Middle-earth seen by the barbarians: The complete collection including a previously unpublished essay (10 page)

It might seem then that
Forodwaith
ought to be the same word that was otherwise translated as
Northmen
and that the Lossoth were, hence, closely related to Éothéod and Rohirrim. But this is not the case, for contrary to the Northmen of Rhovanion, their nature was of the most remarkable kind: They were ‘
Men of far-off days, accustomed to the bitter colds of the realm of Morgoth
.’
(
KR
)

This note seems to suggest that the Forodwaith were already dwelling on the slopes or in the foothills of the Ered Engrin, staying away from Angband further west. They seem to have been a distinct ethnic group that is neither Dúnedain, Rhúnedain nor Drúedain. Unless they were early Swarthy Men, ancestors and relatives of the Bórrim, which one source might suggest:

1. T
   HEIR
   O
   RIGIN: THE
   F
   ORODWAITH
   

‘
Of the people of Bór, it is said, came the most ancient of the Men that dwelt in the north of Eriador in the Second Age and … after-days.
’
(
GA
)

But there is a powerful argument against this assumption: The people of Bór were renown as ‘
tillers of the earth
’.
(
GA
)
If the Forodwaith had descended from them, it would mean that they had given up agriculture and resumed a semi-nomadic hunting lifestyle. Such a process is unlikely in ethnic development. We have to assume that ‘in the north of Eriador’ really means just that: The region north of the Great East Road, between Lake Evendim and, very likely, the hills of Rhúdaur and the Mountains of Angmar. And that, hence, the people of Bór bear no resemblance to the Forodwaith.

Their origin remains a mystery. And their fate must have been tragic, since the Lossoth are called their ‘remnants’. Where have the others gone? The Red Book of Westmarch only hints at the dark history of the Lossoth. It is said that they ‘
lived mostly, inaccessible to their enemies, at the great Cape of Forochel that shuts off to the north-west the immense bay of that name
.’
(
KR
)
Who were these enemies?

A look at the geography reveals that the ancient North-Folk was terribly exposed to forces of Darkness. The Northern Waste, the Forodwaith, is almost dominated by Mount Gundabad, that prime stronghold of orcs, and, even worse, by the dragons of the Grey Mountains and the Withered Heath. Dragons infected all the Waste, but the Forodwaith were probably doomed when the Witch-king established the realm of Angmar in the mountains which ever after bore that name. Far and wide, the human population fell into slavery then, including the Hillmen of Rhudaur. But not the Lossoth, though they knew of the Lord of Angmar and ‘
were afraid of the Witch-king, who (they said) could make frost or thaw at his will.
’
(
KR
)

Retreating to Cape Forochel, they managed to survive in a region where few could follow them while the rest of the Forodwaith, hardly noticed by the other nations of Middle-earth, went quietly extinct. Till the middle of the Third Age, nothing was left of them east of the Ice-Bay.

The Lossoth stayed a sovereign tribe, or group of tribes, outside the influence of both Arnor and Angmar. Their name was applied to them by outsiders. It sounds derogatory because the Sindarin element -
hoth
conveys ‘
host, horde (nearly always in a bad sense)
’
(
CE
)
, and it is applied to savage, primitive and hostile individuals (cf.
Glamhoth
, i. e. orcs;
Balchoth
‘the Horrible Horde’ etc.). Yet there is no record of any hostilities, for the Northern Kingdom had no intention to expand that far north, and the Snowmen were happiest when they were left alone. The Dúnedain may have looked down on the ‘Snow-horde’ but most of the time ignored it.

At least a few of them were able to talk Westron, however, such as the chief who hosted Arvedui Last-king. We may therefore assume that some, thinly maintained, trade connections existed. The Lossoth, it is said, crossed the Bay in winter when it was frozen over, and in the slightly milder climate and more fertile soil they would ‘
often camp on the south shores of the bay at the feet of the Mountains
[i. e. the Ered Luin].’
(
KR
)
It may seem possible that merchants from Arnor had discovered that the Lossoth would exchange furs and whale-teeth or other raw materials against more sophisticated goods. Thus, when Arvedui escaped from the wreckage of Arthedain-Arnor, he and his men managed to find ‘
some of these
[Snowmen]
in camp by the seashore
.’

1. T
   HE
   L
   OSSOTH AND THE
   D
   ÚNEDAIN
   

After the collapse of the last Northern Kingdom, any such trade route was of course disrupted. Neither Hobbits nor Bree-folk travelled that far outside their territory. Only the Rangers may have kept scarce contact: ‘
Long afterwards
’
(
KR
)
they learnt from the Lossoth of the shipwreck in which Arvedui had perished. ‘
In this way the ring of the House of Isildur was saved, for it was afterwards ransomed by the Dúnedain
.’
(
KR
)
This was Barahir’s Ring, heirloom of the House of Isildur, which Arvedui had given to the chief of the Lossoth who had sheltered him from the fierce Morgothian winter.

What relationship the Lossoth may have maintained with the Reunited Kingdom of the Fourth Age cannot be guessed.

1. The Lossoth take king Arvedui to the ship from Lindon
   

1. T
   HE LOST HISTORY OF THE
   M
   EN OF
   D
   ARKNESS
   

in Rhún and Harad, the east and south of Middle-earth

It was not only geography that kept Rhún and Harad, the east and south of Middle-earth, out of the West’s eyes. Since the early days of their Awakening, these regions had never been of concern to the Eldar whose histories chiefly dealt with themselves, nor to the Númenóreans who were seafarers and explored all coasts but rarely advanced far inland. No written records from the east or south - if the art of writing had ever been developed there - became known to the Western peoples while those few venturers who did travel those lands rarely came to explore. A few Dark-Elves were allegedly scattered there, and Dwarves, of course, for historical reasons. Since among the sites at which the Seven Houses of the Dwarves originated, two ‘
were eastward, at distances as great or greater than that between the Blue Mountains and Gundabad.
’
(
DM
)

Politically as well, Rhún and Harad remained white spots on the map. Throughout most of the Ages of the Sun they were secretly under Sauron’s dominion - this seems to have included even the eastern Dwarves
(
DM
)
-, hence, the Free Peoples of the West used to lump them together under the epithet ‘enemy territory’. Their human inhabitants were indiscriminatingly referred to as Men of Darkness or Men of the Shadow, terms which were ‘
applied to all those who were hostile to the Kingdoms
[of Arnor and Gondor]
, and who were (or appeared in Gondor to be) moved by something more than human greed for conquest and plunder, a fanatical hatred of the High Men
[i. e. the Dúnedain]
and their allies as enemies of their gods. The term took no account of differences of race or culture or language.
’
(
DM
)

1. It was a source to him of man-power
   

It is true that the mutual mistrust of the North-westerners of Middle-earth and the Men of Darkness, perpetuated for millenia and too frequently replenished by tragic events on both sides, never permitted any extensive cultural exchange. What we know of the history of the far reaches of Middle-earth may thus be glimpsed only from their scarce interactions with the West.

Note that, contrary to popular (Dúnedainic) belief expressed in sources like
KR
, the nations of Rhún and Harad cannot collectively be considered ‘Sauronian’ and condemned as being prone to evil. Other sources provide a more diversified view, mentioning oppositional forces among the peoples of Harad - and, it has to be assumed, even among their nobles - who rejected the overlordship of Sauron’s minions and looked for sovereignty, peace, and sometimes even support by the Southern Kingdom.

‘
The southern regions in touch with Gondor … were probably both more convertible to the “Resistance”, and also places where Sauron was most busy in the Third Age, since it was a source to him of man-power most readily used against Gondor.
’
(
TI
)
Likewise, it was noted that, in Rhún, a ‘
few tribes of Men … had rebelled from Melkor-worship’
, which was the reason that in the Third Age, as many as three Istari were sent there
‘to stir up rebellion … and to cause [?dissension and disarray] among the dark East
.’
(
LW
)
Only one of them returned.

Rhún
and
Harad
are not proper geographical names. They indicate general directions of the compass rose, similar to the usage of Middle or Far East in the modern world. Rhún was plainly
East
and Harad was
South
, the latter being sometimes distinguished as Near/North and Far/South Harad. ‘
Harad “South” is thus a vague term
.’
(
TI
)
Some prefer to speak even more vaguely of
Haradwaith
, ‘South-Folk’, analogous to
Forodwaith
, the North-Folk, and
Enedwaith
, the Middle-Folk (see chapter
I
for details). Only three lands or states were distinct from this uncharted vastness, due to their degree of interaction with Gondor: Mordor, Umbar and Khand.

The peak of cartography was the Second Age when Númenórean mariners sailed across the (then still flat) world. Unfortunately, their precious sea maps were lost when Númenor was drowned. We only learn from later annals that they explored some ‘
inner seas
’,
(
AK
)
and in the last millenium SA, ‘
the King’s Men sailed far away to the south; and the lordships and strongholds that they made have left many rumours in the legends of Men
.’
(
AK
)
Another continent had also been found beyond the eastern shores of Middle-earth. The Númenóreans called it the Empty Lands
(
AK
)
, and it was inhabited only by birds and beasts and looked otherwise so dull that even Morgoth had never taken interest in occupying it. But when Númenor sank, the Empty Lands were ‘
cast back
’ by Iluvatar
(
AK
).
Did they turn into the American continent?