Rhûn

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Rhûn
Region
The Lord of the Rings (film series) - Rhun map.jpg
Rhûn from a map used for The Lord of the Rings film series
General Information
Other namesthe East, the Eastlands
LocationEastern Lands of Middle-earth, east of Mordor and Rhovanion
TypeRegion
RegionsDorwinion, Cuivienen[2], Hildorien[3]
People and History
InhabitantsEasterlings
Dwarves[1]
Avari
EventsAwakening of Elves, Awakening of Men
GalleryImages of Rhûn

Rhûn refers to the little-known lands in eastern Middle-earth. Almost nothing of the lands beyond the great Sea of Rhûn is known (see Uttermost East).

History

The first Elves awoke far east of the Sea of Rhûn, and many of them were led to the Westlands by Oromë. Some Elves forsook this Great Journey and chose to remain in the east; they were called the Avari.

The first Men also awoke in the far east, where they first met Dwarves[4] and Avari. The ancestors of the Edain and Drúedain traveled west out of Rhûn. At the shores of the Sea of Rhûn, some of the Mannish tribes traveling west separated and their languages soon diverged.[5] Other men remained in Rhûn, and many of them came under the dominion of Morgoth and, later, Sauron. These men were called Easterlings, and they led many attacks against Gondor and its allies during the Third Age.

In the Second or Third Ages the Blue Wizards went into the deep regions of Rhûn, never to return[6]. Saruman may have joined them before returning and occupying Isengard. During the Watchful Peace, Sauron went to hiding in Rhûn for 400 years and gathered the Easterlings to his service; the Blue Wizards failed to discover his eastern stronghold.[6]

The most western parts of Rhûn were conquered by Gondor twice, under the Kings Rómendacil I and Rómendacil II, but the Númenóreans never had full control over it. Western Rhûn was finally subdued in the Fourth Age under King Elessar and his son Eldarion.

Geography

Rhûn by Stefano Baldo

The western part of Rhûn was given in maps of the Westlands of Middle-earth. It contained the great Sea of Rhûn, connected the River Running in the northwest. A forest lay to the north-east of the Sea, and near the south-western shores there were many hills. South-west of the Sea of Rhûn lay also the land of Dorwinion.

The inland Sea of Rhûn was located in western Rhûn on the border between Rhûn and Wilderland. There were mountains on the southwest side of the Sea of Rhûn and a forest on the north-east side. Wild white Kine of Araw, or oxen, lived near the shores of the Sea of Rhûn.

Further east in Rhûn were ancient regions where the Children of Ilúvatar first awoke: Cuiviénen for the Elves, which lay on the shores of Sea of Helcar near the Orocarni (Red Mountains); and Hildórien for Men. Four Dwarven clans were also located in Rhûn[7]; their mansions were at least as far east from Mount Gundabad in the Misty Mountains as Mount Gundabad lay east of the Blue Mountains. Additionally, Sauron maintained a fortress in Rhûn in the Third Age.

The Dwarves of Rhûn

Dwarves emerged in Middle-earth in the Years of the Trees; after Elves but before Men. When the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves awoke in far-flung corners of Middle-earth, some of them found themselves in Rhûn, and there they founded kingdoms under the mountains of the East. The distance between their mansions in the East and the Misty Mountains, specifically Gundabad, was said to be as great or greater than that of Gundabad's distance from the Blue Mountains in the West.[8] These four clans are the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots.[9] In the Third Age, Dwarves of those kingdoms journeyed out of Rhûn to join all Middle-earth's other Dwarf clans in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, which was fought in and under the Misty Mountains. After this war, the survivors returned home. Late in the Third Age, when war and terror grew in Rhûn itself, considerable numbers of its Dwarves left their ancient homelands. They sought refuge in Middle-earth's western lands, where some of them met Frodo Baggins.[10]

Etymology

The word rhûn means "east" in Sindarin. Compare Quenya rómen.[11]

Other of the legendarium

In an addition by Tolkien (dating from 1948 or later) inscribed on his General Map of Middle-earth, an arrow is drawn from the River Running with the direction to the end of the map, and carries the note: "To Sea of Rûnaer". Hammond and Scull suggest that Rûnaer is likely an alternative name of Rhûn.[12]

Inspiration

Rhûn and the easternmost lands of Middle-earth seem to be based primarily on the lands of southern, central, and eastern Asia.

In the earliest drafts of The Hobbit, Bilbo offered to walk from the Shire "to [cancelled: Hindu Kush] the Great Desert of Gobi and fight the Wild Wire worm(s) of the Chinese."[13] In a slightly later version J.R.R. Tolkien altered this to say "to the last desert in the East and fight the Wild Wireworms of the Chinese",[14] and in the final version it was altered once more to say "to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert."[15]

The Wainriders, as well as the Balchoth, were known for traveling in great camps of wagons which they fortified.[16] Given the eastern origins of the group, this bears many similarities to the orda military structure employed by the Turkic and Mongol peoples.[source?]

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Two. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Concerning the Dwarves (Chapter 13)"
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Men"
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Two. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Concerning the Dwarves (Chapter 13)"
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XII. The Problem of Ros"
  6. 6.0 6.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XIII. Last Writings", pp. 384-85
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "Of Dwarves and Men", pp. 301, 322 (note 24)
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "Of Dwarves and Men", p. 301
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "Of Dwarves and Men", pp. 301, 322 (note 24)
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past"
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters"
  12. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 199
  13. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, The First Phase, "The Pryftan Fragment", p. 9
  14. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, The First Phase, "The Bladorthin Typescript", p. 40
  15. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"
  16. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"