Haldar was the son of Haldad and the twin brother of Haleth. Like his father, Haldar declared his manhood as he came of age, though in his youth he had been seen as a girl like his sister. As the younger twin, he had not been raised as his father’s heir, and Haleth remained the more forward and stronger-willed of the siblings, while Haldar was quicker to laugh and to play. Haldar wed the warrior Thordan at a young age, contrasting his sister who did not marry at all, and bore his husband a son, Haldan.
At the Battle of the Gelion-Ascar Stockade, Haldar lost first his father Danhar and then his husband Thordan. Unlike Thordan, he was inclined more to farming than to war, but in the midst of his grief Haldar took up a sword and threw himself into battle. The final blow to his heart was the death of Haldad, the father who bore him, and going mad with grief he rushed to rescue Haldad’s body and was cut down himself.
But Haleth his sister stood firm, rallying her people through seven more days of a dreadful siege. When at last the elven-lord Caranthir rode to their aid, the fallen heroes were given a solemn funeral: Haldad, Danhar, Haldar, Thordan, and many other warriors were all buried together in a great mound held sacred to the Haladin.
Now orphaned, Haldar’s young son Haldan found himself in the care of his formidable aunt, Chieftain Haleth. She led her people from Thargelion to Estolad and then to Brethil, all the while raising up her nephew as her heir. Along the long and difficult journey to Brethil, Haldan, now a young man, courted and wed the maiden Aveth, who bore him a son not long after the Haladin settled in their new lands.
This was Halmir, and as he had no siblings, he was the only heir of his father when Haldan took up lordship of his people. In the past, the Haladin had passed leadership from mother to daughter, but after a series of several men being the only available heirs, and mingling with the elves and the other Houses of the Edain, who were traditionally patrilineal, this custom fell away. By the time of Halmir’s own children it was assumed that his son Haldir would inherit even though he had sisters who under the old customs would have taken his place in the line of succession.
