Harad 380419 220684139 2008-06-21T01:49:35Z SashatoBot 743015 robot Adding: [[bs:Harad]] {{for|other meanings|Harad (disambiguation)}} {{ME-importance|date=October 2007}} {{Middle-earth portal}} In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[fantasy]] [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]], '''Harad''' ([[Sindarin]]: ''South'', in [[Quenya]]: '''Hyarmen''') was the name for the immense lands south of [[Gondor]] and [[Mordor]]. It was also called '''Haradwaith''' from the people who lived there; it literally means "South-folk", from the [[Sindarin]] ''harad'', "South" and ''gwaith'', "people". The [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]] of Harad were also called [[Haradrim]], "South-multitude", or [[Haradrim|Southrons]]. [[Aragorn]]'s brief description of Haradwaith - "Harad where the stars are strange"<ref>{{ME-ref|fotr|"The Council of Elrond"}}</ref> suggests that Harad is in the southern hemisphere, as Middle-earth is a globe by the time of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' and not flat as before the Fall of Númenor. Harad's tribes were divided — at least in the minds of the men of northwestern Middle-earth — into those of Near and Far Harad, although there were many tribes of the Haradrim, often mutually hostile. Those of Near Harad were brown-skinned, with black hair and dark eyes, whereas the people of Far Harad had black skin. From the latter part of the [[Second Age]], many of the Men of Harad were dominated by the Númenóreans, as were many other peoples whose lands included a coastline. Shortly before the [[War of the Last Alliance]], two Númenórean lords, named as [[Herumor]] and [[Fuinur]], "rose to great power amongst the Haradrim", but their ultimate fate is not recorded. For many centuries of the [[Third Age]], many Haradrim were still ruled by [[Black Númenóreans|Black Númenórean]] Lords, or further north by the Kings of [[Gondor]], but ultimately, the Harad fell under the influence of [[Mordor]], for much of the Age. Much of Far Harad was a jungle, although there also was a desert. In Far Harad lived animals known as ''[[mûmakil]]'', which were [[elephant]]-like but larger, and were used by the Haradrim as moving war towers. Near Harad later formed an alliance — or maybe even a coalition of some sort — with the Corsairs of [[Umbar]], and was involved in a series of continual battles with Gondor over South Gondor or [[Harondor]]. Historically its northern border was held to be the river Harnen, but by the time of the [[War of the Ring]] all the land south of the river Poros was under the influence of the Haradrim. One of the leaders of the Haradrim at the time of the War of the Ring bore a standard of a black serpent on a red field, and was slain by [[King Théoden]] of [[Rohan]] at the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]] in T.A. 3019. After the revival of the [[Reunited Kingdom (Middle-earth)|Reunited Kingdom]] of Gondor and [[Arnor]] in the [[Fourth Age]], peace was made with Harad. To the east of Near Harad lay the land of [[Khand (Middle-earth)|Khand]]. ==In other media== The [[Middle-earth Role Playing]] game and the [[Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game]], the latter based on Peter Jackson's [[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy]], both include original material about Harad and the Haradrim. In the former, the Haradrim language is called "[[Haradaic]]". In the latter the leader Théoden kills is called "[[Serpent Lord|Suladân the Serpent Lord]]", its forces include assassins called "hasharin", and other names such as "Dalamyr", "Kârna", "Badharkân", "Hidâr", "Nâfarat", "Abrakân", and "Dhâran-sar" appear. Another Middle-earth themed role playing game that includes use of the Haradaic race is Shadows of Isildur, a text-based fantasy game. However, original information from these and any other games is not considered [[Middle-earth canon|canonical]] by most. ==References== <div class="references-small"> <references /> </div> {{Arda Realms Age3}} [[Category:Middle-earth regions]] [[bs:Harad]] [[es:Harad]] [[fr:Harad]] [[hr:Harad]] [[it:Harad]] [[nl:Harad]] [[ja:ハラド]] [[no:Harad]] [[pl:Haradwaith]] [[ru:Харад]] [[fi:Harad]] [[th:ฮารัด]] [[zh:哈拉德威治]]