The Gaurwaith, or âWolf-men,â were a band of outlaws who plagued the woodmen of Brethil in the years after the NĂrnaeth ArnĆdiad. They were composed of outcasts mostly of the Edain, though as their numbers grew, Men of other houses joined their ranks. Their first leader was Forweg, a man once of the House of Hador, who had deserted the field of the Fifth Battle and fled south to live as an outlaw. He was a hard and cruel man, leading by fear rather than respect, and few men were bold enough even to stand at his side. His lieutenant was AndrĂłg, a man who had been forced to flee from Dor-lĂłmin for the murder of a woman, almost as harsh as Forweg himself.
     When TĂșrin fled Doriath after causing the death of Saeros, he counted himself as an outlaw and took the name Neithan. When the Gaurwaith encountered him in the wilds near Brethil, they challenged him, and one outlaw shot an arrow his way. But the arrow missed, and Neithan slew the man then offered to fight the rest of the outlaws to prove himself. Ulrad, a friend of the fallen archer, stepped forth in anger, but when Neithan approached he gave way in fear. AndrĂłg alone faced Neithanâs challenge, but seeing his strength and bravery instead suggested he join their group. Forweg acceded, allowing Neithan entry into their band, but the next spring he would come to rue that decision.
     When one day Forweg and AndrĂłg disappeared from the Gaurwaithâs camp, Neithan, irritated by the squalor of their hideout, went wandering into the woods. Suddenly he saw a young woman running through a hazel-thicket in fear, chased by two men. Neithan rushed to her defense, killing one of her pursuers, realizing too late that it was Forweg himself. AndrĂłg then appeared, shocked at his captainâs death, but would not strike Neithan for the murder, knowing he would be beaten. The woman demanded Neithan kill her second pursuer, but he refused and sent her home. While AndrĂłg buried Forweg, Neithan returned to the camp and reported his deeds, claiming leadership of the Gaurwaith. Some men wished to kill Neithan, but AndrĂłg arrived to confirm his story and support his claim, and they were forced to accept Neithan as their captain.
     Neithan led the Gaurwaith southward, stopping them from raiding the houses of Men and hunting only orcs. When a band of orcs passed nearby, several of the outlaws demanded to kill them and steal the fruits of their plundering. While Neithan thought this unwise, his men were hungry and he knew he was dangerously close to losing his command, so he ordered them all to stay put while he and the best tracker of the group, Orleg, scouted out their enemies; in Neithanâs absence, AndrĂłg was left in charge.
     Meanwhile, Beleg CĂșthalion, the greatest of Doriathâs marchwardens, had long been searching for TĂșrin, whom he counted as a dear friend before his flight. Now at last he drew close to TĂșrinâs camp, and meeting the man Larnach and his daughter Thoriel, whom TĂșrin had saved from Forweg and AndrĂłg, he learned of TĂșrinâs position among the Gaurwaith as their captain, Neithan. Beleg discovered the outlawsâ camp, and unwilling to fight the companions of his friend he allowed them to take him captive and tie him to a tree. AndrĂłg questioned him ruthlessly and resolved to kill him, envying his great bow, but Algund, the eldest and wisest of the outlaws, stayed his hand.
     Neithan and Orleg were absent for several days, for they had been discovered by the orcs and forced to flee. Orleg was slain by many arrows, and Neithan barely escaped with his life only by running in the direction opposite of his camp. It was a long journey back, and when he finally arrived it was to the shocking sight of AndrĂłg and Ulrad preparing to press a flaming brand to Belegâs skin in an attempt to torture him into giving them more information.
     Horrified and enraged, Neithan freed Beleg and chastised his companions, ordering them to make a vow they would never again raise a hand against elves or Men. The reunion of Beleg and TĂșrin was one of great love, though Belegâs petition for TĂșrin to return with him to Doriath was denied. In sorrow, Beleg returned to pass the tidings to King Thingol, though before long his heart was turned again to TĂșrin and he journeyed in search of the Gaurwaith once more.
     While Beleg set out into the wild again, Neithan and his outlaws had found a more permanent settlement. As they traveled ever southward, the Gaurwaith discovered three dwarves carrying heavy sacks, and as their vow did not prevent them from attacking dwarves they swiftly moved to raid them. The oldest dwarf was captured, while the younger two fled with arrows at their backs. The captive was MĂźm, a petty-dwarf who was an outcast in his own right, and in exchange for his life he was forced to lead the Gaurwaith to his secret halls in Amon RĂ»dh. Ulrad searched MĂźmâs sack and, finding nothing, demanded why he had been so protective of an empty bag. Neithan, finding pity in his heart for the dwarf, upbraided Ulrad for speaking without thought, a gesture MĂźm would not forget.
     Arriving in Amon Rûdh, Mßm first sought for the other dwarves, his two sons. Ibun, the elder, revealed that his younger brother Khßm had been slain by an arrow. In fury and grief, Mßm cursed Andróg, who had fired the arrow, that he would die from an arrow wound himself if he did not forswear his craft and break his bow. Sensing the power of his words, Andróg obeyed, but ever after there was hatred between them.
     Neithan expressed regret for the loss of MĂźmâs son, and this as well as the promise of gold should he come into wealth softened MĂźmâs heart to the outlawâs captain, though not his men. Having little choice but to allow the Gaurwaith to dwell in his halls, MĂźm gave them entry to the Bar-en-Danwedh upon Amon RĂ»dh. Suspicious of their unwilling host, AndrĂłg spied around his dwelling and discovered a secret stair to the summit of the hill, though he said nothing of it.
     Aside from Neithan, the only member of the Gaurwaith who had any interest in MĂźm was Blodren, an Easterling man whose father, Ban, had marched under the banner of BĂłr the Faithful in the NĂrnaeth ArnĆdiad. Ban had known dwarves in the east before he entered Beleriand, and knew a little of their tongue, which he passed to his son. Though Ban was slain in the battle, Blodren had survived and escaped the captivity of Morgoth before he had been taken to Angband, but the Edain despised him for the actions of Uldor the Accursed, not distinguishing between the two groups of Easterlings. Thus Blodren fell in with the Gaurwaith, who also held him in suspicion, and found a strange kinship with MĂźm, a fellow outcast among outcasts.
     When Beleg returned to the Gaurwaith, this time he gave to TĂșrin the Dragon-helm of Dor-lĂłmin, an heirloom of his House, and declared his intent to stay by TĂșrinâs side forever. Overjoyed to be reunited with his dearest companion, TĂșrin welcomed him gladly, though he was distrusted by his men and by MĂźm, who despised the Sindar who had once hunted his people for sport. Yet TĂșrin and Beleg were happy together in this time, finally realizing their mutual love and taking each other as husbands. With Beleg supporting TĂșrin, the Gaurwaith became a formidable rogue militia who fought against orcs: their territory grew, as did their numbers, and their lands became known as Dor-CĂșarthol, the Land of the Bow and Helm.
     In this time, emboldened by their victories, AndrĂłg grew arrogant enough to take up the bow once more. As MĂźm had declared, he was struck by a poisoned orc-arrow and would surely have diedâhad not Beleg, whom he had help captive and mistreated in the past, not healed him with his elven skills. MĂźmâs hatred of them both only grew, though he yet fawned over Neithan, even though the interest TĂșrin had once shown in him had begun to wane.
      But this would not be enough to save the Gaurwaith in the end, for the Curse of the Children of HĂșrin followed TĂșrin wheresoever he went, and as his dominion grew so did the malice of Morgoth. On one winter morn, MĂźm and Ibun went out into the wild to gather roots and herbs and were taken captive by orcs. Pleading for his life, MĂźm quickly offered up the location of the Gaurwaith, begging only that the Dread Helm be spared; he thought not of even Blodren, whose friendship had not wavered.
      MĂźm led the orcs to Amon RĂ»dh in the dark of night, and a fierce battle took place upon the top of Amon RĂ»dh. Every man was slain except for TĂșrin, who was captured; MĂźm witnessed Blodrenâs fall by an orc-arrow, but thought only of his revenge against Beleg, who had been bound and left alive on the hillâs peak for MĂźm to kill him personally. But as MĂźmâs knife was about to strike, AndrĂłg crawled up the secret stair despite his mortal wounds and halted the blow. He chased MĂźm away and cut through Belegâs bonds, then died in the arms of the elf he once had tortured.
     The only survivors of that bloody battle were TĂșrin, carried away captive by the orcs; Beleg, who chased after them to rescue his husband; MĂźm, who fled into the night grieving the death of his final son, Ibun, who had been killed in the crossfire; and the youth AndvĂr, son of AndrĂłg, whose father had sent him away at the first sign of trouble. AndvĂr eventually made his way to the Havens of Sirion, where as an old man he served as a source for DĂrhavalâs epic poem about TĂșrinâs life, the Narn i ChĂźn HĂșrin.
