The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
The ancestors of the Woses were Men, and awoke at the beginning of the Years of the Sun
Location
Originally widespread, with populations in Beleriand and Númenor; by the end of the Third Age, they were apparently restricted to the Drúadan Forest and Drúwaith Iaur
Race
Meaning
From the second element of Old English wuduwása, 'woodwose', a strange woodland creature
Other names

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About this entry:

  • Updated 9 December 2007
  • This entry is complete

Woses

A Mannish name for the Drúedain

Ancestral Men
Main branch of Men:
Edain
Middle Peoples
Wild Men
Hobbits
Woses

A name among the Rohirrim for the shy, secretive people known in Elvish as the Drúedain. Though never numerous, the end of the Third Age saw these people reduced to a few populations in the southern parts of Middle-earth, especially in the Drúwaith Iaur and Drúadan Forest of Rohan, where the Rohirrim came into contact with them.

In fact, the word wose is a name from British folklore, referring to a hairy, Troll-like being supposed to inhabit woods and forests. It represents Tolkien's translation of an actual word of the Rohirrim into ancient English; the Rohirrim themselves would not have called such a creature a 'Wose', but a Róg.


Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 9 December 2007
  • This entry is complete

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