Aerin is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

's Middle-earth

Middle-earth

Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....

 legendarium

Legendarium

Legendary may refer to:*A hagiography, or study of the lives of saints and other religious figures**The South English Legendary, a Middle English legendary*A legend-Entertainment:*Legendary, an album by Kaysha*Legendary...

. She was a woman of the Folk of Hador and related to Húrin Thalion

Húrin

Húrin is a fictional character in the Middle-earth legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien. He is introduced in The Silmarillion as a hero of Men during the First Age, said to be the greatest warrior of both the Edain and all the other Men in Middle-earth...

. Her father was one Indor, not otherwise mentioned.

She lived not far from Húrin's house in the south-east of Dor-lómin, but after the defeat of the Eldar and Edain

Edain

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Edain were men who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves....

 in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad

Nirnaeth Arnoediad

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium of Middle-earth, the Nírnaeth Arnoediad or Unnumbered Tears was the climactic Fifth Battle in the Wars of Beleriand.-The Fifth Battle as told in The Silmarillion:...

, she was taken to wife against her will by Brodda the Easterling

Easterlings (First Age)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Easterlings of the First Age were Men who lived in the east of Middle-earth, and mostly fought under Morgoth...

. She secretly helped Húrin's wife Morwen

Morwen

Morwen is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She is featured in The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin and The Wanderings of Húrin.-Character overview:...

 in her poverty, and was beaten by Brodda for it. Yet Aerin managed to keep "some of the kindlier manners of old" in their house, and it became a shelter for homeless and beggars.

When Túrin

Túrin Turambar

Túrin Turambar is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. "Turambar and the Foalókë", begun in 1917, is the first appearance of Túrin in the legendarium. J.R.R...

, son of Húrin, returned to Dor-lómin, he was offered shelter in her house. It was there that he met his old friend Sador Labadal

Sador

Sador is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was the serving-man of Húrin of Dor-lómin and a friend of his son Túrin Turambar....

 again and learned from Aerin that his mother and sister had gone to Thingol

Thingol

Elu Thingol is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion, The Lays of Beleriand and Children of Húrin as well as in numerous stories in the many volumes of The History of Middle-earth...

’s realm. Túrin was angered by his cruel fate, and he slew Brodda and other Easterlings in the rebellion he raised with the servants.

But thereby Aerin’s fate was sealed: her life may have been harsh, yet Túrin's rash act would cause her death through the vengeance of the Easterlings, she explained. He proposed to take her with him and bring her to Doriath

Doriath

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Doriath is the realm of the Sindar, the Grey Elves of King Thingol in Beleriand. Along with the other great forests of Tolkien's legendarium such as Mirkwood, Fangorn and Lothlórien it serves as the central stage in the theatre of its time, the First Age...

 but she refused, saying that she would die in the wilds as surely as if she stayed, being old now. Túrin counted Aerin fainthearted and that she was "made for a kinder world"; but Asgon rebuked him: "Many a man of arms misreads patience and quiet. She did much good among us at much cost. Her heart was not faint, and patience will break at last." Aerin presumably died in a final act of defiance against the Easterlings, by setting on fire the hall built by Brodda, which Túrin, on fleeing, saw in flames behind him.