"Мы называем их черными нуменорцами — морэдайн., И это название они носят даже с некоторой гордостью."(с) Опции

[Адунафель Морниэ]

Нафантазировать много чего можно, просто когда говорят что это не имха, а так написал Толкин... В общем, действительности оно не соответствует.

Ну так когда свои имхи и фантазии выдают за канон, только ржать и остается.

Да, эта незамутнённая уверенность в своей правоте безмерно доставляет, но расставить точки над ё всё же надо.

Вполне может быть, хотя тут уж иди знай, насколько гены адунайм были устойчивы, и насколько доминантны или наоборот рецессивны. А про истерлингов вообще мало известно, вот Кхаммул из них был...

Ну да, мы знаем только что дунэдайн сохранили идентичность и народ Голоса Саурона, а умбарцы вроде смешались. При таком раскладе потеря этой самой идентичности из-за "тёмности" исключена.

[Аллор]

Да, эта незамутнённая уверенность в своей правоте безмерно доставляет, но расставить точки над ё всё же надо.

Ну да, мы знаем только что дунэдайн сохранили идентичность и народ Голоса Саурона, а умбарцы вроде смешались. При таком раскладе потеря этой самой идентичности из-за "тёмности" исключена.

Да уж. По крайней мере какие-то границы обозначить.

"Темность" могли рассматривать как причину "идеологические противники", т.е. утрата веры в Эру как стержны нац. идентификации (типа "Православие, Самодержавие, Народность":))).

[Адунафель Морниэ]

Да уж. По крайней мере какие-то границы обозначить.

"Темность" могли рассматривать как причину "идеологические противники", т.е. утрата веры в Эру как стержны нац. идентификации (типа "Православие, Самодержавие, Народность":))).

А то прямо " Государство - это я!"

Может, поэтому о них до появления Голоса ничего и не говорится.

[Аллор]

Угу

Может быть.

[Адунафель Морниэ]

Френдлентой в жж принесло.

Я наконец отыскал Нуменор. Отыскал, чтобы утратить навсегда. Изменники не солгали: Нуменор покоится на дне моря. Нуменор мертв. Мой народ – мертв.
Я не знаю, дОлжно ли мне возвращаться с этой вестью. Возвращаться… домой? Но Умбар – не дом. Мой дом был здесь – и теперь его нет. Нуменор мертв, и я умер вместе с ним. Осталось только море, которое поглотило нас.
Изменники не солгали, но правда делает их изменниками дважды и трижды. Они предали Короля; предали свой народ; и предали память Нуменора, отвернувшись от моря, что пожрало его, ради власти над восточными землями.
Что ж, пусть те, кто жив ценой предательства, властвуют над землей. Я же, мертвец, верный памяти, навеки отдаю себя морю.
И возвращаюсь лишь затем, чтобы верные нуменорцы Умбара узнали правду – и сделали тот же выбор.

- запись в дневнике Фаразана, капитана из Порта Умбар, от 12 лотессэ 3330 года Второй Эпохи.

Как говорится, read more.

P. S. А фэндомский образ складывается, и складывается такой, какой надо.

[Аллор]

Френдлентой в жж принесло.
P. S. А фэндомский образ складывается, и складывается такой, какой надо.

Мне понравилось (как я еще в дайри писала). У каждой группы должен быть какой-то цементирующий ее и греющий душу тезис-лозунг-позиция.

[Адунафель Морниэ]

Френдлентой в жж принесло.
P. S. А фэндомский образ складывается, и складывается такой, какой надо.

Мне понравилось (как я еще в дайри писала). У каждой группы должен быть какой-то цементирующий ее и греющий душу тезис-лозунг-позиция.

Вот точно! И вот это, имхо, как раз очень подходит. Да и вообще приятно, когда на весь фэндом ещё кто-то думает так же, а тут и не просто кто-то, а "наши собираются"(с) )))

[Аллор]

Френдлентой в жж принесло.
P. S. А фэндомский образ складывается, и складывается такой, какой надо.

Мне понравилось (как я еще в дайри писала). У каждой группы должен быть какой-то цементирующий ее и греющий душу тезис-лозунг-позиция.

Вот точно! И вот это, имхо, как раз очень подходит. Да и вообще приятно, когда на весь фэндом ещё кто-то думает так же, а тут и не просто кто-то, а "наши собираются"(с) )))

Еще бы не приятно)) Всегда радует, когда кто-то мыслит схоже, причем сам по себе, а не потому что ты что-то задвинул...

[Адунафель Морниэ]

Интересный материал про третье королевство в изгнании. Про Умбар то есть. На всякий случай(если вдруг ссылка сдохнет) копирую сюда. Читать в красивом варианте и с картами тут.


During the glory of the Kings of Westernesse, the Nъmenуreans "had explored the coasts of Middle-earth far southward" (TI), establishing landing and trading posts that grew into cruel vice-kingdoms. But "though the kingdoms and strongholds they made have left many rumours in the legends of Men, the Eldar know naught of them" (HA; except that out of them, at least three of the Nazgыl were recruited) save for one that acquired a special position in history and in the Third Age grew, for a while, into a third Realm in Exile.
The mariners of Nъmenуr had discovered south of the outflow of Anduin, as it was then, a useful natural haven "that no hand had wrought" (AK) though unsettled it was not: The colonisers adopted the local name and referred to it as "the great cape and land-locked firth of Umbar [that] had been Nъmenуrean land since days of old." (KR, iv).
The borders of the dominion and nation that grew from it are not defined by map or textbook. The coastline of the firth appears almost at the southern edge of the original LR map and on the UT map (that in many LR editions replaced the older one) it is not found at all. Thus, for the convenience of those who know only the latter, the map of the Bay of Belfalas is reproduced here as it may have appeared in the Second Age.
The Kings of Nъmenуr of course recognised the usefulness as well as the vulnerability of this site, being closer than any other except Pelargir to the land of Mordor. And so, in 2280 SA, it was "made into a great fortress of Nъmenуr" (TY) that remained known as the Haven of Umbar (*Umbarlond. There was no relationship at all to the Quenya word umbar "fate" (SW), but the Nъmenуreans were no doubt aware of the accidental similarity. Maybe the tengwa sign signifying umbar was represented in the official device of the Haven?).
Of all the Nъmenуrean port-towns south of Anduin, this became the strongest and by far the most important. During the dissension arising when the Shadow fell on the motherland, Umbar was the northernmost settlement of those staying loyal to the Line of Elros. And so, when Sauron, trying now to break the waxing Nъmenуrean grip no longer by instigation but by force, decided "to assail the havens and forts of the Nъmenуreans, and invaded the coastlands under their dominion" (YS), he found that "Umbar he could not yet take", (HA). And so, very naturally "it was there that Ar-Pharazon the Golden, last King of Nъmenуr, ... landed and humbled the might of Sauron." (KR)
This historic event occurred in 3261 SA, and its majesty and tragic is worth to recall from the authentic and unedited sources: "The fleet came at last to that place that was called Umbar, where was a mighty haven that no hand had wrought. Empty and silent under a sickle moon was the land when the King of the Sea set foot upon the shore. For seven days he journeyed with banner and trumpet. ... Then he sent forth heralds, and he commanded Sauron to come before him and swear to him fealty." (AK, HA)
Because of this glorious though Pyrrhic victory, Umbar remained a symbol of Dъnedainic national pride ever after.
However, its fortifications did not protect it against the enemies that came from inside. When Sauron was in Nъmenуr, even this last and strongest haven fell under his sway. From now on, "many of those who sailed east ... 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 [the King of Lindon] these renegades, lords both mighty and evil, for the most part took up their abodes in the southlands far away", (AK) that is, south of the river Harnen and along the coasts of Harad. Umbar became thus "a stronghold of the King's Men, who were afterwards called the Black Nъmenуreans", (KR) and who "established their dwellings in Middle-earth during the years of Sauron's domination, worshipped him, being enamoured of evil knowledge", (RK) and made it without doubt the most important point of deportation for the slaves and taxes pressed out of the suffering peoples on the continent.
The sinister rфle of Umbar came to an end when the mother island foundered. 3320 - 3441 SA: The Sauronian Period
We have no information on the condition in which Umbar survived the cataclysm of 3320 SA, when the shorelines of Middle-earth "were much changed in the tumult of the winds and seas, the Bay of Belfalas was much filled at the east and south, so that Pelargir which had been only a few miles from the sea was left far inland, and Anduin carved a new path by many mouths to the Bay. But the Isle of Tolfalas was almost destroyed, and was left at last like a barren and lonely mountain in the water not far from the issue of the River". (TS) It may be that its narrow exit and firth protected the Haven against the worst inundations. By any means, not only the Elendili and some of the Faithful on the continent escaped but also not a few of the King's Men who stayed "corrupted by Sauron, and who hated above all the followers of Elendil." (KR) Umbar was evidently still strong enough to remain self-sustaining, though now a satellite of Mordor. And so, when Sauron returned and "gathered to him great strength of his servants out of the east and the south" to finally destroy the surviving Faithful and their Elvish allies, "among them were not a few of the high race of Nъmenуr." (RP)
Particularly mentioned were two high commanders called "Herumor and Fuinur, who rose to power among the Haradrim" (RP) and appeared on the stage in 3429 SA, during the War of the Last Alliance. It is not explicitly stated that these two came from Umbar; but with regard to its special strategic position it is not unlikely that they did. Their fate is unknown: probably they remained on the battlefield. 3441 SA - 1050 TA: The Ancient Realm
The aftermath of 3441 SA was catastrophic for the Black Nъmenуreans, but Umbar recovered. While the other "settlements beyond Umbar had been absorbed [by the cultures of the Haradrim], or being made by men already in Nъmenуr corrupted by Sauron had become hostile and parts of Sauron's dominions", (TI) the Haven of Umbar increased once again, now no longer a satellite but a fully sovereign state. The extension of its inland boundaries are not known any more, but since it was known in Gondor as "the nearest of the southern realms" it may ultimately have stretched all along the river Harnen as far as the Ephel Duath, and maybe to the edge of Khand: a veritable third Realm in Exile that competed with fledgling Gondor for power. Or there was a vast uninhabited territory inland that precluded other states to approach Harondor (some maps suggest a desert inland; but whether this was official is not known. See TI).
Unfortunately, we do not know how the Black Nъmenуreans saw themselves, and Gondorian documents tell very little about this period that may be defined as the Ancient Realm. This regrettable loss makes it very difficult to gain conjectures about the culture and traditions of Umbar, and nothing is known about the nature of the "evil knowledge" that its loremasters had sought to gain from the Dark Lord.
Probable it is that, like enclaves of this kind incline to do, they conservatively kept to the traditions of the King's Men of the Second Age. It is certainly remarkable that never a proclaimed "King of Umbar" arose though the Black Nъmenуreans certainly considered themselves the representatives of the last legal King of Nъmenуr, regarding the Heirs of Elendil as usurpers. Maybe there were even some surviving relatives of the Line of Elros among the local aristocracy who claimed the governship. But perhaps the overlords of the Haven anticipated the later custom of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor and claimed to rule "in the King's absence" and, enshrouding the dark events of the past, may even have subscribed to a myth that foretold Ar-Pharazфn's triumphant return from the West and reclaim of the throne in some distant future.
(It is curious that those few rulers of Umbar whom the records mention with one exception always come in pairs. If this was a general rule we may conclude that Umbar was traditionally ruled by a duumvirate, much like the two mayors of Carthage or the consuls of Rome.)
Тhe Black Nъmenуreans very likely did not exchange Classical Adыnaic against an Elvish-influenced Westron either but retained it as a language of lore that might be called "Black Adыnaic". It may eventually have grown into a Southron equivalent of the Common Speech. In this context, it is noteworthy that Arundel Lowdham cited not one but two Third Age descendants of Classical Adыnaic, giving the names for sun and moon, respectively (NC). If one of them was Westron, the other may very well have been the Adыnaic idiom of Umbar.
A notion that may come surprising to the historians of Middle-earth is that the minority policies of the Black Nъmenуreans were much more liberal than those of Nъmenуr and the northern two Realms in Exile alike. While the Line of Elros kept inbreeding for many generations, Gondor observed with suspicion whether the ethnic purity of the royal heirs was maintained and even Aragorn liked to refer with pride to the purity of his Nъmenуrean descent, the lords of Umbar never had such reservations. And so, as a Gondorian chronicler scornfully remarked, "after the Fall of Sauron, their race swiftly dwindled or became merged with the Men of Middle-earth." (KR, iv) This was definitely written by the same spirit that led to the Kin-strife! The question may then be allowed what, after the War of the Last Alliance, the Black Nъmenуreans indeed had done to provoke the final clash with their northern neighbour.
The general accusation that they "hated above all the followers of Elendil" (KR) is too vague and does not at all mean that it had any practical consequences beyond keeping the borders shut. There is in fact nothing to suggest otherwise, and a rather curious remark found in the Red Book of Westmarch may even indicate that before the war the lords of Umbar had already recognised the supremacy of Osgiliath: "In those days our bounds were away south beyond the mouths of Anduin, and Umbar, the nearest of their realms, acknowledged our sway." (TT) It must have been during this time when one from "the nearest of their realms" actually became queen of Gondor.
The marriage of crown-prince Tarannon to Berъthiel was no doubt a diplomatic one, arranged by his father Siriondil. It proved unhappy, though: Despite her origins from a seafaring nation, she resembled queen Erendis in that she „loathed the smell of the sea, and fish, and the gulls. Rather like Skadi, the giantess, who came to the gods in Valhalla, demanding a recompense for the accidental death of her father. ... after she’d married [Njцrd, the sea-god], she got absolutely fed up with the seaside life, and the gulls kept her awake, and finally she went back to live in Jotunheim. Well, Berъthiel went back to live in the inland city [of Osgiliath], and went to the bad (or returned to it—she was a black Nъmenorean in origin, I guess).” (Castell: The Realms of Tolkien) It is further told that „Berъthiel lived in the King's House in Osgiliath, hating the sounds and smells of the sea and the house that Tarannon built below Pelargir "upon arches whose feet stood deep in the wide waters of Ethir Anduin;" she hated all making, all colours and elaborate adornment, wearing only black and silver and living in bare chambers, and the gardens of the house in Osgiliath were filled with tormented sculptures beneath cypresses and yews. She had nine black cats and one white, her slaves, with whom she conversed, or read their memories, setting them to discover all the dark secrets of Gondor, so that she knew those things "that men wish most to keep hidden," setting the white cat to spy upon the black, and tormenting them. No man in Gondor dared touch them; all were afraid of them, and cursed when they saw them pass.»
Tarannon occupied himself with extending „the sway of Gondor far along the shore-lands on either side of the Mouths of Anduin” (HE), and on his ascension to the throne he renamed himself Falastur, „Lord of the Coasts”, becoming the first of the four so-called Ship-kings. The ill-fortuned and unique marriage between the royalties of Gondor and Umbar though made him refuse to accomplish the marriage, and he remained childless, thus the line of kings in Gondor was for the first time disrupted. Ultimately, Berъthiel's„name was erased from the Book of the Kings ("but the memory of men is not wholly shut in books, and the cats of Queen Berъthiel never passed wholly out of men's speech"), and ... King Tarannon had her set on a ship alone with her cats and set adrift on the sea before a north wind. The ship was last seen flying past Umbar under a sickle moon, with a cat at the masthead and another as a figure-head on the prow.» (TI) Seen by whom, we must ask. Evidently, reports reached Gondor from those Black Nъmenуreans who by that time already acknowledged its sway.
Gondor's position on Umbar thus was at least ambiguous, if not dubious. The Ship-kings' ambitions were certainly partially motivated by a certain public sentimentality with regard to the Firth of Umbar and its historical significance, for "even the followers of Elendil remembered with pride the coming of the great host of Ar-Pharazфn out of the deeps of the Sea." (KR, iv). After the episode between Falastur and Berъthiel, the survivors of „the great host” and their descendants were in the following dubbed "renegades" (RP), and in 933 TA, Falastur's nephew "Eдrnil I. ... laid siege by sea and land to Umbar, and took it, and it became a great harbour and fortress of the power of Gondor. But Eдrnil did not long survive his triumph. He was lost [in 936 TA] with many ships and men in a great storm off Umbar." (KR, iv)
Gondor thus had taken the main province. But not yet the empire. The lords of the Black Nъmenуreans retreated into exile in Near Harad and from there "contested the designs of Gondor to occupy the coast-lands beyond R[iver] Harnen" (HE). Patient they were, though: It took them 82 years to build their forces, and then in the year 1015, "the Men of the Harad, led by the lords that had been driven from Umbar, came up with great power against that stronghold, and Ciryandil fell in battle in Haradwaith" (KR, iv) or, as other sources say, "in the siege of Umbar" (TY). (One may wonder in what way the lords that had been driven from Umbar were related to, or even descending from, the house of the unhappy queen Berъthiel.) However, Gondor was now in full control of the sea-routes and could easily replenish the defensive forces to hold out till 1050: "For many years Umbar was invested, but could not be taken because of the sea-power of Gondor. Ciryaher ... utterly defeated the Men of the Harad, and their kings were compelled to acknowledge the overlordship of Gondor (1050)." This marked the final collapse of the Ancient Realm and of the Black Nъmenуreans.
1050 - 1448 TA: The Gondorian Period
Gondor now "occupied all the land south of the Mouths of Anduin up to the River Harnen and the borders of Near Harad; and also all the coast-lands as far as Umbar. / Umbar became a great fortress and haven of fleets." (HE) The kings left no doubt that they considered Umbar forever theirs. In concession to the patriotic feelings for Ar-Pharazфn among their own people "on the highest hill of the headland above the Haven they ... set a great white pillar as a monument. It was crowned with a globe of crystal that took the rays of the Sun and of the Moon and shone like a bright star that could be seen in clear weather even on the coasts of Gondor or far out upon the western sea." This marvel lightened the southern border of the vast Gondorian realm for 400 years.
What had meanwhile happened to the Black Nъmenуreans? Should we assume that the Gondorians committed a terrible war atrocity, driving or killing off the Kings' Men down to the last woman or new-born and repopulating a deserted fortress? Or was there a significant native population left that indeed "acknowledged our sway", maybe in parts even repented and mingled with the conquerors so that plenty of „pure-bred” Gondorians were in fact of partially Sauronian origin? By any means, from now on the Black Nъmenуreans vanish from the annals except for one very late and very peculiar incident.
The star of Umbar began to rise again when that of Gondor began to wane. In the 15th century TA, "there was already rebellion in the southern provinces". (KR, iv) For during the Kin-strife of 1432-1448 and the rule of the pro-Nъmenуrean nationalist Castamir on the throne of Osgiliath, the usurper "was supported by the people of the coasts and the great havens of Pelargir and Umbar." (KR, iv) That the nationalist faction found such a strong base there is truely remarkable, for the people of Umbar had "become much mixed in blood through admission of Men of Harad" (HE) - does that mean that by then, the Black Nъmenуreans considered themselves better Gondorians than the Elendili?!
The end of the Gondorian Period came when Castamir "was slain ... in battle in Lebennin, at Ethraid Erui" (HE) "but Castamir's sons escaped, and with others of their kin and many people of the fleets they held out long at Pelargir. When they had gathered all the force that they could (for Eldacar had no ships to beset them at sea) they sailed away, and established themselves at Umbar. There they made a refuge for all the enemies of the king, and a lordship independent of his crown." (KR, iv)
1448- 1810 TA: The Middle Realm. The Castamirion Dynasty
So with one strike, Gondor had lost most of its naval power, and the rebellious fleets were hitherto effectively used by the Castamirioni so that they were soon known as the Corsairs of Umbar, "similar to the Mediterranean corsairs: sea-robbers with fortified bases". (GN) We do not know for sure how many sons Castamir had; but it seems credible that they were two, and so the ancient tradition of the duumvirate of Umbar, first recorded via Herumor and Fuinur, may have lived up again. Evidently, the Castamirioni were strong enough to defend against Gondorian intervention forces, and the secessionist province thus maintained its regained sovereignty during a long period that may be considered the Middle Realm. Even more than the Ancient Realm, Castamirion Umbar might be called the third Realm in Exile for other than the northern princedoms breaking away from Arnor, it was still run by descendants of Elendil.
Not just Umbar had become secessionist now but "the region of South Gondor became a debatable land between the Corsairs and the Kings." (KR, iv) And not only because of that Gondor considered the loss of its southernmost province "grievous" (KR, iv) for the rebels' control of the historically symbolic place gave them an excellent opportunity to place themselves into the tradition of Nъmenуrean naval power. At the Haven, an important strong fleet fell into their hands, and they began to make use of it so effectively
It should be remembered that, though Sauron may have secretly instigated among them, the Castamirioni never officially ascribed to the side of the Dark Lord. They no doubt considered themselves the legitimate continuation of the royal line of Anбrion rather than the "mixed-blooded" Eldacar and his offspring, though they did not proclaim a kingdom of Umbar: It was probably part of their propaganda that the kingdom could only be Gondor as a whole, and their feud was directed against the line of Eldacar, not against the Heirs of Elendil in general (HE). They were not as radical as their forefather, though, and soon rejected his ethnic purity programme in favour of marrying Haradric women. Old manuscripts tell that within but three generations, the Castamirioni had lost most of their Nъmenуrean blood (HE). The Dъnedain rebels were however involuntarily replenished by the throne of Gondor: "Since that time the kings had become jealous and watchful of those near akin. Often those on whom suspicion fell had fled to Umbar and there joined the rebels." (KR, iv) This constant influx of recruited suspects, whether justified or not, provoked an explosive mixture of Dъnedain leadership, reawakened national pride and Haradric fighting skill. For the Castamirioni readily made an alliance with the adjacent kingdoms of Harad that till then had been tributary to Gondor, convincing them to join the rebellion and support their side (and pay tribute rather to them? HE). Thus, Gondor suddenly faced an open confrontation all along its southern border.
In 1540 TA, king "Aldamir [was] fell in battle with the rebelling kings of Harad allied with the rebels of Umbar". (HE) The conflict continued for eleven years, until his successor "Hyarmendacil II. defeat[ed] the Men of Harad." (TY)
In 1634, Umbar was ruled together by yet another duumvirate, the great-grandsons of Castamir, Angamaitл and Sangahyando, who worked out a terrible assault on the line of Eldacar. "Learning through spies that Minardil was at Pelargir, suspecting no peril since the crushing of Harad and Umbar by his father [Hyarmendacil II, they] made a raid up Anduin, slew the king, ravaged Pelargir and the coasts, and escaped with great booty. [Minardil's heir] Telemnar immediately began to fit out a fleet for the reduction of Umbar", (HE) but before it ever set sail this retaliation fleet was destroyed - not in war but by the Great Plague of 1636. Gondor took almost 200 years to recover from this blow. Even King Tarondor still "was unable to do more than attempt to re-establish life and order within his borders." (HE)
The Castamirioni thus "long held it [i. e. Umbar] as an independent realm [hostile to Gondor,] attacking its ships and raiding its coast at every opportunity." (HE) The third Realm in Exile "remained at war with Gondor for many lives of men, a threat to its coastlands and to all traffic on the sea. It was never again completely subdued until the days of Elessar; and the region of South Gondor became a debatable land between the Corsairs and the Kings." (KR, iv) However, the doom of the Middle Realm came when king Telumehtar, "being troubled by the insolence of the Corsairs, who raided his coasts even as far as the Anfalas, gathered his forces and in 1810 took Umbar by storm. In that war the last descendants of Castamir perished" (KR, iv) in "the storming and destruction of the haven and stronghold of the Corsairs of Umbar" (HE), and "King Telumehtar Umbardacil [drove] out the Corsairs" (TY).
1810 - 1944 TA: The Interregnum
After the vanquishing of the Castamirion dynasty, "Umbar was again held for a while by the kings. Telumehtar added to his name the title Umbardacil." (KR, iv) But Gondor was no longer ruled by Ship-kings. Telumehtar evidently did not reclaim and resettle the fortress, but, with the haven laid it utter ruin and deserted, he left it for decay and apparently forbade any from the Harad entry, leaving just a protective garrison. Yet Osgiliath held Umbar for the major part of a century: Resistance was little for in the meantime "the peoples of Harad were ... engaged in wars and feuds of their own", (CE) finding themselves in peril to get subdued by a new and strong opponent: the ever-hungry Wainrider empire from Rhъn (see The History of the Men of Darkness).
Then Sauron's emissaries managed to arrange that fragile alliance between Wainriders, the land of Khand and the Haradrim which in 1944 TA invaded Gondor's borders both from the east and south. And "in the new evils that soon befell Gondor Umbar was again lost, and fell into the hands of the Men of the Harad." (KR) Not yet they could use it to support their land forces from the seaside, but the Harad forces just "poured into Ithilien" (KR) and were stopped and vanquished by Eдrnil's Southern Army.
1944 - 3019 TA: The New Realm
Umbar was now "reoccupied and rebuilt" (HE) under Haradric sovereignty. The Southrons quickly reinstalled the cruel traditions of the Castamirioni, becoming Corsairs by their own right, but on a lower level. Their shipcraft consisted merely of "dromunds, and ships of great draught with many oars, and with black sails bellying in the breeze." (RK) A dromund is an -originally Byzantinian - kind of large and swift ship of war, similar to a galley of the classical Roman Empire. Typically it was a large vessel, having 100 oars in two banks which were served by slaves. However, they were keel-less ships, restricted to coastal drift and unable to cope with the rough waters of the Belegaer. This was a far cry from the supreme high-sea "galleons" (HA) of Nъmenуr.
The hierarchical structure of the New Realm seems to have changed: It was no longer held by duumvirates but by autocratic individuals known as the Captains of the Haven (KR, iv). But beyond that, we do not learn anything about life in Umbar, nor do we know whether still Gondorian opposition sought for asylum there. Gondor never gave up its claim of the firth, forever considering the Corsairs "rebels" and "renegades" (KR, iv; RK). A lasting peace thus never again was achieved throughout the Third Age. Troubles further increased after 2460 when the Watchful Peace ended and Sauron returned to Dol Guldur: "After that time, Gondor was assailed both by orcs out of Mordor (which had long been unguarded) and the Corsairs of Umbar." (CE) In 2746, the 15th Prince of Dol Amroth fell, apparently during the attempt to stop a raid on Dor-en-Ernil (HE, no other source gives details of the event). A few years later, "in the days of Beren, the nineteenth Steward" (KR, iv), that is in 2758, Gondor was "attacked by fleets of the Corsairs" (TY) who supported Sauron in another huge, concerted attack of Easterlings and Southrons on the - meanwhile kingless - Southern Realm and its new ally, the kingdom of Rohan. "Three great fleets, long prepared, came up from Umbar and the Harad, and assailed the coasts of Gondor in great force; and the enemy made many landings, even as far north as the mouth of the Isen." (KR) When the west march of Rohan was in peril of getting ravaged, Wulf, a local landlord, negotiated an alliance with the Corsairs and aroused the Dunlendings who now, "seeing their chance ... were in great force, for they were joined by [the] enemies of Gondor that landed in the mouths of Lefnui and Isen" (KR). Thus, for a short time the Corsairs even supported Wulf on the throne of Edoras!
The Corsairs probably participated again in 2885 when "stirred up by emissaries of Sauron the Haradrim cross[ed] the Poros and attack[ed] Gondor." (TY) They "occupied South Gondor, and there was much fighting along the Poros." (KR) Yet there was not yet a regular, official statement of the New Realm to which side it took. This came at last "after the second arising of Sauron ... Umbar fell under the domination of his servants, and the memorial of his humiliation [i. e. the globe of the Ar-Pharazфn monument] was thrown down." (KR) And so "the corsairs of Umbar ... have long ceased to fear the might of Gondor, and they have allied them with the Enemy." (RK)
The threat they posed was diminished when in 2980, a few decades before the War of the Ring, they suffered heavy losses. Prior to this year, the mysterious warlord "Thorongil often counselled Ecthelion that the strength of the rebels in Umbar was a great peril to Gondor. He finally got leave of the Steward and gathered a small fleet, and he came to Umbar unlooked-for by night, and there burned a great part of the ships of the Corsairs. He himself overthrew the Captain of the Haven in battle upon the quays, and then he withdrew his fleet with small loss." (KR, iv)
The New Realm was not yet recovered from that when Sauron drafted its vessels for transport to the Pelennor fields. Still, eyewitnesses observed that their main fleet consisted of "fifty great ships and smaller vessels beyond count." (RK) But to no avail: With the Fall of Barad-dыr, Umbar, weakened and defeated, finally lost its sovereignty and submitted to the crown of King Elessar. (KR) The last of the Black Nъmenуreans
It was then that for a last time the mysterious King's Men made speak of themselves. For one of them, "a renegade, who came of the race of those that are named the Black Nъmenуreans" (RK) appeared in the War of the Ring as ambassador of Mordor. "His name is remembered in no tale, for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: 'I am the Mouth of Sauron'.' ... And he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord's favour; and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron and was more cruel than any orc." (KR, iv) He may have been the "horseman in the night" who asked the Dwarf-king Dain for "a trifle that Sauron fancies" (FR), as well as "the Questioner" whom Grishnбkh was ordered to deliver Merry and Pippin to (TT); his last public appearance was at the Black Gate.
But he remains a mystery. We do not know whether he came from Umbar or one of the other ports surviving further South or maybe from the Haradric aristocracy further inland; but how after all the turmoils of three millenia during which their race had dwindled and merged could there still be any Black Nъmenуreans who deserved that name? And what do we have to make out of the stupefying statement: "He entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again"? (RK) Recalling the history of Barad-dыr, it first rose again in the Second Age after its desertion in the aftermath of Ar-Pharazфn's Pyrrhus victory when Sauron was believed to be destroyed in Nъmenуr. Its rebuilding at the end of the Third Age is commonly listed as "the second arising"! (KR; iv) Is the Mouth then a living fossil from the high-days of the Black Nъmenуreans, a contemporary of Herumor and Fuinur or maybe even one of them? - How long does it really take a mortal to forget his name: Gollum still remembered his after 500 years?
But, as he was "no Ringwraith but a living man" (RK) how could he reject the Gift of Eru, the inherent mortality of his race, for millenia and yet live? Despite not being a wraith, he must have been a Ringbearer, which may also explain the sorcery that he had learned; compare the Nazgыl's sorcery while they were still living (RP). Of course, by the end of the Second Age Sauron may already have had one or two of the Seven Rings at his disposal which he had retrieved from the Dwarves (the third one was still in possession of the House of Dъrin), and why would he not make use of them another time - it would in fact have been a folly not to do so. Though without the One no longer in Sauron's hands, a Dwarf Ring may not have been capable any longer of turning the Mouth into a wraith, especially not after wasting a lot of its inherent energy on failed attempts to convert Dwarf-lords. The Mouth thus may just have become a living super-Gollum, not faded but intermably wretched. This is the only way how his unique longevity could be explained.
Of course, when the One was destroyed the Seven Rings as well faltered and became useless. But if the Mouth managed to escape from the fall of Mordor there is a peculiar possibility: Is it possible that he was identical to that mysterious man called Herumor who tried to install the New Shadow in Gondor? (NS) Is it then not accidental that he used the very name that one of the Black Nъmenуrean field marshals during the War of the Last Alliance had? Was the Mouth still around in Eldarion's time, mimicking Saruman in a desperate attempt to install his own little imitation of Mordor...?

[Аллор]

Ы-ы... а по русски?(( Я ж тупой, аглицкий со словаерм...

[Адунафель Морниэ]

Ы-ы... а по русски? (( Я ж тупой, аглицкий со словаерм...

Не было там по-русски

[Аллор]

Таки хнык(( Попробую так осилить...