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Revision as of 12:36, 13 August 2019

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, Rómen
LocationEastern Lands of Middle-earth, east of Mordor and Rhovanion
TypeRegion
RegionsDorwinion, Cuivienen[1], Hildorien[2], Wild Wood[1][3][4]
People and History
InhabitantsEasterlings, Dwarves, Avari
EventsAwakening of Elves, Awakening of Dwarves, Awakening of Men
GalleryImages of Rhûn

Rhûn, also known as the East, 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 Rhûn; they were called the Avari. Eventually some of the Avari would also migrate West.[5][6]

The first Men also awoke in the far east, where they first met Dwarves[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[9]

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.[10]

Geography

Rhûn by Stefano Baldo

Cuiviénen, the lake where the Elves awoke, was somewhere in Rhûn.[1] The eastern parts of the continent also featured two great mountain ranges, the Red and Yellow Mountains. Hildórien, the origin of Men, was also somewhere in the east.[2] Beyond these, the continent of Middle-earth ended on the shores of the East Sea.

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.

The Wild Wood, the ancient and mythical forest where the Elves wondered at their first Dawn,[11] was located near Cuiviénen and the Orocarni.[1][3][4]

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[12]:301; their mansions were at least as far east from Mount Gundabad in the Misty Mountains as Mount Gundabad lay east of the Blue Mountains.

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 in the East. In the First Age, it is said that some Men had met Dwarves of the East who had fallen under the Shadow and were of evil mind and were distrustful of their race.[12]:323 n.28

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. These four clans are the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots.[12]:301, 322

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.[13]

Etymology

The word Rhûn means "East" in Sindarin. Compare Quenya rómen.[14]

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."[15] 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",[16] 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."[17]

The Wainriders, as well as the Balchoth, were known for traveling in great camps of wagons which they fortified.[18] Given the eastern origins of the group, this bears many similarities to the orda military structure employed by the Turkic and Mongol peoples.[source?]

Other versions of the legendarium

In a 1948 note on his General Map of Middle-earth, Tolkien drew arrow 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.[19]

Other notes

As the general direction of the West was revered by the Gondorians,[20] conversely the East had evil connotations in some contexts as it where Mordor lay; the people of Gondor endured the east wind but do not ask it for tidings, because it came from the "Evil in the East".[21]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  2. 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Men"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, p. 427
  4. 4.0 4.1 Karen Wynn Fonstad (1991), The Atlas of Middle-earth, p. 5
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 53
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: Author's Notes to Quendi and Eldar", note 9
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Two. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Concerning the Dwarves (Chapter 13)"
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XII. The Problem of Ros", pp. 373-374
  9. 9.0 9.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XIII. Last Writings", pp. 384-85
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The House of Eorl"
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Uruk-hai"
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "Of Dwarves and Men"
  13. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past"
  14. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters"
  15. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, The First Phase, "The Pryftan Fragment", p. 9
  16. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, The First Phase, "The Bladorthin Typescript", p. 40
  17. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"
  18. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"
  19. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 199
  20. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Window on the West"
  21. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Departure of Boromir"