The History of Rhûn | Tolkien Explained

[@LordOfTheLore123]

You gotta hand it to Sauron, dude just never stopped working

[@michaeljohnson7245]

Evil never sleeps

[@Ender_Queen09]

The dark grind 🔥

[@DeathMessenger1988]

Pure Sigma Male right there! 🤣🤣

[@JaymesMedia]

Put our work ethic to shame 😅

[@eternalsunshineofthespotlessme]

Sauron - Dark Lord, Lord of Mordor and Barad-Dûr, Workaholic

[@jasonsinn9237]

I still feel like Rings of Power should've been a different show about the East. Since it wasn't explored much in the lore there's tons of creative space to bring in new storylines, cultures, and characters without stepping on what has already been established in the West. You could have your main characters be the blue wizards (or make a cast that is guided by them) and we could see them stoke the fires of an epic civil war or something. Also, if the studio is looking for more diversity then there is no better place to find it. You'd have the Easterlings, The Harad, the other elf and dwarven houses, and you could even bring in the Black Numenoreans and see how their relationships are with everyone. Just a huge missed opportunity if you ask me...

[@petervizzini4006]

It would have been a diverse show without being woke and they (the directors) would have a lot of leeway in how to write them since their was so little information in the books

[@ito2464]

This is exactly what I was telling a friend. If the writers and producers wanted more diversity in the cast, they should of set the story in the East. They could of had more creative freedom without straying away from the established lore. There is so much potential in storytelling if they would of focused on Rhun or Harad and how those civilizations became corrupted by Sauron.

[@richteffekt]

Just what I thought then. Especially when looking at world history (earth not Arda) and how much of the greatest happenings aren't ever told by the histories of one continent if it happened on another, yet ripple effects would always eventually show - the exploration of the east would have been so worthwhile.

[@Ithirahad]

They should've made a show in Harad instead imho. Just as in Rhûn you get lots of creative freedom, massive fantasy beasts, giant epic battles, interactions with Gondor and Mordor, and on top of that, lots of opportunities for African-inspired aesthetics and peoples in a fantasy setting, which doesn't happen that much. Alas, by appearances this writing team would botch it so badly that I'm happy they did not get the opportunity to try and cover that.

[@drdoom9595]

I think it would have been cool if they made it about the 4th age, we know that Gondor helped people settle Mordor and they could create new stories involving the East being cut off from the influence of Sauron so they could have more interactions with the West

[@wyvernscale9634]

Rhûn is honestly one of the most fascinating settings in Middle earth for me. It's mysterious and has an amazing aesthetic

[@jout738]

Its intresting, because we know very little about it, when we dont know any location like cities in there or know about any of their conflicts with the followers of Sauron and with people who are against Sauron and know how Sauron is able to actually corrupt these people that live there.

[@jout738]

We dont even know how the two blue wizards are doing their job in there.

[@ivanskirchak4935]

The Easterlings definitely had some cool armor.

[@genghisgalahad8465]

Elf-made Hobbit Camo beat their cool armor in the movies! Wish we got to see some of them in fighting action beyond the marching and video game guard perception "ah nothing here, moving on.." ability!

[@Darkgun231]

@@genghisgalahad8465 I think the hobbits' cloaks were actually elven weave.

[@knightofsvea604]

You mean like.... Persian armour.

[@ptbot3294]

Ofcourse they do, its bloody hot out there. Gotta keep cool.

[@marrowkaiproductions7053]

Yeah they look Epic got the board game and they have the best minis

[@luudest]

Rhun, nice! One day, someone will find on an attic a hidden box with a lost Tolkien script. The script is 900 pages long and is full of stories of the East 🤤 I have a dream.

[@NerdoftheRings]

That would be awesome. haha. I think there's some great potential for Eastern-inspired stories in Rhun.

[@drdre2641]

@@NerdoftheRings sssst... Amazon's eyes are everywhere.

[@MrPiestro]

I would take just more on what specifically the blue wizards did to help.

[@SirWhig-esq.]

Maybe the Tolkien family have more of JRR’s work. [R.I.P - Priscilla Tolkien]

[@MarvinT0606]

"We have work to do" -Amazon

[@kwestionme5241]

Imma be honest with you. Not even a Tolkien fan. I just love how You present it. You vocal tones and skills at video creation is truly magical

[@dimitriusm7457]

Same!

[@d00mkn1ght]

the artwork too

[@kwestionme5241]

@@d00mkn1ght facts

[@thekurtmagirt]

glazer

[@chrisluck1369]

Ya do true crime

[@laurimaijala4984]

I love the fact that I'm able to zone out while painting miniatures and listening to your stories of Middle-Earth. It usually means that I'll watch most interesting videos at least twice. :D

[@jordanknapp7757]

What you painting homie?

[@laurimaijala4984]

@@jordanknapp7757 atm? Random vikings for rpg. Just finished Azog's Hunters, Mirkwood elves (and denizensa), trying to gather enough minis for Necromancer campaign... and and and 😂

[@GeorgeThoughts]

Love this because I just dug my old LOTR miniatures out of the loft and the majority of my collection is made up of Easterlings! There's a great scenario book called Shadow in the East which has some little skirmishes between Eorl the Young and the Easterlings so I wonder where that fits in the lore

[@automaticwriting4220]

Very nerdy. Love it

[@syberspud]

Big respect to Karen Wynn Fonstad for her atlas of middle Earth. Work of genius. RIP

[@xjaysonzx]

RIP? She's no longer with us?! Noooo

[@liamscienceguy8153]

She died in 2005, sadly

[@xjaysonzx]

@@liamscienceguy8153 Ughhh I had no idea. And to think around 02/03 I had her Atlas book and always wondered what she was up to, but never got around to looking her up. 😞

[@W-Gray]

I think someone should make: 1. A show about Rhun and how Sauron corrupted it. 2. A show about the Witch King's war against Arnor.

[@deutschegeschichte4972]

As long as they don't botch it like Rings of Power, I agree with you.

[@SlyCooper1920]

People would handsomely to see the wonders of the lord's travels in the Easf

[@Nhnhnfk]

Rhun is literally the setting for a storyline in season two

[@xrhst0s2114]

Υou can play the games it shows how sauron took over Mordor its not canon but its shows the civl war between lords both men and orcs and how Sauron combined all of them under his banner.Its not canon but has big respect on the canon.

[@nocgenius5255]

​@@deutschegeschichte4972rings of power has been botched? Just finished the latest EP on season 2 and it's incredible. Don't be a grifter loser

[@LOVEMUFFIN_official]

And just when I thought that the diverse literary lineage of Tolkien’s works could grow no deeper, I hear from a hobbit about a distant desert where great worms dig beneath the sand…

[@valentinkambushev4968]

I am more surprised by the fact that they weren't just made for the movies.

[@DavidCDrake]

The Spice must flow...

[@Jimmy_Mcgill_]

"my desert, my Arrakis, my Dune"

[@bjornh4664]

Dhûn

[@LOVEMUFFIN_official]

@@bjornh4664 That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen. Bring forth the finest muffins and bagels in all the land for this man.

[@burningphoneix]

Just a thanks that you put in the description all the art you use in your video. It's really handy to track down all the great artists.

[@1986fritzthecat]

Kinda glad that the writings of Tolkien are limited to what they are. It's kind of nice having things still shrouded in mystery rather than corporately exploited

[@darkranger116]

12:07, this theory is also supported by the fact that allies of the free peoples from the East go back far in history. If i remember correctly, it was a battle near the lonely mountain where free easterlings fought with dwarves against their own evil kindred. I've assumed for years that the blue wizards were successful in targeting Sauron's most prized possession in the East and South, recruits. Always able to keep entire percentages of each generation awake and under ground, to support the thousand year guerilla rebellion against the blight of the darklord.

[@agentspaniel4428]

In my mind, there are three primary factions in Rhûn those who sided with mordor, those who sided with the western kingdoms, and those who would happily see both destroyed because for them, it doesn't matter who's in charge they will always be looked down on as "lesser beings"

[@oldylad]

This a headcanon thing or like do you have anything backing this

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Much as I pity the third side, am afraid I would want them silenced regardless. Such self-destructive worldviews are quite harmful.

[@terrorcop101]

Fun fact: Tolkien played with the idea of writing a sequel to Lord of the Rings, set 400 years after the War of the Ring, but he abandoned the idea after deciding it would've been something else entirely. Maybe it could've worked if he'd focused the story on the Blue Wizards cleaning up the last remnants of Sauron's influence in Rhun, giving us a whole other facet of Middle-Earth to explore at the same time. But that's probably why he didn't write it: he wanted to create a fantastical/mythical history of Great Britain, making Rhun a Tolkien-esque version of Asia, probably Persia specifically.

[@AndrewCarlisle11B]

Love these history style videos! Always make me want to grab a book and learn more.

[@borgthepig]

After watching your video on why the old man in Rings Of Power might be a blue wizard, and then watching this, my hope that it IS a blue wizard has only increased. Rhun is such a fasinating place, and honestly the people who lived there deserved better, for they were the ones that Sauron tampered with the most. I would love to see more of the blue wizards, what happened to them, and what they did in the east and south! Imagine the blue wizards leading a resistance against Sauron! That would be amazing! Great video as always!

[@mrs.manrique7411]

Or I prefer that they gather followers from different groups against Sauron, and accidentally cause people to start worshipping them/or losing faith in them when they refuse to keep showing too much of their power.

[@gladtownghost]

It can only be a blue wizard. One of them went to middle earth in the second age. No other istari did so.

[@borgthepig]

@@gladtownghost yeah, but rings of power isn’t known for following canon

[@thud5190]

True! I'd like some actual diversity in the rings of power, as opposed to faux nonsensical "diversity", I wanna see Rhudel and Harad

[@queenberuthiel5469]

@thud n My pessimistic side: Maybe they're all diverse. You know what I mean. 🙃

[@galacticknight55544]

I like to imagine that Allatar and Pallando, the two Blue Wizards, caused the good Easterlings and the good eastern dwarves to rise up against Sauron during the War of the Ring, which divided his forces and prevented Sauron from sending his entire army west.

[@jout738]

Maybe they already did that before, when lived so many thousands of years in the east and south.

[@GoodGirlKate]

That story should have been told instead of rings of power.

[@jubjub13483]

Awesome! my theory is that Saruman went to the east to help turn blue wizards set up designs to help the people of the East and when he was confident they could do it head back west to focus on that side. As he wasn't evil then. I have always been fascinated by the blue wizards, be great if there was film or something of their struggles

[@davidmeza993]

Rhun is so interesting and mysterious!

[@NemieVlog]

Indeed not to mention other unknown places are so mysterious.

[@Mxyzptlksac]

As a kid I was fascinated by Rhûn because it was mysterious and wasn’t much written about.

[@Tadicuslegion78]

Had the Shadow of Mordor/War series got one more game, Rhun and the East would be the perfect place to do a third game and explore the blank slate, even get the two Blue Wizards involved somehow.

[@althor1247]

Great video! Rhun seems really cool. One topic I would love to see covered is the kin-strife of Gondor. I read about it in the appendix and have seen it mentioned and it seems interesting.

[@gybod9166]

I've just in the last few months gotten into Tolkien and devoured all the books, films and tv shows. These videos are fantastic.

[@himangshu2843]

I wish Tolkien was alive because if he was ,we get to know more about rhun , dwarves of east and also avari elves residing in the east and also soo many things and also about land further east of rhun

[@VikingCarter]

What happened to the Avari would definitely be cool to know

[@shogun0810]

It ok we've the woke brigade at Amazon doing a stellar job 🙄

[@kamion53]

Point is those were just background players in the theater Tolkien did set up exploring more and deeper would be creating a complete life story for a character whose only function is standing behind the counter of the Starbucks were the protagonist gets his coffee and walks out again.

[@planepantsgames1791]

This is one of the best lore videos I've seen in a while!

[@rafaelgustavo7786]

About the peoples of the east - Rhûn, Khand and Variags. Tolkien said he was inspired by Asia (China, Japan, etc): "When asked in an interview what lay east of Rhûn, Tolkien replied "Rhûn is the Elvish word for 'east'. Asia, China, Japan, and all things which people in the west regard as far away." In an early versions of "The Hobbit", Bilbo's speech about facing the "dragon peoples of the east" had an reference of China and the Hindu Kush: "In the earliest drafts of The Hobbit, Bilbo offered to walk from the Shire 'to [cancelled: Hindu Kush] the Great Desert of Gobi and fight the Wild Wire worm(s) of the Chinese. In a slightly later version J.R.R. Tolkien altered this to say 'to the last desert in the East and fight the Wild Wireworms of the Chinese' and in the final version it was altered once more to say 'to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert'." History of Middle Earth - The First Phase, "The Pryftan Fragment", p. 9 I always saw the barbarian invasions (Wainriders, Balchots, peoples of Rhûn) from the far east against the northwest of Middle-earth as a reference to European historiography with the onslaughts of (semi) nomadic Asian peoples (the Scythians, Huns, Mongols, etc.). I think Tolkien left very few details about the peoples of the East (Rhûn, Variags, Khand) and South (Harad) because he didn't have (correct me if I'm wrong) as much interest or scholarly access to the mythologies , African and Asian histories and cultures. But even if he had contact with this knowledge, i have the impression that Tolkien would not want to fall into an "orientalist" vision of the 19th and 20th century period that was predominant in the imagination and the portrait that was made of these continents. Tolkien spent years studying and reading his passion for European mythologies. He spent years and years building Middle-earth. I imagine he would need the same "work and time" to incorporate African and Asian cultures in his work.

[@FantasticExplorers]

I really hope someone at Amazon sees this! For real! Great comment! What's funny is I always imagined Elves as Asian (and therefore Orcs as well), Elrond's people as half Asian (like why Arwen is so pretty), Dwarves as Jewish/Middle-Eastern (not vikings; in fact my grandfather was of Lebanese descent and I always thought their actions were more Arabic than Northern European), and humans as everyone else! I knew the Elves were from East of/in Middle Earth, but I didn't realize HOW FAR EAST until seeing the map in this Video! I guess I was closer to the truth in my imagination than I ever would have guessed! 🤣 ...and yes I know Tolkien's works are ACTUALLY Northern European based. But I think he'd have no problem with people adapting his work for their imagination! I've spent so much time on this reply I've decided to make it a comment! 🤣

[@dragonchr15]

I for one am glad he stuck to what he knows best and what interested him...I don't want some offensive and bastardized version of non-European cultures filtered through a European lens....but Tolkien was at one of the world's most elite universities at the height of the British Empire, and he probably had access to some Asian and Africans living in England so if he really wanted to, he could have gotten solid information from firsthand sources....

[@jasoncasey6667]

@@dragonchr15 😂😂😂😂😂I find your comment very cool Am from TANZANIA,my great grandmother used to tell us all fantastical stories that are very similar to Tolkien,she grew up in the last years of German colonialism of East Africa,but I was 7yrs old at the time and I couldn’t write them down…she died 108 i think or 112….this was in the early 1990s

[@patrick9865]

I would really love to see some continuation of Tolkien's work, from the onset of the 4th Age all the way to known modern civilization. Rhun becoming China, Harad becoming Ethiopia, etc.

[@oldylad]

Orientalism wouldn’t have been viewed as bad by anyone back then, it’s likely that, just as in our own history, ancient references to distant lands like China in the west are sparse and exceptionally rare. The most Bilbo could even know is that there’s a desert with big worms over there. Point is that he was a man who liked mythology and ancient writing, and the illusion that all of his works set in this world were books he’d translated would be ruined if he wrote an encyclopedia about the East unless he decided to “find” an ancient book from the East.

[@queen_kythadon1626]

New to the channel and I’m loving the videos. I appreciate how the narrator’s voice is the same type of soothing like the lotr movies

[@KubotaKid]

Read these books so many times in my youth. Thank you for the refreshing view. Read the hobbit 21 times already and I’m in 50’s. I always find something new I missed.

[@talkaboutwacky]

I wish we saw more of the Easterlings. It would’ve been great to see how they got along with the Orcs and Uruk hai when they marched into Mordor to fight alongside them

[@astronewbownz1703]

We need a follow up for questions that remain! Love the vid!

[@mees.cequre]

i love the stories about the blue wizard, Harad and Rhun so much. id love to see series or movies about it. (especially because of the picture at 12:00). though i doubt it. And maybe kwowing so little about it makes it even the more special.

[@Zoruagalaxy]

Another great and informative video! good to see someone making a video about the less talked about lands of middle earth ^.^

[@EnterpriseGeek]

I LOVE your clips. Your voice is so captivating and nice to listen to it. I always prepare a coffee when you release s new clip and looking forward to dive into Middle Earth with you

[@malissatoney4490]

Thank you,Thank you, for Explaining about the Area of Rhun, It has always been a mystery place to study about in Tolkien’s works, I appreciate you taking the time talking about it 🙂🙂🙂

[@hypermaeonyx4969]

Huh, weird... I didn't notice I wasn't subscribed. Anyways, I think the eastern parts of Middle Earth are my favourite, and you're also my favourite LOTR lore youtuber because of how smooth your voice is. Keep up the great work!

[@jaysgamingcorner8539]

Another awesome video! Any video containing dwarven and/or elvish lore instantly gets a thumbs up from me. Their lore is just so deep. 👍

[@erikbender1967]

Really wished Tolkien expanded more on the peoples of the east and the blue wizards. Maybe that would've come into play when he was attempting to write the 4th book of LOTR, but decided to abandon the project.

[@anjagarone5891]

Not sure if this was discussed before but keeping in mind that Tolkien was a linguist, "worm" is also an ancient germanic (saxon) word for dragon, and since we know that the LOTR is written from the point of view of the hobbits, many names and terms are translations. I would say that Bilbo here is referring to the dragon when he talks of fighting "were-worms".

[@informedconsumer5293]

A wereworm would be a shapeshifting dragon man

[@capadociaash8003]

@@informedconsumer5293fire emblem time

[@tofo6916]

Great video!! Love your content

[@ForFrodoOfficial]

The thumbnail is Insane! The content is Perfection. Thank you again!

[@phil.clarke]

On my first reading of Unfinished Tales may years ago I came away with the impression that Saruman had something to do with the demise of the Blue wizards, I thought that is what Tolkien's writings hinted. Saruman's turn to evil started in the east, maybe Saruman did find Sauron in the east and was corrupted very early on?

[@FrankLewis040]

I don't know if this is something you'd be interested in doing, but I think it would be fun. I've watched your hypothetical videos. The timeless classics, such as : "What if Smaug had survived?" And "what if Gandalf(or Galadriel) took the One Ring?" Now, my idea would be throwing all logic out of the window because some of the scenarios make absolutely no sense, like "What if Gandalf had the Ring of Power and was present during the reign of Melkor/Morgoth (First and Second Ages) how would that have played out." Or "What would it have looked like if all 5 Wizards had joined forces against Sauron (a Sauron with the ring, so second age, but also at the third age when the Fellowship was formed." Another one could be "What would it look like if all 5 Wizards were present and teamed up against Melkor/Morgoth... Again in both the First and Second Ages.)" I would love to hear how you think the 5 wizards would've done against the might of Melkor/Morgoth and his full contingent of Balrogs, Dragons, and legions of followers. "How would it have played out if Glorfindel HAD joined the Fellowship of the Ring?" I could go on for days with these hypotheticals. I know most of us (Tolkien fans) would kill for these videos, so for the love of Eru Ilúvatar hook us up! Also, please leave this comment a Heart, so I know you've at least read it, because I'm gonna copy and paste it on every video to maximize the chance that you'll see it. I'm even joining your Patreon to see if I can get this out in front of you. I'm sorry about this comment being longer than all of the Tolkien books combined. Haha. Edit: boom, I'm now a "Men of the West" Nerd of the Rings member.

[@nomiddlenameeither]

Your expertise is much appreciated during these times of ROP

[@voltronik9141]

I always learn something new with your videos. I didn’t know that Saruman spent 1500 years in the East!

[@VikingCarter]

I didn't either. If you think about that... that is 3/4 of the time between now and the death of Jesus Christ. That is a LONG time.

[@VoiceoftheRings]

Amazing Job Nerd of the Rings! You are so good at Putting so much Detail but, at the same time making it easy to follow and understand for everyone! Brilliant job!

[@Ithirahad]

Bilbo's "East of East" could mean the Lands of the Sun or whatever new lands replaced them too, if some tales survived from Nûmenor or later explorers about the wildlife to be found there. If East is Rhûn, then East of East lies across the ocean, in a Tolkienian version of the American Southwest, apparently with wereworms. (And here I thought the coyotes were bad enough!)

[@kirkhenry3867]

Your videos are really, really excellent. I appreciate you making and sharing them, thank you so much.

[@astraloutlaw6549]

It's definitely interesting to learn about this one. I just wish there was more information about Harad, Khand, and that massive island in the far east called the Dark Land. It sucks that I don't have the tolkien books to learn if they have information about their history, culture, and events that took place concerning their existence in Middle-Earth. That aside, the Easterlings are one of my favorite factions in Middle-Earth. I wouldn't mind dressing up as one for Halloween.

[@garygreen1881]

Everything you said in your stories actually have happened in the series that's why I I'm watching this channel

[@mberube222]

Your videos are lovingly put together, with care and attention to detail! I get little nuggets to help with my outstanding questions about the nature and history of Middle-Earth and its peoples, as well as its big baddies like Sauron 😀 For example, today you mentioned the Elves awakening in Cuivienen, and Men awakening in Hildorien. But Lake Cuivienen is lost to time. How and why? How did the summons of the Valar distort or change the fate of the Elves? They can never go back and make a pilgrimage there, perhaps to meet with lost kin who are still there or near there...

[@sweeperboy]

The lands of Arda were changed multiple times over the history written by Tolkien, by the direct intervention of Eru Iluvatar or due to wars between the Valar and Morgoth, or in response to other major events - most famously of course the creation and much later destruction of Numenor, the changing of Arda into a sphere and the destruction of Beleriand. I think Cuivienen's fate is likely to be due to something like this - what we would nowadays call plate tectonic activity. It no longer exists, probably it is miles and miles underground or something like that.

[@mrs.manrique7411]

I like to think that Melkor who unmade everything the rest of the Valar did either missed Cuivienen, OR it was once a mountain that he made into a lake thinking he was destroying its intended purpose - when all along it was supposed to be a lake from which the elves awakened nearby. Melkor played into the hands of Illuvatar

[@lipingrahman6648]

I wonder if there were humans in the shadow lands or even Elves. Also the wereworms always reminds me of the sand worms of Dune.

[@petervizzini4006]

Where do you think Frank found inspiration.

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

Was going to say something about Dune, but I believe Tolkien's mention predates it!

[@petervizzini4006]

@RollinRat it wasn't in the books but when I was on the Dune tropes page where I don't exactly remember but the author admitted to having drawn inspiration for Shai-Hulud from the were worms in The Hobbit

[@petervizzini4006]

Admittedly they were only in a single line

[@lipingrahman6648]

Tolkien did receive a copy of the manuscript from Herbert. Tolkien liked the writing style and imagery but he hated the story as monstrous.

[@jakeferreira1211]

Random question. How much more material do you think you have to work with? Tolkien's world is massive and very detailed, but are you worried that you are going to eventually run out of new content to work with? You're by far my favorite Tolkien KZbinr, and I really don't want that to happen.

[@zahin619]

I’m sure there’s ton of material left!

[@maddiekits]

With 12,000 pages of content avaliable I feel like there has to be a decade worth of videos at least lol

[@jakeferreira1211]

@maddiekits Yeah I know, but so many of them relate to the same topics. There are tons of different characters and topics, but lots of them either don't have enough written about them to make full videos on. Like he could make a video about someone like Beleg Strong-Bow, but I don't think he could do a video on Thorin Stonehelm, because there just isn't much written about him, aside from his name and that he was King under the Mountain after the War of the Ring.

[@weseethetruth158]

Tom shippy has made an entire career out of being a Tolkien historian so I doubt it.

[@Vulpine407]

Fans of Tolkien's works have had a... rough time of it lately. I grew up on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. My uncle gave me the books in a boxed paperback collection that I have treasured since my teens. And while Peter Jackson's masterpiece of filming was not 100% in accordance with the books, I still believe it was a great homage to Tolkien's epic trilogy. But now, Amazon's disastrous Rings of Power has basically spit on both lore and the fan base. Thank goodness for channels like Nerd of the Rings for making such fantastic videos so that current and possible future fans can see what this incredible world is really like.

[@davidh.4944]

I have a treasured set of the 1965 Balantine paperbacks myself, with gorgeous linked covers, given to me by my grandfather. And I am currently in the middle of about my sixth or seventh rereading. Frankly, I do not have that kindly of an attitude towards Jackson's trilogy myself. The unnecessary distortions he made to the personalities of so many characters (Aragorn did not doubt his destiny, Elrond was not a man-hater, and Theoden was not a fatalist, nor a zombie puppet), ridiculous diversions from the original plot (Elves in Helm's Deep, Frodo in Osgiliath), and his lack of understanding of scale (Minas Tirith was a "great city of men", not a mediocre mountain fort, and Mûmak were not AT-ATs) are hard for me to forgive. But I will certainly agree that they are masterpieces compared to the current corruption of Tolkien's lifework.

[@judavandekipknots3119]

if the Hobbit movies are cannon in any form than te were-worms are real because they made the tunnels that the orc's use to get to erebor

[@landongrawrock6631]

It would be awesome to have some stories from rhun I'd love to see a different culture in middle earth history

[@Mikedegot]

That Sauron guy sure is persuasive. Alternate History Easterlings: "You go on and git. We don't like yer kind around these parts." Sauron: "I'm goin', I'm goin'. Dang."

[@professorbutters]

The suggestion that we’ll see Rhun is one of the things I look forward to in Season 2 of Rings of Power.

[@Hi-fd4cw]

Hopefully it’s actually written decently. The bar is very low

[@chillax319]

@@Hi-fd4cw Well since the writers are/were fired we can at least expect different people to write the next season. Maybe, I dunno, maybe not total inexperienced noobs like the ones that did first season? Giving billions of dollars to inexperienced showrunners will not make a great show, no matter how much money Amazon may throw at the show.

[@christopher9152]

That show is Woke Trash and an insult to Tolkien's works. It would be a small miracle if anything decent comes from it.

[@bobafett9348]

I have no hope for RoP

[@v1e1r1g1e1]

Do not look for hope in Rings Of Power. It has abandoned that land.

[@istari0]

It would have been interesting to know more about the nations in the East and what their allegiances were like.

[@benlowe1701]

Personally, I like to "Unify" the two fates of the Blue Wizards. They are often depicted as brothers. Maybe even twins. It would be very Tolkien, if *one* of the wizards fell to the Shadow, whilst the other stayed true to their purpose. With the two wizards eventually slaying each other.

[@lilymack4028]

Big thank you for this video: I learned a lot. And, the artwork was amazing!

[@shannondavis3686]

Concerning the beasts of the East lands of Rhun. You mentioned the Large Oxen named “Kin of Araw(?)”. Well, in our real life European history, The Aurochs was a huge ox like, bull like, bovine, that was 3-4 times larger than our biggest bulls. The horns of Aurochs were considered a treasure and over time they became the basis for legend and myth. Being labeled as Bones of Giants, Dragon Horns and/or teeth. Among other things. The Aurochs still existed in Europe during the Roman conquests of Gaul and Germania. Bringing a new level of respect to The Germanic Hunters if The Deep Forrest, as the Roman’s viewed it. In regards to the Desert Worms…. They show us the great tunnel maker worms (I can’t remember what Azog called them) under the mountains when they attacked Erebor. They used the giant earth moving worms to create tunnels for the orcs to use to flank the armies of men, elves, and dwarves. During the battle of the five armies. Azog even says The World of Men have forgotten The Beasts of Old.

[@shannondavis3686]

Why? Why am I always targeted by trolls? First F-book, now Y-tube…. 🙄 I swat em like flies. 🙅🏻‍♂️

[@joperamod5760]

@@shannondavis3686 you mean bots

[@shannondavis3686]

@@joperamod5760 trolls, con artists, fake people trying to hack my account, bots, whatever.

[@davidh.4944]

"Kine" is the Old English plural form for cow, rarely used now. Tolkien almost certainly took inspiration from the Aurochs for his Kine of Araw. I really hate those _Hobbit_ movie tunnelling worms (along with many other aspects of the films). They're stupid and completely made up for the film. The book only said that the orcs traveled by secret paths through and under the mountains and by night, to assemble in the broken lands north of Erebor. Their final overland approach was shielded from the sun by a huge cloud of bats, and their host rounding the spur of the mountain to attack the dale was a major point in the battle. As for the spambots, don't sweat them. We're all getting hit. Just report and ignore them. They'll give up on this current scam when it fails to gain any traction.

[@shannondavis3686]

@@davidh.4944 good point about the Kine. However I’ve tried to quit adding real world language as those who don’t understand etymology of words and meanings, get all pissy when you try to explain Tolkien’s master of Gothic-Germanic ancient languages and that he used Gothic-Germanic mythology in his story. As well as uniting Germanic words into a Finnish style of word play for his elvish language. He was a genius when it came to languages, and Mythological History for that matter. That’s why I love Tolkien so much. He takes us to a world that mirrors our own ancient mythological past. And allows us to step back away from the modern world to a place where our ancestors created our myths. Or at least a bases for our myths. It’s good to know there are those out there that actually still have a respectful knowledge of our ancestral language. (Ancestral in the sense of Western Culture being an Anglo-Saxon dominate one, not just blood)

[@felipecarrera9127]

Your voice is so relaxing. It just soothes me

[@valandhol9four680]

I hope they really give us time in rhun, visually they are more free to create there since we don't have a visual comparison to Peter Jackson

[@asdakuhi8h]

if they do, i wish that they don't do what they did this season and have four different plots happening at the same time. i'd rather have half a season devoted to one plot than having to jump back and forth only to have two plots converge in a predictable way

[@JaymesMedia]

@@asdakuhi8h I would like that too

[@FloridatedH2O]

And please don't let it just be fantasy middle east with all the boring tropes from 19th century oriental depictions of Turks/Bedouins. Please let it be something unique,interesting, mysterious and borrowing from lesser known cultures like the Sassanians, Timuirds, Greco-Bactrians, etc. I'm expecting too much I know.

[@janellie1985]

That’ll certainly cause the haters to continue with their meltdown, too, though. 😏

[@mrs.manrique7411]

@@FloridatedH2O Or at least anything historically-societally accurate drawn into Rhûn. I liked that they created some societal development of the hobbits with their star charts, prophecies, and leprechaun-esque traveling way of life. I will be trying to discover what inspires RoPs eastern cultures that will also somehow fit into a world with Ainur and Eru and fell beasts.

[@schnebot]

ever since i saw Easterlings in Two Towers i was quite fascinated by them

[@Eric-ny9bs]

Absolutely fascinated by Rhun. I read some fanfic that seemed totally plausible given what we know about Rhun. Most powers of Men in Rhun were taken over by cults. There was a city of elves and men that even worshipped a dragon god. Among dwarves there were traitors who were tempted by gift givers who would travel through their territory. I also love the idea that some sort of underground of elves and dwarves still lived and resisted in the east. And it seems to me that the blue wizards’ mission was to delay the organization of the east for as long as possible in order to give the West as much time as possible.

[@mrglassbadguy485]

you make me sick

[@sneedmando186]

I’ve been waiting for this, wish I had checked in earlier ❤

[@goransekulic3671]

I always say that it is almost a crime how underrepresented Rhun is. It's such a fascinating place, a point of origin of (Tolkien) Humankind, yet...yeah, almost next to nothing. The perfect way to explore it would be via the Blue Wizards. Now, I understand that one probably went to Rhun and the other to Harad(Khand etc), but ... I would love to read a story about Morinehtar and Romestamo's travels.

[@hannibalburgers477]

Humankind?

[@averagejoe8255]

You’ve stated that Tolkien wrote that - “the Orcs were created from, and were further primarily comprised of, the majority of Elves that wandered into the far-east during the first-age (and which had been utterly conquered and corrupted)”. However, I’ve never heard any mention of how either Melkor, Sauron, or even Saruman replenished their respective Orcish troops lost in battle. There are no female Orcs, nor Orc children, hence how did a resupply of fresh troops occur? I’ve always wondered about this, and it is certainly one of the primary questions I would have asked Tolkien, if he were alive today. Thank you for your time.

[@LordMortanius]

There are female orcs. Orcs reproduce "after the fashion of the Children of Eru", it's just that we don't see female orcs for obvious reasons.

[@averagejoe8255]

@@LordMortanius sounds good, but where’s the evidence for this? I’ve read everything Tolkien ever wrote and I can’t recall any such statement. Also, what are the “obvious” reasons for not showing female Orcs? It’s certainly not obvious to me. Thank you.

[@LordMortanius]

@@averagejoe8255 What reason would Tolkien have to show female orcs or orc children? It's not like we see dwarven maidens or children. Sauron used orcs as troops, he would have no reason to order females into the fray when they have the more important job of getting pregnant and birthing more orcs. Mordor's armies are carefully run and regimented with serial numbers. *For the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar.* - The Silmarillion, Chapter 3: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor *"There must have been orc-women. But in stories that seldom if ever see the Orcs except as soldiers of armies in the service of the evil lords we naturally would not learn much about their lives. Not much was known."* - Tolkien 1963 in a letter to a Mrs. Munby

[@averagejoe8255]

@@LordMortanius Actually, I would have asked him the same question about the Dwarves. I don’t think it’s obvious at all, and is a huge gap is his writing style. Additionally, after you made your statement, I reviewed my many kindle downloads, and also located the same statement you identified via a text-query in the Silmarillion. Sadly, that’s all there is, and leaves so much missing from what could have very much enriched the world of middle-earth. If Tolkien had lived another ten or twenty years, I think many of these questions would have been answered. Before I forget, where did you get the information regarding “serial numbers”? I also queried this second statement on your part and found nothing. Can you please point me to which book this was located? Thank you.

[@LordMortanius]

@@averagejoe8255 When Gorbag and Grishnakh quarrel, one threatens the other with giving his 'name and number to the Nazgul'. It's in the Land of Shadow in RotK. Fitting with Sauron's monomaniacal focus on Order, I guess.

[@vn_bricks]

I started learning elvish for fun and its surprisingly easy

[@outsidesman]

7:47 "all living things were divided in that day, and some of every kind, even beasts and birds, were found in either host, save the elves only. They alone were undivided and followed Gil-gilad." So there were some Hobbits that fought for Sauron??

[@GullibleTarget]

"Auroch" waa a real life species of wild bovine.

[@AndrewMaksym]

This is one of your best videos yet! 👍

[@etienneporras7252]

I do wonder if the Easterlings who conquered and ruled Dor-Lomin are the SAME Easterling culture of more than 5000 years later in the third age. Were they Easterlings in that they came from Rhun? Or 'Easterlings' as in "from East of the Blue Mountains, the native Men of Eriador before the coming of the Numenoreans"? Just a thought. Do we specifically know much of the pre-Numenorian Men of Eriador?

[@matthewcarlton5693]

When I was a little kid I imagined I grew up somewhere east of the the Sea of Rhun, In a huge forest, honing my ranger skills, then appearing just in time in the West to help out the fellowship.

[@kyleganse4978]

Really hope that the stranger in RoP will show more of Rhun and we see more of these items fleshed out. The evil dwarves and maybe even Kah'mul himself.

[@LifeOdysseyMotivation]

yeah! and many of us are actually anticipating about a detailed show about Rhun.

[@shogun0810]

Imagine still liking ROP

[@savageslattz5705]

I always thought that the races of rhûn and the races of east were different both from the east but different great video love the content

[@AlekséjAntipov]

And I think that a "Stranger"-Istar from the new series "Rings of Power" of Amazon (who went to Rhun at the end of the first season) is one of the Blue Wizars - Alatar or Pallando. It could be only one of them, because other Wizards came to Middle Earth only in The Third Age.

[@kamion53]

I rather have my idea's about the Blue Wizards unpolluted by what Amazon can make of them.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

When asked in an interview what lay east of Rhun, Tolkien replied Rhun is the Elvish word for 'east'. Asia, China, Japan, and all things which people in the west regard as far away. In the earliest drafts of The Hobbit, Bilbo offered to walk from the Shire "[cancelled: Hindu Kush] the Great Desert of Gobi and fight the Wild Wire worm(s) of the Chinese." In a slightly later version J.R.R. Tolkien altered this to say "to the desert in the East and fight the Wild Wireworms of the Chinese", and in the final version it was altered once more to say "to the East of East and fight the Wild Were-worms in the Last Desert." The Wainriders, as well as the Balchoth, were known for traveling in great camps of wagons which they fortified. Given the eastern origins of the group, this bears many similarities to the orda military structure employed by the Turkic and Mongol peoples.

[@CarolinaPine]

I hope that we meet Khamul in the second season of the ROP, especially since the Stranger (probably Gandalf, but still hoping that he is one of the Blue Wizards) and Nori are heading to Rhun.

[@Max1990Power]

What if they first make khamul really likeable, making his fall more devestating.

[@CarolinaPine]

@@Max1990Power I like that idea. No reason that Khamul, or any of the Nazgul started out as evil.

[@andywatson29]

@@CarolinaPine None of them were, Sauron lied and manipulated them, bending them to his will!

[@benlowe1701]

@@Max1990Power I was fairly certain that Halbrand was going to the Witch King for a while. I'm now wondering if they might make Ar-Pharazon the Witch King; since they've compressing the timeline. That might be fun. We will almost certainly see more of the Nine in their human forms. I think we might see more of the Istari as the series progresses. I think it's very likely that the Stranger is a Proto-Gandalf, but it would be far more interesting to see a good Saruman, or even one of the Blue Wizards. Maybe series 2 will end with the arrival or appearance of other Istari that will make things make sense. Nori loses the Stranger, but another man arrives and asks her where his brother is. Or we see other stars fall. One of the Elements of the Shadow of War games (which took a lot of flak for deviating from canon) that I actually liked, was the idea that the Nazgul aren't necessarily nine *specific* men. But are occasionally defeated; only to have their rings claimed by warriors and heroes who slew them, and who in turn fell, taking their previous owners place and spot among the Nine. That way Sauron loses one servant, but gains and more powerful replacement. Most of the Nine, by the third age had been replaced at least once. Is it what Tolkien envisioned? Not necessarily. But it was nevertheless a rather cool idea. I love Tolkien, but I think some fans can be too purist with it. Sometimes people come up with really cool ideas. LOTRO suggested that the 4 Dwarf Rings that were consumed by Dragons, mutated and enhanced the Dragons that devoured them, and that Sauron imprisoned and tortured these "Ring Drakes" in an effort to extract the Rings from them. That's a *really* cool image.

[@baonghita3600]

@@benlowe1701 the wizards are not brothers. Also I really like the mutated dragon idea

[@ih8thishandle]

RE: The Blue Wizards Maybe they were imprisoned by Saruman the White using powerful magic denying them and the Wizards with communicating with each other and preventing from dying and/or returning to Valinor, like Gandalf after his death fighting the Belrog. Saruman possessed magic which was strong enough to compete with The Blue Wizards and he sojourned in the East for right 1700 years and we know he was with them for at least part of that time. He knew that Isildur died in the Gladden Fields when the Ring betrayed him while in his possession. I believe Saruman and the Blue Wizards found evidence confirming the Ring was not lost to the sea, but rather, still within the Gladden Fields. In his desire to possess the One Ring Saruman dispatched the Blue Wizards preventing them from alerting the other Wizards or Elves so they can't seek and destroy the Ring leaving him to search for it unmolested. He then returned to the West acquiring Isengard where he could secretly search for the One Ring and keep an "eye" on Sauron. He had the means, he was a more powerful Wizard than the Two Blue Wizards, even combined. He had the opportunity, he was in the East when the Blue Wizards were and they were isolated from any powerful allies who could help them. He had motive, he proved later he was capable of dark deeds to gain the One Ring because he coveted its power Every dark path begins with the first step, why wouldn't he be capable of seeking the Ring for himself then?

[@JohnDoe-jy7sv]

I’m torn between wishing we knew more definitive information about Rhûn and being content with the mystery of it. It’s a big part of what makes Rhûn so fascinating to me

[@valentinkambushev4968]

Same, but I wish we at least know some of the names of the cities in the region.

[@jout738]

Its sad Tolkien had not put in the map any of the cities in the Rhun region or talked by their inner conflicts with how Sauron is able to influence these people and what are the conflicts then with the peopoe who resist Sauron control.

[@DarkTower-nw2xj]

Cool I've always wanted to learn more about this!

[@TETASARAIVACS]

Whoever the Stranger turns up to be in the show, we will have the opportunity to see some of Rhun, of which we know almost nothing

[@theolaa]

"... and Éormer took again the Oath of Eorl. Often he fulfilled it. For though Sauron had passed, the hatreds and evils that he bred had not died, and the King of the West had many enemies to subdue before the White Tree could grow in peace. And wherever King Elessar went with war King Éomer went with him; and beyond the Sea of Rhûn and on the far fields of the South the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard, and the White Horse upon Green flew in many winds until Éomer grew old." Even in the appendices Tolkien's prose is just beautiful.

[@thorshammer7883]

I wonder what the Dark Lands and Land of the Sun were like in the maps of Arda. And what peoples and creatures could be living there. I like to imagine some Easternlings helping the Avari Elves who were being persecuted by Sauron's synagogues and cults. Even Easternlings with perhaps some of the furtherest Easternlings wielding katanas and houses of men who saw the Avari elves as their dearest friends and guardians. I would to imagine some of them were righetous and persisted to fought even against the influence of the occult religions in Arda which spring from Melkor. Even when the New Shadow came.

[@davidlundquist1979]

I'm the same way. I find it more than a little tantalizing that Arda has a huge southern continent that never figured in the narrative at all. I wonder if any ships from Numenor ended up there after the end of the Second Age. I wonder if that's where the Entwives wandered off to. Most of all, I wonder if Sauron, Shelob, and Smaug had any southern counterparts.

[@thorshammer7883]

@@davidlundquist1979 The Dark Land and the Land of the Sun are sure the most mysterious.

[@jeremyminogue6731]

Romestamo: "so hes Darkness Slayer and im... What, sorry?"

[@valentinkambushev4968]

I often wonder what were the lands beyond the Red Mountains like. Were they inhabited by men and dwarves. If they were, my head canon is that the cultures of the people who lived there were Chinese and Japanese-like. Another head canon of mine is that after the first age some of Morgoth's dragons went into these lands, but they were wingless and long like snakes. But unlike their western cousins, the dragons of the far east abandoned their evil ways and instead became wise creatures. Sure, there were still some evil ones among them, but the majority of them were wise beings, from which the men of the far east would often seek advice.

[@عليياسر-ك8ف]

This is strange, the Scythians are the ones who invented the dragon, and it was with wings and was evil

[@baonghita3600]

Feels strange that a creature made by evil will abandoned their evil ways in a land heavily influenced by evil. Still it is a good head cannon

[@kamion53]

Although not much is said by Tolkien himself about the cultural aspect of the peoples of the East, I think his attemps to flesh them out did not go beyond the Huns or the Mongols, both invasive groups that did shake Western Europe as did the invasions of the Easterlings.

[@brianwhedon8442]

Smaug was wise and evil. If Easterlings were "evil" and dragons were "evil" then they would not be evil to eachother but allies. A wise dragon could still offer advice to the Eastern tribes of Men. Allies of Morgoth would not destroy one another but serve together. Your head canon is probably canon, just not for "good and peaceful" reasons

[@b.dalius5136]

I can actually see that Tolkien really did put a lot of inspiration from real history; the awakening of Men and Elves in the East and migrating West resembles the Indo-Iranian peoples that were the early ancestors of today's European people, that migrated westward from the Eurasian Steppe. But Middle Earths historical narrative of it's inhabitants nevertheless still holds a unique storytelling aspect. It doesn't stray away that much into looking like it came directly from real history, Tolkien managed to put alot of his original ideas into the story and so his works are still so amazing to appreciate. It's a shame what the Rings of Power couldn't achieve with this magnificent lore.

[@vilisveidis]

4:30 if werewyrms did exist, I feel like they would be akin to the sandworms found in Dune or Star Wars(sarlaac pit), given that they are believed to be roaming the "last desert," a presumably wilder and harsher land than Harad, as is with most things in Middle-Earth removed from the West

[@deanzaZZR]

Back to your bread and butter. Big thumbs up as the video is both educational and entertaining.

[@agentspaniel4428]

I would've found it a lot more interesting if Easterlings resisted the influence of Sauron of their own choice instead of divine intervention from the blue wizards

[@jout738]

It seems some of them did and atleast the drawves did, but the blue wizards just seemed to help in resisting the influence of Sauron.

[@randomelite4562]

I mean some of them did… otherwise there would be no Gondor and Rohan

[@jibril2473]

Just a speculation and theory; the mystery man in RoP is indeed a blue wizard, but the second to arrive. How would the cultists even know who or what an Istari was? They had to have came across the first blue wizard. I’ sure the writers will reveal this eventually.

[@thegriva7813]

The cultists thought it was sauron not one of the istar

[@AstridAndAnine]

I would like to think that as well. If they know what an Istari is, they must have heard or seen it before… The first blue wizard..

[@jibril2473]

@@thegriva7813 they first thought he was Sauron and then one of them identified him as an ‘Istar’ as pointed out but the commenter.

[@thegriva7813]

@@jibril2473 ah I forgot, thanks

[@simonhagstenn]

Is this the start of a playlist called "History of"? Amazing video!

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

I wonder if Saruman did away with the blue wizards in treachery? I've ALWAYS wished to believe that they weren't both or at least wholly corrupted and that some Eastern Men fought against Sauron or were not corrupted by him, perhaps even as an under ground movement.

[@typicaluser697]

It is mediaeval world, not much you can to as a small resistance, and you can't really food any way except of stealing (underground movement with large fields not so stealthy), so you basically bandits whom only difference is you don't want to do anything with Sauron

[@PunkSlapper123]

I saw the Lord of the Rings movies. They were really good but pretty blown away by all this other stuff I have learned about online. I realize Tolkien's books were extremely detailed but I had no idea it went this far.

[@LetBBB6345789]

Always wondered about Gandalf introducing Saruman as the leader of their order. What order? 5 wizards of which 2 are gone, maybe never met him, and 1 is a nut hardly leaving his forest, showing little power.

[@kamion53]

Olorin ( Gandalf as Maia) was very reluctant to go to Middle Earth because he was afraid of Sauron ( Lost Tales on Istari) where Curunir ( Saruman) volenteered. As a Maia Olorin felt like being the weakest of the Five Istari, maybe that was why he liked Hobbits rather much, they neither looked impressive.

[@MrAntAve]

your music just adds to it

[@lkb1228]

Is it possible that saruman actually met sauron when they were both in the east? Could this have helped to corrupt him?

[@laicarkaninmiliel7777]

I adore your channel matt, you made me rediscover my love for Tolkien 💚💚💚 thank you 💚💚💚