The chief of the Easterling forces that occupied Hithlum after Morgoth's victory in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Lorgan claimed the lordship of the northern land of Dor-lómin, which had been ruled by Húrin Thalion until he was captured in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
Lorgan features most prominently in history for the role he played in Tuor's youth. When the Elves that had sheltered Tuor through his childhood set out for the southern lands, Lorgan's Men and Orcs launched an attack on them. The sixteen-year-old Tuor was captured, and held as a servant by Lorgan for three years, after which he managed to escape. He harried the lands as an outlaw, and Lorgan put a price on his head, but after a further four years Tuor disappeared from the north. Lorgan surely never discovered why his foe had vanished: Tuor had set out through the Gate of the Noldor on a journey that would lead him to Turgon in Gondolin.
Notes
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Our only definite dates for Lorgan come from the history of Tuor in The Silmarillion, which states that Lorgan was lord of Hithlum during the three years of Tuor's thraldom (I 488 - I 491). He was probably made lord when the Easterlings occupied Hithlum immediately after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad of I 472, but this is not specifically said.
While we're lacking canonical accounts of Lorgan's later career, he does appear in The Wanderings of Húrin in volume XI of The History of Middle-earth. Based on that source, he was still lord of Hithlum as late as I 500, when he was confronted by Húrin. At that date (assuming he had been made lord as part of the original occupation) he would have ruled Hithlum for twenty-eight years, and his rule continued after Húrin's departure from his land.
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Lorgan's origins are not specifically discussed, but in the The Tale of the Children of Húrin (Narn i Chîn Húrin in Unfinished Tales), the invaders of Hithlum are identified as belonging to the people of Uldor. That is, they were followers of Uldor the Accursed, who betrayed the Elves and Edain and so turned the battle of the Nirnaeth to Morgoth's favour. Lorgan himself may have fought in that battle (and indeed the fact that he was awarded the lordship of Hithlum strongly implies that he did so).
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Lorgan's name is not Elvish, but comes from his own unknown Easterling tongue, and is not therefore interpretable.
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- Updated 28 August 2023
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