Anyone know anything on Harad?

[WizardKing]

Anyone know anything on Hadar?

i see it on the me map, but does anyone know anything about it and the history?

 

[Rúmil]

No. Practically all that is to be known of Harad is found within the narrative of Lotr: not much, in other words.

 

[Wolfshead]

Pretty much all I can give you on Harad is this

Name given to the wide, sun-baked lands to the south of Gondor and Mordor; the Men of Harad, called the Haradrim, were ancient enemies of the Gondorians and allies of Sauron during the War of the Ring.

That and that Harad itself means Southlands. Oh, and if I remember rightly the Haradrim were black.

 

[Lantarion]

Ooh, I'm not sure that that is explicitly stated.. But something like that is certainly said, yes.
Well, according to the AoTME (Atlas of Tolkien's Middle-Earth) 'Harad', which includes the portion seen on all the big maps of M-E and Far Harad, ends several hundred leagues south, where starts a continent (curiously shaped like Africa) that is named the Hither Lands, at least in the AoTME. And Rhûn (in case anybody cares) ends some way into the east, with the Orocarni, Mountains of the East; which, by the way, were among the only features of Middle-Earth that have not ben altered over time.

 

[Wolfshead]

In the south, you will also note the maps say Sutherland. By an amazing coincidence, that's where I live

However, I reside in Sutherland, Scotland, rather than Sutherland, Middle-Earth...

 

[gate7ole]

I can add one more thing about the Haradrim. Since all Men originate from the father of Men who were born somewhere in the east, we can assume that the races of Far East and South were early sundered by the Edain of the Three Houses, or even the Men of Eriador. Judging by their alliance with Sauron, they were probably the fraction of Men that accepted Morgoth's calls back at their youth.

 

[WizardKing]

Harad kind of looks like Africa?

so is that why i was told that the haradim were black?

 

[Wolfshead]

You're asking all these questions that don't require any discussion. Just a quick defintion. So, I think, to save yourself time, as well as saving server space and other peoples time, you should look at www.glyphweb.com/arda . You can easily find answers to everything you are looking for.

As for the Haradrim, TEoA, has this to say about them

The doughty, dark-skinned Men of the southern regions of Middle-earth. Historical allies of Mordor, they were more properly known as the Haradrim.

So I'm assuming they all described as black at some stage. And yes, the area is probably loosely based on Africa.

 

[Ingolmin]

Harad lies between the sea of Umbar to its west and Khand northeast and was divided into two main provinces. Near Harad, which was the closest to both Mordor and Gondor, and Far Harad, which was nearest to the land of Umbar. The land of Harad could be divided into four distinct regions, with a host of sub-regions claimed and warred over by nomadic tribal groups. The first of these was Harondor, otherwise known as South Gondor. It was a buffer zone between the lush, verdant grasslands on the Gondorian side of the Anduin and the inhospitable dunes of sand to the far south, and was contested over by Gondor and Harad. The river Poros formed Harondor's northern border, while the river Harnen formed its southern border. Its climate was most likely a semi-arid grassland but presumably more fertile than Harad. Its boundaries extended roughly from the Anduin to the western flank of Mordor and stopped around an imaginary line protruding horizontally from the bay of Umbar. On the northeast it was bordered by the Mountains of Shadow, and it ran west to the Bay of Belfalas.

The second region was Umbar and the adjacent bay area. The great city, built brick by the hands of the Númenóreans across the sea, was a regional hub of trade well after the noble blood of the seafarers was spent as its inhabitants fell into darkness.

The third region was Near Harad. The boundary between Near Harad and Khand is not described, and it is unclear how far east Near Harad extended. The majority of Near Harad is desert as described by Gollum.

The final region was Far Harad. The boundary between Near and Far Harad is indistinct, but compared to the other regions Far Harad was immense, covering all the territory relatively equivalent to Africa. Far Harad was large enough that it most likely had an extremely varied climate. Much of the southern extents of Far Harad were covered in forests and jungle. The great Mumakil, called Oliphaunts in legend by the Hobbits, lived here also.



Thank you, friend.
I am Ingolmin, heir of Elrond Halfelven and a young loremaster.

 

[Might_of_arnor]

In regards to the haradrim's appearance they were described to look "swarthy" by Tolkien, meaning they look more middle eastern or North African, perhaps also Mediterranean. They were prominent with dark features and had about the same height as the men of gondor did.

They were probably nomadic and tribal and would most likely be ruled by multiple chiefs in the regions. I don't know whether there were kings but I'd assume there was a council of the chiefs who probably elected one of their own to take command of the armies of harad against the gondorians

 

[andrewmiller]

I think that this is like one of the mysteries. That's why there is no information about it