House of Haleth

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the House of Haleth or the Haladin (pronounced ) were the family of Men that ruled over the second of the Three Houses of the Edain. They were the descendants of Haldad, but the house and the people were named after Haldad's daughter Haleth, who led them from East Beleriand to Brethil.
The Folk of Haleth
The Folk of Haleth or the Men of Brethil were dark-haired and dark-eyed, resembling the House of Bëor but "shorter and broader, sterner and less swift. They were less eager for lore, and used few words; for they did not love great concourse of men, and many among them delighted in solitude, wandering free in the greenwoods." They were a reclusive people and kept separate from the Edain of other Houses, for they were unrelated to the Bëorians and Hadorians and spoke a different language. However, they were always accompanied by an emigrant branch of the Drúedain.
The ancestors of the Folk of Haleth travelled from the East of Middle-earth separately from the great people of whom came the Houses of Bëor and Hador. Their first known settling-place was west of the later Gap of Rohan between the Misty Mountains and the White. Some remained there throughout the later ages, becoming the Dunlendings and the folk of Enedwaith and Minhiriath. Around the same time they became acquainted with the ancestors of the Drúedain, and profitable relationship was soon established. Together many of both people journeyed across Eriador.
The Men of the Second House first appeared in Beleriand in the Year of the Sun 312 of the First Age, crossing the Ered Luin in small parties and hiding in the woods of Thargelion, since they were unwilling to settle in Estolad with the Bëorians and Marachians. They did not have any lords and lived in separate homesteads, with occasional strife between tribes.
The Folk of Brethil successfully managed to protect their borders after the fall of Tol Sirion, but the end of this relative peace came soon after the Nírnaeth Arnoediad. First, the folk living to the south of Taeglin were worsened by the Orc-raids, so that the few that remained became wary and from now onwards "about the houses was a ditch and a stockade; and there were paths from stead to stead, and men could summon help at need by horn-calls."
After the fall of Doriath the Men of Brethil were nearly completely wiped out, or at least they had disappeared as a separate people. The last of them, including some Drúedain, escaped to the Mouths of Sirion 'masterful and fearless', who gathered them behind a stockade in the angle between Ascar and Gelion during the Orc-raid. He was slain during a sortie, as was his son Haldar (341-375) while trying to protect his father's body from defilement by the Orcs. Haldar's twin sister Haleth was then chosen a chief, being "of great heart" and "no less in valour" than her kinsmen.
From this time the Second House was ruled by the Chieftains or Haladin (singular Halad), which were elected by the full Moot of the Folk. By tradition they were chosen from the family of Haleth - descendants of her nephew Haldan, usually the eldest of the eldest male line.
#Haleth (341-420) Led her people from Thargelion to Brethil.
#Haldan (366-451) Son of Haldar brother of Haleth.
#Halmir (390-471) Son of Haldan. Together with the Sindar of Doriath under Beleg defeated a great party of Orcs that came from the Pass of Sirion, and the Orcs dared not to approach Brethil for many years. When the Union of Maedhros was made, Halmir prepared his people for war, but died before the battle began.
#Haldir (414-472) Elder son of Halmir. Led a small detachment of Brethil warriors to the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, but nearly all fell in the rearguard of Fingon.
#Handir (441-495) Son of Haldir. Shortly before the Sack of Nargothrond the Orcs again invaded Brethil, and the Folk of Haleth were driven into their woods with their lord slain in battle.
#Brandir (465-499) Called the Lame, son of Handir. His chieftainship was overshadowed by Túrin Turambar, who managed to raise the fortunes of Men of Brethil for a while, but later slew Brandir and himself.
#Hardang (470-501) Grandson of Hundar Halmir's second son. Shortly ruled after childless Brandir until he was slain in the civil war caused by Húrin. Further Chieftains of the Men of Brethil, if any existed, are unknown.
Descendants of Halmir
The third Chieftain Halmir had four children, and during the civil war of Brethil the resulting relationship was of great importance.
*His elder son was Haldir (414-472), who married Glóredhel of the House of Marach and was the father of Handir (441-495) and grandfather of Brandir the Lame (465-499). On the proposed wife of Handir, Beldis of the House of Bëor, see Brandir.
*The elder daughter of Halmir was Hiril (b. c. 416). Her husband was Enthor, and their daughter Meleth, wedded to Agathor, was the mother of Hunthor (467-499) and Manthor (469-501). Hunthor was the companion of Túrin in his attempt to slay Glaurung; he offered himself to go instead of Brandir and saved Túrin's life, but was slain by a falling stone, "not the least valiant of the House of Haleth". and The Wanderings of Húrin. He accompanied Túrin during a foray to spy upon the Orcs in Y.S. 485, but when they were discovered themselves, "Orleg was shot down by many arrows". though at that stage it was the name of Orodreth's son. Later, however, Tolkien stated that the names of the Haladin were given in their own language, with their meanings mostly unknown to later historians, and noted that "hal(a) ... 'watch, guard'. Halad was a warden. (Haldad watch-dog.)" 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,<ref name="PoMe" /> 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.

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