The Easterling

Dor-lómin was a land that lay northwestward of Beleriand, ringed by mountains. After the Noldor returned to Middle-earth, it was ruled for a time by Fingon, son of High King Fingolfin. Later, when the Edain came into Beleriand, some of them entered Fingon's service, and Dor-lómin was granted to the Men of the House of Hador as their fief. These Men ruled it in service to the High Kings for generations, until the time of the dreadful battle of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

In that battle, the forces of Elves and Edain alike were decimated by Morgoth, and the Dark Lord occupied Dor-lómin and granted it to his own followers. These were Easterlings, Men from beyond the Blue Mountains whom Morgoth had brought into his service. They expected rich rewards, but after Morgoth's victory, he shut them up in the cold northern lands he had conquered. Among these Easterlings was one named Brodda, who settled in Dor-lómin and took control of the lands of its former lord, Húrin Thalion.

As the occupier of Dor-lómin, Brodda became known as Brodda the Easterling (and also as Brodda the Incomer). He took Húrin's kinswoman Aerin to wife, and dwelt as a minor lord in Dor-lómin for twenty-four years. Brodda's rule came to an end one winter's night in I 496, when a stranger came to his halls. This stranger was Túrin, the son of Húrin the old Lord of Dor-lómin, and he slew Brodda the Easterling within his own hall before escaping into the night.