Rhûn

The term Rhûn (S."East", Q."Rómen", Av."Rômeinâ", "Shrû","Shrûa") was a vague term which could either refer to Eastern Middle-earth as a whole (then usually called "Rhûn the Great"), the vast plains of Central Middle-earth, or in a closer sense to the former Gondorian province of Near-Rhûn, the lands surrounding the famous Inland Sea of Rhûn.

The indigenous Easterlings themselves of course did not see their homelands as "East".The closest equivalent geographywise probably was the ancient designation Kem (Av."Earth, home") used by many of the plainsmen to distinguish their homes and the lands to the east from "the West" (Pl."Nû") and "the South" (Pl."Khird") in general.

Description[]

Rhûn the Great was the vast eastern subcontinent of Middle-earth, over 17 million squaremiles stretching from the Iron Mountains in the Far North to the [[inner seas in the central south. It was bordered to the east by the Eastern Ocean and to the west by the western banks and Hills of Rhûnaer, the Inland Sea of Rhûn, and beyond Palisor the wide Sward-lands, dotted by Great Pinewoods. Utumno had once been located in the center of the Northern lands but it was destroyed in the War of the Powers, leaving behind a vast bay that reshaped the northern coastline. To the east of this bay stretched the Northern Peninsula, it's eastern end maked by a second gigantic bay once formed by the fall of Illuin while the Northeastlands stretched toward Easterness or the new lands, once connecting them with Middle-earth by an Old landbridge, eastern twin to the Helcaraxë. Dark and Slumbering Woods, vast taiga stretched from the Iron mountains towards the lakes and grassplains in the south. Icy Seas and Cold Islands marked the polar maritime edge, further north lay only unformed waste and the northern dome of Ringli. South of the bay were the great forests and the Cracks of Illuin, deep fissures and ravines caused by the same cataclysm. Further stood the Roots of Helcar, a mesa or plateau believed to have been the foundation of the fallen lamp. The central region of Rhûn was known as Endon or the "Middle land", dotted by vast Lakelands, with once Great Isles, remnants of a once gigantic inland ocean, the sea of Helcar, and the Great East Plain, and wide Steppes, as Helcar gradually receded over time. West of the Orocarni mountains lay Cuiviénen, the place where the Elves first awoke. Though once a great bay within the inland sea it vanished as Helcar diminished and the land shifted. To the east of Endon rose Dark and Far eastern mountains, which formed a formidable barrier. Between Palisor and these mountains lay great deserts and wastes, including the Last Desert, home to the legendary Were-worms, marking the final arid expanse before the eastern highlands. Beyond the mountains to the east lay Amrûn, "sunrise", Dark Forests of the East and the Eastern Coastlands, which faced the Eastern Ocean like an eastern mirror image of ancient Beleriand. The Men of the West knew little about these lands and called them the "Dark East" or "East of East". Offshore lay Eastern Isles, as the Islands of Sunrise, scattered along the horizon. South of Endon, the terrain transitioned into the Southern Middle-lands, where the Iron Forest stood, once considered the center of the world. West of the Iron Forest rose the Mountains of the Wind, enclosing the valley of Murmenalda. This region was part of the Land between the rivers, a fertile and ancient basin. Within it lay the Dark Forest and it had once been known as Hildórien, land of the awakening of the first men, also site of the first temple dedicated to Morgoth as the early men bowed before "the radiant", but it was said it drowned beneath the later Bay of Hildorien. North of it stretched the Wild Woods, while east of it lay the Southern Forests, forming another vast belt of ancient woodland. Further south, the lands extended toward the Bay of Ormal, named after the fallen lamp Ormal a large outlet into the Inner Seas. Either the shaking of the world during the War of Wrath or the great cataclysm after the drowning of Númenor caused the destruction of the long southeastern Yellow Mountains and possibly led to the formation of the Southern Archipelago and the eventual fragmentation of the continent of Southerness into three distinct smalker landmasses. Southeastern isles once connected the northeastern tip of Southerness to middle-earths Southeastlands.

The People[]

Rhûn was the place of origin of the Elves and mortal men and was still home to many tribes of the Avari or Hisildi, including the Hwendi, Kwindi, Kindi, Hwenti and the myriad of Easterling peoples. The peoples of the Westlands knew the nomadic or semi-nomadic steppe- or plainsmen best, notably the Chariot-warrior cultures of the Wainriders and the Glittering Host, but also the more primitive Balchoth, Great Eastern Army and Axe-Easterlings, often presumed to have been eastern relatives of the Beleriandic Easterlings of Bór's and Uldor's people. But their cultures were many, from northern taiga and steppe-dwellers to lake-people, Mountain- Hill- and Wood-folk and eastern and southeastern farmers, traders, herders and fishermen. Five of the nine Nazgul hailed from Rhûn, including Khamûl whose people were also known as the Black Easterlings. Their lands had become part of the Nine Realms under Sauron's dominion. While the Númenóreans had explored Rhûn's coasts it was believed they did not build great colonies like in West-Harad but only far smaller and long since forgotten outposts and trade stations. The four houses of the Eastern Dwarves awoke in Rhûn, the Ironfists and Stiffbeards likely in the northern Orocarni, the Stonefoots and Blacklocks likely in the northern part of Far eastern mountains. Eastern Orcs had once ruled these lands after the Battle of Palisor or after Morgoth's exile and the War of Wrath, and had made themselves Lords and Kings over men, teaching many their cruel ways. Sauron once had wandered these lands and sown the seeds of his Cult of the Eye and the Ithryn Luin and Saruman had travelled them as well, founding secret cults and magical traditions to inspire rebels to withstand the Shadow.

Also the roots of the ancestors of the Halfling-kin were believed to have their origin along with the big folk in Murmenalda and strange Spirits and Giants, alienated from the Maiar and the peoples of the Valar, had walked and formed these lands, and the Entwives first taught agriculture and gardening to the men of the east.

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Editorial Note: This entry contains speculative or fan-based material — such as fanon, fanfiction, or theory constructs — that may not be directly supported by canonical texts. Interpretations offered here are part of the NNCA’s speculative corpus and should not be mistaken for primary Tolkien sources.