The meaning of 'Khand' is never explained by Tolkien. One possible explanation, though, lies in khand, a word from several interrelated south Asian languages, meaning 'realm' or 'land'. The existence of this word may be no more than a strange coincidence, but the suitability of its meaning for a far southern realm of Middle-earth is striking, and the use of real languages as a basis for place-names is a common feature of Tolkien's work. |
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