...It is a long tale...
 | |
| Event | |
| Awakening of Men | |
|---|---|
| Event Information | |
| Location | Hildórien |
| Date | F.A. 1 |
| Result | The existence of Men in Arda |
| Part of | Ilúvatar's plan for Eä |
| Participants | Ilúvatar, Men |
| Description | The creation of Mankind |
The Awakening of Men was the stirring of the first Men, in the far eastern land of Hildórien, towards the end of the First Age, when the Years of the Sun began. They were awakened by Ilúvatar, when the first Sun rose in the West.[1]
Other versions of the legendarium
In the early The Book of Lost Tales, the Men awoke thanks to the Elf Nuin, who discovered them sleeping in an enclosed valley of the East called Murmenalda, the Vale of Sleep.[2] Accidentally he stirred a sleeper, overcome with curiosity, and he woke the first pair of Men, right before the first rising of the Sun from the West. Their names were Ermon and Elmir. Nuin also taught them speech, and thus was the Father of Speech.[3]
In the Round World version of the Silmarillion of c. 1955, the awakening of Men is proposed to be much earlier, sometime between the Awakening of the Elves and the Battle of the Powers (Y.T. 1050 - Y.T. 1100).[4] In a draft published in The Nature of Middle-earth, the date is given as Y.T. 1075 (which is of course by no means final desision).[5]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Men"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "X. Gilfanon's Tale: The Travail of the Noldoli and the Coming of Mankind"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "X. Gilfanon's Tale: The Travail of the Noldoli and the Coming of Mankind": "Notes and Commentary"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Five. Myths Transformed"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: VI. The Awaking of the Quendi", p. 43