Dúnedain

The Dúnedain (singular Dúnadan, "Man of the West") were the Men of Númenor and their descendants, the noblest and longest-lived of the race of Men in the Second and Third Ages. They were the heirs of the Edain, the Men who had befriended the Elves in the Elder Days, and from them descended the royal lines of Gondor and Arnor.

Origins

After the wars against Morgoth in the First Age, the Valar granted the faithful Edain the island of Númenor in the western sea as a reward. There they grew tall, wise, and far-lived, building a great kingdom and becoming mighty mariners. Their kings ruled for centuries, but pride and the fear of death grew among them, leading at last to the Downfall of Númenor.

The Realms in Exile

A faithful remnant led by Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion escaped the Downfall and founded the realms in exile in Middle-earth: Arnor in the north and Gondor in the south. Their descendants were the Dúnedain of the later ages, though their numbers dwindled and their lifespans shortened with the passing centuries.

The North and South

In the South, the Dúnedain of Gondor endured as a great power, though by the Third Age the royal line had failed and the realm was ruled by the Stewards. In the North, the kingdom of Arnor was destroyed by the witch-realm of Angmar, and its surviving people became the Rangers of the North, a scattered and secretive folk who guarded Eriador and the wild lands. Their chieftains kept the line of Isildur, of whom Aragorn was the last and the heir who reclaimed the throne.