# first men



## magok (Jun 16, 2016)

this something that has always intrested me, who were the first men that awok ?

what did they look like ?

how many were there ?

what were their names and what language they spoke ?


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## Matthew Bailey (Jun 26, 2016)

Very good questions.

Tolkien gives no names.

And in _The History of Middle-earth_, Tolkien suggests that they did not immediately speak any language when they awoke, but were guided by an innate sense, or perception of the Will of Eru Ilúvatar himself; that it was only after Morgoth began to corrupt them that language arose (they had a sort of "Tower of Babel" moment - although it wasn't over trying to build a Tower to reach God).

In the _Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth_ Tolkien discusses the origins of Men a bit. What they looked like would be "Typical Humans" of various ethnicities.

About the only thing that really came out of Tolkien's writings on the Awakening of Men at Hildórien is that Tolkien decided that the First Age really needed to be at least 2,000 - 3,000 years longer in order to accommodate many of his logistical problems with the History of Humanity within Middle-earth.

We know only that:

• They awoke Year Zero of the First Age at Hildórien, which is FAR in the East of Middle-earth.
• Morgoth came among them to corrupt them, and lead them to his worship.
• Many Houses of Mankind rebelled against the Worship of Morgoth, and SOME fled to the West, where they had heard rumor of the Valar from the Moriquendi.
• Orcs are likely a product of humanity, and not necessarily the Elves (or a perverted mixture of both).
• The Three Houses of the Edain were the only ones of those who Rebelled against the worship of Morgoth to make it to Beleriand (but that the Northmen of Rhovanion were related to the Halethim).
• That the Edain wound up speaking Adúnaic, which was derived from the language of the House of Haleth, with a bit from the House and Bëor.

MB


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