Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we continue our look at the Maps of MIddle-earth by covering
the lands of The Second Age.
As we mentioned last time, the realms of Beleriand are decimated by the War of Wrath at the end
of the First Age, causing the vast majority of the lands to sink into the sea.
Today, we’ll begin our journey with some of the remnants of Beleriand.
First up is Tol Morwen - an island off the coast of Forlindon.
This location is where Morwen, the mother of Turin Turambar is buried.
During the first age, the location is known as Cabed Naeramarth as is the location of
the Stone of the Hapless - a hallowed tombstone of sorts, marking the deaths of Turin, Nienor, and Morwen.
It is said this island - and the stone itself, are nearly all that remains of Beleriand after the first age.
The largest of the three islands seen here is Tol Fuin, named for the lands they originated
from - Taur-nu-Fuin - or if you recall from our First Age video - were once the highlands
of Dorthonion, where Beren once roamed with his father Barahir.
Finally, we have the island of Himling, which was once the hill of Himring - stronghold of Maedhros.
This island lies roughly 25 miles away from northern Lindon.
Speaking of Lindon, let’s make our way to the mainland.
Lindon is broken up into two parts.
The northern section is known as Forlindon, while the south is known as Harlindon.
These realms were once part of Ossiriand.
The realm is led by Gil-galad - now the high king of the noldor.
Other notable citizens of Lindon at the beginning of the second age are Elrond, Galadriel, Celeborn, and Cirdan.
Cirdan and the elves of Lindon found the haven of Mithlond, or as you may know it - the Grey
As mentioned when we covered Beleriand, we also have portions of the Blue Mountains that
survived the War of Wrath.
While the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost would start the second age in their cities, by the
year 20 SA, they would journey to Khazad-dum to join the dwarves descended from Durin.
Lake Nenuial - also known as Lake Evendim, lies roughly 100 miles north of what would
one day be The Shire.
This body of water, roughly 50 miles long by 20 miles wide, would become home to Galadriel
and Celeborn after they leave Lindon shortly into the Second Age.
The area of Forodwaith is named for the people who inhabited it.
These lands were very cold from the earliest days of Middle-earth, when Melkor had his
first fortress of Utumno in the far north, leading to the lands around it to be affected
by Melkor’s evil cold emanating from the fortress.
The Forodwaith people were a hardy people, living in the icy northern lands.
While we don’t know much about this civilization, we do know the last remnant of these people
would still be around in the third age - the Lossoth, but we’ll talk about them when
we come to the Third Age.
Also in the North, we have the peak of Mount Gundabad - the location where Durin awoke in ancient days.
Durin makes his way south, eventually settling within the Hithaeglir (also known as the Misty
Mountains) where he founds the dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dum.
Later in the second age, after Sauron invades Eregion, Durin’s folk, also known as the
Longbeards, seal the door of Durin.
The orcs in turn would take the Mount Gundabad, a holy site for the dwarves.
The Ered Mithrin, or Grey Mountains, would be infested with orcs well into the third age.
In the northeast, we have the lands of Rhovanion, whose most notable inhabitants are the elves
of Lorinand (which would come to be known as Lorien), and the realm of Greenwood, led
by Thranduil’s father Oropher.
While ruled by Sindarin lords, the population of each realm is mostly silvan elves.
The Lonely Mountain since the earliest days of the second age at least, was under the
control of Durin’s folk, but would not come into play much during this age.
Likewise, the Longbeards of Khazad-dum colonized the iron hills during the first age, which
became the dwarves’ primary source of iron-ore.
When the orcs take over Mount Gundabad and the Grey Mountains, after it cuts off communication
between Khazad-dum and the Iron Hills.
Also in the lands of Rhovanion we have some of the Northmen, or Middle-men who were the ancestors of the Rohirrim.
These were men who were not of Numenorean descent, but also were not openly hostile to the Numenoreans.
They are more separated and actually are taught agriculture by the Entwives.
In turn they give great honor to the female ents.
For more on these men, check out my video on the Eotheod people.
Returning west to the previously mentioned Eregion, we find the elven realm led by Celebrimbor
- the elf smith who led the creation of the rings of power.
The capital is Ost-in-Edhil and is located close to the entry of Khazad-dum.
It was Celebrimbor and his friend Narvi the dwarf who created the Doors of Durin during the second age.
After Sauron creates the One Ring, he leads open war on the elves of Eregion, and the
larger lands of Eriador.
Eregion is destroyed, Ost-in-Edhil sacked, and Celebrimbor killed.
These events would eventually lead Elrond to establish the realm of Rivendell along with the refugees of Eregion.
As I mentioned in my last video, Eriador in the first age was part of a massive forest
encompassing most of the lands we know as Middle-earth.
It was the war of the Elves and Sauron that led to the final deforestation of much of
the realms in Eriador, including Enedhwaith and Minhiriath.
However, the deforestation of these realms had begun centuries earlier - by the same
people who would help save Eriador from Sauron’s dominion - the Numenoreans.
In the 7th century of the second age, the Numenoreans came to Eriador, founding the
port of Lond Daer, and harvesting large amounts of trees.
The open hostility between the men of Minhiriath and the Numenoreans would lead the former
to welcome Sauron’s attempted conquest in 1693.
However, Sauron would burn most of what remained of the forest in his retreat.
Enedhwaith was a similar situation - however, while the surviving Minhiriath would become
part of the future realm of Arnor, Enedhwaith would ally with neither.
The men of the realm, known as the Gwathuirim, would forever hold a hatred toward the Numenoreans and their descendants.
They would remain allied with Sauron and in the third age these men, also known as the
Dunlendings, would ally themselves with Saruman - helping him in the Battle of Helm’s Deep,
and later in taking over the Shire.
Now that we know of some of their actions and their enemies, we should take a look at
the island realm of Numenor.
This island was a gift to the Edain from the vala Ulmo for their part in the war against Morgoth during the First Age.
Now I’ll eventually do an entire video on the history of Numenor and their actions,
but for now, we’ll just highlight the geography.
The star-shaped island has distinct regions seen here on the map.
The northern section is called Forostar, which is a land of rocks and cliffs.
This land, which measures roughly 200 miles from the North Cape to it’s southern border,
also features woods of larch and fir.
To the west, we have Andustar, a mostly fertile region which features three bays on it’s western edge.
The northernmost bay is called the Bay of Andunie, featuring a port and city of the same name.
In the southwest, we have Hyarnustar, which was known for it’s farmlands and vineyards.
Hyarrostar in the southeast, whose woods was the source of much of the wood the Numenoreans
used in building their great ships.
In the northwest, we have Orrostar, another area of farmland where the Numenoreans grew
much of their grain.
Heading inland, we have the region of Mattalmar, with its pastures and grasslands.
This is Numenor’s most important region, as it contains the capital Armenelos in it’s eastern half.
Also of note is Meneltarma - a sacred mountain in the center of the island.
Also known as the Holy Mountain, it was devoted to Eru Iluvatar.
It was required of any who climbed the mountain to be absolutely silent and even the animals
of the land didn’t approach the summit.
Only the Eagles of Manwe were to be found circling the summit.
They were regarded as sacred guardians of the mountain and the land of Numenor.
There’s a few subregions of note here as well.
Emerie is where the Numenoreans raised and herded sheep.
Nismaldar housed the great haven of Eldalonde - said to be the most beautiful of all Numenor’s havens.
And Arandor - also knowns as Kingsland, is home to the capital and the port of Romenna.
Armenelos, in addition to being the capital, is also where Sauron would advise the King
to build a temple for the worship of Melkor.
The eastern port of Romenna was an important location to the group of faithful Numenoreans
who didn’t follow Sauron’s influence.
As Sauron leads the larger faction of Numenor - known as the King’s Men - to rebel against
the valar, Eru destroys the island.
It was from the port of Romenna that Elendil and his sons would lead nine ships of the
Faithful to Middle-earth, having foreseen the destruction to come.
There, they gathered both the Numenorean and inigenous people of the lands and founded
the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.
Arnor ecompasses much of the lands we discussed earlier, while Gondor is much larger than
we would later see it in the third age.
Notably including the lands of Calenardhon, which would later become the kingdom of Rohan.
Not only would the destruction of Numenor force the relocation of the faithful, but
it would also effect the elves of Lindon, who suffer great loss as the sea comes upon
the land, due to the displacement of Numenor.
As we return to the south, you’ll no doubt recognize Mordor as it stands in the lands
of the southeast of Middle-earth.
But what of the lands surrounding it from which Sauron gets many of his allies?
We’ll begin with the lands of Rhun - also known simply as the East.
As we’ve learned in my previous videos, this was a favorite area of Sauron to retreat
to when things got dicey for him.
This, combined with the fact that Morgoth previously had a heavy presence in this area
as well, makes it no surprise that Sauron would find followers in the East.
While the Easterlings will no doubt be the inhabitants most familiar to fans, we know
that there were also four dwarven clans located in the lands of Rhun - the Ironfists, Stiffbeards,
Blacklocks, and Stonefoots.
Also, according to Tolkien’s later writings, the Blue Wizards would come to Middle-earth
within the second age, meaning they could have been at work in these lands during this time.
Once again, we’ll cover more about the people and events of these regions with their own
videos, but for now, we’ll continue our journey through the geography of the Second Age.
In the south of Middle-earth lies the lands of Harad.
This is home to the Haradrim and the great Oliphants of Middle-earth.
Unlike the Easterlings, we know a bit more about the Haradrim.
Initially, the relationship between the sea-faring Numenoreans and the Haradrim was a fruitful one.
The numenoreans establish the havens of Umbar, while the Haradrim learn agriculture and craftsmanship
from the Numenoreans.
However, as Numenor turned to darkness, so to did their interactions with others.
They came to set themselves up as lords over their allies in Middle-earth, demanding tribute
and oppressing the peoples of Harad.
The land of Khand is one that we hear far less often than the previous two As their
known actions come in the third age, we will simply note in this video that they are known
as the Variags and would often ally with Sauron or the Haradrim in attacking Gondor.
As we will see in future videos the corruption of Numenor and the influence of Sauron would
make these southern and eastern realms into sworn enemies of the men of the west in later years.
The surviving Numenoreans would go on to build some of Middle-earth’s most iconic monuments
during the Second Age including the tower of Orthanc, the cities of Minas Ithil, Minas
Tirith, and Osgiliath and the watchtower of Amon Sul - with even more to come in the Third Age.
In the next Maps of Middle-earth video, we’ll cover the third age map, including the downfall
of Arnor, the shrinking of Gondor, the founding of Rohan, and the dwindling of the elven and dwarven realms.