  Preasymptotic error estimates are derived for the linear edge element method
(EEM) and the linear $\boldsymbol{H}(\boldsymbol{\mathrm{curl}})$-conforming
interior penalty edge element method (CIP-EEM) for the time-harmonic Maxwell
equations with large wave number. It is shown that under the mesh condition
that $\kappa^3 h^2$ is sufficiently small, the errors of the solutions to both
methods are bounded by $\mathcal{O} (\kappa h + \kappa^3 h^2 )$ in the energy
norm and $\mathcal{O} (\kappa h^2 + \kappa^2 h^2 )$ in the $\boldsymbol{L}^2$
norm, where $\kappa$ is the wave number and $h$ is the mesh size. Numerical
tests are provided to verify our theoretical results and to illustrate the
potential of CIP-EEM in significantly reducing the pollution effect.
