Middle-earth seen by the barbarians: The complete collection including a previously unpublished essay (18 page)

From the south, ‘
there was a great attack on Gondor … by three fleets of the pirates of Umbar. All the coasts were invaded
.’
(
HE
)
At the same time, ‘
the Rohirrim were assailed from the east, and their land was overrun, and they were driven into the dales of the White Mountains.
’ 
(
KR
)
Presumably, though they are not named in any sources, these mysterious invaders were again the Balchoth who had been driven from Calenardhon but not from Rhovanion. This may have been the time when the mysterious Bladorthin gained his merits as ‘
the great king
’ (
H
; see chapter
V
).

Boldly, Umbar even attacked Rohan from the sea-side: ‘
Three great fleets, long prepared, came up from Umbar and the Harad, and assailed the coasts of Gondor in great force; and the enemy made many landings, even as far north as the mouth of the Isen
.’
(
KR
)
‘
The Dunlendings seeing their chance
’ to shake off the despised yoke of the Northmen, took a rather unlikely counsel, and their landlord Wulf negotiated an alliance with the Corsairs. At last they ‘
were in great force, for they were joined by enemies of Gondor
’
(
KR
)
. Combined with the Easterling attack from the East, enough power had gathered to take even Edoras. ‘
Gondor received no help from Rohan, and could send no help thither
.’
(
HE
)

The collapse of this masterfully contrived campaign was brought about by the coincident of the Long Winter that brought great starvation over the occupants. Then the Ruling Steward Beren ‘
at once sent aid to Rohan
’ (
KR
; note the propagandistic twist with regard to the assumed speed of reply), and ‘
before spring came Beregond son of Beren had overcome the invaders
.’
(
KR
)
The Riddermark was freed, its kingship restored. Routing the rest of the invaders was again helped by the weather. In late spring, ‘
there were great floods after the snows, and the vale of Entwash became a vast fen. The Eastern invaders perished or withdrew
.’
(
KR
)

Neither Rohan nor Rhovanion heard again of Easterlings until the War of the Ring. Presumably, their habitations east of Anduin and west of the Sea of Rhún had been so severely affected by the Long Winter and the floods that they had not survived, and the history of the Easterling dominions in Rhovanion had come to an end. It was only during the lifetime of King Brand of Dale in the early 4
^th
millenium that they were seen again, now fully under the spell of the Dark Lord.

Also the Haradrim seem to have stayed clear of Gondorian territory for the next few centuries while the evil power of Minas Ithil - now Minas Morgul - grew and Gondor met increasing perils from this side that are beyond the scope of this discussion. Border skirmishes and raids by the Corsairs remained no doubt frequent. Evidence is a short note on the 16
^th
Prince of Dol Amroth having been slain in 2799 under circumstances that are nowhere recorded in detail.
(
HE
)
As late as 2885, ‘
stirred up by emissaries of Sauron the Haradrim cross
[ed]
the Poros and attack
[ed]
Gondor
.’
(
TY
)
They effectively ‘
occupied South Gondor, and there was much fighting along the Poros
.
^[1]
’
(
KR
)
Steward Turin II ‘
defeated them with aid from Rohan; but the sons of King Folcwine of Rohan, Folcred and Fastred, fell in this battle
.’
(
HE
)

‘
Turgon followed Turin, but of his time it is chiefly remembered that two years ere his death, Sauron arose again, and declared himself openly
.’
(
KR
)

^[1]
  Note that this seems to conflict with the previous notion that Harondor had been contested between Osgiliath and Umbar since 1448. When had Gondor managed to reclaim her southernmost province so that the Haradrim could ‘occupy’ it?

1. Mumak attack
   

At last, Sauron felt almost strong enough to wage what he considered the final assault on the free North-west of Middle-earth. Even though Boromir, son of Denethor, boldly claimed that ‘
by our valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay
’, other, more rationally minded Dúnedain were aware that they were outnumbered: ‘
now of late we have learned that the Enemy has been among
[the Corsairs of Umbar]
, and they are gone over to Him, or back to Him - they were ever ready to His will - as have so many also in the East
.’
^[1]
(
TT
)
The forces were moving: ‘
This is a great war long-planned, and we are but one piece in it, whatever pride may say. Things move in the far East beyond the Inland Sea, it is reported; … and south in Harad
.’
(
RK
)

The Easterlings still maintained the traditions of the Wainriders, approaching with wains and chariots. Like back in 1944, they were supported by cavalry units: ‘
Here and there
[was]
the gleam of spears and helmets; and over the levels beside the roads horsemen could be seen riding in many companies. … These were Men of other race, out of the wide Eastlands
.’
(
TT
)
The axe-men were first seen at Cair Andros.
(
RK
)
‘
From the havens of Harad ships of war put out to sea
,’
(
FR
)
the Variags of Khand were on the move, as were the Southrons from Harad with their dreadful oliphaunts
^[2]
, and even the black troll-men of Far Harad were seen among the united forces. ‘
At the same time … a host of the allies of Sauron that had long threatened the borders of King Brand crossed the river Carnen. … In the end both King Brand and King Dain Ironfoot were slain, and the Easterlings had the victory
.’
(
TY
)
Once again, Rhovanion was in peril of getting subdued.

^[1]
  This is quite a chauvinistic statement. Despite all dissension, it is hard to imagine that the Castamirioni and the Gondorian dissidents of Umbar should have been ‘ever ready to His will‘

^[2]
  On
PBD
, their rôle is compared to the 20 African war elephants that king Pyrrhus sent against the Romans in the Battle of Heraclea.

1. The War of the Ring
   

At Pelennor, the Men of Darkness almost won over as well. When Aragorn and the Dead Men of Dunharrow had taken the main fleet of the Corsairs, the Dúnedain launched a successful counter-attack, ‘
driving the enemy before them: troll-men and Variags and orcs that hated the sunlight
.’ Though ‘
the Southrons were bold men and grim, and fierce in despair; and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and asked for no quarter
[,] …
all were slain save those who fled to die, or to drown in the red foam of the River. … To the land of the Haradrim came only a tale from far off: a rumour of the wrath and terror of Gondor.
’
(
RK
)

When Sauron’s ban on their minds was lifted, ‘
the Men of Rhún and of Harad, Easterling and Southron, saw the ruin of their war and the great majesty and glory of the Captains of the West. And those that were deepest and longest in evil servitude, hating the West, and yet were men proud and bold, in their turn now gathered themselves for a last stand of desperate battle. But the most part fled eastward as they could; and some cast their weapons down and sued for mercy
.’
(
RK
)

Their defeat was total and irrevocable. In the north, the attack on Rhovanion collapsed like a house of cards: ‘
When news came of the great victories in the South, then Sauron’s northern army was filled with dismay; and the besieged came forth and routed them, and the remnant fled into the East and troubled Dale no more
.’
(
TY
)

As if they were released from a spell, many inhabitants of Rhún and Harad suddenly realised whom they had served till then. Their distant homelands apparently were shattered by political earthquakes of unprecedented size. ‘
And embassies came from many lands and peoples, from the East and the South, and from the borders of Mirkwood … And the King pardoned the Easterlings that had given themselves up, and sent them away free, and he made peace with the peoples of Harad; and the slaves of Mordor he released and gave to them all the lands about Lake Nurnen to be their own
.’
(
RK
)

The euphoria of the time when those words were written is unmistakable. But later historians provided more plausible records, and these are the last of the Fourth Age that concern the vastnesses of Rhún and Harad:

‘
Though Sauron had passed, the hatred and evils that he bred had not died, and the King of the West had many enemies to subdue before the White Tree could grow in peace. And wherever King Elessar went with war King Éomer went with him; and beyond the Sea of Rhún and on the far fields of the South the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard
.’
(
KR
)

1. The Fourth Age