The Sea of Rhûn was a large, inland sea located in eastern Middle-earth.
Geography[]
The Sea of Rhûn was located in the west of the land of Rhûn, which was east of Rhovanion and north of Mordor. The River Running, flowing from the Lonely Mountain, and the River Redwater from the Iron Hills, fed the sea. The sea also contained a small, wooded island measuring about thirty miles along the southeastern and northwestern coasts and twenty upon the northeastern and southwestern coasts. According to the The Atlas of Middle-earth, the island was about seventy-five miles across.[1]
There were unnamed highlands on the southwest side of the sea and a beech-forest known as Neldoreth on the northeast side. Northwest of the sea was Dorwinion, a land of great gardens, vast vineyards and renowned wines. The Kine of Araw, wild, white cattle, were known to live near the sea's shores. The Great Horn of Gondor was made from the horn of one of these kine that had been hunted by Vorondil, a Steward of Gondor.[2]
History[]
The Sea of Rhûn compared to the rest of Middle-earth
During the Great Journey, the Telerin Elf Nowë started to develop his skills in building ships on the shores of the Sea of Rhûn.[3] Also the Edain of the House of Bëor and of the House of Marach dwelt near the Sea of Rhûn before to continue their migration across the Rhovanion and the Eriador.[4]
When Gondor was at the height of its power during the reign of King Hyarmendacil (TA 1015 - TA 1149), the realm extended east as far as the Sea of Rhûn. But as Gondor's power waned, Easterlings came into the area around the Sea of Rhûn and launched attacks on Gondor. In TA 1248, Minalcar (later called Romendacil) defeated an army of Easterlings between Rhovanion and the Sea of Rhûn and destroyed their settlements.[2]
In TA 1944, an army of Wainriders gathered on the southern shores of the Sea of Rhûn before launching an assault on Gondor that left King Ondoher dead.
During the War of the Ring, forces under the rule of Sauron mustered in the lands beyond the Sea of Rhûn. In the decades after the downfall of Sauron, Aragorn and Éomer rode beyond the Sea of Rhûn to enforce peace with the Easterlings.[5]
Formation[]
As well as the rest of the whole easternmost portion of Middle-earth, also called Palisor, information about the Sea of Rhûn is few and vague. In fact, because it was not depicted in the maps of Ambarkanta, The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad proposed that the Sea of Rhûn, along with the Sea of Núrnen, was a remnant of the Sea of Helcar, that was drained in the Belegaer as a consequence of the War of Wrath.[6] However, in The Peoples of Middle-earth, the twelfth volume of The History of Middle-earth that was published after the Atlas, is clear that the Sea of Rhûn existed already in the First Age.[3][4] A second theory was proposed in The War of the Jewels, the eleventh volume of the History, by Christopher Tolkien, who have speculated that the Sea of Rhûn might "[...] be identified with the Sea of Helcar, vastly shrunken".[7] Overall, J.R.R. Tolkien left the exact relationship between the inland seas of eastern Middle-earth unclear.
In adaptations[]
In the mobile game The Lord of The Rings: Rise of War, near the western shore of the Sea of Rhûn exists the city of Kineland, presented as the most important city of the Easterlings.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | See van Rhûn |
| Albanian | Deti i Rhûn |
| Amharic | ርሁን ባሕር |
| Arabic | بحر رهون |
| Armenian | Ծով Րհուն |
| Azerbaijani | Rhûn Dəniz |
| Basque | Rhûn itsasoa |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | мора Рhун |
| Bengali | ঢ়ুন সাগর |
| Bosnian | Mora Rhûn |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Море от Рхюн |
| Catalan | Mar de Rhûn |
| Cebuano | Dagat sa Rhûn |
| Chinese | 盧恩內海 |
| Corsican | Mari di Rhûn |
| Croatian | Rhûn Mora |
| Czech | Rhûnské moře |
| Danish | Rhûnsøen (hav) |
| Dutch | Zee van Rhûn |
| Esperanto | Maro de Rhûn |
| Estonian | Rhûni meri |
| Fijian | Wasawasa ni Rhûn |
| Filipino | Dagat ng Rhûn |
| Finnish | Rhûnin järvi |
| French | Mer de Rhûn |
| Frisian | See fan Rhûn |
| Galician | Mar de Rhûn |
| Georgian | რჰუნ ზღვის |
| German | Meer von Rhûn |
| Greek | Θάλασσα του Ρύν |
| Gujarati | ર્હુન સમુદ્ર |
| Haitian Creole | Lanmè an Rhûn |
| Hawaiian | Kai o Rhûn |
| Hebrew | ימת רהון |
| Hindi | समुद्र के र्हुन ? |
| Hmong | Hiav txwv ntawm Rhûn |
| Hungarian | Rhûn-tenger |
| Icelandic | Sjávar af Rhúni |
| Igbo | Oké osimiri nke Rhûn |
| Indonesian | Laut Rhûn |
| Irish Gaelic | Muir na Rhûn |
| Italian | Mare di Rhûn |
| Javanese | Segara Rhûn |
| Kannada | ಱ್ಹುನ ಸಮುದ್ರ |
| Kazakh | Рһұн теңізі (Cyrillic) Rhun teñizi (Latin) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Рhун деңиз |
| Latin | Mare Rhûn |
| Latvian | Jūra Rhûn |
| Lithuanian | Jūra Rhûn |
| Luxembourgish | Mier vun Rhûn |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Море на Рхун |
| Malagasy | Ranomasina Rhûn |
| Malaysian | Laut Rhûn |
| Maltese | Baħar ta ' Rhûn |
| Maori | Moana o Rhûn |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Рhун тэнгисийн |
| Nepalese | ढ़ुन को समुद्र |
| Norwegian | Sjøen av Rhûn |
| Persian | دریایی از رهون |
| Polish | Morze Rhûn |
| Portuguese | Mar de Rhûn |
| Romanian | Marea Rhûn |
| Russian | Море Рун |
| Samoan | Sami o Rhûn |
| Scottish Gaelic | Muir of Rhûn |
| Serbian | Море Рун (Cyrillic) More Run (Latin) |
| Sesotho | Leoatle la Rhûn |
| Sinhalese | ර්හුන් මුහුද |
| Slovak | Rhûn Mora |
| Slovenian | Rhûn morje |
| Somalian | Badda ee Rhûn |
| Spanish | Mar de Rhûn |
| Sundanese | Laut tina Rhûn |
| Swahili | Bahari ya Rhûn |
| Swedish | Hav i Rhûn |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Баҳри Рҳун |
| Tamil | ற்ஹுந் கடல் |
| Telugu | ఱ్హున సముద్రం |
| Thai | รูห์นทะเลของ |
| Tongan | Tahi 'o Rhûn |
| Turkish | Rhûn Denizi |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Рунійське море |
| Urdu | سمندر کا رهون ? |
| Uzbek | Рҳун денгиз (Cyrillic) Rhûn dengiz (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Biển Rhûn |
| Welsh | Môr o Rhûn |
| Yiddish | ים פון רהûן |
| Yoruba | Òkun ti Rhûn |
| Seas of Arda |
|---|
|
Belegaer | Eastern Sea | Ekkaia | Inner Seas | Helcar | Núrnen | Rhûn | Ringil | Shadowy Seas |
References[]
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Third Age, "Introduction"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers, I. "The Númenórean Kings", iv. "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 12 The Peoples of Middle-earth, part 2, ch. XIII Last Writings
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 12 The Peoples of Middle-earth, part 2, ch. XII The Problem of Ros
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers, II. "The House of Eorl"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Introduction"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 11 The War of the Jewels, part 2, ch. IX Of Men