Middle-earth seen by the barbarians: The complete collection including a previously unpublished essay (19 page)

1. Castamir the Usurper, lord of Umbar
   

1. T
   HE THIRD
   R
   EALM IN
   E
   XILE
   

from a harbour and colony of Númenor to the lair of corsairs

The port and harbour of Umbar has been notoriously dismissed as a stronghold of evil powers whose only pastime was to annoy the authorities of Gondor. A more neutral point of view should disclose, however, that Umbar was special in many respects. Besides the fledgling realms of Arnor and Gondor, it was another centre of Dúnedainic power that had somehow managed to outlive the Downfall of Númenor. And for some time it grew into a veritable third Realm in Exile that rivalled with her northern neighbours and even sent a queen to Gondor. The following chapters will discuss her history as far as it can be deduced from many scattered sources.

1. The Bay of Belfalas as it was described in the Second Age. (The coastline is an approximation. The dotted line marks the way that Ar-Pharazôn’s army took after its landing at Umbar.)
   

1. 2280 - 3320
   SA
   :
   N
   ÚMENÓREAN
   P
   ERIOD
   

During the days of glory of the Kings of Westernesse, they ‘
had explored the coasts of Middle-earth far southward
’
(
TI
)
, establishing landing and trading posts that developed into dominions and vice-kingdoms. But ‘
though the kingdoms and strongholds they made have left many rumours in the legends of Men, the Eldar know naught of them
’
^[1]
(
HA
)
- save for Umbar that acquired a special position in history.

South of the mouth of the river Anduin, as it was then, the mariners of Númenor had discovered a useful natural haven ‘
that no hand had wrought
’
(
AK
)
though it was not unsettled when they arrived, and the colonisers adopted a local name, referring to the harbour since as ‘
the great cape and land-locked firth of Umbar
[that]
had been Númenórean land since days of old
.’
^[2]
(
KR
, IV)
.

The borders of the dominion that grew around the firth have not been recorded by map or textbook. The coastline of the firth is almost at the southern edge of the original
LR
map. Alas, it was excluded from the
UT
map that has replaced it in many
LR
editions.

For the convenience of readers who are only familiar with this latter map edition, the tentative shoreline of the Bay of Belfalas as it may have appeared in the Second Age is reproduced in
Fig. 41
, before the inundations caused by the Downfall of Númenor and the World Made Round when the shorelines of Middle-earth ‘
were much changed in the tumult of the winds and seas, the Bay of Belfalas was much filled at the east and south, so that Pelargir which had been only a few miles from the sea was left far inland, and Anduin carved a new path by many mouths to the Bay. But the Isle of Tolfalas was almost destroyed, and was left at last like a barren and lonely mountain in the water not far from the issue of the River.
’
(
TS
)

The Kings of Númenor acknowledged the usefulness as well as the vulnerability of this site, being closer to the land of Mordor than any other port, except Pelargir. That is why in 2280 SA, it was ‘
made into a great fortress of Númenor
’
(
TY
)
that was since known as the Haven of Umbar (*
Umbarlondë
).

Umbar developed into the strongest and by far the most important of the Númenórean ports south of Anduin. During the dissension that arose when the Shadow fell on the motherland, it became the northernmost settlement of the King’s Men - those Númenóreans who stayed loyal to the Line of Elros. When Sauron  tried to break the Númenórean grip on the shores of Middle-earth no longer by instigation but by force and decided ‘
to assail the havens and forts of the Númenóreans, and invaded the coastlands under their dominion’
(
YS
)
, he found that
‘Umbar he could not yet take
’
(
HA
)
.

Very naturally ‘
it was there that Ar-Pharazon the Golden, last King of Númenor, … landed and humbled the might of Sauron
.’
(
KR
)
This historic event occurred in 3261 SA, and its majesty and tragic is worth to be quoted from the unedited sources:

‘
The fleet came at last to that place that was called Umbar, where was a mighty haven that no hand had wrought. Empty and silent under a sickle moon was the land when the King of the Sea set foot upon the shore. For seven days he journeyed with banner and trumpet. … Then he sent forth heralds, and he commanded Sauron to come before him and swear to him fealty
.’
(
AK
,
HA
)
Because of this glorious, though Pyrrhic, victory, Umbar remained a symbol of Dúnedainic national pride ever after, even among Ar-Pharazôn’s political opponents.

Its fortifications did not protect Umbar against the enemies from inside, however. When Sauron was in Númenor, even this last and strongest haven fell at last under his sway. From now on, ‘
many of those who sailed east … and made fortresses and dwellings upon the coasts were already bent to his will, and they served him still gladly in Middle-earth. But because of the power of Gil-galad
[the King of Lindon]
these renegades, lords both mighty and evil, for the most part took up their abodes in the southlands far away
’,
(
AK
)
that is, south of the river Harnen and along the coasts of Harad.

It was only then that Umbar became ‘
a stronghold of the King’s Men, who were afterwards called the Black Númenóreans
’
(
KR
)
and who ‘
established their dwellings in Middle-earth during the years of Sauron’s domination, worshipped him, being enamoured of evil knowledge
.’
(
RK
)
Without doubt, they converted Umbar into the most important point of deportation for slaves and taxes that Númenor pressed out of the peoples on the continent. Its sinister rôle came to a rapid end when the mother island foundered.

1. The land-locked firth of Umbar had been Númenórean land since days of old
   

^[1]
  Except for the notion that at least three of the Nazgûls were recruited from them.

^[2]
  There was allegedly no relationship of this name to the Quenya word
umbar
‘fate’ (
SW
), but the Númenóreans were no doubt aware of the similarity. Maybe the tengwa sign
umbar
was represented in the official device of the port?

We have no information on how and in what condition the port of Umbar may have survived the cataclysm of 3320. It is hardly conceivable that anything would have been left at all. Nor is there a plausible reason why Eru the One should have deliberately spared the King’s Men along the coasts of Harad while he drowned all those innocent slaves at the oars of Ar-Pharazôn’s great armada. Perhaps the reason is purely physical: the narrow exit of the firth may have protected Umbarlondë from the worst inundations inflicted upon Middle-earth.

For whatever reason, it is a fact that not only the Elendili and some of the Faithful on the continent (that is, in Pelargir) survived the cataclysm but also the King’s Men of Umbar who had been ‘
corrupted by Sauron, and who hated above all the followers of Elendil
.’
(
KR
)
Even at the end of the Second Age, Umbar was still powerful enough to remain self-sustaining, though as a satellite of Mordor, when Sauron returned and ‘
gathered to him great strength of his servants out of the east and the south
.’ As he set forth with his troops to finally destroy the surviving Faithful and their Elvish allies in the War of the Last Alliance, ‘
among them were not a few of the high race of Númenor
.’
(
RP
)

1. 3320 - 3441
   SA
   :
   S
   AURONIAN
   P
   ERIOD
   

The names of two supreme commanders have been recorded: ‘
Herumor and Fuinur, who rose to power among the Haradrim
’
^[1]
(
RP
)
and appeared on stage in 3429, during the War of the Last Alliance. It is not explicitly stated that they had come from Umbar. But its special strategic position given, it is quite likely that they did.