Easterlings

The Easterlings from Rhûn were Men who lived in the east of Middle-earth, and were enemies of the Free Peoples. Their Kings and Queens were allies of Sauron. Most easterlings were around average human height. However, there were also said to be a different type of Easterlings, who were broad, short, and bearded like Dwarves. Easterlings are described in David Day's Bestiary and in The Silmarillion as swarthy skinned and bearded, implying a West-Asia-reflective people. In the Lord of the Rings, they are described as being sallow skinned (yellowed skin tone) and slant eyed, implying an East or Central Asian people. But whatever the description, they are always reflective of many different oriental cultures. They were a people with dark toning of the iris colors (Eye colors such as Green and Brown) in their eyes, and black hair that was cut short on men and shoulder-length on women. The Easterlings of the first age and those of the second and third ages may have not been a related people, as those of the first may have cimply come from the then-unknown lands east of the blue mountains, and could have had more relation to the Dulendings than the later Balchoth and Wainriders.



Easterlings of the First Age
During the First Age, the term was applied to the sons of Bor and Ulfang, or the Swarthy Men, who came into Beleriand much later than the Edain, and who were for a part secretly in league with Morgoth.

Sons of Bor
Bor was a leader of Men who came into Lothlann, Beleriand, in the FA 463. His sons were Borlach, Borlad, and Borthand. Bor was welcomed by Maedhros, who gave him and his followers land north and south of the March of Maedhros. Bor and his sons swore allegiance to Maedhros, and remained faithful, though he was told by Morgoth to betray the banner of Caranthir. All of them were wiped out during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (Battle of Unnumbered Tears).

Sons of Ulfang "the Black"
Ulfang also came in Lothlann, Beleriand, in 463, shortly after Bor. He was the father of Ulfast, Ulwarth, and Uldor "the Accursed". Ulfang was welcomed by the sons of Fëanor, and he and his sons swore allegiance to Caranthir. They were given lands to dwell in the north and south of the March of Maedhros. Ulfang and his sons were secretly in the employ of Morgoth, and betrayed the Eldar and Edain during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in what is now known as the Treachery of Men.

Rule in Hithlum
After Nirnaeth Arnoediad at the bidding of Morgoth, the Easterlings invaded Hithlum. They spread throughout the wide lands plundering, destroying, and killing its inhabitants. The Eldar of Hithlum were able to escape from the invaders by taking refuge in the southern mountains that later the Easterlings avoided out of fear of the elves. The Easterlings soon withdrew northwards and apparently settled. However, the Easterlings were betrayed by their lord Morgoth, and locked solely in Hithlum and denied the rich lands of the Beleriand that they so desired. Here the Easterlings governed with cruelty, robbing, stealing, and enslaving the remaining Men of Hithlum. They took away the young and the able bodied and sometimes young women to be wives; the most widely known being Aerin of whom Brodda took to produce his heir. Despite these evil deeds, they did not take Morwen nor her house from her for they feared her and believed her to be a witch and so her son had time to escape to Doriath. Tuor, the cousin of Túrin was also enslaved in Hithlum by the Easterlings but he was able to escape and evaded them by living as an outlaw, until he was contacted by the Vala Ulmo and went to Gondolin.

The Easterlings ruled effectively in Hithlum as vassals of Morgoth from FA 473 to FA 583. After the War of Wrath, those that survived fled back over the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin) to Eriador and beyond.

Easterlings of the Third and Fourth Ages
During the Third Age, the term was applied to those Men living beyond the Sea of Rhûn, who were usually allied with Sauron (for their leader was the second greatest of the Nazgûl, Khamûl) and frequently attacked Gondor at Khamul's master (Sauron's) biddings. However, Sauron's defeat at the end of the War of the Last Alliance diminished his presence for over one thousand years, and any territorial ambition was left to them alone. In TA 490 they invaded Gondor, passing through Dagorlad and starting a series of wars that lasted sixty years until they were finally defeated in TA 550 by Turambar, the ninth King of Gondor. Afterwards, Gondor subdued them and took from them a large area of land between the Kingdom of Rhovanion and Mordor including the Sea of Rhûn.

Gondor held on to these territories for a few hundred years but slowly began to lose them over time, and the Easterlings once again initiated warfare. In TA 1248 they once again clashed with Gondor in a series of skirmishes but were still not powerful or organized enough to stand against Gondor’s power. Though defeated the Easterlings would not have to wait long, for Gondor soon fell into decline and civil war. Afterwards, the Easterling tribes remained peaceful for the most part until the mid-nineteenth century when they were again powerful enough to attack the west.

Wainriders
The Wainriders were a confederation of Easterling and Southron tribes who were united by their hate of Gondor, fueled by the dark lord Sauron. Following the Great Plague which weakened Gondor, they started their attacks in TA 1856, defeating the Gondorian army and killing King Narmacil II. They rode in great chariots (which gave them their name), and raided the lands of Rhovanion, destroying or enslaving its people. Gondor gradually lost all of its possessions east of Anduin to them.

The thirtieth king of Gondor, Calimehtar son of Narmacil, defeated the Wainriders at the Field of Celebrant, buying some rest for his land. However the Wainriders struck back in TA 1944, allying themselves with the Haradrim of Near Harad and the Variags of Khand. They managed to kill king Ondoher and all his heirs, but instead of riding on to Minas Anor and taking the city, they paused to celebrate.

Meanwhile, general Eärnil of Gondor's southern army rode north to defend his king, but he came too late to rescue Ondoher, but he did manage to annihilate the Wainriders. Eärnil was crowned king. After this defeat the might of the Wainriders was broken, and they retreated east. They still held Rhovanion, but never troubled Gondor again until the War of the Ring.

Balchoth
The Balchoth were a fierce race of Easterlings, who attacked Gondor while under orders of Dol Guldur. In 2510 they overran the plains of Calenardhon and almost destroyed the army of the Ruling Steward Cirion, but were defeated by the Éothéod under Eorl the Young. Like the Wainriders they rode in chariots and wagons, and they may have been descendants of these people.

The War of the Ring
During the War of the Ring at end of the Third Age, the Easterlings joined with the forces of Mordor participating in the Northern battles that nearly defeated the Elves of Mirkwood, the Men of Dale, and the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain (Erebor).

Despite being on the losing side in the War of the Ring, the Easterlings still continued to remain a threat throughout the early Fourth Age but were finally subdued in a series of campaigns led by Elessar. With some of their lands annexed to the Reunited Kingdom, it is presumed that there were no more major invasions to threaten the peace. It is not known whether these men mixed with their former enemies and learned to live in peace or were simply subjugated tributaries.

Variags
The Variags (in our time, this is another name for the Varangians) were from Khand, and they first appeared in the West in 1944 of the Third Age, fighting alongside the Wainriders. They later appeared during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Tolkien wrote little to nothing about the Variags and Khand; what information we have about them is speculative.

Weapons
The Easterlings had three principal weapons: the halberd, the scimitar, and the composite bow (for they were known to be skilled archers).

The steel-bladed wooden halberd came in two sizes: the nine-foot halberd was used for porcupine formations and phalanx marches, while the five-foot one was used as a basic soldier's weapon. All halberds were spiked on the top (on the five-foot one it had a pike on the bottom too) and had downward-curving, serrated axe-blades, and below that halberds were backed by a curved spike; on the nine-foot one it was used to trip enemy horses while on the five-foot one it was used for piercing armor and deflecting if not disarming enemy blades. The axe blade featured a hole creating the curve. This was a truly versatile weapon that could be used both offensively and defensively.

The three-foot-bladed steel scimitar may have been a recent addition to their arsenal, perhaps an influence from their association with the Haradrim, although the rounded pommel, handgrip and guard cast from a single piece of bronze were clearly of Easterling design. The curved blade was used in a downward, diagonal slashing attack and for thrusting. No matter which method of attack the Easterling chose to use with his scimitar, it was extremely effective in his hands. (Note: the scimitar was standard issue to every member of the Armies of Rhun).

The Composite Bow of the Easterlings was made of horn and sinew, it had a wooden core, and had five curves. The bows take about a year to make and last about a century. They were 4 feet long at the very most, and they were carried in holsters. They came with distinctive triangular quivers to contain the 3-foot long arrows. The arrows had pheasant feathers, and the tips forged out of steel included armor-piercing tips, barbed tips, serrated tips and heavy leaf-shape-tips. It is likely each Easterling archer would take, on average, 30 of each arrow type.

In the book, they use axes. These were devastatingly effective against the enemies of Rhûn, as seen in all editions of the Return of the King movie as the Easterlings savagely slay the men of Minas Tirith with their lethal weapons. Most of them tend to use halberds and scimitars, though.

Background
In the movie The Two Towers an army of men is entering the Black Gate. The corresponding passage in the book describes them as Easterlings; however, they carry the flag of Harad in the film - a black snake on red ground. Furthermore they wear the typical red cloths as they are often described to be used by Haradrim.

Culture
Knowledge of the culture of the Easterlings is limited. In the First Age it was extremely primitive; examples of this rise from Brodda's treatment of the Men of the House of Hador in Dor-lómin. However, by the late Third Age the Easterlings must have been an extremely wealthy and well advanced people, as is demonstrated by their exquisite armor and well-crafted weaponry. Because all Easterling soldiers wore uniform armor and weaponry, it is probable that they may have united into a single empire or confederation. Their whole life is about war, because they are trained for war from early childhood. Even the women will fight with the manfolk to defend their homes and children. Easterlings fought with savage skill as well as many different types of psychological warfare.

Uniform, shields, and future
The Easterling culture was at a high level, and their smiths were almost as advanced as Gondorian smiths. Rhûn was one of the richest (and largest) empires in Middle-earth and had mountains full of easily obtained copper, iron, and Gold with which they had access to vast resources of money and raw materials. The country's rich supplies of every kind of resource were enough to easily feed, clothe, and grant wealth to the nation's entire populace as well as grant Rhun's masterful smiths the time to make grandly exquisite armor and weapons of near unparalleled quality and effectiveness. Rhûnic armor was made from steel overlayed with gold or brass, along with the helmet; its dragon-skull-shape was made to intimidate enemies.

Their gold or brass overlayed steel lamellar armor consisted of a placard (stomach plate), gorget (heart & neck coverage), groin-plate, rerebraces (upper arm), vambraces (forearm), cuisses (thighs), and poleyns (knees). The clothing that the Men of Rhûn wore consisted of red leather gloves, black leather tall boots, burgundy long pants, a burgundy tunic with long sleeves, a burgundy headscarf, and a black facecloth. The undercut, brass helmet was worn over the headscarf, and featured cheek-and-eye guards, along with two horns from the back and a crest on the front, to remind other beings of dragons, intimidating to the enemy even before the battle began. This primitive form of psychological warfare was terrifyingly effective against the Men of Gondor and Rohan and Dale, who would oftentimes literally quake in their boots at what seemed a golden horde of Easterlings swarming from the farthest East.

During battle, these heavy infantrymen formed the core of Sauron's armies, for they were taller, stronger, better-trained, and better-equipped than the swarming orcs that fully comprised his forces.

The Men of Rhûn wore their clan-wealth as well: gold, copper, silver, rubies, and other colorful pieces of ornament-material. Easterlings also liked wearing battle trophies, talismans of victory that ould inspire them to glory and riches and power and territory/region ownership and totems of fear that would intimidate their next opponents. This psychological warfare struck terror into their enemies and gave them an even greater advantage in battle. On maps made by Games Workshop, and in Battle for Middle-earth factions made by The 3rd Age, we can see pagoda-style architecture in every single one of the buildings, hinting at a Hindu-like or Taoist-like religion, only monotheistic and painting Sauron as God. Thsi supports the theory that they are made out as an East-asian people, simmilar to the empires of China, Japan, and Mongolia.

We are also told within the various writings of Tolkien's legendarium that they were extremely tenacious fighters. After the great rout during the later stages of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, a relatively small (7000-strong) force of Easterlings stood their ground, with their backs to the River Anduin, and fought to the last man while the host of Mordor fled. They caused sizeable and disproportionate casualties among the Men of the West, and reminded them once again that the Easterlings were dangerous, but all 7000 Easterlings were killed.

The curved, rectangular, two-foot by three-foot shield had concave top and bottom edges and was made with brass that surrounded a dark-brown square. It was held by an iron handgrip that was behind a brass circular boss surrounded by a diamond shape that was surrounded by the square. It came with a dark-red leather "belt" if the Man of Rhûn was to strap the shield to the forearm for combat requiring two hands. Even archery was allowed by this big strap. One rather striking detail on Rhûnic armor was that a sun was etched into their sternum-plate, resembling a burning of a grassland like Rohan or Dale. Like the soldiers of Japan in the 20th century, they wore the rising sun emblem upon their armor. After the fall of Sauron, a few Easterling clans continued to fight against the Free Peoples, starting off by attacking the newly crowned King Elessar and the Gondorian kingdoms; this lasted until later in the fourth age when Aragorn was forced to subdue them until they were willing to settle an argument.

Kataphrakts
The Easterlings were known for their unique type of cavalry known as kataphrakts. These were Easterlings that mounted upon heavily armored horses and wielded a scimitar and broad shield. They were notorious for their ferocity of their attacks and the sheer amount of defensive power that these troops could summon when they were deployed side-by-side. The brass lamellar armor on the fronts of their horses allowed them to safely trample Spearmen and pikemen. Rhunic composite shortbows were sometimes taken instead of shields. The name Kataphrakts is possibly based on the Kataphraktoi, which were also heavily armored cavalry troops of the Byzantine Empire, or apon the Keshiks, the elite officer core of the Mongol Armies.


 * These were featured in the The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.