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Character Bios

Drúedain

Meaning: Drûg Fathers of Men

Other Names:
Drûg, Drughu (Drúedain’s own language)
Drúin, Drúath (Sindarin)
Rú, Rúatani (Quenya)
Oghor-hai (Orcish)
Woses, Wild Men (Westron)
Púkel-men (see Note 2)

Location(s): Beleriand especially the Forest of Brethil, Númenor, Drúadan Forest, Andrast

Race/Species: Man

Dates: 1st to 4th Age

Description:

Table of Contents:

Description
Origins
Skills
History
Language
Etymology
Notes


Description

To the eyes of Elves and other Men they were unlovely in looks: they were stumpy (some four foot high) but very broad, with heavy buttocks and short thick legs; their wide faces had deep-set eyes with heavy brows, and flat noses, and grew no hair below their eyebrows, except in a few men (who were proud of the distinction) a small tail of black hair in the midst of the chin. Their features were usually impassive, the most mobile being their wide mouths; and the movement of their wary eyes could not be observed save from close at hand for they were so black that the pupils could not be distinguished, but in anger they glowed red. Their voices were deep and guttural, but their laughter was a surprise: it was rich and rolling, and set all who heard it, Elves or Men, laughing too for its pure merriment untainted by scorn or malice. In peace they often laughed at work or play when other Men might sing. But they could be relentless enemies, and when once aroused their red wrath was slow to cool, though it showed no sign save light in their eyes; for they fought in silence and did not exult victory, not even over Orcs, the only creatures for whom their hatred was implacable.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

[Before] them on the ground sat a strange squat shape of a man, gnarled as an old stone, and the hairs of his scanty beard straggled on his lumpy chin like dry moss. He was short-legged and fat-armed, thick and stumpy, and clad only with grass about his waist. Merry felt that he had seen him before somewhere, and suddenly he remembered the Púkel-men of Dunharrow. Here was one of those old images brought to life, or maybe a creature descended in true line through endless years from the models used by the forgotten craftsmen long ago.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

[Out] of the trees crept warily other púkel-shapes so like old Ghân that Merry could hardly tell them apart. They spoke to Ghân in a strange throaty language.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

Ghân-buri-Ghân squatted down and touched the earth with his horny brow in token of farewell.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

[To] no heart in all the host came any fear that the Wild Men were unfaithful, strange and unlovely though they might appear.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

Origins

To the unfriendly who, not knowing them well, declared that Morgoth must have bred the Orcs from such a stock the Eldar answered: "Doubtless Morgoth, since he can make no living thing, bred Orcs from various kinds of Men, but the Drúedain must have escaped his Shadow; for their laughter and the laughter of Orcs are as different as is the light of Aman from the darkness of Angband." But some thought, nonetheless, that there had been a remote kinship, which accounted for their special enmity. Orcs and Drûgs each regarded the other as renegades. [Author's note.]

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 5

"They were a secretive people, suspicions of other kinds of Men [by] whom they had been harried and persecuted as long as they could remember….”

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Further Notes on the Drúedain

Skills

[They are skilled hunters, woodsmen and scouts.]

They had a marvellous skill as trackers of all living creatures and they taught to their friends what they could of their craft; but their pupils did not equal them, for the Drúedain used their scent, like hounds save that they were also keen-eyed. They boasted that they could smell an Orc to windward further away than other Men could see them, and could follow its scent for weeks except through running water. Their knowledge of all growing things was almost equal to that of the Elves (though untaught by them); and it is said that if they removed to a new country they knew within a short time all things that grew there, great or minute, and gave names to those that were new to them, discerning those that were poisonous, or useful as food.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

'Wild men are wild, free, but not children,' he answered. 'I am great headman, Ghân-buri-Ghân. I count many things: stars in sky, leaves on trees, men in the dark. You have a score of scores counted ten times and five.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

'It is all dark, but it is not all night.' said Ghân. 'When Sun comes we feel her, even when she is hidden. Already she climbs over East-mountains. It is the opening of day in the sky-fields.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

Ghân-buri-Ghân […] suddenly […] stood looking up like some startled woodland animal snuffling a strange air. A light came in his eyes.

'Wind is changing!' he cried….

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

They had a law against the use of all poisons for the hurt of any living creatures, even those who had done them injury – save only Orcs, whose poisoned darts they countered with others more deadly.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 9

[According to Elfhelm:] 'Let us be thankful that they are not hunting us: for they use poisoned arrows, it is said, and they are woodcrafty beyond compare.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

'Wild Men go quick on feet,' said Ghân. 'Way is wide for four horses in Stonewain Valley yonder,' he waved his hand southwards; 'but narrow at beginning and at end. Wild Man could walk from here to Dîn between sunrise and noon.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

[Note: According to distances given in The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad, Ghân is claiming the Drúedain could travel somewhere between 30 and 50 miles on foot in six hours, sustaining an impressive five to eight miles an hour on foot in difficult terrain.]

All went well that day, and no sight or sound had they of the enemy waiting to waylay them. The Wild Men had put out a screen of wary hunters, so that no orc or roving spy should learn of the movements in the hills.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

But among the powers of this strange people perhaps most to be remarked was their capacity of utter silence and stillness, which they could at times endure for many days on end, sitting with their legs crossed, their hands upon their knees or in their laps, and their eyes closed or looking at the ground. Concerning this a tale was related among the Folk of Haleth […]

It is said that the Drúedain would often sit thus in times of grief or loss, but sometimes for pleasure in thought, or in the making of plans. But they could also use this stillness when on guard; and then they would sit or stand, hidden in shadow, and though their eyes might seem closed or staring with a blank gaze nothing passed or came near that was not marked and remembered. So intense was their unseen vigilance that it could be felt as a hostile menace by intruders, who retreated in fear before any warning was given; but if any evil thing passed on, then they would utter as a signal a shrill whistle, painful to endure close at hand and heard far off. The service of the Drúedain as guards was much esteemed by the Folk of Haleth in times of peril; and if such guards were not to be had they would have figures carved in their likeness to set near their houses, believing that , (being made by the Drúedain themselves for the purpose) they would hold some of the menace of the living men

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

[They use drums to communicate over long distances:]

[Merry] heard it again: a sound like faint drums in the wooded hills and mountain-steps. The throb would cease suddenly and then be taken up again at some other point, now nearer, now further off. […]

'Nay, nay,' said Elfhelm, 'the enemy is on the road not in the hills. You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods: thus they talk together from afar….'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

In the far distant past they appear already to have had small tools of flint for scraping and cutting, and these they still used, although the Atani had a knowledge of metals and some smith-craft before they came to Beleriand, for metals were hard to come by and forged weapons and tools very costly. But when in Beleriand by association with the Eldar and in traffic with the Dwarves of Ered Lindon these things became more common, the Drúedain showed great talent for carving in wood or stone. They already had a knowledge of pigments, derived chiefly from plants, and they drew pictures and patterns on wood or flat surfaces of stone; and sometimes they would scrape knobs of wood into faces that could be painted. But with sharper and stronger tools they delighted in carving figures of men and beasts, whether toys and ornaments or large images, to which the most skilled among them could give vivid semblance of life. Sometimes these images were strange and fantastic, or even fearful: among the grim jests to which they put their skill was the making of Orc-figures which they set at the borders of the land, shaped as if fleeing from it, shrieking in terror. They made also images of themselves and placed them at the entrances to tracks or at turnings of woodland paths. These they called "watch-stones;" of which the most notable were set near the Crossings of Teiglin, each representing a Drúadan, larger than the life, squatting heavily upon a dead Orc. These figures served not merely as insults to their enemies; for the Orcs feared them and believed them to be filled with the malice of the Oghor-hai (for so they named the Drúedain), and able to hold communication with them. Therefore they seldom dared to touch them, or to try to destroy them, and unless in great numbers would turn back at a "watch-stone" and go no further.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

Living among the Folk of Haleth, who were a woodland people, "they were content to live in tents or shelters, lightly built round the trunks of large trees, for they were a hardy race. In their former homes, according to their own tales, they had used caves in the mountains, but mainly as store-houses, only occupied as dwellings and sleeping-places in severe weather. They had similar refuges in Beleriand to which all but the hardy retreated in times of storm or bitter winter; but these places were guarded and not even their closest friends among the Folk of Haleth were welcomed there."

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 9

The Drugs or Pukel-men are not however to be confused with or thought of as a mere variant on the hobbit theme. They were quite different in physical shape and appearance. Their average height (four feet) was only reached by exceptional hobbits; they were of heavier and stronger build; and their facial features were unlovely (judged by general human standards). Physically they shared the hairlessness of the lower face; but while the head-hair of the hobbits was abundant (but close and curly), the Drugs had only sparse and lank hair on their heads and none at all on their legs and feet. In character and temperament they were at times merry and gay, like hobbits, but they had a grimmer side to their nature and could be sardonic and ruthless; and they had or were credited with strange or magical powers.

[…] Also the Drugs were a frugal folk, and ate sparingly even in times of peace and plenty, and drank nothing but water. In some ways they resembled rather the Dwarves: in build and stature and endurance (though not in hair); in their skill in carving stone; in the grim side of their character; and in 'strange powers'. Though the 'magic' skills with which the Dwarves were credited were quite different; also the Dwarves were much grimmer; and they were long-lived, whereas the Drugs were short-lived compared with other kinds of Men.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 10, Of Dwarves and Men: The Atani and their Languages

A passage about the liking of the Drûgs for edible fungus was omitted [from the essay in Unfinished Tales in view of my father's pencilled note beside it: 'Delete all this about funguses. Too like Hobbits' (a reference of course to Frodo and Farmer Maggot’s mushrooms). This followed the account of the knowledge of the Drûgs concerning plants, and reads: To the astonishment of Elves and other Men they ate funguses with pleasure, many of which looked to others ugly and dangerous; some kinds which they specially liked they caused to grow near their dwellings. The Eldar did not eat these things. The Folk of Haleth, taught by the Drúedain, made some use of them at need; and if they were guests they ate what was provided in courtesy, and without fear. The other Atani eschewed them, save in great hunger when astray in the wild, for few among them had the knowledge to distinguish the wholesome from the bad, and the less wise called them orc- plants and supposed them to have been cursed and blighted by Morgoth.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 10, Of Dwarves and Men: Notes, Note 51

History

The "Púkel-men" occupied the White Mountains (on both sides) in the First Age. When the occupation of the coastlands by the Númenóreans began in the Second Age they survived in the mountains of the promontory [of Andrast], which was never occupied by the Númenóreans. Another remnant survived at the eastern end of the range [in Anórien]. At the end of the Third Age the latter, much reduced in numbers, were believed to be the only survivors; hence the other region was called "the Old Púkel-wilderness" (Drúwaith Iaur). It remained a "wilderness" and was not inhabited by Men of Gondor or of Rohan, and was seldom entered by any of them; but Men of the Anfalas believed that some of the old "Wild Men" still lived there secretly.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Further Notes on the Drúedain

First Age

[Historians] in Gondor believed that the first Men to cross the Anduin were indeed the Drúedain. They came (it was believed) from lands south of Mordor, but before they reached the coasts of Harad they turned north into Ithilien, and eventually finding a way across the Anduin (probably near Cair Andros) settled in the vales of the White Mountains and the wooded lands at their northern feet. "They were a secretive people, suspicions of other kinds of Men [by] whom they had been harried and persecuted as long as they could remember, and they had wandered west seeking a land where the could be hidden and have peace."

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Further Notes on the Drúedain

An emigrant branch of the Drúedain accompanied the Folk of Haleth at the end of the First Age, and dwelt in the Forest [of Brethil] with them. But most of them had remained in the White Mountains, in spite of their persecution by later-arrived Men, who had relapsed into the service of the Dark.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Further Notes on the Drúedain

The strangest of all the customs of the Folk of Haleth was the presence among them of people of a wholly different kind, the like of which neither the Eldar in Beleriand nor the other Atani had ever seen before. They were not many, a few hundreds maybe, living apart in families or small tribes, but in friendship, as members of the same community.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

[They] were not long-lived, and were ever few in number, their losses were heavy in their feud with the Orcs, who turned their hatred and delighted to capture them and torture them. When the victories of Morgoth destroyed all the realms and strongholds of Elves and Men in Beleriand, it is said that they had dwindled to a few families, mostly of women and children, some of whom came to the last refuges at the Mouths of Sirion.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

In their earlier days they had been of great service to those among whom they dwelt, and they were much sought after; though few would ever leave the land of the Folk of Haleth.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

A few lived in the household of Húrin of the House of Hador, for he had dwelt among the Folk of Haleth in his youth and had kinship with their lord.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 8

Second Age

In the annals of Númenor it is said that [the few Drúedain living at the Mouths of Sirion at the end of the First Age were] permitted to sail over sea with the Atani, and in the peace of the new land throve and increased again, but took no more part in war, for they dreaded the sea. What happened to them later is only recorded in one of the few legends that survived the Downfall, the story of the first sailings of the Númenóreans back to Middle-earth, known as The Mariner's Wife. In a copy of this written and preserved in Gondor there is a note by the scribe on a passage in which the Drúedain in the household of King Aldarion the Mariner are mentioned: it relates that the Drúedain, who were ever noted for their strange foresight, were disturbed to hear of his voyages, foreboding that evil would come of them, and begged him to go no more. Bu they did not succeed, since neither his father nor his wife could prevail on him to change his courses, and the Drúedain departed in distress. From that time onward the Drúedain of Númenor became restless, and despite their fear of the sea one by one, or in twos and threes, they would beg for passages in the great ships that sailed to the North-western shores of Middle-earth. If any asked "Why would you go, and whither?" they answered: "The Great Isle no longer feels sure under our feet, and we wish to return to the lands whence we came." Thus their numbers dwindled again slowly through the long years, and none were left when Elendil escaped from the Downfall: the last had fled the land when Sauron was brought to it;. [Author's note.] –There is no trace, either in the materials relating to the story of Aldarion and Erendis or elsewhere, of the presence of Drúedain in Númenor apart from the foregoing, save for a detached note which says that "the Edain who at the end of the War of the Jewels sailed over sea to Númenor contained few remnants of the Folk of Haleth, and the very few Drúedain that accompanied them died out long before the Downfall."

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 7

In an essay […] on the names of rivers in Middle-earth there is a glimpse of the Drúedain in the Second Age. It is said here […] that the native people of Enedwaith, fleeing from the devastations of the Númenóreans along the course of the Gwathló ,
did not cross the Isen nor take refuge in the great promontory between Isen and Lefnui that formed the north arm of the Bay of Belfalas, because of the "Púkel-men," who were a secret and fell people, tireless and silent hunters, using poisoned darts. They said that they had always been there, and had former lived also in the White Mountains. In ages past they had paid no heed to the Great Dark One (Morgoth), nor did they later ally themselves with Sauron; for they hated all invaders from the East. From the East, they said, had come the tall Men who drove them from the White Mountains, and they were wicked at heart. Maybe even in the days of the War of the Ring some of the Drû-folk lingered in the mountains of Andrast, the western outlier of the White Mountains, but only the remnant in tin woods of Anórien were known to the people of Gondor.
Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Further Notes on the Drúedain

Third Age

A few of the ancient Wild Men still lurked in the Drúadan Forest in Anórien

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix F, The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age

[They appear to have been persecuted by the Gondorians and Rohirrim during the Third Age. Ghân-buri-Ghân tells Théoden:] 'But if you live after the Darkness, then leave Wild Men alone in the woods and do not hunt them like beasts any more…'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

In the marshlands of the mouths of Greyflood and Isen lived a few tribes of "Wild Men," fishers and fowlers, but akin in race and speech to the Drúedain of the woods of Anórien.†

[Footnote:] † […] it is said that "a fairly numerous but barbarous fisherfolk dwelt between the mouths of the Gwathló and the Angren (Isen)." No mention is made there of any connection between these people and the Drúedain, though the latter are said to have dwelt (and to have survived there into the Third Age) in the promontory of Andrast, south of the mouths of Isen….

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 5, The Battles of the Fords of Isen: Appendix

[According to Elfhelm:] 'They still haunt Drúadan Forest, it is said. Remnants of an older time they be, living few and secretly, wild and wary as the beasts. They go not to war with Gondor or the Mark; but now they are troubled by the darkness and the coming of the orcs: they fear lest the Dark Years be returning, as seems likely enough.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

After the Battle of the Fords of Isen it was found that many Drúedain did indeed survive in the Drúwaith Iaur, for they came forth from the caves where they dwelt to attack remnants of Saruman's forces that had been driven away southwards.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 13

[During the War of the Ring, the Drúedain guide the Rohirrim past the orcs blocking the main road to Minas Tirith:]

3019 March
13
[..,] Théoden in Drúadan Forest.
14 […] The Rohirrim led by the Wild Men come to the Grey Wood.

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix B, The Tale of Years: The Third Age

[After Ghân-buri-Ghân has successfully led the Rohirrim past the orcs,] he and his fellows had vanished into the glooms, never to be seen by any Rider of Rohan again.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

[In] Rohan the identity of the statues of Dunharrow called "Púkel-men" with the "Wild Men" of the Drúadan Forest was not recognized, neither was their "humanity:" hence the reference by Ghân-buri-Ghân to persecution of the "Wild Men" by Rohirrim in the past ["leave Wild Men alone in the woods and do not hunt them like beasts any more"]. Since Ghân-buri-Ghân was attempting to use the Common Speech he called his people "Wild Men" (not without irony); but this was not of course their own name for themselves. 14

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Further Notes on the Drúedain

A notable visitor to Minas Tirith among the many embassies that came to the King is found in [the first draft of The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, The Steward and the King]:

... and the slaves of Mordor he set free and gave them all the lands about Lake Nurnen for their own. And last of all there came to him Ghan-buri-Ghan of the Wild Woods and two of the headmen, and they were clad in garments of green leaves to do honour to the king, and they laid their foreheads on his feet; but he bade them rise up and blessed them and gave them the Forest of Druadan for their own, so that no man should ever enter it without their leave.

Sauron Defeated - The End of the Third Age, HoME Vol 9, Ch 6, The Steward and the King

[This was rejected in favour of the passage in The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, Many Partings in which Aragorn Grants Drúadan Forest to them.]

Language

Wholly alien [to the Common Tongue] was the speech of the Wild Men of Drúadan Forest.

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix F, The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age: Of Men

[They] spoke the same language [as the People of Haleth (1)] (after their fashion). They retained however a number of words of their own. [Author's note.]

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 3

But the Westron was used as a second language of intercourse by all those who still retained a speech of their own […] Even among the Wild Men […] who shunned other folk there were some that could speak it, though brokenly.

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix F, The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age

A notable case is that of the conversation between Ghân chieftain of the Wild Men and Théoden. Probably few if any of the Wild Men other than Ghân used the Common Speech at all, and he had only a limited vocabulary of words used according to the habits of his native speech.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 10, Of Dwarves and Men: Notes, Note 1

[Ghân’s] voice was deep and guttural, yet to Merry's surprise he spoke the Common Speech, though in a halting fashion, and uncouth words were mingled with it.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

The Drúedain, as also the other Atani, had no form of writing until they met the Eldar; but the runes and scripts of the Eldar were never learned by them. They came no nearer to writing by their own invention than the use of a number of signs, for the most part simple, for the marking of trails or the giving of information and warning.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

The word for Orc in the now forgotten tongue of the Drúedain in the realm of Gondor is recorded as being (? In the plural) gorgûn. This is possibly derived ultimately from the Elvish words.

The War of the Jewels, HoME Vol 11, Part 4, Quendi and Eldar: Appendix C. Elvish names for the Orcs

Etymology

The Folk of Haleth called them by the name drûg, that being a word of their own language.

The Eldar called them Drúedain, admitting them to the rank of Atani, for they were much loved while they lasted.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

It is stated in isolated notes that their own name for themselves was Drughu (in which the gh represents a spirantal sound). This name adopted into Sindarin in Beleriand became Drû (plurals Drúin and Drúath), but when the Eldar discovered that the Drû-folk were steadfast enemies of Morgoth, and especially of the Orcs, the "title" adan was added, and they were called Drúedain (singular Drúadan), to mark both their humanity and friendship with the Eldar, and their racial difference from the people of the Three Houses of the Edain. Drû was then only used in compounds such as Drúnos "a family of the Drû-folk," Drúwaith "the wilderness of the Drû-folk." In Quenya Drughu became Rú, and Rúatan, plural Rúatani.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 6

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 6

Wose is a modernization (in this case, the form that the word would have had now if it still existed in the language) of an Anglo-Saxon word wása, which is actually found only in the compound wudu-wása "wild man of the woods." (Saeros the Elf of Doriath called Túrin a "woodwose," […] The word survived long in English and was eventually corrupted into "wood-house.") The actual word employed by the Rohirrim (of which "wose" is a translation, according to the method employed throughout) is once mentioned: róg, plural rógin.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 14


It seems that the term "Púkel-men" (again a translation: it represents Anglo-Saxon púcel "goblin, demon," a relative of the word púca from which Puck is derived) was only used in Rohan of the images of Dunharrow.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 14

Notes
1. In The Silmarillion Bëor described the Haladin (afterwards called the People or Folk of Haleth) to Felagund as "a people from whom we are sundered in speech"

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Notes, Note 2

2. Although Tolkien refers to them as "Púkel-men" in several passages, it seems none of the people in Middle-Earth are likely to have used the term "Púkel-men" to refer to the Drúedain. As noted in the Etymology, the Rohirrim only used the word for the statues at Dunharrow. Gondorians (and others) speaking Sindarin would call them Drúedain, while Westron speakers would use a variant of the word employed by the Rohirrim (Rohirric being related to Westron), which Tolkien translates as “wose”.

Contributors:
Tanaqui 14Jan05

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