Tolkien Gateway


The name Atanatar refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Atanatar (disambiguation).

Atanatári (Q, pron. [aˌtanaˈtaːri]; singular Atanatar, pron. [aˈtanatar]) is a Quenya term which means "Fathers of Men", and is used to describe the forefathers of the Edain.[1]

Its use is not exactly clear: sometimes it is used to refer to the Edain of the First Age, other times it is only applied to Bëor, Marach and contemporaries, and in yet other places it is used to refer to those peoples the Edain are descended from.

If the third meaning is adopted, it can be said that the so-called Middle Men of Middle-earth (the Rohirrim, Men of Dale, etc.) are also descendants from the Atanatári, like the Edain (or later Dúnedain).

The Sindarin form of the word is Edenedair (pron. [eˈdeneda͡ɪr]), singular Adanadar (pron. [aˈdanadar]).

