The time in which Men began to assert their ascendancy in Middle-earth, and the other speaking peoples dwindled. The Days of Men, a time more commonly called the Dominion of Men, was generally held to have truly begun as the Third Age came to an end and the Fourth Age began. At that time, the destruction of Sauron's One Ring rendered the Three Rings of the Elves powerless, and so the Elves in Middle-earth could no longer stave off their inevitable fading.
The Days of Men were also prophesied to bring about the decline of the other peoples of Middle-earth, such as Dwarves and Hobbits, though it's unclear precisely how this would come about. Some of these at least seem to have survived even into modern times,2 but reduced to living hidden and secretive lives. Indeed some of the Elves may have remained eastward of the Great Sea, but those that did so would literally fade into a faint essence of what they had once been.
Notes
1 |
Most references to the time of the Days of Men, or the Dominion of Men, describe it as coinciding with the end of the Third Age and beginning of the Fourth. This would make perfect sense, as this was also the time when the Three Rings lost their power and most of the Elves departed from Middle-earth.
Some references, however, imply that the Days of Men developed more gradually. By this approach, rather than the Days of Men simply beginning at a particular date, the importance of Men waxed slowly as the Third Age passed, while the influence of the Elves waned. Taking this view, there was no single point in history when the Days of Men began but, by the end of the Third Age, Men were clearly in their ascendancy in Middle-earth.
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2 |
In chapter 1 of The Hobbit (An Unexpected Party) Tolkien introduces Hobbits to his readers, saying that they have '...become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us'. In context, this is clearly meant to suggest that Hobbits still exist even in the modern day, though rarely seen. This is confused slightly because it is immediately followed by: 'They are (or were) a little people...' The inclusion of '(or were)' seems to cast doubt on matters, but then the following description continues in the present tense. At the very least this leaves open the real possibility that Hobbits survived well into the Days of Men, if not to the present day. Dwarves are also mentioned in this passage, albeit rather more ambiguously than Hobbits, so we might even take it that Dwarves are also still to be found today, doubtless lurking underground in secret strongholds.
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- Updated 25 May 2025
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