Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Things of Middle-earth

Black Númenóreans

Type: Companies, Councils & Guilds

Description:

Those of the King's Men, Númenóreans hostile to the Eldar and the Faithful, who relocated to Middle-earth.
The great cape and land-locked firth of Umbar had been Númenórean land since days of old; but it was a stronghold of the King's Men, who were afterwards called the Black Númenóreans, corrupted by Sauron, and who hated above all the followers of Elendil.

The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion, Footnote

The Númenóreans now make permanent dwellings on the shores of Middle-earth, seeking wealth and dominion; they build many havens and fortresses. The Elf-friends go chiefly to the North-west, but their strongest place is at Pelargir.... The King's Folk establish lordships in Umbar and Harad and in many other places on the coasts of the Great Lands.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 1, Ch 6, The Tale of Years of the Second Age

And Sauron gathered to him great strength of his servants out of the east and the south; and among them were not a few of the high race of Númenor. For in the days of the sojourn of Sauron in that land the hearts of well nigh all its people had been turned towards darkness. Therefore many of those who sailed east in that time and made fortresses and dwellings upon the coasts were already bent to his will, and they served him still gladly in Middle-earth. But because of the power of Gil-galad these renegades, lords both mighty and evil, for the most part took up their abodes in the southlands far away....

The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

After the fall of Sauron their race swiftly dwindled or became merged with the Men of Middle-earth, but they inherited without lessening their hatred of Gondor.

The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion, Note 1

Notable Examples
There were evil Númenóreans: Sauronians, but they do not come into this story [The Lord of the Rings], except remotely; as the wicked Kings who had become Nazgûl or Ringwraiths.

The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Edited by Humphrey Carpenter, Letter 156 to Robert Murray, SJ., 4 November 1952

[It] is told that [the Mouth of Sauron] was a renegade, who came of the race of those that are named the Black Númenóreans; for they established their dwellings in Middle-earth during the years of Sauron's domination, and they worshipped him, being enamoured of evil knowledge.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 10, The Black Gate Opens

[Two] there were, Herumor and Fuinur, who rose to power among the Haradrim, a great and cruel people that dwelt in the wide lands south of Mordor beyond the mouths of Anduin.

The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

Contributors: Elena Tiriel 30Jun06, 14Mar08

Related Library Entries

Things Search

   

Full Text Search