The Continents Of Arda
Since Tolkien's mythology involves a change in the form and nature of the world, it's difficult to describe Arda physically. For example, Numenor existed only during the Second Age. Even if one arbitrarily divided Arda's geographical history into two periods (pre-Change and post-Change), Numenor itself would force a division of geological as well as political periods. And should one not consider the changes to Arda after the destruction of Illuin and Ormal, the two Lamps of the Valar in Middle-earth? Yet Tolkien wrote very little about "historical" matters prior to the destruction of the Lamps, so it seems pointless to try to document the geography of Arda for that time period. His conception of the "primitive" Arda was quite rough and never fully developed. In fact, had Tolkien realized his intention to rewrite the entire mythology, all the various lands he originally envisioned might have been erased from the “record.”
I've decided there were five "continents" in Arda at various times after the destruction of the two
Lamps. In fact, Endor itself probably would be considered two continents, which we might refer to as Forendor and Harendor. But we know very little of what Harendor was like.
Aman was the western-most continent. It was changed in shape by the Valar on at least two Page 9
occasions, and perhaps went through other changes when Arda was changed. These were the Undying Lands, also known as the Uttermost West and the Undying West. The Valar lived here with the Maiar and the Eldar.
Elenna was the island raised in the middle of Belegaer, the Great Sea, for the Edain of Beleriand.
It was too small to be a continent yet geographically was not part of any other region of Middle-earth. The isle lay close to the Bay of Eldamar (in Aman) but I feel it deserves its own description.
To the east of Endor lay two land-masses. I have named them Hyarmenor and Romenor, although as far as I know Tolkien never used these names himself. Hyarmenor was originally called "The Dark Lands" in a map published in THE SHAPING OF MIDDLE-EARTH
(volume
IV of THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH). Romenor was originally called "The Burnt Lands of the Sun" or just "The Lands of the Sun". Both land-masses were visited by the Numenoreans but apparently were never visited by either the Elves or the Dwarves. It is conceivable, however, that Cirdan's mariners might have sailed east early in the Second Age, preceding the Numenoreans, though Tolkien does not indicate such events ever occurred.
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Aman (The Undying Lands)
Of all the lands he described, Aman received the most attention with the least corresponding detail. We know what kinds of lands existed there but not exactly where they were located. The Eldar ranged through the lands, especially the western regions, and the accounts of Aman are drawn from their traditions.
The continent proper was divided by a mountain range, the Pelori, which ran from the south to the north in a sweeping arc which bulged toward the east. These mountains were raised by the Valar to be a defense against Melkor, but he never attempted to assault the West.
The four major regions of Aman were Valinor, Eldamar, Araman, and Avathar. Of Avathar we know nothing save only that for a time Ungoliant lived there, spinning webs of darkness. It may be that after her departure and the rising of the Sun the Valar cleansed the land for the Eldar, but
Tolkien never indicated what became of the region.
Valinor
Valinor was the home of the Valar and their people, the Maiar. The Valar and Maiar were Ainur, angelic beings who were not native to Middle-earth but who were charged with its shaping and governance. Several of the Valar established a "country" in Valinor, but they also built a city near the Pelori at about the middle latitude of the land. This was Valimar, where they established a Ring of Doom, Mahanaxar. This was a circle of thrones where the Valar would sit in debate or judgement.
Although it's difficult to place the regions of the individual Valar, Nienna's halls were said to be
"west of West, upon the borders of the world." This region would have been upon the shores of Ekkaia, the Encircling Sea. Tolkien wrote that "the windows of her house look outward from the Page 10
walls of the world", so it may be Nienna's region was actually beyond Ekkaia, in a mountainous land that originally was the westernmost region of the flat Arda (Arda before the Change of the World). Mandos, the dwelling of Namo (the Doomsman of the Valar), was said to be close to Nienna's land. He is not said to dwell outside Valinor, and he may have governed the western regions of the land, for his halls grew constantly, making room for more and more "spirits".
Oromë the hunter dwelt in the woodlands of Valinor, but Tolkien does not precisely place them.
They were in the southern regions, ending somewhere near Hyarmentir.
Probably the dwelling of Tulkas and Nessa (Oromë's sister) was close by Oromë's forests because she loved to run through the woods, leading deer in her wake.
The region of Lorien probably lay close to Mandos. Irmo, Lord of Lorien, was Namo's brother.
Their sister was Nienna, so Lorien may have lain in western Valinor as well. In the midst of Lorien was a great lake, Lorellin. The shores of the lake were forested and the land was filled with gardens and fountains.
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The Halls of Manwë and Varda upon Taniquetil were the easternmost dwelling of the Valar in Aman. Many Maiar (and later some Vanyar) settled on the slopes of Taniquetil to be close to Manwë and Varda.
Valimar lay in a plain in the center of the land. Its eastern gate opened upon a green hill or mound, Ezellohar, where Yavanna planted the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurelin. Telperion was white. Laurelin was golden and it produced a golden dew that Varda collected into lakes throughout Valinor. Mahanaxar, the Ring of Doom, lay between the city and Ezellohar.
The Halls of Aulë were said to be in the very midst of Valinor, which implies the center region.
Since he was associated with mining and the earth he must have raised hills or mountains there.
Perhaps Valinor was divided in the following way:
The southernmost region of Valinor appears to have been empty and only partially lit by the Two
Trees. This was the region overlooked by Hyarmentir, the tallest mountain in the southern Pelori.
Just north of that region lay the woods of Oromë, and to the west stood the gardens of Yavanna.
Lorien must have extended northward from Yavanna's land.
North of Oromë's woods lay the plain of Valimar, and beyond that region lay the Halls of Aulë.
Mandos was west of Valimar and Aulë's lands, while Taniquetil lay to the east of Valimar, and the mountain's southern slopes faced toward Tirion upon Tuna.
Note: Karen Wynn Fonstad offers a different placement of the regions of the Valar, but for reasons I won't go into here, I disagree with her interpretations of the texts.
Eldamar
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Eldamar was the home of the Eldar. It consisted of a valley in the middle region of the Pelori where the hill named Tuna rose up and the lands to the east of the Pelori which lay close to the Bay of Eldamar. The valley was the Calacirya (Cleft of Light) which the Valar created when they brought the Eldar to Aman.
Within the Bay of Eldamar the Valar set the isle Tol Eressëa (the Lonely Isle). There were apparently forests and gardens in Eldamar since the Teleri were able to find wood to build their ships. At least one mountain rose up in the midst of the isle, and its western shore was the region where flowers first bloomed (and probably where the Teleri dwelt until they learned to build ships).
Tol Eressëa was originally used as a ferry by the Valar to bring the Elves to Aman. None of the Noldor and Vanyar stayed there, but the Teleri lived on the isle for a long time before they learned to build ships and spread to the shores of Eldamar. Some Teleri may have continued to live on the isle throughout the Years of the Trees.
After the First Age the Exiles and the Sindar who went to Aman settled in Tol Eressëa, where they may have built several cities (Tavrobel and Kortirion are mentioned in early stories Parma Endorion
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describing Tol Eressëa). The city of Avallonë, built on the eastern shores of Tol Eressëa, was the chief haven of the Eldar of Middle-earth and it was from here that their ships sailed to Numenor.
The Noldor are said to have dwelt in Tirion and in the hills and mountains "within sound of the western sea," but they also spread northward through the western hills of the Pelori (within Valinor) because Fëanor built Formenos in the far northern mountains.
A road ran east from Tuna toward the sea, and apparently turned northward along the coast to Alqualondë. Another road ran west into Valinor toward Valimar.
Although the Noldor and Teleri remained for the most part in Eldamar or the nearby lands, the Vanyar migrated into Valinor. Tolkien wrote "they forsook the city of Tirion upon Tuna, and dwelt thereafter upon the mountains of Manwë, or about the plains and woods of Valinor."
Ingwë's house was in fact located on the western slopes of Taniquetil, overlooking the plain of Valimar and the city. Finwë, in order to visit with Ingwë, had to pass into Valinor and climb the mountain from the west, following only paths and no road.
Alqualondë was built in a natural harbor along the northern shore of the Bay of Eldamar. The Swan-ships of the Teleri sailed through a great stone arch to enter or exit the harbor. The city itself was built of stone but was adorned with pearls and in the Years of the Trees was lit by many lanterns. For some reason the city had walls when Fëanor attacked it. Perhaps the "walls"
were built atop a natural ridge of stone surrounding all or part of the harbor (and of which the great arch would have been a part).
Eldamar appears to have extended far to the north of Alqualondë, but THE SILMARILLION
does not indicate whether these lands were inhabited before the Noldor went into exile. After the
Noldor took the ships of the Falmari they traveled north for some length of time (a period of Page 12
years, measured in Years of the Sun) before they left Eldamar.
Araman
North of Eldamar lay Araman (Outer Aman). Originally this area was not settled but the Noldor passed through it on their return to Middle-earth. When Melkor and Ungoliant passed through
Araman the region consisted of "barren plains," and yet the Noldor were able to survive there for the equivalent of 15-20 Years of the Sun, perhaps by fishing. It may be that trees grew there after the rising of the sun, spreading north from the forests of Eldamar, or planted by the Eldar or
Valar.
After the First Age the Teleri built a tower for Elwing in far northern Araman, so they may have spread up the coast lands.
THE SILMARILLION says the Noldor "came at length to the northern confines of the Guarded
Realm, upon the borders of the empty waste of Araman which were mountainous and cold."
The passage seems to imply that Araman stretched westward across Aman and that Valinor did not extend very far to the north of the Calacirya.
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Near the Helcaraxë Araman became a cold and desolate land, afflicted by the cold fogs and ices escaping from the Grinding Ice in the north. It was only in this region that the Noldor actually began to suffer from the climate on their road into Exile. Fingolfin's host of Noldor actually wandered through this region for a long time before they finally passed north and crossed the Helcaraxë itself.
Avathar
South of Eldamar lay Avathar where we have heard only Ungoliant ever dwelt. After her departure with Melkor there is no further mention of Avathar, but it may be that eventually the webs of darkness she had woven there were destroyed and the region was claimed by the Elves.
Avathar was a very narrow strip of coast land (compared to Araman) and Ungoliant's valley was far to the south of Eldamar, beyond Hyarmentir, which was the highest peak in the southern Pelori and about even with the southernmost settled regions of Valinor.
Elenna (Numenor)
The island of Elenna, raised up by the Valar to be a home and refuge for those Edain who had survived the Wars of Beleriand, was more than 500 miles long and 300 wide, but it was shaped with five peninsulas. Karen Fonstad estimates the total land area to be about 167,000 square miles.
For the sake of comparison, Elenna was (by her estimates) about 3 times the size of Rohan, 3/5
the size of Arnor, twice the size of Cardolan, and nearly 8 times the size of the Shire.
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Uniquely among all the land-masses of Arda, Elenna was home to a single nation of people, the Numenoreans. It was never politically divided or invaded. So the land is usually referred to as Numenor, a later name that eventually referred more to the civilization of the Dunedain than to the island itself.
The island rose up out of the seas like a huge plateau, and only a few regions actually possessed beaches or natural harbors. In some places the cliffs dropped 200 feet (about 61.5 meters) to the sea. The three named bays were Romenna (the eastern bay), Eldanna (the large western bay), and the Bay of Andunië (in the northwest). But the southern port of Nindamos (which lay along the only beach-type shore) seems to have been situated along a third bay or "sea".
The two major rivers of Elenna were the Siril and the Ninduinë, both of which rose near the Meneltarma. Siril flowed south and entered the sea to the west of Nindamos. Ninduinë flowed west into the Bay of Eldanna on the south side of Eldalondë, the fairest of the havens of Numenor. The only lake Tolkien mentioned was the Nisinen, formed by the Ninduinë just west of Eldalondë on the eastern border of the woodland called Nisimaldar.
Elenna was divided into six regions: Mittalmar, Orrostar, Forostar, Andustar, Hyarnustar, and Hyarrostar.
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The Mittalmar (Inlands)
The Mittalmar was the central region and the most densely populated. The Meneltarma, the central mountain of Elenna, was located in the heart of this region and the capitol city of Armenelos was built at the mountain's feet. The easternmost region of Mittalmar was called Arandor and it included Armenelos and Romenna. The only other region of Mittalmar to be named was Emerië, which lay to the southwest of Meneltarma.
Mittalmar was mostly a flat grassland with few trees. The region was used largely for pasturing herds and flocks. A majority of the people were drawn from the golden-haired Marachians of the
First Age (the House of Hador, from Dor-lomin).
The Orrostar (Northeast lands)
Orrostar was the northeastern region of Numenor. It was a cold region but the lands closest to Arandor in Mittalmar were farmed (the Edain raised grains there). There is no mention of any cities in the region.
The island Tol Uinen, which lay north of the haven of Romenna, may have been a part of Arandor, but by looking at Karen Fonstad's map one gets the impression it lay closer to the shores of Orrostar.
The Forostar (North lands)
Forostar was the northern region of Numenor, and the Edain mined the hills and mountains of the region. Tar-Meneldur, the fifth King of Numenor, built a tower upon the mountain Sorontil Page 14
near the North Cape so that he could watch the stars. The chief (and perhaps only) city of the region was Ondosto, which was probably associated with the stone quarries in the north.
The Andustar (West lands)
Andustar was the western region of Numenor. It was settled mostly by the Bëorians of the First Age (the First House of the Edain, from Ladros in Dorthonion). The chief city of the west was Andunië, but Eldalondë also lay in this region.
The forested region of Nisimaldor was called "The Fragrant Trees" and was enriched by the Eldar with many gifts of trees brought from the West. There were apparently many Mallorns there as well.
Andustar had many farms, but its havens were the ones the Eldar sailed to most often, and it was in Andustar (near Andunië) that Tar-Minastir built his tower on the peak named Oromet so that he could gaze west and see Avallonë.
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The Hyarnustar (Southwest lands)
The Hyarnustar was probably not thickly settled, for its western lands were mountainous and possessed no cities. In the east the lands became gently rolling hills and the Edain established farms and vineyards there.
The southeastern shores of Hyarnustar were gentle enough that many fisherfolk could settle there.
The Hyarrostar (Southeast lands)
Like the Hyarnustar this region was settled along the coast land by fisherfolk, and their chief haven of Nindamos lay on the east side of the river Siril, within the borders of Hyarrostar. But this land was also the most thickly forested region of Numenor, and Tar-Aldarion as Master of Forests established many tree plantations here for the production of timber.
It is probable that most of the people of Hyarrostar were descended from the Haladin of the First
Age (the Second House of the Edain from Brethil).
Endor (The Middle Lands)
Of course the continent known as Middle-earth was huge and fairly well-documented by Tolkien. Its many lands and regions are catalogued in various books by Tolkien commentators.
The primary regions of Middle-earth included: Beleriand, Eriador, Rhovanion, Gondor, Near Harad, Far Harad, Mordor, and Rhun.
Beleriand (Land of the Valar)
This was the most storied region of Middle-earth, and the home of Arda's most ancient Page 15
civilization outside of Aman. The great forests of Beleriand, nestled about the rivers Sirion and Gelion, harbored the Sindar and Noldor, and later the Edain.
East Beleriand properly consisted of the lands between Gelion and the Ered Luin (Blue Mountains), and the regions between the Gelion and Sirion. After the First Age, only the lands east of Gelion survived the destruction of Beleriand, and they were much changed by the tumults caused by the War of Wrath.
West Beleriand lay beyond Sirion and included fewer forests but more highlands than East Beleriand. The chief rivers of the region were the Narog and the Nenning, both of which were rose from sources in the Ered Wethrin (Mountains of Shadow) in northwestern Beleriand.
The regions of Hithlum, Ard-galen, Dorthonion, and Lothlann might be said to compose North Beleriand, but are sometimes said to be separate from Beleriand. Dorthonion was separated from
Ered Wethrin by the Sirion, and from Ered Luin by the Gelion.
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Ard-galen, later named Anfauglith, was bordered by the Ered Wethrin on the west (beyond which lay Hithlum), Dorthonion on the south, Angband (the peaks of Thangorodrim) to the north, and Lothlann to the east.
Lothlann stretched north to the icy wastes that were a remnant of Melkor's first fortress, Utumno.
Parts of the region survived as the shores of the Ice Bay of Forochel after the First Age.
Eriador (Land Between the Mountains)
Eriador lay between two mountain ranges, the Ered Luin and the Hithaeglir (Peaks of Mist). The southern boundary of the region consisted of the Glanduin (border river) and Gwathlo (Greyflood) rivers.
Much of the region consisted of hills, some of which were called "downs", a type of hill which is formed by the erosion of soft sediments, according to Karen Fonstad. The downs were long ridges but were not (in the passages where Tolkien described them) simply exposed outcroppings of stone. They were usually grassy and grouped fairly close together. The chief rivers of
Eriador were the Mitheithel (which formed the upper source of the Gwathlo with the Bruinen, the river that bordered Imladris) and the Baranduin (brown river, but called Brandywine by the hobbits).
The river Lhun, which flowed south near the Ered Luin to the Gulf of Lhun (after the First Age), was sometimes treated as a border for Eriador, which in the Third Age was almost synonymous with the Dunadan kingdom of Arnor.
Once thickly forested, Eriador was denuded of trees in the War of the Elves and Sauron in the middle of the Second Age, but by the end of the Third Age (about 4700 years later) the area had recovered in many places.
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The Elves lived in Eriador for many long ages until the War of the Elves and Sauron. But in the First Age clans of Men began to settle in the region and the Nandor pulled back before them. It was in the Second Age that the land became split between Elves and Men about evenly, for the Baranduin marked a boundary between their lands.
The Dunedain settled in the lands between the Lhun and Baranduin, in the Hills of Evendim near Lake Nenuial (from which the Baranduin flowed), and in the North Downs and South Downs to the east of that area. They governed other Men who had migrated north during the Second Age.
There were three Elven realms which endured in Eriador: the Kingdom of Gil-galad, which lasted until the end of the Second Age; the realm of Eregion, which lasted from about SA 700 to 1700; and the refuge of Imladris, which was founded after the fall of Eregion in the War of the Elves and Sauron and lasted until well into the Fourth Age.
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The Kingdom of Arnor was established by the Dunedain at the end of the Second Age, gathering under one crown all the lands which were not at that time Elvish. Many of these Dunedain were descended of the Bëorians of Andunië, for that was the region where most of the Faithful lived in
Numenor before they were driven from their homeland.
When nearly a third of the Third Age was over, the Kingdom of Arnor was divided into three realms: Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur. In time Cardolan returned to the Crown of Arthedain but Rhudaur was conquered by the Witch-king of Angmar, who had established a kingdom in the far northern mountains.
The restored Kingdom of Arnor struggled to survive with aid from the Elves but before the year
2000 the kingdom was overrun and destroyed. With the fall of Angmar the next year (1975) the last great power in northern Middle-earth was brought to an end. Afterwards, the region languished, with only a handful of enclaves surviving until Aragorn II re-established Arnor as part of the Reunited Kingdom (in the Fourth Age).
Rhovanion (Wilderland)
Rhovanion was the ancient name of the lands which lay east of the Hithaeglir and west of the Carnen (Red River) and the inland Sea of Rhun. Later the name was taken by a kingdom of the Northmen which lasted from circa. Third Age 1200 - 1850.
The two great rivers of Rhovanion were the Celduin, which flowed south from Erebor (the Lonely Mountain) and was joined by Carnen and the Anduin (Great River), which flowed south from the Grey Mountains. Anduin lay between the Hithaeglir and the mighty forest known as Greenwood the Great, Mirkwood, and finally Eryn Lasgalen (Wood of Green Leaves).
Although the Eldar passed through the region during the Great Journey, some of the Teleri turned south and followed Anduin to other lands. Later, a portion of these Teleri (the Nandor) migrated north along the river, settling in two groups. They were joined by some Avari and Eldar over the ages and became the Silvan Elves.
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The Kingdom of Lorien was the most ancient Elvish kingdom to survive in Middle-earth after the fall of Gil-galad at the end of the Second Age. It lay in a small forest near the Hithaeglir. The Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great had gradually moved northward during the Second and Third Ages until they finally established the Kingdom of Northern Mirkwood, which in time became the last of the great Elven Realms (and yet did not rival the ancient Eldarin civilizations).
The Men of the Vales of Anduin, related to the Edain who settled in Elenna, spread throughout southern Greenwood and in the vales of the Anduin and Celduin. They established many tribes and kingdoms, but by the end of the Third Age there were only three major groups left: the Beornings, the Woodmen, and the Men of Dale (and Esgaroth).
Southern Mirkwood was also used as a base by Sauron, who established a fortress on the hill Amon Lanc, which had originally been a Silvan Elf city. From this base Sauron was able to menace Gondor, Lorien, and Northern Mirkwood.
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Gondor (Land of Stone)
Gondor was properly the name of a kingdom and not a region, but the heartlands of Gondor lay along the coasts of Middle-earth and along the southern course of the Anduin, surrounding the
Ered Nimrais (White Mountains).
Gondor, too, included an Elvish land, but it also encompassed the homelands of many other peoples: Druedain in both Druwaith Iaur (in the west, near the cape of Andrast) and Druadan Forest (on the eastern side of the Ered Nimrais); Men of the Vales of Ered Nimrais (from whom came the Dunlendings and Men of Bree in Eriador); fisherfolk; and perhaps some Edainic peoples.
The Kingdom of Gondor was established at the same time as Arnor by Dunedain of Numenor.
There were already many Dunedain and mixed peoples living in the region.
The Elvish port of Edhellond was eventually absorbed into Gondor though the manner of the absorption was not described by Tolkien. Edhellond was situated near the mouth of the river Morthond (Blackroot), which was Gondor's second largest river.
Gondor for a time extended its sway north to the border of Cardolan, east to the Sea of Rhun, and south into the lands of Harad. It even governed Mordor for many centuries, though the Dunedain claimed no ownership over Sauron's domain.
Near Harad (Near South)
The Near Harad lay beyond the river Harnen, which marked the southernmost boundary of Gondor's "core kingdom". The lands have been described as desolate by several commentators but this interpretation of the white areas of Tolkien's maps is not consistent with the assertion that many peoples lived there.
Near Harad was in fact a region which contained several kingdoms or tribes, and probably had Page 18
its share of rivers, plains, forests, and hills. The lands controlled by the City of the Corsairs in the Cape of Umbar, a Numenorean haven, probably were part of Near Harad.
Far Harad (Far South)
The Far Harad was, like Near Harad, poorly described by Tolkien in his works. It lay beyond Umbar and apparently was quite hot.
We know from early maps that a chain of mountains existed in the western regions of Far Harad.
These mountains were named the Grey Mountains (but were not connected to the Grey Mountains of northern Endor).
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In the Second Age the Numenoreans established havens and fortresses in the lands that later were called Far Harad. They conquered many peoples along the coast lands and came into conflict with Sauron's allies who dwelt further inland. Some of these dominions apparently survived into the Third Age to become enemies of Gondor.
The eastern coasts of Far Harad were dominated by the Yellow Mountains, a feature which is only named in a couple of sources and about which we know nothing.
Mordor (Black Land)
Mordor, like Gondor, was really a single land that was synonymous with the region called by the same name. It lay wholly within the arms of the Ered Lithui (Ash Mountains) and Ephel Duath (Fences of Shadow); both ranges appear to be part of the same extensive chain of mountains.
The region was open on the eastern side to lands in Rhun which were controlled by Sauron.
Inside its boundaries Mordor was divided into three areas: Udun, Gorgoroth, and Nurn.
Udun was a huge valley in the northeastern corner of Mordor. The area was rocky and bowl-shaped but probably not completely inhospitable to plant and animal life.
Gorgoroth was divided into two areas. The northwest corner was virtually lifeless, dominated by Amon Amarth, the huge volcano Sauron used to forge the One Ring and to launch a sun-blocking cloud in his attack on Gondor at the end of the Third Age. The lands around the volcano were ashy and barren.
The rest of Gorgoroth was probably not much better off but perhaps supported some plant and animal life. It was a large plateau that extended across the northern third of Mordor, almost to the end of the Ered Lithui.
Nurn lay to the south of Gorgoroth. The western part of Nurn was called Lithlad (an indication of the extent to which Sauron had poisoned his own lands). The southern and eastern regions of Nurn were dominated by a small sea, Nurnen, and the rivers which fed it. The lands in this area were quite fertile and Sauron kept many slaves there to raise food for his armies.
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Rhun (the East)
Rhun was the birthplace of peoples in Middle-earth. Even the Elves had awoken there in their ancient land of Cuiviënen, which lay on the northeastern shore of the sea of Helcar, between the sea and the mountains. Cuiviënen was actually situated around a small bay or lake into which flowed a great waterfall fed by a river from the mountains.
The dominant feature of Rhun was the chain of mountains called the Orocarni (Red Mountains).
These mountains stretched along the eastern coasts of Middle-earth from the north to the middle regions.
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After the War of Wrath even Rhun was affected by the changes inflicted upon Middle-earth and Helcar was drained so that only the Sea of Rhun survived its destruction. Cuiviënen itself was apparently destroyed, and it may be that the Orocarni suffered some damage similar to that which the Ered Luin experienced (they were broken by the Lhun).
Men awoke in Hildorien, a land which lay southeast of Cuiviënen and beyond the southern peaks of the Orocarni. There is mention of a small range of mountains on one map called the Mountains of the Wind which may have been the western border of Hildorien. Like Cuiviënen, Hildorien was eventually destroyed, but Men had started leaving it long before the end of the First Age.
The only other land in Rhun which was named by Tolkien was Khand, which lay just to the east of Mordor. The Variags of Khand were similar in culture to the Wainriders who had dwelt in the lands to the north and had traditionally passed between the Ered Lithui and Sea of Rhun in their invasions.
Other Easterlings dwelt farther north. These engaged in wars with the Northmen (and, presumably, the Dwarves) living between the Carnen Celduin rivers. Although Rhun was said to contain great plains from whence the Wainriders and other peoples emerged, the northern lands may have been well-forested.
Hyarmenor (The Dark Lands)
Tolkien wrote virtually nothing about this continent. It lay to the east of Endor (Middle-earth) and mostly in the southern regions of Arda. Its northern tip created a narrows in the East Sea with the promontory of Hildorien. Although the continent was explored by the Numenoreans, Tolkien does not say whether they found Men, Elves, Dwarves, or other creatures dwelling there, but they do not appear to have established any havens or kingdoms in the eastern lands.
Romenor (The Eastern Lands)
All that we know of this land-mass is that a mountain range known as the Walls of the Sun was raised up there, and the highest peak was called Kalormë. Like Hyarmenor, Romenor was explored but apparently never settled by the Numenoreans, and probably was not settled by any Men. When Arda was changed Romenor may have been destroyed or removed from the circles of the world.
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