"From Where Do LOTR Easterlings Originate???" Topic

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Were they from around the "Sea of Rhun" or somewhere else?

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Thanks.

CC

I don't think the Professor got that specific, sadly.

I think they were from beyond Mordor, though it's been too long since I read the source material for me to explain why I think so.

from the East of course!

"During the Third Age, the term was applied to those Men living beyond the Sea of Rhûn, who were allied with Sauron and frequently attacked Gondor.

The first Easterling attacks were in the late fifth century of the Third Age and were repelled by King Ostoher and his son Rómendacil I. Later King Turambar fought wars of conquest against the Easterlings, extending Gondor's borders to the Sea of Rhûn. In 1248 the Regent of Gondor, Minalcar, led out a great force and attacked and destroyed many Easterling settlements, ensuring peace for Gondor in the east until T.A. 1800."

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I thought the Easterlings were from Khand.

the men of Khand were from Khand. the Khandish hosts usually went to war with the armies of the Haradrim.

GW sort of combined the Wainriders(but maid them chariots) with the khandish. the Wainriders went to war with the Easterlings. that is why the GW Khandish Fluff is contary to J.R.R.'s fluff.

The Wainriders did have chariots by the way. But they should also have the Wains, big waggon like things that they are

Hmmm. That Wiki link doesn't cite any sources, so I dunno if they're working from Tolkien's writings, or GW's. Probably Tolkien's, but here's a hint to all you aspiring Wiki editors out there: CITE YOUR SOURCES!

If I can muster the energy we have the whole lot in the house, the various gatherings of notes etc, but basicaly Easterlings are men that are not Asiatic, but come from the eas compared to the rest of the folk that are written about

In the MERP game I played, the Variags where from Khand I think, Easterlings where nomads from beyond the sea of Rhun.
Of course the GM could have made it all up…

Nope, Variags are from Khand. Of course some language buffs point out that Variag is an alternate of Varangian

From the east?

:)

(ducks and runs)

Beyond the Sea of Rhun, as noted. The Professor doesn't go into a lot of detail in the main books, although I believe some background material can be gleaned from his published letters and correspondence. As I recall, the Easterlings are roughly equivalent to Turkish/Persian tribes. The Haradrim/Southrons are the rough equivalent of Near Eastern/No. African Semitic tribes, with some Negroes for Far Harad.

If you read through the MERP materials, it goes into more details about some of the easterling tribes. I know that they got the Wainriders from Tolkien, and I think that they got the Balcoth from him, but I am not sure about the others.

The thing is, that the term Easterling applies to everything east of Rhun, so it is an extremely broad range, so the ones represented by GW figs would probably only be one racial group.

The name Balchoth is from Tolkien, though any details on their culture etc will have been mostly invented by the MERP writers.

Guys, you have really got to see these!!!

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CC

I have a large 25mm army of Easterlings(among others!) based on the Der Kriegspieler's/Heritage Middle Earth line from the mid 1970's. The Easterlings I have come from a brief description in ROTK. I cant recall verbatim, but they were described as "Men, but broad and grim like Dwarves, bearded and bearing great axes". Personally this leads me to the conclusion that these Easterlings appear vaguely Slavic Or Rus. Certainly my castings give that impression. But Prof.T. also stated that there were numerous tribes and peoples wandering east of the Sea of Rhun. Hope this helps!

I guess Jackson/New Line wanted to make them look more "Oriental", like Turks or something:

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CC