Haerawreigion (Q. "Hairavercien" ; S."Remote Wild Country") was the name given by the ancient Númenórean colonists of Anfalas to the northern and western reaches of the Nan Lefnui. The later Dúnedain of Gondor retained this usage, but extended it to include all of the lands which were claimed by Meneldil's line, though not actually colonized and subject to the direct rule of the Dúnedain: Andrast, Drúwaith Iaur, Enedhwaith, and Dunfearn.
Haerawreigion and northern Nan Lefnui
The Nan Lefnui and the Mountains of Andrast had been a refuge to the Drughu ever since the late First Age, but the settlement of these wilderness areas by Daen-folk was a much later phenomenon, and was triggered principally by changing political relations between the Danan Lin and the Dúnedain of Anfalas following the end of the Second Age. The exception to this pattern were the inhabitants of the Nan-i-Feryth, who had originally been part of the ancient Daen Coentis alliance, but who had renounced that allegiance when Merro Glastanan seized royal power as Morachd and instituted the Cult of Shoglic.
Although subsumed by the Númenórean mindset under the generic category of "Orodbedhrim", the Daen-folk of Haerawreigion actually formed two distinct cultures: the Dunir (descended from the Danan Lin) and the Daen Lintis, descended from the Daen Coentis and related to the clans of Dunfearn in Enedhwaith. The Nimthond defined the boundaries of these two peoples, the Dunir inhabiting the vales south and west of the stream into Andrast, the Daen Lintis ranging north and east between the Nimthond and the Rúhónir. With a a few exceptions, neither group possessed permanent settlements and their seasonal wanderings extended over the passes of the White Mountains, into Drúwaith Iaur and Enedhwaith.
The cultures of both the Dunir and the Daen Lintis of Haerawreigion centered upon burial grounds — Tûm-i-Cereg in the mountains of Andrast for the former, and Cûm Arelaidh (Umb Dolen) in the Nan-i-Feryth for the latter — which served as annual gathering places for their respective clans. The Dunir migrated over the mountain passes to hunt wild game in the trackless woods of Drúwaith Iaur during the spring and summer months, returning to the shelter of the eastern and southern vales of Andrast for the winter. The more extensive woodlands between the Nimthond and Rúhónir streams, coupled with the greater ease of passage over the mountains afforded by the Cirith Nimrais, made for a varied migration pattern for the Daen Lintis. Despite the fact that the Daen Lintis had forgotten many of the skills that once made them Coentis, these latter-day descendants had nevertheless retained some of their native talent for mining, and-they engaged in a fairly regular local exchange of ores with the Dúnedain of the upper Lefnui valley, particularly at Annon Wain. The procurement of needed goods from the men of Anfalas supplemented the Daen Lintis otherwise meager sources of livelihood, rendering their society slightly more stable and secure than that of the neighboring Dunir. The Dunir, on the other hand, could boast of another source of aid in times of need: the Drughu. In a dramatic reversal of the prior history of violence between the Drughu and the Daen peoples, the Dunir of Andrast and the Lefnui succeeded in making peace with the mysterious race of Drúwaith Iaur, many of whom inhabited the mountain heights alongside the zone of Dunir migration. Although a respecful distance was still maintained between these two groups, the Dunir and the Drughu had learned to live side-by-side in relative peace, and even to come to one another's help in adversity. This was a unique relationship, and was probably the source of the (erroneous) Númenorean legends that the Drúedain had in ancient times been the allies and religious leaders of the Daen peoples.
Regions[]
Aron Uvanim Cabed Araheledh Cirith Nimrais Haldanen Haunted Hills Nan-i-Feryth Nimthond Vale Rúhónir Vale Umb Estelwain Upper Lefnui Vales
Places of Note[]
Annogwain Pinnorost Púkelhyrne Udul Umb Dolen Westhold Wose Passage Hold
Note[]
Since much of this territory falls outside the boundaries of central Gondor, only the portion between Andrast and the Rúhónir is described under this entry.
References[]
- MERP: Southern Gondor - The Land