In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and the rest of his legendarium, women typically did not fight, but there were some notable exceptions throughout Middle-earth’s history. The most famous by far was Éowyn, the niece of King Théoden of Rohan. She disguised herself as a male Rohirrim to participate in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. She ended up dueling and slaying the dreaded Witch-king of Angmar, thus avenging her uncle. Éowyn’s story was a highlight of The Lord of the Rings, and many adaptations of Tolkien’s work have introduced new female warriors to continue her legacy. For example, Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug invented the Elven warrior Tauriel. She was the Captain of the Guard in the Woodland Realm, and she fought alongside Legolas in the second and third installments of The Hobbit trilogy.

More recently, Kenji Kamiyama’s animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim turned Helm Hammerhand’s unnamed daughter from the novel into Héra, a brave shieldmaiden. When Wulf and his army of Dunlendings laid siege to Helm’s Deep, Héra rose to the occasion to defend her people. Yet there is another example of a fighting woman from Middle-earth’s lore who has not yet appeared in any major adaptations. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion is not as well known as The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, but it is a crucial part of his legendarium, as it detailed his setting’s ancient history. The Silmarillion included a character named Haleth who lived during the First Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings. Though she was not in the story for long, she proved to be one of the greatest heroines among the race of Men.

Haleth’s Father United a Scattered Clan

Houses of the Edain
Founder
Year of Entry Into Beleriand (First Age)
First Homeland in Beleriand

House of Bëor
Bëor the Old
310
Estolad

House of Haleth a.k.a. Haladin
Haldad
312
Thargelion

House of Hador a.k.a. Folk of Marach
Marach
313
Estolad

Tolkien told Haleth’s story in the section “Of the Coming of Men Into the West” from The Silmarillion. In the First Age, there were three clans of Men known as the Houses of the Edain who followed the Elves into Beleriand. Haleth was a member of the second House, the Haladin, who settled in Thargelion, a forested region near the Blue Mountains. Thargelion was also home to Elves ruled by Caranthir the Dark, the cousin of Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings. His epithet came from his black hair, but it also suited his dour mood. Caranthir was temperamental and unfriendly, especially towards mortals, but he allowed the Haladin to live in Thargelion since they mostly kept to themselves. Tolkien wrote that the neighboring cultures “paid little heed to” one another and lived in peace.

It was far from a strong alliance, but it was enough to cause concern for the Dark Lord Morgoth. He was threatened by the prospect of Elves and Men living near one another, as they were far easier to manipulate when in isolation. Morgoth attempted to turn the Elves and Men against each other through “lies and deceits,” but when this failed, he turned to a brute force approach. He sent Orc raiding parties to terrorize the Haladin, hoping to kill them or at least drive them away from Caranthir’s sphere of influence. This is where Haleth’s family entered the story. At the time, the Haladin did not have a single leader; instead, “each homestead was set apart and governed its affairs.” They enjoyed this way of life, but their lack of unity rendered them ineffective at fighting Morgoth’s minions. Realizing this, Haleth’s father, Haldad, united the Men of Thargelion and became the first Chieftain of the Haladin.

Haleth Was a Strong Warrior and a Stronger Leader

In the year 375 of the First Age, the Haladin built a stockade between the rivers Ascar and Gelion. Here, as a united front, they would defeat the Orcs or die trying. Haleth and her twin brother, Haldar, fought against the Orcs alongside their father. Tolkien wrote that Haleth was “a woman of great heart and strength,” and she was just as “valiant in the defense” as her brother. Unlike Éowyn in The Lord of the Rings, Haleth’s choice to be a warrior was not seen as unusual, which Tolkien expanded upon in The Peoples of Middle-earth. There were many female soldiers among the Haladin, which set them apart from most of Middle-earth’s other cultures. The Haladin’s fortifications held strong against their Orc attackers, but they soon faced another threat; they ran out of food, and if the siege did not end quickly, they would face starvation.

In a moment that paralleled Théoden’s cavalry charge at Helm’s Deep in The Lord of the Rings, Haldad led a sortie out of the stockade in hopes of catching the Orcs by surprise. Unfortunately, he was not as successful as the future King of Rohan; Haldad fell in battle against the Orcs, and Haldar died while trying to recover his father’s body. Thus, Haleth became the second chieftain of the Haladin and the only female leader of the Three Houses of the Edain. Even as hunger took its toll on the Haladin and Orcs began to destroy the stockade, Haleth “held the people together.” One week after the deaths of Haldad and Haldar, Orcs finally broke through the Haladin’s defenses, but in another parallel to Helm’s Deep, help came in the darkest hour.

Haleth Was Remembered For Millennia

According to The Peoples of Middle-earth, Haleth formed an all-female group of bodyguards whom Tolkien compared to the Amazons of Greek mythology.

Just as the Haladin were about to be overrun, Caranthir and his Elven army arrived from the north to lend aid. Despite his cold demeanor, Caranthir was no friend to Morgoth or the Orcs, and he was not so heartless as to let the Haladin be massacred. Together, the Elves and Men repelled the Orc army, proving that the Dark Lord had been right to fear an alliance between them. Caranthir was surprised and impressed by how well the mortals fought, especially Haleth. Tolkien wrote, “Then Caranthir looked kindly upon Men and did Haleth great honour; and he offered her recompense for her father and brother… seeing, over late, what valour there was in the Edain.” Caranthir told Haleth that the Haladin were welcome to live among his people in the northern part of Thargelion. Haleth greatly appreciated the Elf-lord’s offer, but she and the rest of the Haladin were too proud to accept it. Instead, she led her people west to the Forest of Brethil, where they established a new homeland for themselves. Ever since, the Haladin were known as the House of Haleth or the Halethrim, the latter meaning “People of Haleth” in the Elvish language of Sindarin.

The rest of Haleth’s life was relatively peaceful, as the House of Haleth mostly stayed out of future conflicts between Morgoth and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. She passed away from natural causes in the year 420 of the First Age, and her grave became a monument called the Mound of the Noble Maiden, or Haudh-en-Arwen in Sindarin. Haleth never married or had children, so her nephew, Haldan, became the new Chieftain of the House of Haleth. Tolkien wrote very little about him, but he was a distant ancestor of Elrond and Arwen from The Lord of the Rings. It is possible that Arwen’s name was a nod to Haleth’s monument, though it may have been a coincidence. On the subject of names, Haleth shared her name with the eldest son of Helm Hammerhand. Haleth was also the name of the boy to whom Aragorn spoke before the Battle of Helm’s Deep in Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, though he did not originate in the novel. Haleth may not be as well-known as Éowyn, Tauriel, or Héra, but she laid the groundwork for all the female warriors who followed her throughout Middle-earth’s history.