In Tolkien's cosmology the Edain are the second or younger people, awoken after the Elves. Their origin in the legendarium is that of ordinary humans in Middle-earth, created later than the Elves and given mortality as their distinguishing fate; their ultimate destiny and gift of mortality lie with the Creator (Ilúvatar) as set out in Tolkien's narratives and summaries.
Sources classify the Edain simply as humans — Men and women, adults and children — indistinguishable from ordinary human beings in appearance in the summaries provided. The cited material emphasizes their identity as the human population of Middle-earth rather than offering standardized physical details such as height, dress, or coloration.
The primary ontological trait attributed to the Edain in the cited sources is mortality: they are subject to death, in contrast to the immortal Elves. Beyond this defining metaphysical difference, the provided material does not ascribe uniform supernatural powers to Men; they are culturally and politically varied members of the free peoples who participate in the history and struggles of Middle-earth.
Community Record
- [1]Men in Middle-earth (Wikipedia: Edain). "In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fiction, Man or Men denote humans, whether male or female, adult or child, in contrast to Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, Orcs, and other sentient races."; "Men are described as the second or younger people, created after the Elves, and differing from them in being mortal."; "Along with Ents and Dwarves, these are the 'free peoples' of Middle-earth, differing from the enslaved peoples such as Orcs."wiki
- [2]Wikidata: Edain. "fictional people from J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium" (Wikidata entry Q1750998).wiki
- [3]Archive: Wiki - Edain Mod Wiki (archival listing). Archival resource referencing 'Edain' material (archive listing).other