What creatures are the Variags as per Tolkien's writing?

[Lantarion]

Oh, accidental.. Well anyway.

 

[EL GALLO]

What do you mean by alien and where did you take that quote from?

 

[Inderjit S]

By 'alien' I think it means a language that was unknown to Tolkien.

 

[Beleg]

The quote is taken from an artical in Liliath's sceience pages where she describes in detail the origin of Enemies of Gondor in Third Age.

 

[Halasían]

Variags

I always thought the Variags were a fierce warrior class of the people of Khand. Its my perception only.

 

[Lantarion]

Well it sounds about right.

 

[Bucky]

If they were wild men from Khand they wouldn't hate the Sun.

Where's it say they hated the sun in TLOR?

If it's in The Battle Of The Pelannor Fields & all it says is they ran when the sun came out, it may have had more to do with the 5000 Riders Of Rohan charging at them than the sun itself.

 

[Inderjit S]

The Variags were part of a regiment stationed in Osgiliath (Which had been taken from Faramir) and were originally intended to take part in the sack of Minas Tirith. But of course, the original plan (thankfully!) failed and they were called in by Gothmog to aid the Haradrim. Some of these went to aid the Haradrim (Who outnumbered the Rohhirm about 3-1) against the Rohirrim and positioned themselves behind the Rohirrim and some attempted to intercept the force under Imrahil that was attempting to aid the Rohirrim in their plight. When the Morgul host saw the Ships of the Corsairs in the control of their enemies they began to loose hope and the regiment (Which contained some Variags) that was sent to intercept Imrahil's army was routed. The passage doesn’t say that they fled from the sunlight, but that the Orks hated and fled from the sunlight. The Variags were simply being driven away by Imrahil’s force from Minas Tirith.

The sun had been shining for some hours before, so that wouldn't have had a detrimental effect upon the Variags.

Also, do you think the slaves of Mordor who lived on the Lake Nurnen were mainly from Khand? (Hence it being marked on the map.) They seem to be the closest country to South-East Mordor. Aragorn, of course gives the land about Lake Nurnen land to the former slaves of Sauron. (Although from the passage in 'The Land of Shadow' it seems that Sauron recruited his slaves from a lot of different countries, not just Khand, but Khand seems to me, due to it's close proximity to Mordor, to be the most likely place whereby slaves are brought in from.) We also know that Khand had allied herself with the Wainriders when they attacked Gondor and when Ondoher, Artamir and Faramir were slain and a new line of Kings, under Earnil II, who was based at Pelargir and who defeated the Southern Army at the River Poros and routed the feasting Easterlings.

 

[Halasían]

That is about all that is written by the Professor about Khand and the Variags. However, Tolkiens map puts Khand south of the eastern leg of the Mountains of Shadow. The Sea of Nurnen is to the north and slightly west of this mountain spur. I could see Khand being a major route for Harad to Mordor but for maybe the lack of water along the way. It may be why the road through Ithilien was considered safe enough to be used even though threats of attack from the Rangers of Ithilien were always a possibility.

 

[r.j.c.]

I don't recall were the Bearded Men guarding the road from ROHAN to GONDOR were they Variags ?

 

[Alcuin]

Varangians were Vikings: they were Norsemen who travelled across what is now modern-day Russia. Up rivers from the Baltic, they portaged their longboats to riverheads that flowed south to the Black Sea. The most famous of all was Rurik, founder of Kiev and of the House of Rurik that ruled Russia until the death of Ivan the Terrible.

Variag n. cap ~ Russ Varyag of Scand origin; akin to ON Vaeringjar ~ Varangians: Varangian.

The Varangians were the Vikings of the east, and note the Byzantine Emperor's 'Varangian Guard'. Maybe when Tolkien used the word 'Variag' he meant little more than 'barbarian mercenary'.

This is an excellent point. The Variags were from Khand in Middle-earth, a country located in the central region of Middle-earth, completely landlocked, far from the “civilized West”, though certainly it had an ancient civilization of its own. (One wonders, based upon its location, if it were ever free of Sauronian influence before the end of the Third Age.) In the real world, there are a great number of similarly-named places: for instance Samarkand, from Old Persian asmara, “stone”, “rock”, and Sogdian kand, “fort”, “town”; and while Samarkand is quite far from Kiev, to English-speakers they are typically studied together as part of Russian history; certainly in the days of the Variags of the Byzantine Imperial court, Samarkand – and other cities with similar-sounding names – were places of increasing importance and population.

I always thought the Variags were a fierce warrior class of the people of Khand. Its my perception only.

It could fit a confluence of historical “kand” and “Variag”

 

[Halasían]

Re: Variags

I always thought the Variags were a fierce warrior class of the people of Khand. Its my perception only.

It could fit a confluence of historical “kand” and “Variag”

I have to admit my thinking on Khand and the Varaigs has been greatly affected by both a role-play story I was involved in, and a 4th Age fan story I've written. Tolkien himself gives very little on the people and history of Khand.

 

[Vardarianna]

The Encyclopedia of Arda says:
A little-known people dwelling in the land of Khand, east of Mordor, at the time of the War of the Ring. They were allied to Sauron, and their warriors were seen at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

The Complete Guide to Middle-earth says:
A race, probably of Men, dwelling in Khand. In WR they were allied with Sauron.

There is no info in the LotR Appendies and I'm not sure if there is any in the HoME series, I don't have the books around to check.

"Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand, Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues" passage in the Return of the King: The Battle of Pelennor Fields. I don't know why but Ialways pictured in my head that w the people of Khand were more Asiatic and the Variags were more the elite fighting men, somewhat like Samuri. There is absolutely nothing written to suggest this mind you. It's just my visual head-canon.

 

[Eljorahir]

A similarity between Tolkien's Variags and the Varangian Guard of history is they are both held back until the battle is most fierce.

"...the fighting waxed furious..." and in go Tolkien's Variags.

Here's some info I posted on another thread last year:

During the heat of battle Tolkien name drops the Variags of Khand but then tells us very little about them. Given the connection to real-world history I wonder if he intended (but never got around) to provide a fuller history for them in his tales.

Variags The Battle of the Pelennor Fields: "And now the fighting waxed furious on the fields of the Pelennor…Gothmog the lieutenant of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand, Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues.”, [Definition: synonym for Varangian: Viking conquerors, traders, and settlers mostly from present-day Sweden. The Varangian Guard was only used in battle during critical moments, or where the battle was most fierce.]

Depiction of the Varangian Guard in the 11th century chronicle of John Skylitzes

 

[ZehnWaters]

A similarity between Tolkien's Variags and the Varangian Guard of history is they are both held back until the battle is most fierce.

Depiction of the Varangian Guard in the 11th century chronicle of John Skylitzes

And it does sound like the Varangians were, in other areas, a mercenary type force. So a specialty, possibly mercenary, force in ME.

 

[Vardarianna]

Variags The Battle of the Pelennor Fields: "And now the fighting waxed furious on the fields of the Pelennor…Gothmog the lieutenant of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand, Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues.”, [Definition: synonym for Varangian: Viking conquerors, traders, and settlers mostly from present-day Sweden. The Varangian Guard was only used in battle during critical moments, or where the battle was most fierce.]

Yeah I've heard and read that they were like the Varangian Guard (love the reenactors who make up the New Varangian Guard in Australia by the way), but I just can't picture a blue-eyed blonde Northman-like tribe nestled between South Rhun and North Harad is all. I've got my very own Variags in my head and I'm sticking with them. 😆

 

[ZehnWaters]

Yeah I've heard and read that they were like the Varangian Guard (love the reenactors who make up the New Varangian Guard in Australia by the way), but I just can't picture a blue-eyed blonde Northman-like tribe nestled between South Rhun and North Harad is all. I've got my very own Variags in my head and I'm sticking with them. 😆

Appearance-wise, they could be anything.