Hador

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Hador was a Lord of Men during the First Age.

Biography

Hador, also called in Sindarin Lórindol ('Goldenhead', [ˈhadɔr, lɔːˈrindɔl]) because he had fair blond hair, was the great-great-grandson of Marach, one of the leaders of the Atanatári, and ruled over the Folk of Marach which later became commonly known as the House of Hador. Hador wedded Gildis and had three children, Glóredhel, Galdor the Tall and Gundor. Galdor's sons were Húrin Thalion and Huor, and Húrin's son was Túrin Turambar who slew the Dragon Glaurung.

Hador entered the household of Fingolfin High King of the Noldor in his youth, and was well liked by the king. Seeing that the Edain needed a country and lords of their own, Fingolfin now granted to Hador the lordship of land of Dor-lómin in Hithlum in the year 416 of the First Age,^[1] where soon most of his folk migrated from their former dwellings by the sources of Taeglin. The Folk of Hador remained thereafter loyal to the House of Fingolfin and for his cause marched to war against Morgoth, though under their own Lord.

He also received the Dragon-helm of Telchar, a famed Dwarven-smith of Nogrod, at that time. Hador was given this helm because it was made for dwarven-heads, and none had the size to wear it in the land. He was one of the tallest Men in all Beleriand. All of his line wore the helm until it was lost in the time of his great-grandson Túrin, with the exception of Húrin who was of lesser stature than his fathers (though perhaps the mightiest warrior of mortal men).

Hador was slain during the Dagor Bragollach along with his son Gundor before the walls of Eithel Sirion, defending the rearguard of Fingolfin. The rule of Dor-lómin passed then to his elder son Galdor.

The House of Hador

The House of Marach or House of Hador (pronounced [ˈmarax], [ˈhadɔr]) were the family of Men that ruled the over the last of the Three Houses of the Edain in the First Age. They were the descendants of Marach, but were usually named after his great-great-grandson Hador Lórindol, the first Lord of Dor-lómin.

Legends

The House of Hador was the greatest of the three houses of Men, having at the time of their coming to Beleriand some six thousand full-grown men. "For the most part they were tall people, with flaxen or golden hair and blue-grey eyes, but there were not a few among them that had dark hair, though all were fair-skinned."^[2] The People of Marach were "quick to wrath and laughter, fierce in battle, generous to friend and to foe, swift in resolve, fast in loyalty, joyous in heart, the children of Ilúvatar in the youth of Mankind."^[3] They were akin to the House of Bëor and spoke a closely related language, called Taliska.

The vanguard of the Greater Folk, now led by one Marach, were the first to reach the Ered Luin, but they were daunted by the heights and turned southward, seeking a way round the Mountains. Thus they came to Beleriand from the south when the other Houses had already settled.^[4] Marach therefore led his people to the plains of Estolad, where they settled to the south-east of the Folk of Bëor.

Soon the Edain began to migrate from Estolad again, for the Kings of the Noldor sent word that any who wished could come and dwell among their people. Malach, son of Marach lived in Hithlum for fourteen years, and soon he led some of his people there, and yet a greater part journeyed under his son Magor to the lands around the sources of Taeglin south of Ered Wethrin. But some regretted of their coming to Beleriand, having found themselves entangled in the wars with Morgoth whom they had fled. So after a council and assembly in Y.S. 369 a host of the Folk of Marach went back over the Ered Luin to Eriador, mingling with their old kinsmen there. And many men still remained in Estolad until the Ruin of Beleriand; but most of the Third House forsook that land by Y.S. 380 and in Y.S. 416 the land of Dor-lómin in Hithlum was formally granted to their lord Hador.

The House of Hador became the most renowned of the Edain, fighting for the people of Fingolfin and Fingon. They were moreover hardy to endure cold and feared not at times to go far into the north and there keep watch upon the movements of Morgoth's forces. Many of them fell when the Siege of Angband was broken in the Dagor Bragollach, but still Hithlum was defended, and the Men of Hador guarded the tower of Barad Eithel. They fought valiantly under their lord Húrin during the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, and "of all the deeds of war that the fathers of Men wrought on behalf of the Eldar, the last stand of the Men of Dor-lómin is most renowned."^[5] Their forces defended the retreating army of Turgon, holding at last by the Fens of Serech, and all were slain.

To Hithlum no news came of the battle, until Morgoth sent there the allied Easterlings. The remnant of the House of Hador was then put to thraldom; those able to work were taken to mines of the north or laboured as slaves for the Incomers, and the old were killed or driven out to starve. A few indeed remained as beggars or outlaws, hiding in caves, or escaped to the southern havens at the Mouths of Sirion. By the Easterlings the Folk of Hador was called Strawheads.^[6]

Easterlings' lordship under Morgoth lasted nearly a century, until the Host of the Valar arrived in Beleriand and the War of Wrath began. The remnants of the Three Houses then fought on the side of the Valar, and after the defeat of Morgoth, they were granted the Isle of Númenor to dwell in. The descendants of the House of Hador composed the majority of its population, and their language became the chief tongue of the land, the Adûnaic, and later from it spread the Common Tongue of the West. Most of the people of Gondor and Arnor was thus also descended from either the House of Hador or those of their folk that never crossed the Blue Mountains.

Family tree

Others of the Folk of Hador

• Aerin
• Andróg
• Sador

Later version of the biography

One of J. R. R. Tolkien's intentions that never reached a finished state was placing Fingolfin's gift of the lordship of Dor-lómin to the times of the third lord of the Folk of Marach (Magor in the published Silmarillion); but he also wished to preserve the name 'House of Hador'. This entailed the reversal of Hador's and Magor's positions, and in a late genealogical table they appear as "Hador Lorindol, first lord of Dorlómin" (grandson of Marach) and simply "Magor Dagorlind" (great-great-grandson of Marach).^[7]

According to this version, the Folk of Marach in c. Y.S. 380 migrated from Estolad directly to Dor-lómin, without settling temporarily by the sources of Taeglin. It is unclear was Hador to retain Gildis as his wife, or she remained the mother of Húrin and became the spouse of Magor. Of Hador's new biography only his birthyear (Y.S. 341) is known.

Earlier versions of the legendarium

Originally Tolkien conceived that it was Hador (spelt Hádor then), grandfather of Húrin, who led the second party of Men over the Ered Luin, with no generations of Men preceding him and no third party.^[8] The Folk of Haleth was soon introduced, but the great expansion of the Houses of Men into elder generations was brought about only with the revisions made to the Quenta Silmarillion after writing The Lord of the Rings.

Hador's name 'Goldenhead' appears in various Sindarin forms such as Glórindol or Glorindal. The final form seems to be Lorindol (with no accent over the first o).

References

External links

• Hador at the Tolkien Gateway