Who The Strongest Man In Lord Of The Rings Lore Really Was

There are a lot of powerful beings in "The Lord of the Rings." Some are mentally tough, like Elrond and Faramir. Others are spiritually tough, like Sam and Frodo (who is the greatest hero of the story). Some wield incredible magic, like Gandalf and Galadriel. And then there are the bruisers, the tough guys, the muscle. Tolkien often talks about Men in terms of being physically "strong" — and there's one guy who he calls out as uniquely powerful: Húrin Thalion.

If the name doesn't sound familiar, that's because Húrin is a hero of the First Age of Middle-earth history. That means he lives millennia before "The Lord of the Rings" and even before "The Rings of Power" in the Second Age. He shows up in "The Silmarillion" and in his own book, "The Children of Húrin." In the former, Tolkien wraps up Húrin's eulogy by making the definitive statement: "And so ended the mightiest of the warriors of mortal Men."

Tolkien often talks in those kinds of over-the-top phrases, especially in the epic older histories of his world. But in the case of Húrin, the claim "mightiest warrior" seems to be a genuinely accurate title, at least when it comes to the mortal race of Men. Obviously, there are powerful Elves, Orcs, Trolls, Wizards, and plenty of other races in Middle-earth. But when it comes to Men, Húrin's battlefield prowess is unmatched, especially at one kerfuffle in particular: the disconcertingly named "Battle of Unnumbered Tears."

There are a lot of humans who perform mighty acts of strength in Tolkien's world. But Húrin takes the cake as the strongest of these due to one event in particular: his feats at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, which translates from Elvish as the "Battle of Unnumbered Tears." That event happens in the First Age, and it's as depressing as it sounds. A huge army of Elves and Men gathers to try to defeat the original Dark Lord, Morgoth (who is more powerful than Sauron).

At first, things go well, but Morgoth surprises them with a huge host that includes multiple Balrogs and dragons. Some of the Men betray the Elves in the middle of the battle, too. It's a mess, and the surviving Elves attempt to withdraw from the fight — which is where Húrin comes in.

As the Elves try to get away, their goal is to disappear into the mountains, where they plan to secretly return to their hidden city of Gondolin. Húrin and his brother Huor are good friends with these Elves, and they set up their mortal soldiers to protect the retreat of their immortal allies. They slow down Morgoth's army for hours so the Elves can escape. The men all die. So does Huor. But Morgoth orders Húrin to be taken alive — which proves to be a tough task.

The book "The Children of Húrin" reads: "Last of all Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, seized the axe of an orc-captain and wielded it two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered..." Translation: Húrin spends his last moments successfully fighting and killing the troll bodyguards of the Lord of Balrogs, Gothmog. He's so successful that the axe he's using literally melts away. The book adds that he kills 70 trolls.

Of course, there are plenty of other mighty heroes besides Húrin, especially in the more epic tales of the First and Second Ages. Many of these fellas deserve to get on the honor roll, starting with Húrin's son, Túrin. When it comes to feats of strength, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He kills a ton of enemies in combat, including single-handedly taking down the father of dragons, Glaurung.

Beren is another First Age warrior with mighty vibes. He stalks the lands near Morgoth as an outlaw known for his daring feats as a hunter of the Dark Lord's minions. At one point, he also survives a trip through an area called Nan Dungortheb, or the "Valley of Dreadful Death," which is filled with Shelob-like spiders. No other Elf or Man dares to go there, which makes his trip pretty badass, but we don't hear specific feats of strength, which makes it harder to make a quantifiable claim that he's the "strongest."

In the Second Age, individuals like Elendil and Isildur stand out because they go toe-to-toe with the likes of Sauron. Tolkien also talks about one-off characters, like the last Gondorian king Eärnur, as mighty, but not the mightiest. (Eärnur's hot-headed strength is the reason Stewards end up ruling Gondor.) It's hard to find a compelling case that any of these mortals are genuinely the mightiest, especially when Tolkien explicitly says so about Húrin. The man himself sets the bar pretty high, too. 70 trolls killed in a single battle is no small accomplishment. That one feat, let alone all of his other actions in war, is enough to give Húrin the edge, making him the strongest Man in "The Lord of the Rings" lore.