Khand
Khand was the name of a land which lay to the south-east of Mordor and to the east of Near Harad.[1] The Men of Khand were called Variags.[2]
History
Little is known about Khand or its people, but it appears to have been much like Rohan; the Variags were a people of riders.
The people of Khand and of Rhûn seemed to have been enemies on and off throughout the ages, but made a peace treaty to unite together against Gondor.
Khand was under the influence of Mordor and supplied it with horses, and twice came into the history of Gondor: first in T.A. 1944 when the Variags together with the Wainriders attacked Gondor,[3] and later during the War of the Ring when they fought at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. They were held in reserve in Osgiliath and were sent onto the battlefield by Gothmog after the death of the Witch King. The Variags were eventually driven back by the Knights of Dol Amroth.[2]
It is probable that Khand gradually fell under the control of Gondor during the Fourth Age and was hostile to it no longer.
Etymology
The meaning of Khand is unknown, probably it was a word in the language of the inhabitants of that region.[source?]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age" [map]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"
