In JRR Tolkien Lord of the Rings and throughout the rest of its legendarium, women generally did not fight, but there were a few notable exceptions throughout Middle-earth’s history. By far the most famous was Éowyn, the niece of King Théoden of Rohan. She disguised herself as a male Rohirrim to participate in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. She ended up fighting and killing the fearsome Witch-King of Angmar, avenging her uncle. Éowyn’s story was a highlight of Lord of the Ringsand many adaptations of Tolkien’s work have introduced new female warriors to carry on his legacy. For example, Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug invented the elf warrior Tauriel. She was a captain of the guard in the Forest Kingdom and she fought alongside Legolas in the second and third installments of The Hobbit trilogy.

More recently, Kenji Kamiyama’s animated film The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim transformed the novel’s unnamed daughter of Helm Hammerhand into Hera, a brave shieldmaiden. When Wulf and his army of Dunlendings besieged Helm’s Deep, Hera seized the opportunity to defend her people. Yet there is another example of a female fighter from Middle-earth lore who has yet to appear in any major adaptation. by Tolkien The Silmarillion is not as well known as Lord of the Rings Or The Hobbitbut it is a crucial part of its legendarium, as it details the ancient history of its setting. The Silmarillion included a character named Haleth who lived during the First Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events of Lord of the Rings. Even though she didn’t stay in history for long, she proved to be one of the greatest heroines of the race of men.

Haleth’s father united a scattered clan

Related

The Lord of the Rings: the different types of men explained

From the Gondorians to the Haradrim, there were many types of men in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, each with a unique history and culture.

Tolkien told Haleth’s story in the section “On the Arrival of Men in the West” of The Silmarillion. In the First Age, there were three clans of Men known as the Houses of Edain who followed the Elves to Beleriand. Haleth was a member of the second House, the Haladin, who settled in Thargelion, a forested region near the Blue Mountains. Thargelion was also home to Elves led by Caranthir the Dark, Galadriel’s cousin of Lord of the Rings. His nickname came from his black hair, but it also suited his austere mood. Caranthir was temperamental and hostile, especially toward mortals, but he allowed the Haladin to live in Thargelion because they mostly kept to themselves. Tolkien wrote that neighboring cultures “cared little” for each other and lived in peace.

It was far from a solid alliance, but it was enough to worry the Dark Lord Morgoth. He was threatened by the prospect of Elves and Men living in close proximity to each other, as they were much easier to manipulate when isolated. Morgoth attempted to turn Elves and Men against each other through “lies and deception”, but when this failed, he turned to a brute force approach. He sent groups of Orcs to terrorize the Haladin, hoping to kill them or at least drive them out of Caranthir’s sphere of influence. This is where Haleth’s family enters the story. At the time, the Haladin did not have a single leader; instead, “each farm was separate and governed its own affairs.” They enjoyed this way of life, but their lack of unity made them ineffective in fighting Morgoth’s servants. Aware of this, Haleth’s father, Haldad, united the men of Thargelion and became the first leader of the Haladin..

Haleth was a strong warrior and a stronger leader

Related

Saruman’s Uruk-Hai weren’t the deadliest orcs in Lord of the Rings

Saruman’s Uruk-hai are widely considered to be the deadliest orcs in The Lord of the Rings, but The Hobbit mentions orcs that were even deadlier.

In the year 375 of the First Age, the Haladin built a stockade between the Ascar and Gelion rivers. Here, as a united front, they would defeat the Orcs or die trying. Haleth and his twin brother, Haldar, fought against the Orcs alongside their father. Tolkien wrote that Haleth was “a woman of great heart and strength”, and that she was just as “valiant in defense” as her brother. Unlike Éowyn in Lord of the RingsHaleth’s choice to be a warrior was not considered unusual, which Tolkien expanded on in The peoples of Middle-earth. There were many female soldiers among the Haladinwhich sets them apart from most other cultures in Middle-earth. The Haladin fortifications held firm against their orcish attackers, but they soon faced another threat; they were short of food and if the siege did not end quickly, they were in danger of starving to death.

In a moment that corresponded to Théoden’s cavalry charge at Helm’s Deep in Lord of the RingsHaldad led a sally out of the stockade in hopes of surprising the Orcs. Unfortunately, he was not as successful as the future king of Rohan; Haldad fell in battle against the Orcs, and Haldar died trying to recover his father’s body. Thus, Haleth became the second leader of the Haladin and the only female ruler of the Three Houses of Edain. Even as hunger took its toll on the Haladin and the Orcs began to destroy the stockade, Haleth “held the people together.” A week after the deaths of Haldad and Haldar, the Orcs finally broke through the Haladin defenses, but in another parallel to Helm’s Deep, help arrived in their darkest hour.

Haleth has been remembered for millennia

• According to The peoples of Middle-earthHaleth formed an all-female group of bodyguards that Tolkien compared to the Amazons of Greek mythology.

Just when the Haladin were about to be invaded, Caranthir and his elven army have arrived from the north to help. Despite his cold demeanor, Caranthir was no friend to Morgoth or the Orcs, and he was not cruel enough to let the Haladin be slaughtered. Together, Elves and Men repelled the Orc army, proving that the Dark Lord had been right to fear an alliance between them. Caranthir was surprised and impressed by the way the mortals fought, especially Haleth. Tolkien wrote: “Then Caranthir looked kindly upon men, and did great honor to Haleth; and he offered him a reward for his father and brother… seeing, too late, what bravery there was among the Edains. » Caranthir told Haleth that the Haladin were welcome among his people in the northern part of Thargelion. Haleth greatly appreciated the elf lord’s offer, but she and the rest of the Haladin were too proud to accept it. Instead, she led her people west to the Brethil Forest, where they established their new homeland. Since then, the Haladin were known as the House of Haleth or Halethrim, the latter meaning “People of Haleth” in the Sindarin Elvish language.

Related

How Elrond’s Father Saved the World in The Lord of the Rings

Elrond was a key character in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, but his father was even more important to the history of Middle-earth.

The remainder of Haleth’s life was relatively peaceful, with House Haleth mostly remaining aloof from future conflicts between Morgoth and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. She died of natural causes in the year 420 of the First Age, and her tomb became a monument called the Mound of the Noble Maiden, or Haudh-en-Arwen in Sindarin. Haleth never married or had children, so her nephew, Haldan, became the new head of Haleth’s house. Tolkien wrote very little about him, but he was a distant ancestor of Elrond and Arwen of Lord of the Rings. It’s possible that Arwen’s name is a nod to Haleth’s monument, although it may be a coincidence. On the subject of names, Haleth shared his name with Helm Hammerhand’s eldest son. Haleth was also the name of the boy Aragorn spoke to before the Battle of Helm’s Deep in Jackson’s Kingdom. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towersalthough it is not originally from the novel. Haleth may not be as well known as Éowyn, Tauriel, or Hera, but she laid the foundation for all the warriors who followed her throughout Middle-earth’s history.

Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a series of epic fantasy adventure films and television series based on the novels by JRR Tolkien. The films follow the adventures of humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits and more in Middle Earth.

First film

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Where to stream

M, Prime Video, Hulu