Children of the Sun

Secondborn

The strangers

Men

Humans have been a mainstay throughout nearly the entire history of fantasy fiction

and Tolkien's works are no exception

Generally they are cited as being the most common, most versatile,

and most indomitable of the species, and of course the ones that we as readers can best relate to.

Just like the videos on elves and dwarves, we will omit most specific names for the sake of this overview.

Men, much like elves, were created by the supreme god, Eruiluvatar.

Other than the obvious physical differences, the most notable difference between men and elves

is the so-called gift of men.

The gift of men is more or less their mortality, meaning that unlike elves, they can die

and depart from Arda. Whereas elves cannot escape the fate of Arda and are continually kept

there, when men die they are freed from the bounds of the world in its troubles. Men are also free

from the designs of the music of creation, and thus can craft their own fates.

Men awoke on Arda years after the elves, and thus were referred to as the second-born, or afterborn.

They awoke in a land in the far east of Middle Earth, and it said among elves that Morgoth went to them and put darkness in their

hearts. Some fled this corruption, however, and went west across Middle Earth, while some that

stayed in the east would serve Morgoth and later Sauron. Those that went west settled across

Middle Earth and began mingling with elves and dwarves. They learned many things from the elves, and many adopted their language,

but most notable was their assistance to the elves in the war against Morgoth.

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