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Biographical Information
DeathF.A. 489
Amon Rûdh
Physical Description
WeaponryBow and knife

Andróg (died F.A. 489) was one of the outlaws among the Gaurwaith, the band joined by Túrin Turambar after he had fled from Doriath. He was said to have the hardest heart of all the Gaurwaith yet he was a loyal friend of Túrin.


Andróg had been forced to flee from Dor-lómin for killing a woman and had fallen in with the Gaurwaith in the woods west of Doriath. He was with the band when they found and surrounded a stranger in their territory. They surrounded the man and challenged him; the man was Túrin and he offered to fight them all. Andróg alone faced Túrin but deemed him the better man and voiced his support for Túrin to join the group.

Túrin stayed with the outlaws through the winter. One day in the following spring he saw a young woman fleeing from a man through a hazel-thicket. Túrin hewed her pursuer with his sword and only realized that he had killed Forweg, the leader of the Gaurwaith, as the stroke went home. Andróg then appeared for he had been chasing the woman with Forweg. Andróg would not strike Túrin for his deed and though the woman asked Túrin to kill Andróg for a reward, Túrin refused and sent the woman home.

While Andróg buried Forweg, Túrin returned to the other outlaws and reported his deed. Andróg returned and confirmed the story, and then Túrin claimed leadership of the Gaurwaith. Some of the outlaws wanted to kill Túrin but Andróg again supported him as the new leader.

Later, after Túrin had become the captain of the band, he went on a mission to spy upon Orcs. He left Andróg in command during his absence. While waiting for Túrin to return, the men with Andróg suddenly had Beleg, Túrin's former companion, appear among them. Andróg captured the Elf, tied him to a tree, and questioned him. Unsatisfied with his answers, Andróg proposed killing Beleg, in part because he desired his great bow. However, Algund and others stayed his hand, although Andróg insisted on leaving the Elf tied to a tree for two days. When Túrin returned the cruel treatment of Beleg prompted him to make a vow, for himself and the others, to refrain from raising a hand against Elves or Men.[1]

After Beleg had left the outlaws the Orcs made greater incursions into their territory and Túrin led his men southward. There they encountered three dwarves who tried to escape from the Gaurwaith. Andróg shot arrows at the fleeing figures but only Mîm the Petty-dwarf was captured. When Mîm led Túrin's band to Amon Rûdh it was discovered that one of Andróg's arrows had killed Khîm, the son of Mîm. Mîm's wrath was cooled when Túrin regretted the death and promised gold to Mîm if ever he came into wealth, but Mîm laid a curse upon Andróg: He had to break his bow and foreswear using bow and arrows in the future or else die by such himself. Andróg did break his bow but wished that Mîm die with a dart in his throat.

Mîm and the outlaws lived together in the Bar-en-Danwedh upon Amon Rûdh, yet only Túrin was comfortable with the dwarf. Andróg especially mistrusted the dwarf and found out about the secret stair to the summit of the hill, but kept the discovery to himself. Andróg found more discomfort when Beleg reappeared to stay with the band, for he was jealous of the Elf's close friendship with Túrin. [2]

Andróg eventually defied Mîm's curse and took up the bow again. In a foray from Bar-en-Danwedh Andróg was struck by a poisoned orc-arrow but he did not die for Beleg healed him. Mîm, who already hated Beleg, begrudged him even more for thwarting his curse although he believed that it would bite again. This it did when Mîm betrayed the location of the hideout to the Orcs, who assailed the stronghold, and Andróg received another arrow wound.

The Orcs roped Beleg to iron pins upon the summit of Amon Rûdh and left him there, expecting Mîm to kill the Elf. This would have happened except that Andróg, although mortally wounded, scared off the dwarf and as his last act cut through Beleg's bonds.[3]

Andróg's son Andvír survived the slaughter at Amon Rûdh, and served as a source for Dírhavel for the Narn i Chîn Húrin.[4]


  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Children of Húrin, "Of Mîm the Dwarf"
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Three. The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion: II. Ælfwine and Dírhaval", p. 311