The Middle Men: Tolkien’s Men of Twilight | The Red Book

After the awakening of Men, their kindreds scattered and diverged — some rising to great friendship with the Elves, others fading into shadow. Between these extremes stood the Middle Men, the Men of Twilight. Who were they, and what set them apart from both the High Men of Númenor and the Dark Men who served the Shadow?

In this video, I explore the origins and character of the Middle Men — those who neither fell into evil nor rose to the heights of the Elf-friends. Through the histories of Eriador and Rhovanion, I examine their place in the unfolding story of the Second Age and the enduring influence they carried into the Third.

📖 Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
01:43 – The Middle Men: The Men of Twilight
02:44 – Etymology & Definition
04:08 – Númenor and Men of the Second Age: Eriador & Rhovanion
07:03 – Númenor and Men of the Second Age: Escaping Persecution
10:12 – Of Men & Elves
12:12 – Artist Credits / Recommendations / Outro

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📚 On-Screen Notes & 🎨 Artwork:
All artists, images, and links to sources can be found here:
👉 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

🖼️ Thumbnail Art:
"Eorl the Young Crosses the Anduin"
Christopher Nelson
https://christophernelson.artstation.com

🎵 Audio:
All music used is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

“The Sands of Time”
Euan Ford
https://filmmusic.io/song/8670-the-sa...

❗ Disclaimer:
All videos are the result of my own research into the works of Tolkien unless otherwise stated. Permission and/or licences have been obtained for the use of copyrighted material. All scripts and editing are my own work and property, and no AI tools have been used to create this video.