The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Gondor was founded in the Southlands II 3320, and remained extant into the Fourth Age
Location
A term not specifically defined, but primarily a reference to Gondor the South-kingdom
Race
Division
Culture
Settlements
Important peaks
Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains, ran through Gondor from west to east, and Ephel Dúath formed its eastern border with Mordor
Meaning
A relative term, contrasting Gondor with the more northerly lands where Hobbits and Northern Dúnedain dwelt
Other names
Possibly another name for Gondor (and therefore equivalent to its other names, Kingdom of the South, The South-kingdom, The South-realm) though the term may have been intended in a more general sense

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About this entry:

  • Updated 18 April 2024
  • This entry is complete

Southlands

The lands of Gondor

"For this is not the first halfling that I have seen walking out of northern legends into the Southlands."
Words of Faramir
from The Return of the King V 4
The Siege of Gondor

A term used to refer to the lands at the latitude of Gondor, the old South-kingdom of the Dúnedain, as opposed to the Northlands where Arnor stood in ancient times. From the point of view of the Gondorians, the old North-kingdom was distant in both place and time. The Northlands lay hundreds of miles northward from Gondor, and the last remnant of the realm of Arnor had been lost more than a thousand years before the War of the Ring. Nonetheless, half-forgotten tales of the northern lands were remembered in the Southlands, as shown by the fact that Faramir recognised the Halflings as a people out of the legends of the North.


The use of 'South' in the name 'Southlands' is a relative term. The Southlands of the Gondorians were by no means the most southerly of all the lands in Middle-earth. Southward beyond them, stretching for countless leagues, lay the uncharted deserts and jungles of the Harad.


See also...

Great Road

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 18 April 2024
  • This entry is complete

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