Harad

Harad
Haradrim chieftain's standard
J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium location
Other name(s) Haradwaith, Sunlands
Type Vast hot region with deserts and jungles
Notable locations Near Harad, Umbar, Far Harad
First appearance The Fellowship of the Ring
Location southern Middle-earth

In J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy legendarium detailing lands within Middle-earth, Harad - or more formally the Harad[1] - was the name for the immense lands south of Gondor and Mordor. In the languages invented by Tolkien, Harad means South in Sindarin, and it was named Hyarmen in Quenya with the same meaning. It is also referred to as the Sunlands,[2] and as Haradwaith (from the people who lived there; the name literally means "South-folk", from the Sindarin harad, "south" and gwaith, "people").

In the world of Middle-earth, Harad is loosely associated with Africa.

Middle-earth narrative

Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings briefly describes his journeys in Haradwaith as "Harad where the stars are strange"[3]. Tolkien noted that this meant that Aragorn had travelled "some distance into the southern hemisphere",[4] which in turn indicates that Harad itself extends well south of the equator.

Geography and fauna

The ecoregions of Harad included jungle, grasslands[5] and deserts. In its jungles lived apes,[6] and animals known as mûmakil, which were elephant-like but larger and more aggressive.

The great harbour and city of Umbar was situated on Harad's west coast, which was washed by the Great Sea, the western ocean of Middle-earth. Harad's eastern shores looked out on the Eastern Sea, Middle-earth's eastern ocean. In the Second Age, Númenórean mariners explored the coasts of Harad, beginning with the north-western coasts, and eventually rounding the southmost tip of Harad and reaching the Eastern Sea.[7]

Two great mountain ranges lay in Harad, at least in the First Age: the Grey Mountains in the west (not the same as the Grey Mountains on the north of Wilderland), and the Yellow Mountains in the east. Ormal, one of the two great Lamps of Middle-earth in the First Age, was located in Harad. When Ormal was destroyed by Melkor it was replaced by the inland Sea of Ringil, which likewise seems did not survive the First Age.

To the north of Harad lay (west to east) the lands of Gondor, Mordor, Khand and Rhûn. Historically the border with Gondor was held to be the river Harnen, but by the time of the War of the Ring all the land further north to the river Poros was under the influence of the Haradrim. The border with Mordor ran along the southern Mountains of Shadow.

The Harad Road was the main overland route between Gondor and Harad. From Gondor's point of view, Harad was divided into the regions of Near Harad and Far Harad.

By the end of the Third Age, "great roads" ran from Mordor to its tributary lands in Harad.[8]

Haradrim

Haradrim
Southrons
Attributes
Home world Middle-earth
Base of operations Harad
Language various

Overview

The Men of Harad were called Haradrim ("South-multitude"), Haradwaith, or Southrons. These terms were Gondorian generic descriptions of any of the men that came from the vast lands to the south of Gondor. The Haradrim are often viewed as a collection of proud and warlike races. They were particularly formidable when riding their great beasts, the mumakil.

However Samwise Gamgee, a key protagonist in The Lord of the Rings, sees one of the Southrons close up. "He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home".[9]

The Haradrim were of various ethnicities and cultures. Some of the peoples of the Harad were organized into kingdoms.[10][11]

History

During the Second Age the Haradrim came into contact with the Númenóreans, Men from the great island-nation of Númenor far to the west of Middle-earth. At first, the Númenoreans came as friends and teachers, but later the Kings of Númenor grew hungry for wealth and power and established territories in Middle-earth. They built a great city in the firth of Umbar, a vast natural harbour on the southern shores of the Bay of Belfalas, and eventually turned the city into a fortified citadel from whose gates they levied great tributes upon the tribes of Harad. Many of the Haradrim were killed or sold into slavery.

From the latter part of the Second Age Númenóreans dominated many of the Men of Harad as well as many other peoples whose lands included a coastline. Those Númenóreans who sided with Sauron, Lord of Mordor, are known as the Black Númenóreans. Shortly before the War of the Last Alliance, two Black Númenórean lords, Herumor and Fuinur, "rose to great power amongst the Haradrim". Their ultimate fate is not recorded, although Sauron and his allies were soundly defeated in that war.

For many centuries of the Third Age, many Haradrim were still ruled by Black Númenóreans lords, or further north by the Kings of Gondor. Gondor was at its height in the reign of Hyarmendacil I "South-victor" (T.A. 1050-1149); the kings of the Harad acknowledged his overlordship, doing homage, and "their sons lived as hostages" at his court in Osgiliath.[12] But ultimately Harad fell under the influence of Mordor for much of the Age. The Haradrim began to cooperate with the Corsairs of Umbar increasingly from 1540 onwards.

At the time of the War of the Ring, the Southrons were in league with Sauron and fought alongside his orc army, riding atop gigantic, elephantine beasts called mûmakil. One of the leaders of the Haradrim at the time of the War of the Ring bore a standard of a black serpent on a red field; King Théoden of Rohan slew him at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in T.A. 3019. The Corsairs were prevented from reaching the battle, having been defeated by Aragorn and the Dead Men of Dunharrow. An army of Haradrim fought in the Battle of the Morannon.

When the battles of the War of the Ring turned against the Haradrim, some fled. But many fought on bravely.[13] As the War ended and the Fourth Age began, Aragorn, the new King of the West of Middle-earth, made peace with the Haradrim, and they sent embassies to Aragorn's court.[14]

Although Aragorn's reign was largely one of peace, it was occasionally necessary for him (together with his ally King Éomer of Rohan) to lead military expeditions against some Haradrim.[15]

Appearance and dress

The appearance of the Haradrim varies, indicating different ethnicities and varying climates in Harad.

The Southrons from Near Harad were those most familiar to Gondor. They were also those most closely encountered by the protagonists in The Lord of the Rings, and The Two Towers gives relatively detailed descriptions. Frodo and Sam meet Faramir and his Rangers of Ithilien just before the latter ambush a company of Haradrim on the North Road. Frodo and Sam do not see much of the battle, since they are positioned elsewhere, but they hear the sounds of fighting, and a slain Harad warrior crashes at their feet. This warrior is described[16] as having brown skin, with black plaits of hair braided with gold. He wears a scarlet tunic, as do the other Haradrim, and a gold collar. He is armed with a scimitar and garbed with a corslet of brazen scales. Here Sam experiences his moment of empathy; also here they see a mûmak, to Sam's terror and delight.

The people of Far Harad are described as black-skinned, but there is also a group of them described as "black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues" and "troll-men". It is unclear whether these were just large Men who are being compared to Trolls or some sort of crossbreed between the two races. Supporters of the latter interpretation point to the similar terms "half-orcs" and "goblin-men", appearing in the same book (chiefly in the second volume, The Two Towers), and "Orc-men" and "Man-orcs", appearing in later writings (published in Morgoth's Ring) — all applied to the products of Sauron and Saruman's Orc/Man breeding programmes.

The description of the people of Far Harad, and their homeland in the far south of Middle-earth, bear similarities to the Sigelwara, which Tolkien knew in Old English writings as a translation of Aethiopians. In drafts of The Lord of the Rings Tolkien toyed with names such as Harwan and Sunharrowland for the Haradrim generally and their land; Christopher Tolkien notes these names are derived from the Old English Sigelwara, and refers to Tolkien's essay Sigelwara Land.[17]

Scarlet and Gold

The Haradrim soldiers wear scarlet uniforms and are adorned with gold, their standards are scarlet, and their great beasts, the mûmakil, have scarlet and gold trappings. This indicates that scarlet cloth and gold, both valuable commodities, are a significant part of the culture and economy of the Haradrim.

Language

Tolkien did not specifically work out a particular language for the Haradrim. The only word which is stated to come from a southron language is "Mûmak", the name of the great war-oliphaunts of Harad.[18] Gandalf states that his name in "the south" is "Incánus" (which is Latin, meaning "very grey-haired" and thus may be simply a translation of the original Olórin's name among the Haradrim, just like name "Gandalf" itself is an anglicized Old Norse translation of a Westron), thought by some to be a Haradrim name, but speculated by Tolkien to actually be a Westron or Sindarin form from Gondor. On early sketches for The Lord of the Rings, names as "Barangils" and "Harwan" appear, but it is uncertain if Tolkien intended both to be names from a Haradrim language. Despite having a meaning in Quenya ("fate"), the name Umbar is said to be adapted from the natives' language and not from Elvish or Adûnaic.

In other media

Haradrim in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy the Haradrim are inspired visually by Middle Eastern or Western Asian (rather than an unspecified African influence as in the book) according to the ROTK DVD's Weta Workshop documentary. The Haradrim here fight only from the backs of the Mûmakil, having no cavalry or foot-soldiers as in the book, nor are the associated "half-trolls" or variags of Khand portrayed on film. The apparent leader of the Haradrim force is killed in the film not by Théoden, but by Éomer. They appear in much merchandise for the film trilogy, such as toys, The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game, and the computer game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II. They also appear as "Haradrim Slayers" in the computer game, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring.

In the movie, Faramir (rather than Sam, as in the book) comments on a dead Southron, philosophizing whether the soldier was actually evil or just goaded or blackmailed into serving the enemy. This was partly to establish Faramir's character in the movie as having more empathy than his proud brother, Boromir.

The Middle-earth Role Playing game and the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, the latter based on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, both include original material about Harad and the Haradrim. In the former, the Haradrim language is called "Haradaic". In the latter the leader Théoden kills is called "Suladân the Serpent Lord", its forces include assassins called "hasharin", and other names such as "Dalamyr", "Kârna", "Badharkân", "Hidâr", "Nâfarat", "Abrakân", and "Dhâran-Sar" appear. The conceit of Harad representing some African or Arabian equivalent (being south of Middle-earth as "Europe") is more explicit in these materials; most of these original names have no relation to Tolkien's writings, and some, such as "hasharin", are actually Arabic words.

See also

References

  1. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Two Towers, 2nd edition 1966, George Allen & Unwin, book 4 ch 4 p 267, ISBN 0 04 823046 4. The character using the expression "the Harad" was a Gondorian, people who spoke in a "more gracious and antique style".
  2. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Two Towers, 2nd edition 1966, George Allen & Unwin, book 4 ch 3 p 255, ISBN 0 04 823046 4. The Sunlands are to be distinguished from Sunlending, the Rohirrim name for Anórien in Gondor.
  3. ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), "The Council of Elrond", ISBN 0-395-08254-4
  4. ↑ J. R. Tolkien (1980), Unfinished Tales, George Allen & Unwin, part 4 ch. III 'The Istari' p. 402 note 10; ISBN 0-04-823179-7
  5. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), The Return of the King, George Allen & Unwin 2nd ed.1966, Appendix A:II p 352 ("the far fields of the South"), ISBN 0 04 823047 2
  6. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Two Towers, George Allen & Unwin 2nd ed.1966, bk 3 ch VII p 140 ("apes in the dark forests of the South"), ISBN 0 04 823046 4
  7. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1977), The Silmarillion, George Allen & Unwin, 'Akallabêth' p. 263; ISBN 0 04 823139 8
  8. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), The Return of the King, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 6 ch. 2 p. 201; ISBN 0 04 823047 2
  9. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Two Towers, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 4 ch. IV p. 269; ISBN 0 04 823046 4
  10. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Two Towers, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 4 ch 4 p 267, ISBN 0 04 823046 4
  11. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), The Return of the King, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, Appendix A §I(iv) p. 325; ISBN 0 04 823047 2
  12. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), The Return of the King, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, Appendix A §I(iv) p. 325; ISBN 0 04 823047 2
  13. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), The Return of the King, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 5 ch. VI p. 124 & book 6 ch. IV p. 227; ISBN 0 04 823047 2
  14. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), The Return of the King, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 6 ch. 5 p. 246-247; ISBN 0 04 823047 2
  15. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), The Return of the King, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, Appendix A(II) p.352; ISBN 0 04 823047 2
  16. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Two Towers, George Allen & Unwin 2nd ed.1966, bk 3 ch IV p 269, ISBN 0 04 823046 4
  17. ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1989), ed. Christopher Tolkien, The Treason of Isengard, Unwin Hyman, ch. XXV p. 435 & p. 439 note 4
  18. ↑ "Mûmakil". The Encyclopedia of Arda.
  • "Harad". Tolkien Gateway.
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