Ulfang
the Black; the lord of the Easterlings; the traitor of the Nirnaeth
Name and Nature
Ulfang — “the Black”, a chieftain of the Easterlings (the swarthy men of the East) — came (with his three sons, Ulfast, Ulwarth and Uldor) into eastern Beleriand in the years before the Nirnaeth, and was sworn in friendship to Maedhros: given lands in Thargelion, they lived among the free as “the folk of Ulfang”, part of the Union’s eastern strength.
The Treachery of the Nirnaeth
The dark heart of his house:
Consequences
The treachery of Ulfang’s folk doomed the Union (and with it the age’s hopes), and its payment: the Easterlings (given Dor-lómin by Morgoth as the reward) held the marches under the Shadow, and were (in the tales) “accursed among Men”
— the “Ulfang’s” became the name of the accursed traitors in the annals of the Edain.
Significance
Ulfang is the archetype of the Allied traitor — the eastern ally whose oath was a mask, whose turnabout at the Nirnaeth is the single decisive act of the age’s greatest battle; his house embodies Tolkien’s theme that the Enemy corrupts not just armies but trust itself.