Balchoth: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 21:02, 17 June 2021

Balchoth
People
Stephen King - Balchoth.jpg
"Balchoth" by Stephen King
General Information
OriginsEasterlings, around Rhûn
LocationsRhovanion (between Mirkwood and Celduin), southern Vales of Anduin
AffiliationSauron
RivalriesNorthmen, Gondorians
Physical Description
DistinctionsFew horses, large wains, river boats and rafts
WeaponryCrude weapons

The Balchoth were a clan of Easterlings under the sway of Sauron, who lived in Rhovanion, the lands southeast of the forest of Mirkwood.[1]

They were no doubt related to the Wainriders. They had crude weapons and few horses, used mostly for drawing their large wains.[2]

History

The Balchoth were a fierce people under the Shadow of Dol Guldur. Around the time of Cirion they amassed in the lands between Mirkwood and River Running.[1]

Often they made raids through the forest up to the Vales of Anduin, until the area south of the Gladden River was largely deserted. Their numbers constantly increased with reinforcements from the East and built many great boats and rafts on the east shores of Anduin.[1]

Around T.A. 2510 the Balchoth attempted, with the assistance of Orcs, an invasion of Calenardhon, a minimally populated northern province of Gondor. With their boats they swarmed over the River and swept away the defenders. A Gondorian army from the south tried to hinder them but the Balchoth cut them off and drove north over the Limlight, where they were joined by Orcs of the Misty Mountains.[1]

Then they were repulsed by Eorl, who arrived with the Éothéod, after receiving the plea of Cirion late. The Balchoth were no match for the horsemen of the Éothéod, and during the Battle of the Field of Celebrant, they were hunted down over the fields of Calenardhon and utterly destroyed.[1][2]

Etymology

The compound Balchoth consists of Westron balc ("horrible") + Sindarin hoth ("horde"). It was actually a generic term for disliked peoples, including the Orcs.[3]

See also

References