Outlands

A series of fiefs of southern Gondor running between the shores of the Bay of Belfalas and the White Mountains. Among the more important of these were Lebennin, Belfalas, Lamedon and Anfalas in the far west. The Outlands perhaps also included other regions of less definite status, such as Dor-en-Ernil or the Blackroot Vale, which were contained within the same area. Dol Amroth, home to the Princes of Dol Amroth, stood on the shores of the Great Sea within the Outlands.

The Outlands represented by far the greater part of Gondor's land area, but they were sparsely populated in comparison to the eastern heartlands. At the time of Gondor's founding, the eastern lands of Ithilien and Anórien were held by Gondor's joint Kings, Isildur and Anárion, whose capital was at Osgiliath where the two regions met. It was in this area that most of Gondor's Dúnedain dwelt, and it formed the core of the kingdom.

The Outlands, by contrast, were in large part home to farmers, hunters and fishermen, living a pastoral life far from the centres of Gondorian civilisation. The people of the southern fiefs were ruled over by their own lords, most notably the Princes of Dol Amroth. These lords owed allegiance to the Kings of Gondor, and later the Ruling Stewards, but possessed considerable freedom in arranging their own affairs.

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Actually the term 'Outlands' had two distinct meanings in Gondor. Its use for the farther western and southern parts of the realm is represented by the capitalised form, but we have a single example of an alternative use. When Peregrin Took arrived in Minas Tirith, he was asked for news of the 'outlands' (notably lacking an initial capital 'O'). This cannot possibly refer to the Outlands of Gondor (of which he knew nothing at all), and so in this form, the word 'outlands' must have a broader sense, describing foreign lands beyond the borders of Gondor altogether.