 | |
| Region | |
| Near Harad | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Location | South of Mordor, east of the Harnen, south-west of Khand |
| Type | Region |
| Description | Landlocked desert |
| People and History | |
| Inhabitants | Haradrim |
Near Harad was an indefinite region of Harad that lay to the south of Gondor and Mordor, beyond the River Harnen.[1]
Near Harad was home to camels and, in the South, Oliphaunts.[2]
Its inhabitants were enemies of Gondor during parts of its history. Once men of Near Harad made an alliance with those of Khand and with the Wainriders to attack Gondor. King Ondoher anticipated their strike, and created a Southern Army to defend his land against them. Under the command of Eärnil, the Southern Army destroyed the army of Harad in South Ithilien.[3][4] It seems likely that many of the Haradrim who troubled Gondor, actually were men of Near Harad.
Portrayal in adaptations
1982-1997: Middle-earth Role Playing:
- Several settlements, sites, hills and rivers in Near Harad are mentioned in the MERP module Southern Gondor: The Land.[5]
2024: The Lord of the Rings Online:
- The land called Near Harad by Gondorians is known to its inhabitants as "Shagâna", the Fair Land. The first explorable half of Shagâna, the valley of river "Ikorbân", was added with the Legacy of Morgoth expansion in 2024. The second half, "Mûr Ghala, the Ridge of Plenty", was released with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion in 2025. Unlike the scorched arid lands of "Jarmát", or Far Harad, Shagâna has more temperate climate and features a mix of river valleys, wetlands, and forests as well as arid highlands, deserts, and rocky canyons. Kintai elves and Temámir dwarves live in Shagâna along with the humans but remain secluded and rarely deal with the outsiders.
- Shagâna had contended with invaders for much of its history, whether they came from Númenor, Gondor, Umbar, Khand, or Far Harad. For much of the Third Age, a sovereign kingdom of Hamât ruled much of Shagâna, though its exact reach ebbed and flowed over time. It finally fell around T.A. 2820, when all of Shagâna was conquered by the southern Empire of Ordâkh from Far Harad, who brought with it forced worship of the Church of Sauron. The Shagâni were oppressed but remembered their history, and when news came of the defeat of Sauron and the death of the Ordâkhai Hûl (King) were quick to push out the Ordâkhai and begin to reassert their independence. The Empire of Ordâkh, though diminished in land and power, was quick to reassert itself under a new Hûl, leading to renewed hostilities in Shagâna by summer of Third Age 3019.
External links
- Fanon map of Near Harad by Sampsa Rydman
References
- ↑ General Map of Middle-earth
- ↑ "Tolkien’s annotated map of Middle-earth transcribed" 10 November 2015, The Tolkien Society, accessed 11 November 2015
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for King Ondoher
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "(i) The Northmen and the Wainriders", including note 14
- ↑ Jason Beresford, Anders Blixt, Mats Blomqvist, Gunnar Brolin, Jeff Hatch, Tim Innes, Åke Rosenius, Martin Rundkvist, Erik, Rågvik, Chris Seeman, Magnus Seter (1996), Southern Gondor: The Land (#2021)