Region

In the tongues of the Elves, many words were used to describe what might be called a "region" or "tract of land". These terms encompassed not only countries and landscapes, but also greater divisions of the world, reaching even to the highest heavens. The variety of expressions bore witness to a keen sense of measure, boundary, kinship, and meaning.

The Highest Realms[]

Foremost among these was Arda, a name of wide meaning. It referred to the realm of the world under the governance of the Valar, or to the inhabited Earth itself, the body of the planet also called Ambar.

In some songs, Arda meant the whole of the world beneath the sky; in others, the realm ruled by Manwë. Above Arda stretched the Menel, the high heaven or firmament. This was the place of the stars, which in poetry was also named by the word Gilith (S. "starlight"). Though not lands in the ordinary sense, these spaces—Earth, Sky or Airs and heavens, Space, Sea, Underworld—were nonetheless reckoned as regions, for they possessed order, direction, and extent.

See:

• Region of the Stars
• Region of the Wind

The Great Lands[]

Beneath the heavens lay the wide lands, which in Elvish speech were marked by various names. Ardhon signified a great province or an extensive territory, which might be divided within itself. Ardh was used in a similar fashion.

Middle-earth, the "middle land", was such a region: neither the uttermost West nor the farthest East, but a continent between the seas, where many peoples dwelt.

Other great names such as Westlands, Harad, or Rhûn denoted broad regions of Middle-earth, sub-continents distinguished by their position, peoples, or histories.

See:

• Continents

The Lands of Peoples[]

A common feature in Elvish naming was the linking of land and folk. The word Dôr (S. "land, dwelling-place") often appeared in compounds, such as Doriath (S. "Land of the Fence") or Dor-lómin (S. "Land of Shadows"). The suffix -bar likewise carried this meaning, indicating that a region was inhabited by a particular people. Nórë was another word that meant both "land" and "folk", pointing to the close bond between place and kin. Similarly, Gwaith, which properly meant "people" or "host", was used metonymically for the land occupied by such a folk.

The Lesser Districts[]

Beside the great lands, the Elves knew many words for smaller, clearly bounded areas. Gardh denoted an enclosed or defined region, whether by natural barriers or by the work of hands. Yondë and Yón referred to places lying between mountains or rivers—valleys, hollows, or passes.

Such names were found in Eriador, the wide lands west of the Misty Mountains, or in smaller units such as Buckland or the Marish, which were smaller parts of the Shire. These districts often bore their own names, customs, and boundaries, though they belonged to a greater land.

The Order of Names[]

The Elvish languages showed great skill in the forming of place-names. Many names arose from the joining of a base word with a descriptive element, such as Dôr + Lómin. Suffixes like -ian, -ion, -ien, or -iand served to name and distinguish regions. The same root could appear at different scales: Arda might mean the whole world, or a particular realm; Gardh could refer to a small enclosure or a larger land. Meaning depended on context, usage, and tradition.

In Elvish speech, "region" was not a mere measure of space, but an expression of order, kinship, and memory. Whether it concerned the highest heavens, the lands of peoples, or a small valley between hills—each place bore its name, and each name carried meaning. Thus was the world divided, not only by mountains and rivers, but by speech, remembrance, and song.

The Greater Regions of Middle-Earth[]

• Westlands
• Harad
• Utter South
• Endon
• Rhûn
• Southern Middle-Lands
• Inner Seas
• Farthest North
• Southeast
• East of East
• Northern Peninsula
• Southern Archipelago
• Eastern Coasts
• Southern Coasts
• Númenorean Colonies
• Nine Realms
• Sauron's Dominion
• South of the world
• Unknown and tribal lands