Posted: June 14, 1999 at 14:23:04: by Michael Martinez
: : I can't think of any references right now. This is my last
: : post here for the evening. "Haradrim" just means "peoples of
: : the south", and does not refer to any one race or tribe. The
: : only black-skinned men we encounter in THE LORD OF THE RINGS
: : are (what appear to be) a fantasy race devised by Tolkien
: : which merit only two mentions in "The Battle of the Pelennor
: : Fields". These are the "black men like half-trolls with
: : white eyes and red tongues", later called "Troll-men".: Melanistic relatives of the Druedain, corrupted by Sauron?
:
: I hadn't noticed before but the white-eye reference would tend
: to rule out any straight equation with Sub-Saharan Africans who
: often have a yellow-tinge to the sclera of the eyes -
: interesting observation. I don't know about that, but unless all other inhabitants of Middle-earth DON'T have white around their irises, Tolkien was saying the eyes of these creatures were white -- meaning, they had WHITE EYES. I don't know how to express it any plainer than that. No man has a white eye. I believe that even albinos have pink eyes, though I've never met an albino so I'm not positive (and would all albinos have the same eye colors?). Also, trolls were very tall. I wouldn't think of the Troll-men as being short and fat. Tolkien apparently decided they resembled trolls in some fashion. They must have therefore been unusually large and strong. : This description of the Far Haradrim reminds me of the ugly
: Ancient Egyptian god Bes. He is usually represented as a squat
: dwarfish (not Dwarvish) thick-limbed, pot-bellied character
: with a grimacing face and protruding tongue, wearing a
: leopardskin kilt and ostrich feathered head-dress. He was
: associated with war and, curiously, childbirth. As Tolkien was
: well aquainted with ancient mythologies a connection would not
: be impossible. Perhaps, but as with making the "hobgoblins" large Orcs (essentially Uruks, I propose), he would indeed be twisting the tradition around in using it for his Troll-men.
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Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, Revised Edition
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