Q: Were the Dunlendings and the Wild Men of the Hills the Same People?
ANSWER: Readers are confused by the apparent contradiction in The Lord of the Rings regarding just who Saruman recruited for his army from Dunland. Near the beginning of the chapter “Helm’s Deep” in The Two Towers Tolkien writes:
He came, a weary man with dinted helm and cloven shield. Slowly he climbed from his horse and stood there a while gasping. At length he spoke. ‘Is Éomer here?’ he asked. ‘You come at last, but too late, and with too little strength. Things have gone evilly since Théodred fell. We were driven back yesterday over the Isen with great loss; many perished at the crossing. Then at night fresh forces came over the river against our camp. All Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivers, and these also he loosed upon us. We were overmastered. The shield-wall was broken. Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness in Helm’s Deep. The rest are scattered.
The statement “…Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivers…” implies that two separate Mannish peoples have joined Isengard’s cause. However, in subsequent passages only the “wild men of the hills” are mentioned again (or just the “wild men”). The herd-folk seem to vanish from the narrative.
Did Tolkien make a mistake? Many readers have asked through the years if the Wild Men were the Dunlendings or if they were some other men. A few readers suggest that perhaps these Wild Men were akin to the Druedain whom Merry later encountered. This deduction is based on a passage in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth where Tolkien writes:
…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. In the foothills of the western side of the Misty Mountains lived the remnants of the people that the Rohirrim later called the Dunlendings: a sullen folk, akin to the ancient inhabitants of the While Mountain valleys whom Isildur cursed….
Although it seems very unlikely that the Wild Men living in the marshlands would serve Saruman; but given that Ghan-Buri-Ghan complains to Theoden about the Rohirrim hunting his people like animals, it is reasonable to ask if Druedain from Enedwaith might also have been mistreated and resentful enough to side with Saruman against the Rohirrim.
Against this argument one can place the following text taken from End Note 13 for “The Druedain” in Unfinished Tales:
…A marginal jotting states that 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….
So here we have a third population of Druedain living in Middle-earth who are clearly hostile toward Saruman’s forces. The text does not indicate what their relationship may have been with the Rohirrim.
Turning back to “Helm’s Deep”, we can take a closer look at one of the later “wild men” passages:
Brazen trumpets sounded. The enemy surged forward, some against the Deeping Wall, other towards the causeway and the ramp that led up to the Hornburg-gates. There the hugest Orcs were mustered, and the wild men of the Dunland fells. A moment they hesitated and then on they came. The lightning flashed, and blazoned upon every helm and shield the ghastly hand of Isengard was seen: They reached the summit of the rock; they drove towards the gates.
Further on Gamling the Old comments on the language of the Dunlendings:
‘Yet there are many that cry in the Dunland tongue,’ said Gamling. ‘I know that tongue. It is an ancient speech of men, and once was spoken in many western valleys of the Mark. Hark! They hate us, and they are glad; for our doom seems certain to them. ‘The king the king!’ they cry. ‘We will take their king. Death to the Forgoil! Death to the Strawheads! Death to the robbers of the North!’ Such names they have for us. Not in half a thousand years have they forgotten their grievance that the lords of Gondor gave the Mark to Eorl the Young and made alliance with him. That old hatred Saruman has inflamed. They are fierce folk when roused. They will not give way now for dusk or dawn, until Théoden is taken, or they themselves are slain.’
We need to look at the Appendix on Languages in The Lord of the Rings for clarification:
A few of the ancient Wild Men still lurked in the Drúadan Forest in Anórien; and in the hills of Dunland a remnant lingered of an old people, the former inhabitants of much of Gondor.
It would appear that the “wild men” of the “Dunland fells” are the same hill-folk referred in the Appendix. It seems reasonable to exclude the Druedain of the coastal marshlands from being perceived as loyal to Sauron in any way. Their race, in any event, had an ancient enmity toward Orcs and it cannot be argued that they would have allied themselves with Orcs under any circumstances.
So then who were the “herd-folk”? Could they have been shepherds or perhaps horse-herds? Saruman had relatively little cavalry serving him according to the accounts of the various battles. Such cavalry as he had may have been recruited from Dunland or could have been men who entered Isengard’s service directly. In fact, “The Battles of the Fords of Isen” does mention horsemen from Dunland:
:When Théodred gained the Fords the day was waning. He set Grimbold in command of the garrison of the west bank, stiffened with fifty dismounted Riders. The rest of his Riders and all the horses he at once sent across the river, save his own company: with these on foot he manned the eyot, to cover the retreat of Grimbold if he was driven back. This was barely done when disaster came. Saruman’s eastern force came down with unexpected speed; it was much smaller than the western force, but more dangerous. In its van were some Dunlending horse¬men and a great pack of the dreadful Orcish wolfriders, feared by horses.
If Dunland could field horsemen then it follows that they had horse-herds. The herd-folk of Dunland may be lowlanders who lived separately from the hill-men, though descended from the same ancient blood. There is a little bit of evidence that Dunlendings lived beyond the hills. For example, in an End Note to “Battles of the Fords of Isen” Tolkien wrote:
4 Beyond the Gap the land between Isen and Adorn was nominally part of the realm of Rohan; but though Folcwine had reclaimed it, driving out the Dunlendings that had occupied it, the people that remained were largely of mixed blood, and their loyalty to Edoras was weak: the slaying of their lord, Freca, by King Helm was still remembered. Indeed at this time they were more disposed to side with Saruman, and many of their warriors had joined Saruman’s forces. In any case there was no way into their land from the west except for bold swimmers. [Author’s note.] – The region between Isen and Adorn was declared to be a part of the realm of Eorl at the time of the Oath of Cirion and Eorl: see p. 319.
Also, in The Lord of the Rings when the Elves of Rivendell and Lothlorien are returning north (after Aragorn and Arwen’s wedding) the narrative states:
Soon the dwindling company, following the Isen, turned west and rode through the Gap into the waste lands beyond, and then they turned northwards, and passed over the borders of Dunland. The Dunlendings fled and hid themselves, for they were afraid of Elvish Folk, though few indeed ever came to their country; but the travellers did not heed them, for they were still a great company and were well provided with all that they needed; and they went on their way at their leisure, setting up their tents when they would.
There is no indication in any of the texts that the ancient north-south highway passed through the hills of Dunland, which was divided between the foot-hills of the Misty Mountains and lowlands that marched down to the sea in Enedwaith. Hence, the Dunlendings who lived near the Gap of Rohan were quite probably lowlanders. They may have been of mixed blood like their kinsfolk south of the river Isen.
See Also:
Why Did the Rohirrim Drive the Dunlendings Out of Their Lands?
Does Saruman Rule Dunland and the Dunlendings?
Why Didn’t Gondor Give Calenardhon to the Dunlendings?
Did Tolkien Ever Write about a Dunlending Town or Village?
Why Do the Men of Dunland Join Saruman?
# # #
Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
[…] Were the Dunlendings and the Wild Men of the Hills the Same People? […]