The Encyclopedia of Arda - Sea of Núrnen (original) (raw)

ALPHABETICAL RACES PLACES MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE INTERACTIVE SHARE User guide Latest entries FAQ and e-mail Disclaimer and bibliography Awards Old and rare words Lexicon of names Excyclopedia of Arda Movie-goer's Guides: • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King The Hobbit Viewer's Companions: • An Unexpected Journey • The Desolation of Smaug • The Battle of the Five Armies Tolkien links Book news Latest Chronicle Calendar Old and rare words Lexicon of names Links Random
Location The land of Nurn, the southerly lowland region of Mordor Source Fed by four rivers flowing from sources in the mountains surrounding Mordor Pronunciation noo'rnen Meaning Núrnen means 'sad water' or 'dead water'1 Other names Lake Núrnen Indexes: Alphabetical: N Alphabetical: S Seas and Oceans About this entry: Updated 1 August 2013 This entry is complete Mordor’s great inland sea A large body of water in the low-lying southern region of Mordor known as Nurn. More than a hundred miles in length, and some fifty miles across at its widest point, the Sea was fed by four rivers flowing down from the mountains that surrounded Mordor. The so-called 'Sea' of Núrnen in fact appears to have been a huge lake, and indeed it is often referred to as 'Lake Núrnen'. Its waters are described as dark and bitter; it isn't entirely clear how literally those terms are meant, but they may refer to its sources in the poisoned waters running out of the mountains of Ered Lithui and Ephel Dúath. During Sauron's rule of Mordor, the lands around the Sea of Núrnen produced the food for his armies out of farms worked by slaves. After the War of the Ring and the defeat of Sauron, the new King Elessar freed those slaves and granted them the land around the Sea as their own. Notes 1 It seems unavoidable that the names Núrnen and Nurn are etymologically related. Perhaps the most obvious possibility is that the name Nurn (meaning either 'sad' or 'death') was first given to the slave-lands of Mordor, and the Sea took its name from that (so that Núrnen suggests 'Water of Nurn' rather than literally 'sad water' or 'dead water'). However, Tolkien himself translated the name directly, so perhaps the Sea was named first, and the surrounding land then took a part of its name. See also... Inland Sea, Inner Seas, Mordor, Nurn Indexes: Alphabetical: N Alphabetical: S Seas and Oceans About this entry: Updated 1 August 2013 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001, 2009, 2013. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.Introduce yourself to DISC profiling with our extensive FREE guide, DISC The Complete Introduction.

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ALPHABETICAL RACES PLACES MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE INTERACTIVE

SHARE User guide Latest entries FAQ and e-mail Disclaimer and bibliography Awards Old and rare words Lexicon of names Excyclopedia of Arda Movie-goer's Guides: • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King The Hobbit Viewer's Companions: • An Unexpected Journey • The Desolation of Smaug • The Battle of the Five Armies Tolkien links Book news Latest Chronicle Calendar Old and rare words Lexicon of names Links Random

Location The land of Nurn, the southerly lowland region of Mordor Source Fed by four rivers flowing from sources in the mountains surrounding Mordor Pronunciation noo'rnen Meaning Núrnen means 'sad water' or 'dead water'1 Other names Lake Núrnen Indexes: Alphabetical: N Alphabetical: S Seas and Oceans About this entry: Updated 1 August 2013 This entry is complete Mordor’s great inland sea Map of the Sea of Núrnen

A large body of water in the low-lying southern region of Mordor known as Nurn. More than a hundred miles in length, and some fifty miles across at its widest point, the Sea was fed by four rivers flowing down from the mountains that surrounded Mordor. The so-called 'Sea' of Núrnen in fact appears to have been a huge lake, and indeed it is often referred to as 'Lake Núrnen'. Its waters are described as dark and bitter; it isn't entirely clear how literally those terms are meant, but they may refer to its sources in the poisoned waters running out of the mountains of Ered Lithui and Ephel Dúath. During Sauron's rule of Mordor, the lands around the Sea of Núrnen produced the food for his armies out of farms worked by slaves. After the War of the Ring and the defeat of Sauron, the new King Elessar freed those slaves and granted them the land around the Sea as their own. Notes 1 It seems unavoidable that the names Núrnen and Nurn are etymologically related. Perhaps the most obvious possibility is that the name Nurn (meaning either 'sad' or 'death') was first given to the slave-lands of Mordor, and the Sea took its name from that (so that Núrnen suggests 'Water of Nurn' rather than literally 'sad water' or 'dead water'). However, Tolkien himself translated the name directly, so perhaps the Sea was named first, and the surrounding land then took a part of its name. See also... Inland Sea, Inner Seas, Mordor, Nurn Indexes: Alphabetical: N Alphabetical: S Seas and Oceans About this entry: Updated 1 August 2013 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001, 2009, 2013. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.Introduce yourself to DISC profiling with our extensive FREE guide, DISC The Complete Introduction.