Drúedain

Drúedain
Drúedain
In-universe information
Other name(s)	Woses, Drughu, Oghor-hai, Púkel-men, Wild men
Creation date	First Age
Home world	Middle-earth
Base of operations	Drúadan Forest
Language	Drûg
Leader	Ghân-buri-Ghân

TheDrúedainare a fictional race ofMen,living in theDrúadan Forest,in theMiddle-earth legendariumcreated byJ. R. R. Tolkien.They were counted among theEdainwho made their way intoBeleriandin theFirst Age,and were friendly to theElves.InThe Lord of the Rings,they assist theRiders of Rohanto avoid ambush on the way to theBattle of the Pelennor Fields.

The Drúedain are based on the mythologicalwoodwoses,the wild men of the woods of Britain and Europe; the Riders of Rohan indeed call them woses.^[1]^{[T 1]}

Names and etymology[edit]

Within Tolkien's fiction, the Drúedain call themselvesDrughu.When the Drúedain settled inBeleriand,theSindarinElves adapted this toDrû(pluralsDrúin,Drúath) and later added the suffix-adan"man", resulting in the usualSindarinformDrúadan(pluralDrúedain).^{[T 2]}Tolkien also used the formDrûg,with a regular English pluralDrûgs.^{[T 2]}DrughubecameRúinQuenya,with the later suffixed formRúatan(pluralRúatani).^{[T 2]}TheOrcscalled the DrúedainOghor-hai.^{[T 2]}John S. Ryan, writing inMallorn,notes that Tolkien also uses the forms "Drúadan Forest" (the home of the Woses) and "Drúwaith-laur" (the Dru-folk's ancient wilderness).^[2]

The word used for the Drúedain by theRohirrimduring theThird Ageis represented by Tolkien asPúkel-men.^{[T 3]}^{[T 2]}This includes theOld Englishwordpūcel"goblin, troll", which survives inShakespeare'sPuckinA Midsummer Night's Dream,and in two forms inKipling'sPuck of Pook's Hill.^[3]Ryan adds that the word survives in English placenames such as Puckshot in Surrey, Pock Field in Cumberland,Puxton,Puckeridge,Pokesdown,Pockford, Pucknall, and perhapsPucklechurch.Ryan suggests that the Púkel-men may derive from a combination of "Proto-Celts,Druid-figures, or... roadside fertility deities ". Ryan notesChristopher Tolkien's statement that the name Púkel-men is "also used as a general equivalent to Drúedain".^[2]

InWestron,the Common Tongue of western Middle-earth, the Drúedain were called theWild Men,or the[Wood-]Woses:^{[T 1]}

You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods: thus they talk together from afar. They still haunt Druadan Forest, it is said. Remnants of an older time they be, living few and secretly, wild and wary as the beasts.^{[T 1]}

The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey,aphilologistlike Tolkien, notes that the office atLeeds Universitywhich both men used (at different times), is nearWoodhouse Moor,which, as "would not have escaped Tolkien", is a modern misspelling of Wood-Wose, Old Englishwudu-wāsa.Clark Hallrenders this word as "faun,satyr".^[1]^[4]

Description[edit]

The Drúedain somewhat resembleDwarvesin stature and endurance; they are stumpy, clumsy-limbed with short, thick legs, and fat, "gnarled" arms, broad chests, fat bellies, and heavy buttocks. According to theElvesand 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, lank hair. They had no hair lower than the eyebrows, except for a few men who had a tail of black hair on the chin. They were short-lived and had a deep hatred ofOrcs.^{[T 1]}They had certain magical powers and sat still in meditation for long periods.

History[edit]

The Drûgs were the first to migrate from Hildórien, the land where the race of Men awoke inthe eastof Middle-earth. Initially they headed south, intoHarad,but then they turned north-west, becoming the first Men to cross the great riverAnduin.^{[T 4]}Many of them settled in theWhite Mountains,where they were thefirst people.

Some of the Drúedain continued north-west, settling inBeleriand.There a band lived among the Second House of Men, the Haladin, in theFirst Agein the forest ofBrethil,whence the Elves came to know and love them. Aghan the Drûg is a protagonist in "The Faithful Stone", a short story set inBeleriandin theFirst Age.

Although a number of the Drúedain came with the Edain toNúmenor,they had left or died out before theAkallabêth,as had the Púkel-men ofDunharrow.At the end of theThird Agethe Drûgs still lived in the Drúadan Forest of the White Mountains, and on the long cape ofAndrastwest ofGondor.The region north ofAndrastwas still known asDrúwaith Iaur,or "Old Drûg land".

The termPúkel-menused by theRohirrimwas also applied to the statues constructed by the Drúedain to guard important places and homes;^{[T 3]}some evidently had the power to come to life.^{[T 5]}Because of their ugly appearance and frightening statues the Drúedain were feared and loathed by other Men of the region; they were considered little better thanOrcs,and there was much enmity between those peoples.

Nevertheless, the Drúedain of Ghân-buri-Ghân's clan came to the aid of the Rohirrim during theWar of the Ring.A large company of Orcs had been sent to the Drúadan Forest to waylay the host of Rohan as it made its way to the aid ofGondor.It was the "woodcrafty beyond compare"^{[T 1]}Drúedain who held off the Orcs with poisoned arrows whilst they guided the Rohirrim through the forest by secret paths.^{[T 1]}Without their help the Rohirrim would not have arrived at theBattle of the Pelennor Fields,andSauronwould likely have triumphed. This action earned the Drúedain the respect of other Men, and KingElessargranted them the Drúadan Forest "forever" in thanks.

Significance[edit]

Ghân-buri-Ghân is perceived as a "leftover," a prehistoric type of human surviving in the modern world. Like the rest of his people, Ghân has a flat face, dark eyes, and wears only a grass skirt.^{[T 1]}^[6]^[7]He is seen as a good man with a kind of primitive nobility, a classic example of thenoble savage.^[8]He is by no means stupid, and he "refuses to be patronized."^[9]Susan Pesznecker describes the "Wodwoses", including Tolkien's, as a variant of the medievalGreen man,which she calls "a Pagan symbol of fertility and rebirth".^[5]

Themedievalistand Tolkien scholarVerlyn Fliegercomments that the Wild Man "is infantile". Ghân-Buri-Ghân talks "like aHollywood Tarzan"using short broken phrases like" Wild Men live here before Stone-houses "and" kill orc-folk ".^[6]She compares him with the "WildHobbit"^[6]Gollum,who ispsychotic,haunted by voices, and who uses "baby-talk", like "cruel little hobbitses": in her view, the Wild Man is "evolutionarily regressive", whereas Gollum is "psychologically regressive".^[6]

Adaptations[edit]

Ghân-buri-Ghân is featured in the promotional expansion card set ofThe Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game^[10]and in theLord of the Ringsboard game. The image for the latter was designed by theTolkien illustratorand concept designerJohn Howe.^[11]

References[edit]

Primary[edit]

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^hTolkien 1955,Book 5, ch. 5, "The Ride of the Rohirrim"
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eTolkien 1980,"The Drúedain"
^^a ^bTolkien 1955,Book 5, ch. 3, "The Muster of Rohan".
^Tolkien 1980,part 4 ch. 1
^Tolkien 1980,"The Drúedain: The Faithful Stone"

Secondary[edit]

^^a ^bShippey, Tom(2005) [1982].The Road to Middle-Earth(Third ed.).HarperCollins.pp. 74, 149.ISBN 978-0-2611-0275-0.
^^a ^bRyan, John S. (September 1983)."The Pukel-men before Dunharrow".Mallorn.
^Hall, J. R. Clark(2002).A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary(4th ed.). University of Toronto Press. p.275.ISBN 978-0802065483.
^Hall, J. R. Clark(2002).A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary(4th ed.).University of Toronto Press.p.424.ISBN 978-0802065483.
^^a ^bPesznecker, Susan (2007).Gargoyles: From the Archives of the Grey School of Wizardry.Red Wheel Weiser. p. 123.ISBN 978-1-60163-978-3.
^^a ^b ^c ^dFlieger, Verlyn(2003). "Tolkien's Wild Men: from medieval to modern". InChance, Jane(ed.).Tolkien the Medievalist.Routledge. pp. 96–105.ISBN 978-1-134-43971-3.
^Smith, Mark Eddy (2002).Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues.Intervarsity Press. p.108.ISBN 0-8308-2312-3.Ghan-Buri-Ghan
^Rutledge, Fleming(2004).The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings.William B. Eerdmans Publishing.p. 286.ISBN 978-0-8028-2497-4.
^Stanton, Michael N. (2002).Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards: Exploring the Wonders and Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".Palgrave Macmillan.p. 79.ISBN 978-1-4039-6025-2.
^"List of the 139 cards in the expansion Promotional Cards".Trade Cards Online.Retrieved18 September2012.
^"Ghan-Buri-Ghan".Illustrator John Howe.9 September 2011.Retrieved18 September2012.

Sources[edit]

Tolkien, J. R. R.(1955).The Return of the King.The Lord of the Rings.Boston:Houghton Mifflin.OCLC 519647821.
Tolkien, J. R. R.(1980).Christopher Tolkien(ed.).Unfinished Tales.Boston:Houghton Mifflin.Part Four, I.ISBN 978-0-395-29917-3.

[The_Ride_of_the_Rohirrim-2] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^hTolkien 1955,Book 5, ch. 5, "The Ride of the Rohirrim"

[UT_Druedain-3] Tolkien 1980,"The Drúedain"

[The_Muster_of_Rohan-5] Tolkien 1955,Book 5, ch. 3, "The Muster of Rohan".

[8] Tolkien 1980,part 4 ch. 1

[Faithful_Stone-9] Tolkien 1980,"The Drúedain: The Faithful Stone"

[Shippey_2005-1] Shippey, Tom(2005) [1982].The Road to Middle-Earth(Third ed.).HarperCollins.pp. 74, 149.ISBN 978-0-2611-0275-0.

[Ryan_1983-4] Ryan, John S. (September 1983)."The Pukel-men before Dunharrow".Mallorn.

[Clark_Hall_Puck-6] Hall, J. R. Clark(2002).A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary(4th ed.). University of Toronto Press. p.275.ISBN 978-0802065483.

[Clark_Hall_Wood-Wose-7] Hall, J. R. Clark(2002).A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary(4th ed.).University of Toronto Press.p.424.ISBN 978-0802065483.

[Pesznecker_2007-10] Pesznecker, Susan (2007).Gargoyles: From the Archives of the Grey School of Wizardry.Red Wheel Weiser. p. 123.ISBN 978-1-60163-978-3.

[Flieger_2003-11] Flieger, Verlyn(2003). "Tolkien's Wild Men: from medieval to modern". InChance, Jane(ed.).Tolkien the Medievalist.Routledge. pp. 96–105.ISBN 978-1-134-43971-3.

[Smith_2002-12] Smith, Mark Eddy (2002).Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues.Intervarsity Press. p.108.ISBN 0-8308-2312-3.Ghan-Buri-Ghan

[Rutledge_2004-13] Rutledge, Fleming(2004).The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings.William B. Eerdmans Publishing.p. 286.ISBN 978-0-8028-2497-4.

[Stanton_2002-14] Stanton, Michael N. (2002).Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards: Exploring the Wonders and Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".Palgrave Macmillan.p. 79.ISBN 978-1-4039-6025-2.

[15] "List of the 139 cards in the expansion Promotional Cards".Trade Cards Online.Retrieved18 September2012.

[16] "Ghan-Buri-Ghan".Illustrator John Howe.9 September 2011.Retrieved18 September2012.

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