Lady Morwen Eledhwen of Dor-lómin was originally of the House of Bëor, but after she wed Húrin Thalion she was greatly honored by the people of the House of Hador. She possessed an iron will and great beauty, and though many of her most faithful servants perished in Nírnaeth Arnœdiad, the same battle where her husband was captured by Morgoth, those who remained kept their loyalty to their Lady even in that dark hour.
When the Easterlings came to Dor-lómin and claimed the land as their own, Morwen’s reputation kept her household safe for a time, for they believed her to be a witch who dealt with the elves. She was indeed in contact with the Grey-elves of Mithrim, those who remained after countless tragedies, but from them she received only information, and that very scant. She dared not meet them herself for fear of angering her new overlords, instead sending her servants in secret to speak with them.
The two servants she trusted most with this task were Gethron and Grithnir, men who had been young in the time of Hador Lórindol, grandfather of Lord Húrin. They had traveled far and wide and had dealing with the elves when they were strong and hale, but they were now well past their primes, far too old to serve as warriors in the Fifth Battle that took the lives of so many men of their House. Knowing a bit of Sindarin, Gethron could communicate with the Grey-elves and pass news back to his liege-lady; Grithnir spoke less of the elven tongue, but still enough to communicate.
When Morwen resolved to send her young son away to Doriath, hoping King Thingol would have mercy on the boy and protect him from the dangers of Beleriand, she chose Gethron and Grithnir to accompany him. The journey was long and perilous, but they eventually arrived, and in the halls of Menegroth Gethron beseeched Thingol to take Túrin as a foster-son. Grithnir, however, fell ill, the harrowing journey taking its toll upon him, and he died before he could make the journey back to Dor-lómin. Grieving his friend, but still devoted to Lady Morwen, Gethron stayed to see his body laid to rest before departing alone for his northern homelands.
The other two servants who remained by Morwen’s side were younger than the aged Gethron and Grithnir but were disabled, rendering them unfit for war. Ragnir, a young man whose brothers had marched with Húrin in the Fifth Battle, was blind from birth, and while he cared for his liege-lady as best he could he was also timid and shy, frightened of her and terrified of the Easterlings who mocked and mistreated him. His only friend was Sador, his fellow-servant, though even Sador had little patience for his anxieties.
Sador had once been a woodman who as a youth had fought in the Dagor Bragollach under the command of Húrin’s grandfather Hador, though he came late to the battle and was only able to bring back Hador’s fallen body. After this he tired of war and retreated in the woods, but soon found himself severely injured, accidentally severing his right foot. Unfit to work as a woodman any longer, Sador entered Húrin’s household staff, and soon befriended Húrin’s young son Túrin.
Túrin did not make friends easily, but he was loyal to them when he did. He would help Sador with his tasks, fetching materials and tools to spare him from hobbling along, and often brought him gifts of things he found lying around. Unfortunately those gifts were usually other people’s possessions, and Sador had to teach him to return them and not to steal even if it is to give. Feeling indebted to his lordly little friend, Sador carved figures of men and beasts for him out of wood, though Túrin’s favorite gifts were always Sador’s stories. He gave Sador the name Labadal, “hopafoot,” after his injury, and though many saw the name as cruel Sador understood that Túrin simply took things literally and meant no mockery by it.
When Húrin gave Túrin an elven knife of great worth as a birthday present, Túrin eagerly thought of his friend who carved with less quality knives and decided to gift his new present to Sador. Unable to refuse without being rude, Sador accepted the knife, though he felt guilty for taking this lordly gift from Túrin when his father had clearly not intended this to be its use. Indeed, Túrin’s parents were upset with him, but even Morwen, who did not care for Sador at all, grew kinder to him in the wake of Túrin’s generosity.
When Túrin departed for Doriath, Sador remained in Morwen’s house, though now without his young friend and only his grim liege-lady and his anxious fellow-servant Ragnir for company he grew morose and lethargic, wishing he could have gone off to war with Húrin and perished nobly in battle. Túrin’s younger sister Niënor had no interest in befriending Sador as had her brother, and when she and Morwen finally departed Dor-lómin they did so alone, leaving their servants behind.
Upon Túrin’s sudden return, now a grown man with heavy burdens upon him, Sador was the one who informed him that his family had left Dor-lómin. In his rage and disappointment, Túrin began a disastrous rebellion against the Easterling lord Brodda, and ever-faithful Sador followed him into battle, finally taking action he perceived as noble. Yet in the chaos, Sador was wounded, and soon he perished in service of his lord.
