Rhudaur

Rhudaur
General information
Type	Kingdom
Location	North-eastern Eriador
People
Inhabitants	Dúnedain, Hill-men, Hobbits, Trolls
Spoken languages	Westron Languages of Evil
History
Founded/built	TA 861
Lifespan	TA 861 - TA 1409

Rhudaur was the smallest of the kingdoms that originated from the break-up of Arnor in TA 861. The other kingdoms were Arthedain and Cardolan.

History

Rhudaur formed the eastern part of Arnor, and stretched from the Weather Hills with Weathertop to the river Loudwater. It shared a long border with Cardolan along the Great East Road, and with Arthedain along the line of the Weather Hills.

The land between the rivers Hoarwell and Loudwater was also considered part of Rhudaur. It was called the Angle, and it is here that the first Stoor Hobbits came into Eriador around TA 1150. However, due to the increasing hostility of Angmar these Stoors fled the region around TA 1356, with some of them moving west to the Shire, and others moving back to Wilderland.

A view of Rhudaur, as depicted by Ted Nasmith

From the start of its existence, Rhudaur was unfriendly towards the two other successor states, and took part in a bitter conflict with Arthedain over the Tower of Amon Sûl and the Palantír associated with the tower.

The last Kings of Rhudaur were not of Númenórean blood, but were descended of Men in service of Angmar. Under their rule the land became a vassal of Angmar, and thus enemies of Cardolan and Arthedain.

Angmar annexed and terminated the kingdom in TA 1409. By this time, the Dúnedain were gone from the region, as well as most of the other inhabitants.

There is evidence that after the fall of Angmar at the Battle of Fornost the Angle became home to the remainder of the Dúnedain, and the Rangers of the North established several villages there, where their people lived until the resurrection of the northern Kingdom under King Aragorn II Elessar at the end of the Third Age.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology

The name Rhudaur appears to be dialect Sindarin for 'East Forests'.

Portrayal in adaptations

Middle-earth Role Playing

Cameth Brin, Rhudaur's capital city in the Middle-earth Role Playing game

The structure and details of Rhudaur are significantly fleshed out in the Middle-earth Role Playing game:

The Haeranedain (S."Far Wandering Edain") were Rhudaurians of Númenorean descent, most were actually mix-blooded Tergil. Most Rhudaurian Dúnedain belonged to one of seven greater Noble Houses of Hiri, House Amrothar, House Eldanar, House Enedil, House Melosse, House Mithlad, House Rhudainor and House Rómentir.

The Rhudaurians (S."Rhudaurim") were the inhabitants of the fallen kingdom of Rhudaur, in the closer sense those of númenorean blood, the Haeranedain, in a wider sense all those eriadorian tribes living inside the borders of Rhudaur including:

• the Hillmen of the Trollshaws and Coldfells
• the Vulseggi or northrons of the Egladil
• the Dunmen of the southern borderlands to Eregion and Cardolan
• the Forodrim of the Northern marches

The Haeranedain were a bit smaller and darker than the high Dúnedain, although 6 ft for men was not uncommon.

In daily life most had adapted clothes much similar to those of the indigenous Hillmen, the Kailth, a skirt or kilt, and the Kullodoo.^{[citation needed]}

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II

Rhudaur also makes an appearance in the expansion The Rise of the Witch-king to the game The Battle for Middle-earth II.

View of the Misty Mountains within Rhudaur as seen in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit film trilogy

Rhudaur appears briefly in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) as the location of the High Fells, where, in the film's continuity, the Nazgul were buried following their defeat by the Men of Arnor.

Gallery

A village in Rhudaur, from The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II

Rhudaur shown in relation to Angmar and the Misty Mountains on a map created for Middle-earth Role Playing

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	ርሁዳኡር
Arabic	رهوداور
Armenian	Րհուդաուր
Belarusian Cyrillic	Рудаур
Bengali	ঢ়ুদ্ঔর
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Рудаур
Georgian	რუდაური
Greek	Ρούνταουρ
Gujarati	રહુંદૌર
Hebrew	רהודאור
Hindi	रहदउर
Japanese	ルダウア
Kannada	ರಹುದೌರ್
Kazakh	Рһұдаұр (Cyrillic) Rhudaur (Latin)
Korean	루다 우르
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Рhудаур
Latvian	Rudaūra
Macedonian Cyrillic	Рудаур
Marathi	रडूोर
Mongolian Cyrillic	Рhудаур
Nepalese	ढ़ुदौर
Persian	رهوداور
Punjabi	ਰੂਦਰ
Russian	Рудаур
Sanskrit	र्हुद्और्
Serbian	Рудаур (Cyrillic) Rudaur (Latin)
Sinhalese	ර්හුද්ඖර්
Tajik Cyrillic	Рҳудаур
Tamil	ற்ஹுத்ஔர்
Telugu	ర్హుడర్
Thai	รูห์เดาร์
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Рудаур
Urdu	رحداور
Uzbek	Рҳудаур (Cyrillic) Rhudaur (Latin)
Yiddish	רהודאַור