House of Haleth - Other Versions of The Legendarium

Other Versions of The Legendarium

Tolkien originally proposed Haladin as the name of the whole Second House of the Edain, equivalent to Folk of Haleth. This conception was preserved into the published The Silmarillion, based primarily on The Later Quenta Silmarillion. But in later writings the meaning of Haladin was changed to Wardens or Chieftains, denoting only the family of Haleth. It is to be noted that neither after this change, nor before was the Second House of Men called the House of Haleth (unlike the Houses of Bëor and Hador, used to denote both the family and occasionally the people). They are always referred to as Folk of Haleth, Men of Brethil etc.

In even earlier versions of the legendarium, there were only two Houses of Men: of Bëor and Hador, the latter afterwards separated in two. The leader of the Second House became Haleth the Hunter (great-grandfather of Brandir), his people called both House of Haleth and Folk of Haleth (or Halethrim) and described as alike to the House of Hador rather than Bëor; and these conceptions were still present until the vast expansion into earlier generations took place after the writing of The Lord of the Rings.

In the last writings of Tolkien on the subject of Edain, Of Dwarves and Men, he reverted the order of arrival of the Folks of Haleth and Marach in Beleriand. This was not incorporated into the published The Silmarillion, although most of the other changed conceptions from this work were included or implied, as for example making the People of Haleth unrelated to the other tribes.