Drúedain

	Men
	Drúedain
Drúedain of Beleriand
Drúedain of Númenor
	Drúedain of Middle-earth

The branch of the Drúedain that travelled to Númenor with the Edain suffered an uncertain fate. Some sources suggest that they simply died out before the Downfall, but others hint that they were able to travel back across the Sea during the Second Age, and so rejoin the main population in Middle-earth.

A strange and ancient branch of the race of Men. A secretive people, living apart from other Men, the Drúedain had their own strange wisdom, and at times demonstrated uncanny powers. During the First Age, they played a part in the wars against Morgoth, and those of the Forest of Brethil formed a loose alliance with the Folk of Haleth. They were granted the name Drúedain in recognition of this (as the word Edain was reserved for those Men who aided in the struggle against the Dark Lord). Indeed, it seems that some were even granted a home in Númenor as a reward for their part in the Wars of Beleriand.

The Drúedain were a short-lived people, and by the end of the Third Age only a few remained in Middle-earth. Some remained, forgotten by outsiders, in the coastlands above Andrast, in the region known as Drúwaith Iaur (which took its name from the Drúedain who dwelt there). Another small group was to be found far to the east, in the Drúadan Forest in Anórien, at the eastern end of the White Mountains, and it was these that aided King Théoden in his ride to the relief of Minas Tirith. In reward, after the War of the Ring, Aragorn granted the Forest to the Drúedain who lived there.