The Encyclopedia of Arda - Rhûn (original) (raw)

Location Unknown lands east of Middle-earth Pronunciation roo'n1 Meaning Indexes: Alphabetical: R Lands, Realms and Regions About this entry: Updated 25 August 2010 This entry is complete

The eastern lands of Middle-earth The little-known lands in the far east of Middle-earth, beyond the great Sea of Rhûn, from where many attacks on Gondor and its allies came during the Third Age. Even Gandalf had never explored there, and though Aragorn had travelled there, we have no report of his doings. Of its ancient geography we can glean a little from the Silmarillion; far beyond the Sea of Rhûn was another inland sea, the Sea of Helcar, and beyond that a range of red mountains known as the Orocarni. Somewhere in the lost east, too, lay Cuiviénen and Hildórien, where Elves and Men first awoke: all the Children of Ilúvatar could trace their ancestries back to the eastward regions of Middle-earth. Rhûn was far from an empty land; it was the domain of the Easterlings, Men of Darkness who were ready to follow each of the Dark Lords and fought as their allies in war. These lands, too, were peopled by lost Elves, Avari and Úmanyar, and by four of the seven clans of the Dwarves. During the Third Age, Rhûn was visited by three Wizards; Saruman, Alatar and Pallando, and though Saruman returned into the west, the two Blue Wizards remained. Sauron himself journeyed into the eastward lands, in hiding from the White Council during the centuries known in the west as the Watchful Peace. Notes 1 The combination rh does not imply that there is an 'h' sound in the name Rhûn. Rather, rh is a convention used when transcribing Sindarin to denote a voiceless 'r' sound. In Elvish languages the 'r' sound is distinctly voiced in almost all cases, but in rare situations like Rhûn, the 'r' is voiceless. In other words, the name Rhûn begins with the same 'r' sound that most English-speakers would use for words like 'red' or 'run'. See also... Araw, Béma, Eastlands of Middle-earth, Great Horn, Huntsman of the Valar, Men of Rhûn, Mordor, Oxen, Oxen of the East, Sea of Rhûn, The East, The Hunter Indexes: Alphabetical: R Lands, Realms and Regions About this entry: Updated 25 August 2010 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2000, 2010. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.Discus identifies 27 distinct roles within a team, based on members' individual DISC profiles.