The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Location
A vast and little-known region southward from Gondor and Mordor, beyond the river Harnen
Race
Division
Culture
Settlements
The Haven of Umbar lay on the northwestern coast of the Sunlands
Other names
Notes
Not to be confused with Sunlending, a name for Anórien; while both Sunlending and Anórien literally mean 'Sun land', they refer to a region of Gondor that was quite unrelated to the Sunlands of the Harad, other than being named for the Sun

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About this entry:

  • Updated 24 September 2025
  • Updates planned: 1

Sunlands

The lands of the Harad

Map of the Sunlands

A name among the Hobbits of the Shire for the hot southerly region more commonly referred to as the Harad. The Shire-hobbits knew almost nothing about the Sunlands, which were a place of distant legend to them. They at least understood that a people of the Big Folk lived there, who they referred to as 'Swertings'. They also had folktales of a creature they knew as an 'oliphaunt', a remote recollection of the monstrous war-beasts the Haradrim called Mûmakil.


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About this entry:

  • Updated 24 September 2025
  • Updates planned: 1

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