Haleth 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's

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,...

 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 leader of the Second House of the 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....

, called the Folk of Haleth after her.

At the time of her birth, the Second House of Men

Man (Middle-earth)

The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...

 had settled in Thargelion, in East Beleriand

Beleriand

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional legendarium, Beleriand was a region in northwestern Middle-earth during the First Age. Events in Beleriand are described chiefly in his work The Silmarillion, which tells the story of the early ages of Middle-earth in a style similar to the epic hero tales of Nordic...

, living in separate homesteads and having no lords of their own. But in Y.S. 375 of the First Age

First Age

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the First Age, or First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar is the heroic period in which most of Tolkien's early legends are set...

 Morgoth

Morgoth

Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...

 sent out an Orc-raid

Orc (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Orcs or Orks are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman...

 against them. The Men were caught off-guard, and a great part of their people was wiped out. The remnant was gathered under one Haldad and his twin children, daughter Haleth and son Haldar; and they held out for days in a stockade until the Noldor

Noldor

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor are Elves of the Second Clan who migrated to Valinor and lived in Eldamar. The Noldor are called Golodhrim or Gódhellim in Sindarin, and Goldoi by Teleri of Tol Eressëa. The singular form of the Quenya noun is Noldo and the adjective is Noldorin...

 rescued them, by which time both Haldad and Haldar were slain.

Caranthir

Caranthir

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Caranthir is a fictional character, the fourth of the sons of Fëanor, was also the harshest, and the quickest to anger; he was also called "Caranthir the Dark". His Quenya name was Morifinwë "The Dark Finwë"...

 offered to Men his lands to live in protected, but Haleth refused, for now she was chosen a Chieftain, being of great heart and no less in valour than her kinsmen. Next year she led her people to Estolad; and after a time again urged them to move further westward. They passed through the horrors of Nan Dungortheb only by the strength of Haleth's will, and at last came to the woods of Talath Dirnen. Later many removed the forest of Brethil, which was a part of 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...

 outside the Girdle of Melian

Melian

Melian the Maia is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian, The Children of Húrin, the Annals of Aman and the Grey Annals....

, but now was granted to them by 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...

.

Haleth ruled the Folk of Brethil until she died. She was buried in a green mound in the heights of the Forest, which was called therefore the Ladybarrow (Haudh-en-Arwen in Sindarin

Sindarin

Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....

 and Tûr Haretha in their own tongue). The next Chieftain of Brethil was her nephew Haldan.

Other versions of the legendarium

Tolkien originally wrote that there were only two Houses of Men: of Bëor

House of Bëor

In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, the House of Bëor were the family of Men who ruled over the eldest of the Three Houses of the Edain that had allied with the Elves in the First Age.-The Folk of Bëor:...

 and Hador; the latter he afterwards separated in two. The leader of the Second House became Haleth the Hunter, and this was still the case until the vast expansion into earlier generations took place after the writing of The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...

. (See The History of Middle-earth

The History of Middle-earth

The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published from 1983 through to 1996 that collect and analyse material relating to the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. Some of the content consists of earlier versions of already published...

)

In a late writing Haleth is described as "a renowned amazon

Amazons

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

with a picked bodyguard of women".