| Woses, Drughu, Oghor-hai, Púkel-men | |
| Founded | First Age |
|---|---|
| Current leader | Ghân-buri-Ghân |
| Home world | Middle-earth |
| Base of operations | Drúadan Forest |
| Official language | Drûg |
The Drúedain are a fictional race of Men which were counted amongst the Edain, who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves. They are part of the Middle-earth legendarium, created by J. R. R. Tolkien.
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The Drúedain called themselves Drughu. When the Drúedain settled in Beleriand, the Sindarin Elves adapted this to Drû (plurals Drúin, Drúath) and later added the suffix -adan "man", resulting in the usual Sindarin form Drúadan (plural Drúedain).[1] Tolkien also used the form Drûg, with a regular English plural Drûgs.[2]
Drughu became Rú in Quenya, with the later suffixed form Rúatan (plural Rúatani).[1] The Orcs called the Drúedain Oghor-hai.[2] The word used for them by the Rohirrim during the Third Age was represented by Tolkien as Púkel-men,[3][4] which includes the Anglo-Saxon word púcel "goblin, troll" (surviving also in Shakespeare's "Puck" and Kipling's "Pook's Hill").
The appearance of the Drúedain is entirely different from the appearance of the other races of the Middle-earth legendarium. They are 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, lank 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. They were known to have certain magical powers and to be still in meditation for long periods of time.
The Drûgs were the first to migrate from the site where Men awoke, in the east of Middle-earth. A band lived among the Second House of Men, the Haladin, in the First Age in the forest of Brethil, whence the Elves came to know and love them. Although a number of the Drúedain came with the Edain to Númenor, they had left or died out before the Akallabêth, as had the Púkel-men of Dunharrow. At the end of the Third Age the Drûgs 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 term Púkel-men used by the Rohirrim was also applied to the fearsome statues constructed by the Drúedain to guard important places and homes; some evidently had the power to come to life.[5] Because of their ugly appearance and frightening statues the Drúedain were feared and loathed by other Men of the region; they were considered little better than Orcs, and there was much enmity between those peoples.
Nevertheless the Drúedain of Ghân-buri-Ghân's clan came to the aid of the Rohirrim during the War of the Ring. A large company of Orcs had been sent to the Drúadan Forest to waylay the host of Rohan as it made its way to the aid of Gondor. It was the Drúedain who held off the Orcs with poisoned arrows whilst they guided the Rohirrim through the forest by secret paths. Without their help the Rohirrim would not have arrived at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and Sauron would likely have triumphed. As a result the Drúedain gained the respect of other Men, and King Elessar granted the Drúadan Forest "forever" to them in thanks.
The Drúedain are reminiscent of the mythological woodwoses, and like them their relic status and physical description are similar to the typical depiction of Neanderthals.
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