Drúedain

Drúedain
Name	Drúedain
Dominions	Númenor Brethil Drúadan Forest Drúwaith Iaur
Lifespan	Short-lived for Men
Height	Short
Hair color	Dark

The Drúedain, also known as Drûgs, Drughu, Rógin, Woses, Wild Men of the Woods and Púkel-men, were a strange race of Men that lived in the Drúadan Forest by the Third Age. They were counted amongst the Edain.

History

The Drúedain developed a close relationship between the Folk of Haleth, the Edain that inhabited that forest region. The Drúedain lived among the Second House of Men, the Haladin, in the First Age in the forest of Brethil. There were also a number of the Drúedain present in Númenor, though they had left or died out before the Akallabêth, as had the Púkel-men of Dunharrow. At the end of the Third Age, the Drûg still lived in the Drúadan Forest of the White Mountains, and on the long cape of Andrast west of Gondor. The region north of Andrast was still known as Drúwaith Iaur, or "Old Drûg land".

The Woses of Ghân-buri-Ghân held off Orcs with poisoned arrows and were vital in securing the aid of the Rohirrim in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. After the War of the Ring, King Aragorn II Elessar granted the Drúadan Forest "forever" to them in the Fourth Age, promising that no man would enter their forests without the leave of the Drúedain.

Physical characteristics

Ghan-Buri-Ghan

They were an alien folk to the other Men: a bit like Dwarves in stature and endurance, stumpy, clumsy-limbed (with short, thick legs, and fat, "gnarled" arms), had broad chests, fat bellies, and heavy buttocks. According to the Elves and other Men, they had "unlovely faces": wide, flat, and expressionless with deep-set black eyes that glowed red when angered. They had "horny" brows, flat noses, wide mouths, and sparse, lanky hair. They had no hair lower than the eyebrows, except for a few men who had a tail of black hair on the chin. They were short lived and had a deep hatred of Orcs. Their characteristics may have originated in the First Age. People who didn't know them very well may have thought that Morgoth may have captured some men as they did with the elves and bred Orcs from their stock leading to the conclusion that the Drúedain could have possibly been Men that escaped, but were more deformed but not very Orc-like. Evidence for this is that both they and Orcs consider each other renegades. They were known to have certain magical powers and to be still in meditation for long periods of time.

Other names

• Drûg/Drughu: (singular and plural) is the name the Drúedain give to themselves in their own language and the name used for a race known to the Elves as the Drúedain, and to Men.
• Drúath: (plural) was an earlier Sindarin name for them in ancient times.
• Róg/Rógin: (singular and plural) is the name that the Rohirrim have for them in their own language.
• Rú/Rúatani: (singular and plural) is their name in Quenya.
• Wose/Woses: (singular and plural) was a word Tolkien took from an Old English word, which was meant to be a translation of the Rohhirric 'Róg'.
• Oghor-hai: (singular and plural) is the name the Orcs gave to them.

Behind the Scenes

Tolkien got this term from the legendary Woodwoses of European myths.

External links

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• Annals of Arda Entry
• TolkienWiki Entry