Drúedain: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Daniel Govar - Woses.jpg|thumb|left|''Woses'' by [[Daniel Govar]]]]
The Druedain were the odd, mysterious race of men that lived in the Druadan forest. More commonly known as the Woses, they are without a doubt one the smallest races in Middle Earth--Druadan forest is small, not big enough to support more than a minor settlement.
{{Pronounce|Druedain.mp3|Ardamir}}
    In appearance, the Woses were short, stumpy bodied men, possibly related to the Pukel-men of anceint Rohan. They had disproprtianate bodies and small, sunken eyes that glowed red when they were angry or suspicious. Elves described them as 'unlovely', and their general reception in Middle Earth is similar to that position. Many men of Rohan and Gondor thought that the forest was haunted.  
The '''Drúedain''', (singular '''Drûg''') were a strange race of [[Men]] which were counted amongst the [[Edain]].
    Though the Woses largely held themselves apart from the troubles and calamities of Middle Earth, they are clearly a good-hearted people: their most significant contribution to the Free Peoples was showing the Rohirrim Paths through their forest. Without their aid, the Rohirrim would have arrived at the Pelennor Feilds much later, suffering losses from an orc army that was waiting for them. The Woses them used poison-darts and arrows to hold off an army of orcs searching for the Rohirrim.
 
    Beyond that, though, their contribution to the history of Middle Earth is little. Even after the War of the Ring, when King Elesssar granted that the Druadan forest be their's forever, they never showed their faces again, nor was any alliance or trading system struck up between them and Gondor. All in all, the story of the Woses is a melancholic one--spited and insulted by the Elves, feared by men, and unknown to dwarves, they lived a life of isolation and solitude.  
[[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] got the term from the legendary [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodwose Woodwoses].
    There is no record of their acts in the Fourth Age, but it is clear that they never mingled with the free peoples, content to live their mysterious life in the Druadan Forest, until they faded away into the dark culverts of history and legend.
 
The Drûgin lived among the Second House of Men, the [[Haladin]], in the [[First Age]] in the forest of [[Brethil]]. They were an alien folk to the other Men: 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, lanky hair. They had no hair lower than the eyebrows, except for a few men who had a tail of black hair on the chin. Although a number of the Drúedain were present in [[Númenor]] they had left or died out before the [[Downfall of Númenor|Downfall]], as had the Púkel-men of [[Dunharrow]].  At the end of the [[Third Age]] the Drûg still lived in the [[Drúadan Forest]] of the [[White Mountains]], and at the long cape of [[Andrast]] west of [[Gondor]]. The region north of [[Andrast]] was still known as [[Drúwaith Iaur]], or "Old Drûg land".
 
The Woses led by [[Ghân-buri-Ghân]] held off [[Orcs]] with poisoned arrows and were vital in securing the aid of the [[Rohirrim]] in the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]]. King [[Aragorn Elessar]] "forever" granted them the Drúadan Forest in the [[Fourth Age]].
 
== Names ==
The term Drúedain is Sindarin in origin, the singular being either Drûg or Drúadan. However there are many terms used for the same peoples in the various languages of [[Arda]]. The most common are listed below:
*'''Drughu:''' the Drúedain's own name for themselves. Drughu is ultimately the source of the Sindarin 'Drúedain' and many of the other names they are known by.
*'''Drúath:''' An earlier Sindarin term for the Drúedain, modified as early as the [[First Age]] when it became known that they were enemies of the orcs. Later used to refer to a large number of the Drúedain as opposed to 'Drúin' which was a simple pluralisation (As 'Woses' to the singular 'Wose') and Drúedain, used to refer to the race as a whole.  
*'''Drúin:''' Plural of 'Drûg' or 'Drúadan'.
*'''Drúadan:''' Singular term in the same manner of 'Dúnadan' is to '[[Dúnedain]]'. It also has possessive qualities as in the case of [[Drúadan Forest]]
*'''Drûg-folk:''' Rarely used collective term.
*'''[[Róg]]/[[Rógin]]:''' [[Rohirric]] terminology, singular/plural respectively (as in 'Drúg'/'Drúedain'
*'''[[Rú]]/[[Rúatani]]:'''' Quenya terms for the Drughu, derived from their Sindarin counterparts. Singular/plural respectively.
*'''Wose/Woses:''' A term borrowed from Old English by [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] as a translation of the Rohhirric 'Róg'. This is perhaps the most common term used by readers of the text.
 
== See Also ==
* [[:Category:Images of Woses|Images of Drúedain]]
 
[[Category:Drúedain]]

Revision as of 01:03, 5 December 2007

The Druedain were the odd, mysterious race of men that lived in the Druadan forest. More commonly known as the Woses, they are without a doubt one the smallest races in Middle Earth--Druadan forest is small, not big enough to support more than a minor settlement.

    In appearance, the Woses were short, stumpy bodied men, possibly related to the Pukel-men of anceint Rohan. They had disproprtianate bodies and small, sunken eyes that glowed red when they were angry or suspicious. Elves described them as 'unlovely', and their general reception in Middle Earth is similar to that position. Many men of Rohan and Gondor thought that the forest was haunted. 
    Though the Woses largely held themselves apart from the troubles and calamities of Middle Earth, they are clearly a good-hearted people: their most significant contribution to the Free Peoples was showing the Rohirrim Paths through their forest. Without their aid, the Rohirrim would have arrived at the Pelennor Feilds much later, suffering losses from an orc army that was waiting for them. The Woses them used poison-darts and arrows to hold off an army of orcs searching for the Rohirrim. 
    Beyond that, though, their contribution to the history of Middle Earth is little. Even after the War of the Ring, when King Elesssar granted that the Druadan forest be their's forever, they never showed their faces again, nor was any alliance or trading system struck up between them and Gondor. All in all, the story of the Woses is a melancholic one--spited and insulted by the Elves, feared by men, and unknown to dwarves, they lived a life of isolation and solitude. 
    There is no record of their acts in the Fourth Age, but it is clear that they never mingled with the free peoples, content to live their mysterious life in the Druadan Forest, until they faded away into the dark culverts of history and legend.