Who are the 'wild men'?

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Faramir Jones

According to Appendix A of LotR, after the death of his last surviving son:

Helm grew fierce and gaunt for famine and grief, and the dread of him alone was worth many men in the defence of the Burg. He would go out by himself, clad in white, and stalk like a snow-troll into the camps of his enemies, and slay many men with his hands. It was believed that if he bore no weapon no weapon would bite on him. The Dunlendings said that if he could find no food he ate men. That tale lasted long in Dunland.

Lovely find, Faramir! It also connects nicely to the Dunlendings' reaction to Erkenbrand's speech in which he grants them mercy after the Battle of the Hornburg:

"The men of Dunland were amazed, for Saruman had told them that the men of Rohan were cruel and burned their captives alive."

Relating back to my first post, here's a useful statement from Unfinished Tales regarding Gondor's attitude to the Dunlendings:

"Above all, the eyes of Gondor had ever been eastward, whence all their perils came; the enmity of the "wild" Dunlendings seemed of small account to the Stewards."

So it seems that they didn't give them much thought either way, which would presumably contribute to why a situation arose in which the Dunlendings felt that Calenardhon had been "stolen" by the Eorlingas: Cirion probably didn't even think of them or factor them into his considerations.

They also seemingly profited little from the period in which Durin's Folk dwelt in Dunland in exile, as by the time of the Battle of the Fords of Isen they generally lacked armour; they couldn't wear Orc armour as it didn't fit. By contrast, the armour of the Men of Rohan was made for them by the Men of Gondor. Presumably when the Dwarves lived in exile in Dunland it was to avoid, in their pride, having to live in the lands of other "civilised" people. Instead they retreated to a lightly-populated area (Dunland does not seem to me to be a very densely populated place) and perhaps had little to no contact with the Men in the vicinity. Then again, I can imagine that they probably traded with the Dunlendings for food, but probably did not trade weapons or armour. Dunland was perhaps a place where they could live in some peace and quiet and trade for their survival without the "shame" and (perceived) indignity of living such a life of exile among more "civilised" people with more established homes.