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    What is East of Middle-Earth?



    What is East of Middle-Earth?

    Explore the best of fantasy and sci-fi in depth, with analysis of the worlds of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Witcher and more.

    For more Lord of the Rings content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suB7Sw6YB48&list=PLVTclEEyY1SKFumpT86h-y6jikkEUKIAH

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    17 Comments

    5. @rafaelgustavo7786 on

      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.).

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