Middle-earth peoples

The fictional races and peoples that appear in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth include the seven listed in Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings: Elves, Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents, Orcs and Trolls, as well as spirits such as the Valar and Maiar.

The Ainur who subsequently enter the physical world of Middle-earth are the Valar ("powers"), though that term primarily means the mightiest among them.

[T 3] Outwardly resembling Men but possessing much greater physical and mental power, they are called Istari (Quenya for "Wise Ones") by the Elves.

[T 3] The first three of these five wizards are known in the Mannish tongues of the Lord of the Rings series as Saruman "man of skill" (Rohirric), Gandalf "elf of the staff" (northern Men), and Radagast "tender of beasts" (possibly Westron).

Gandalf was the servant of Manwë or Varda, but was a lover of the Gardens of Lórien, and so knew much of the hopes and dreams of Men and Elves.

[T 3] Demonic creatures of fire and shadow, Balrogs are fallen Maiar, loyal to the first Dark Lord, Morgoth.

[T 7] The Free Peoples of Middle-earth are the four races that never fell under the sway of the evil spirits Morgoth or Sauron: Elves, Men, Dwarves and Ents.

Born under the stars before the ascension of the Moon and the Sun, they retain a special love for light and an inner spirit endowed with unique gifts.

Fair and fine-featured, brilliant and proud, immortal and strong, tall and agile, they are the most blessed of the Free Peoples.

They cannot become sick or scarred, but if an Elf should die, from violence or losing the will to live from grief, their spirit goes to the halls of Mandos, as they are bound to Arda and cannot leave until the world is broken and remade.

Elven skill and agility is legendary: for instance, walking atop freshly fallen snow without leaving a trace of their passing.

[3] On the journey to Valinor, some of the Teleri ("Those who tarried") abandon the main group, and those of them who did not mingle with the Moriquendi become the Laiquendi (Green-elves), the Sindar (Grey-elves) and the Nandor.

In Tolkien's earliest writings, elves are variously named sprites, fays, brownies, pixies, or leprawns.

[4] By 1915, when Tolkien was writing his first elven poems, the words elf, fairy and gnome had many divergent and contradictory associations.

In his 1939 essay On Fairy-Stories, Tolkien wrote that "English words such as elf have long been influenced by French (from which fay and faërie, fairy are derived); but in later times, through their use in translation, fairy and elf have acquired much of the atmosphere of German, Scandinavian, and Celtic tales, and many characteristics of the huldu-fólk, the daoine-sithe, and the tylwyth-teg.

The Faithful are known in Middle-earth as the Dúnedain, and as leaders of these kingdoms, they are able to lead the resistance to Sauron, and preserve the Men of the West as Free People.

They are known for their voodoo-like magic, their black eyes (which glow red when they are angry), and their ability to sit for hours and days on end without moving or blinking.

They are mortal enemies of orcs, defending the homes of their human neighbours with their own lives and with the aid of their magical Watch-Stones.

Tolkien allowed it to remain ambiguous as to whether Huorns are simply trees that become aware, or Ents that become more "treeish" over time.

The origin of Orcs and Trolls is unclear, but they are races that are taken by Morgoth and corrupted through sorcery into their final evil nature and appearance.

Prolonged service to Sauron however, does turn the bearers of the Rings of Power from Men into the wraith-like Nazgûl.

They included the Haradrim or Southrons and the Black Númenóreans (and later the Corsairs of Umbar) who pledged their allegiance to Mordor, and many different Easterling peoples, such as the Balchoth, the Wainriders, and the Men of Khand, who attacked Gondor and Rohan on numerous occasions.

Clad in dark hooded cloaks and riding demonic steeds or flying "fell beasts", the Ringwraiths forever hunt for the One Ring to bring it back to their master.

However, Tolkien wrote other accounts of their origin,[T 9] in an attempt to resolve the dilemma of how they could be sentient and wholly evil.

[T 22][T 23][T 24][T 25] Barrow-wights (from Middle English wight, a man) are dark spirits sent by the Witch-king of Angmar to possess and animate the bodies and bones of the former kings of the Dúnedain.

[T 27] Unlike the other races, he is seemingly unaffected by the One Ring and appears to have existed before the Children of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men).

Tolkien wrote that Glaurung had four legs and no wings and could not fly, and sired the brood of Urulóki, wingless fire-breathing dragons.

[T 34] Ancalagon the Black (Sindarin: rushing jaws from anc 'jaw', alag 'impetuous'[T 35]) was the first of the winged Fire-drakes and the greatest of all dragons, bred by Morgoth during the First Age, as told in The Silmarillion.

Fram rebuked this claim, sending them instead Scatha's teeth, with the words, "Jewels such as these you will not match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by."

The silver horn that Éowyn gave to Merry Brandybuck after the War of the Ring, crucial in "The Scouring of the Shire", came from this hoard.