The Northmen are otherwise known as the “Free Men of the North”. They were friendly to Gondor, and they lived in the Middle-earth north of Rhovanion. [1]
History
Northmen in Lake-town
In the First Age, men migrated to the uninhabited lands between the Inland Sea, the Iron Hills, and the Greenwood. They stayed near the Longbeard lands and started dealing with other men. When the First Age ended, men settled in nearby villages of the Grey Mountains and Greenwood. The Northmen lived in Greenwood and other parts of Rhovanion. They were friendly to Dunedain, and after the Dunedain were Arda, one of the noblest men. Dunedain had known the Northmen as Middle-Men, which they believe were descendants of Edain and the Atanatari that came from the same lineage. Unlike others, Dunedain did not pass through the Blue Mountains into Beleriand. Thus, they did not travel to Numenor.
They did not participate in the War against Morgoth because the lifespan of Dunedain is considerably short. Only after the War of Wrath through Valar that the lifespan of Dunedain has lengthened. The alliance of Gondor with Dunedain is very important because it served as a defense against the Easterlings and all other enemies. For a time, as the kingdom of Gondor extended beyond the Anduin river, many of them became the subjects of Gondor. The East of Greenwood the Great was formerly the kingdom of Rhovanion, and this nation became very significant to the Northmen.
During the third age, particularly in the thirteenth century, Valacar, the son of King Romendacil II of Gondor, was sent by his father as an ambassador to Vidugavia, known as the “King of Rhovanion”. Valacar adored Rhovanion and fell in love with Vidumavi, the King’s daughter, and they were wed. Vidumavi bore a child whom she named Vinitharya from Vidumavi’s native tongue. Their son Vinitharya became King Eldacar in Gondor upon the death of his father King Valacar, and this led to the Gondorian civil war, called the Kin-strife.
Upon the death of Vidugavia, the minority group of Northmen settled in the vales of Anduin located between the Mirkwood and the Gladden Fields. They undoubtedly fled from the Wainriders, the Easterling tribes, because many people of Rhovanion have been enslaved. In the Third Age 1977, the Northmen transferred to the North and began calling themselves Eotheod after Gondor and the remains of Arnor defeated the cruel Kingdom of Angmar. They were well-trained horsemen and horse breeders. In TA 2510 at the Field of Celebrant, the Northmen responded to a plea and helped Gondor’s army who were trapped. Gondor won this very important victory through the aid of the Northmen. Gondor then in-return rewarded the province of Calenardhon to them,
which became known as Rohirrim. The Rohan Men who were called, “Yeomen” though not skilled at arms, also fought on foot. The woodsmen of Mirkwood were counted as under the Northmen, including the Men of Lake-town and Dale. After the Great Plague and the wars of the Easterlings, most people of Rhovanion relocated themselves. They were enormously large in numbers. The Northmen reached from the Long Lake to the Dorwinion on the Sea of Rhun. And to the western eaves of Mirkwood to the southern slopes of the Grey Mountains. In the Hobbit, they lived in a relentless fear of hostilities from Dol Guldur. And back in the Mirkwood, these Northmen also lived in a conceivable unstable life as hunters, trappers, fishermen on the Anduin river with its tributaries, and loggers.
They did not participate in the War against Morgoth because the lifespan of Dunedain is considerably short. Only after the War of Wrath through Valar that the lifespan of Dunedain has lengthened. The alliance of Gondor with Dunedain is very important because it served as a defense against the Easterlings and all other enemies. For a time, as the kingdom of Gondor extended beyond the Anduin river, many of them became the subjects of Gondor. The East of Greenwood the Great was formerly the kingdom of Rhovanion, and this nation became very significant to the Northmen.
During the third age, particularly in the thirteenth century, Valacar, the son of King Romendacil II of Gondor, was sent by his father as an ambassador to Vidugavia, known as the “King of Rhovanion”. Valacar adored Rhovanion and fell in love with Vidumavi, the King’s daughter, and they were wed. Vidumavi bore a child whom she named Vinitharya from Vidumavi’s native tongue. Their son Vinitharya became King Eldacar in Gondor upon the death of his father King Valacar, and this led to the Gondorian civil war, called the Kin-strife.
Upon the death of Vidugavia, the minority group of Northmen settled in the vales of Anduin located between the Mirkwood and the Gladden Fields. They undoubtedly fled from the Wainriders, the Easterling tribes, because many people of Rhovanion have been enslaved. In the Third Age 1977, the Northmen transferred to the North and began calling themselves Eotheod after Gondor and the remains of Arnor defeated the cruel Kingdom of Angmar. They were well-trained horsemen and horse breeders. In TA 2510 at the Field of Celebrant, the Northmen responded to a plea and helped Gondor’s army who were trapped. Gondor won this very important victory through the aid of the Northmen. Gondor then in-return rewarded the province of Calenardhon to them,
which became known as Rohirrim. The Rohan Men who were called, “Yeomen” though not skilled at arms, also fought on foot. The woodsmen of Mirkwood were counted as under the Northmen, including the Men of Lake-town and Dale. After the Great Plague and the wars of the Easterlings, most people of Rhovanion relocated themselves. They were enormously large in numbers. The Northmen reached from the Long Lake to the Dorwinion on the Sea of Rhun. And to the western eaves of Mirkwood to the southern slopes of the Grey Mountains. In the Hobbit, they lived in a relentless fear of hostilities from Dol Guldur. And back in the Mirkwood, these Northmen also lived in a conceivable unstable life as hunters, trappers, fishermen on the Anduin river with its tributaries, and loggers.
Military
There are other well-known kingdoms of the North, such as the Lake-town and the Dale, wherein it has a various force of a regular standing army. These forces consisted of a dismounted man-at-arms, a wooden shield, and men armed with swords. Gondor somehow sent help to the Men of the North in metalworking together with their nearby allies, the Dwarven. In the North, the majority of the people were farmers, so the military forces in the town shall be comprehensively needed, and focus their attention on the all-important harvests. The military forces were further in a hierarchy. These are the axemen forces who were woodcutters and loggers back in Mirkwood, which learned to use the ax during their adolescence. Other forces, such as the light cavalry and the mounted knights, shall be available for scouting and other responsibilities. Consequently, from Dale to Dorwinion, its terrain is mainly flat and featureless excluding ponds that aimlessly scattered, shrubs, and a few trees. To distinguish between the infantry division and the rural is that the former is composed of not a combatant but as Gamling in The Two Towers, wherein it states that “every villager able to wield a sword.” While the latter, who was the less organized kingdom of Rohan trained every capable militia and had to fight on horseback.
Languages
The Northmen are humans. Hence, they spoke the common language. Conversely, the Northmen also have their native languages. The Rohirrim, for instance, spoke Rohirric wherein, Tolkien happens to have been motivated by Old English, considering names like “Eowyn” and “Thengel.” On the other hand, the Woodsmen and the Bardings spoke languages similar to the Rohan men concerning a gross language group. From an Old Norse name “Brand” means “torch.” In other words, the Old English and the Old Norse belonging to a similar group language. However, these languages are dissimilar to Dwarvish. In “The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings,” [2] in their respective languages, Dwarvish was instead named dwarfs from the Men of Dale and not the language of the native Dwarf. Except for Westron, Dwarves certainly did not share languages with the Southern, Western, and Eastern counterparts including, the Elves.
