Malach Aradan.  He was granted the land of Dor-lómin from KIng Fingolfin and ruled it until the Dagor Bragollach, when he was slain.  Hador fathered three children: Gundor, Glóredhel, and Galdor.  Gundor was killed with his father during the Dagor Bragollach.  The only daughter, Glóredhel married Haldir of the Haladin (which would become the house of Haleth) and I will discuss them more in the next section.  Hador's son Galdor married Hareth of the Haladin, the sister of Haldir.

The Lineage of Galdor, son of Hador

            Galdor and Hareth had two sons: Húrin Thalion and Huor, both of whom were important figures in Tolkien history.  Húrin was the eldest son.  He married Morwen of the House of Bëor, and had three children: Turin, Lalaith, and Nienor.  Húrin was captured by Morgoth during the final battle of Beleriand, and his family was cursed (we will discuss this below).  He was released by Morgoth 28 years later.  His exact date of death is no known, only that he threw himself into the sea before the beginning of the Second Age.

Before I discuss the heirs of Húrin, I want to discuss his brother, Huor.  Huor and his elder brother Húrin were fostered by their uncle Haldir (who was married to Glóredhel).  The brothers were too young to go to open war during the Dagor Bragollach, they went to destroy a legion of Orcs, who were quite numerous at this time.  It came to be that Hurin and Huor were accepted into the secret city of Gondolin, ruled by Turgon (see last month's lesson), despite the fact that the city remained secret even from their Elf-kin.  During the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (the final battle in the Wars of Beleriand), Huor and his brother fought bravely with their forces, but the Elves and Edain were defeated after six days and Huor protected Turgon and his army (which had come out of Gondolin to aid the Elves) while they retreated.  During this time, Huor prophesied that hope would spring from the two of them, saying "from you and me a new star will arise".  This would come to pass when Huor's son Tuor wedded Turgon's daughter Irdril, and their son was Eärendil the Blessed (see last month's lesson).  Huor was slain in I 471 in battle.

The children of Húrin, son of Galdor

            Húrin and his wife Morwen had three children: Túrin, Lalaith and Nienor.  Lalaith died in childhood of a plague.  Túrin is regarded as the most tragic of Tolkien's heros.  Túrin was, at one time, the most feared of all men among the evil allies of Morgoth.  He is famed for slaying Glamrung, father of dragons, but the curse of Morgoth was upon him, and stayed with him forever (remember that his father Húrin was captured by Morgoth and cursed).  In the forest of Bethril, he came upon his own sister, Nienor, but through the spells of Glamrung, they did not know each other and wed.  When Nienor discovered the truth, she threw herself to her death, and in his dispair, Turin threw himself on his own sword.  Thus ends the line of Húrin. 

However, the line of his brother Huor continued on with his grandson Eärendil, who fathered Elrond and Elros.  Elrond fathered Arwen, and Arwen and Elessar had one son, and several daughters.  Elrond's sons Elladan and Elrohir also had no children.

Elros, who was half-Elven (as was his brother), chose to be counted among men, while Elrond chose the immortal life of the Elves.  Elros became the first King of Númenor, was the longest-lived of all men, and ruled for 410 years.  From here begins the long line of Kings, but I am not going to cover this.

Númenor - as mentioned, Elros was the first King of Númenor, which was the land raised from the sea by the Valar, and gifted to those men who remained faithful to the Elves during the Wars of Beleriand.  The Edain who had lived in Beleriand were led to Númenor by Elros in the Second Age.  As the events of Númenor all take place in the Second Age, they will not be covered in this course.

The Lines of the House of Haleth

Before they became known as the House of Haleth, this group of men was called the Haladin.  At first, they lived happily with no official leader, until they were attacked by Orcs.  At this time, Haldad took on the role of leader and led the men against the Orcs.  He was eventually killed, as was his son Haldar.  It was then that Haleth, daughter of Haldad and twin sister of Haldar, took control of the group.  At this time, her people became known as the House of Haleth.  Haleth led her people to the Forest of Bethril, where they dwelt with the permission of Thingol. 

Not much else is said of this house until the appearance of Halmir, the eventual Lord of Haleth.  Halmir was regarded as a hero for destroying a legion of invading Orcs.  Halmir had two children: a son, Haldir; and a daughter, Hareth.  As we saw in the House of Hador, Haldir and Hareth married the daughter and son of the House of Hador.  This is the first instance of these two houses joining. 

As mentioned above, Hareth had Húrin and Huor.  Haldir and his wife had only one child, Handir, who was killed by Orcs, leaving only one progeny, his son Brandir.  Brandir was the last of the Haladin of Bethril.  He was slain by Turin, his cousin.

The Lines of the House of Bëor

It appears that all of the House of Bëor is descended from Bëor the Old, though there is not much information on him or his descendants until Baragund.  It is only known that Baragund is descended from Bëor the Old.  Baragund was the father of Morwen, who married Húrin, uniting the houses of Bëor and Hador.  Their line ended with their son Turin and daughter Nienor.

The next significant descendant of Beor the Old was Barahir.  He married Emeldir, and had one son, Beren.  Beren, if you recall, was the man who fell in love with the beauty Lúthien, and achieved the Quest of the Silmarils.  Beren and Lúthien did have one son, named Dior.  Dior married Nimloth, an Elf-maid of Doriath, and had three children.  Their two sons were both killed and left no heirs.  Their daughter Elwing, however, married Eärendil, and united the House of Bëor with the House of Hador (through Tuor, Eärendil's human father) as well as with the Noldor line of Turgon (through Idril, Eärendil's mother).

I realise that it is all very confusing.  The point to take away is that with Tolkien history, we are talking literally thousands of years of Genealogy, and I've only covered the bare minimum here.  The three houses of the Edain cross and mingle many times with each other, as well as with several lines of Elves, including the noblest lines.  You don't have to memorize any of these relationships by any means, but I do expect that you know the major players: the people who were leaders of their houses (ie. Marah, Hador), and the heroes and people mentioned often in Tolkein mythology (ie. Turin, Beren, Eärendil).  I've tried to keep the lines within the First Age, and where they cross over into the Second, I make note of it.

With this lesson, I have included three family trees, and I suggest that you take some time to look at them and get a feeling for how all of this comes together.  Visually, it helps a great deal.