The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Location
Associated with the forests of the South1
Species
Approximately twenty-four species belonging to the families Hylobatidae and Hominidae2
Meaning
From Proto-Germanic *apan, possibly itself borrowed from a Celtic source

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About this entry:

  • Updated 14 December 2019
  • Updates planned: 1

Apes

Forest creatures from the southern lands

Creatures from the dark forests in the south of Middle-earth. Though they seem to have been unknown in the northern lands, the Orcs used their name as a favourite form of insult.


Notes

1

Apes are only vaguely stated to live in the South, but this presumably refers to the southern parts of Far Harad (Harad simply means 'the South'). This implies that, beyond the desert lands of the known parts of the Harad lay greener areas covered in swathes of forest or jungle.

2

The use of the term 'ape' is only very approximately used as a simile, and so it is hard to narrow down exactly what kind of ape is intended. There are numerous possibilites, and indeed it is conceivable that the word is used in its older, broader sense to mean an ape-like creature or monkey of any kind.

See also...

The South

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 14 December 2019
  • Updates planned: 1

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