Q: Where Did the People of Arnor Come From?
ANSWER: I am not aware of any published writing by J.R.R. Tolkien that directly answers this question. We do know from “Akallabeth” and other sources that Elendil reached the northern shores of Middle-earth with four ships of Númenoreans in Second Age year 3319. Many people have tried to estimate how many Númenoreans might have been on the ships (and estimates range anywhere from about 50 to 1,000 per ship).
But even if you assume that Númenorean ships built essentially for the sake of transporting all that remained of Amandil’s Faithful to Middle-earth could each hold 1,000 men, women, and children, that still leaves a pretty skimpy population to launch the largest, most powerful Mannish kingdom in Middle-earth of the Second Age (at least as far as Gondorian records were concerned).
Still, Tolkien mentioned other Men who lived in Eriador in the Second Age. In no particular order they were:
Bëorians — Probably including the descendants of those Bëorians who fled Beleriand in two waves, but also including clans related to Bëor’s folk who remained behind. In the essay “Dwarves and Men” (published in The Peoples of Middle-earth) we finally learned that Bëor and Marach lead only small “vanguards” of much larger tribal groups whose settlements extended all the way back to the Carnen (the river running south from the Iron Hills).
Marachians — Probably including only very few descendants of any Marachians who returned from Beleriand, these men were not as numerous in Eriador as the Bëorians. The largest portion of their population remained east of the Misty Mountains and Greenwood the Great.
Gwathuirim — This is the name given by the Númenoreans to the people living along both sides of the Gwathló river. They were related to the Folk of Haleth in Beleriand, as well as to the Men of Ered Nimrais, from whom came the Dead Men of Dunharrow. There are hints in some texts (including The Lord of the Rings) that some of the coastal people of Gondor were related to the Gwathuirim. In Eriador the Gwathuirim retreated north away from the river. By the end of the Third Age only two populations remained: the Men of Eryn Vorn (who enter into no stories and have no villages or towns) and the Men of Bree. In Enedwaith (south of the Gwathló) the Gwathuirim retreated to the foothills of the Misty Mountains to become the Dunlendings. The Dunlendings also included men who lived in Calenardhon, but whether they were always there or migrated there from Dunland is not clear. After the Rohirrim settled in Calenardhon the Dunlendings did gradually expand southward into the western lands around the river Adorn.
Because the Men of Bree were part of that family of Gwathuirim peoples it is reasonable to assume that there were other communities which also accepted Elendil’s rule, but which eventually died out.
Borians — The Folk of Bor were a group of “swarthy Men” who entered Beleriand during the First Age after the Dagor Bragollach. They settled in the March of Maedhros, north of Himring, and were farmers. They remained faithful to Maedhros during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad but were apparently completely destroyed by Morgoth’s forces. According to a footnote in one of the texts published in The History of Middle-earth, there were other clans of men closely related to the Folk of Bor who remained in northern Eriador. Tolkien does not identify these clans with the Gwathuirim; nor does he say what became of them during the Second Age. A few readers have speculated that these Borians may have been the ancestors of the Lossoth, the “snow men” who helped King Arvedui and his men.
Númenorean colonists — According to the “Tale of Years” published in The Lord of the Rings the Númenoreans began making permanent havens in Middle-earth in Second Age year 1200. They fortified the Gwathló river from Vinyalondë (aka Lond Daer Ened) to Tharbad after Sauron revealed himself to the Eldar. Those fortifications survived Sauron’s invasion of Eregion and Eriador because he was desperate to find the Rings of Power, which the Elves kept hidden.
We don’t know how far inland the Númenoreans spread after the War of the Elves and Sauron but they would have had the opportunity to help reorganize and colonize many parts of Eriador. Sauron slew many of the Men and Elves who lived there. The survivors either took refuge in Rivendell with Elrond’s army (and survivors from Eregion) or they fled across the Lune, which Gil-galad and Cirdan held against Sauron’s forces with aid from the Númenoreans.
Men of Mixed Descent — Tolkien seems to imply that the Númenoreans almost certainly intermarried with other men in Eriador just as in the lands that became Gondor. This population of mixed-descent men may have constituted a smaller percentage of the total population of Arnor than the similar group in the south. However, since Arnor suffered multiple successive disasters — culminating in the final war with Angmar — Tolkien never explained what happened to these people.
Hill-folk of Rhudaur — Tolkien does not say where these men came from or how long they had been in Eriador. They could be descended from those First Age Easterlings who fled the destruction of Angband at the end of the War of Wrath; or they could have arrived in Eriador much later. They do not seem to have spread very far west, except in the north, as they appear to be related to the Men of Angmar. Tolkien never gave these people a specific name or identity, as their only notable achievement in the histories of the Dúnedain was to overthrow the Dúnedain of Rhudaur after the Line of Isildur died out there. They subsequently allied themselves with Angmar and vanished from history as a distinctive people.
We could, I suppose, call these people “Men of the Northern Misty Mountains” or “Hill-tribes of the Misty Mountains”, to include the Men of Angmar. Tolkien does not say what happened to the people of Angmar but it seems probable that some of them survived to the end of the Third Age.
Other, unnamed men — J.R.R. Tolkien does not mention or allude to any other Men dwelling in Eriador but he leaves open the possibility for all sorts of tribes to have settled there. The demographic picture prior to the War of the Elves and Sauron is much clearer: the Men of Eriador were mostly friendly to Elves and therefore were related to the Three Houses of the Edain and the Folk of Bor. After the war Gil-galad may have been selective about whom he admitted to Eriador (Elrond’s function at Rivendell was to act as Gil-galad’s viceroy and watch over Eriador). I seriously doubt that the Eldar would have allowed a large body of Sauronic followers to settle in Eriador.
Still, Sauron also destroyed the civilization of the Edainic peoples living to the east of the Misty Mountains during the War of the Elves and Sauron (according to “Of Dwarves and Men”). The survivors fled to the mountains and deep woods and seem mostly to have retreated northward. I doubt they would have crossed into Eriador. In fact, before the publication of The Peoples of Middle-earth I used to speculate that the Northmen of Rhovanion were descended from survivors of Eriador. But “Of Dwarves and Men” pretty much proved that wrong.
If any Men entered Eriador from the east after the War of the Elves and Sauron, they were almost certainly few in numbers and deemed little to no threat by the Elves.
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I’m on the other hand interested in exact borders of Arnor, did the kingdom included the coastlands, shores of Enedwaith and Minhiriath, or northern shores at Ice Bay of Forochel. Former land of Eregion (Hollin) was never settled by men so I guess they were not part of the northern realm. Western border on river Liune and Tower Hills/Emyn Beraid.
[…] As noted in my article on where the people of Arnor came from, there seem to have been too few Númenóreans aboard the five ships that arrived with Isildur and […]
Going out on a limb here, but Aldarion had been visiting middle-earth as early as year 750 SA. before he married Erendis. Gil-galad set up a meeting with men near the Tower hills. It is said that these Men feared them as they thought they were about to meet ghosts from the sea but were surprised at how similar they were after all. This was because of their similar roots in Beleriand. Michael called them the Gwathuirim, though i have never heard that term before.
It is easy, i think, to see that these are the people who populated Vinyalondë and began the deforesting of Enedwaith and Minhiriath. As near as I can see this was all done in support of Numenorean ships. I can understand and see how these people would accept Elendil’s rule.
However The Tower Hills and the Gwathló river aren’t really close enough to assume these were the same people. Was Aldarion on his way to forming his own kingdom separate from Numenor before he became king only to have to forgo his plans when Tal-Meneldur stepped down? I mean he did have every intention of helping the elves against the growing shadow. We also know that his daughter scuttled his plans out of spite.