Quenta 17 — Of the Coming of Men into the West
Chapter 17 of the Quenta Silmarillion
Summary
At the end of the Long Peace, the first Men crossed the Blue Mountains and entered Beleriand, and the chapter tells the coming of the three great houses of the Edain. Finrod Felagund, hunting in the east, found the host of Bëor the Old asleep in the foothills of the mountains and befriended them, and their friendship was the beginning of the long alliance of the House of Bëor with the Noldor. Next the Haladin, the grim forestfolk of Haleth, came to Estolad, and later the tall golden-haired folk of Marach, whose lord Hador became the most renowned of the Edain in the wars. The Edain learned the tongue and the crafts of the Eldar and held themselves apart from the darker of the Men who came after them. The princes of the Noldor welcomed them with gifts and warnings, and the friendship of the two kindreds waxed bright through the years that remained of the age.