The Corsairs Of Umbar | Tolkien Explained 

You do a great job Matt. You do an excellent job.

Love your work.

Loved the video and the Lego. But out of curiosity; will you ever do a video about men and the different groups of men throughout the ages like your videos on the different kinds of elves and dwarves and their histories? Thanks X3

@Kiss my axe - The Tolkien Estate is being more aggressive about going after readings as copyright violations.

And should be avoided at all costs to avoid things like "rings of power"

Ya it’s insane how far and wide he was involved that you’d never know by just reading the original series

No please not another amazon series

Just a flashback to him fighting alongside Eowyn’s grandfather

True

Aragorn was prepared for his role, not only was he educated, learned in all lore, as well as healing arts, and a skilled well trained warrior and commander of troops (and Iwould say that his surprise attack on Umbar makes him worthy of calling him a brilliant tactician), due to his time spend as Thorongil serving in Rohan and Gondor he managed to get to know the realm that he would rule, it's people, it's politics and inner workings. We know a few things about his reign in early Fourth Age, though mostly it's beginning and some sparse information at that, as of course his reign is beginning when the story of Lotr basically ends :), Fourth Age is also the least developed of all the ages, even then though we have some short timeline for early years :). "For he went in many guises, and won renown under many names. Thus he became at last the most hardy of living Men, skilled in their crafts and lore, and was yet more than they; for he was elven-wise, and there was a light in his eyes that when they were kindled few could endure." Innate charisma, in addition to preparation and education, as well as his qualities would make him a great ruler! Details of his early reign are not many but we do learn a bit: A great population boom happened for certain, both in Gondor and in the North, in Shire, even in Rohan. Minas Tirith was restored and became much more populous (the reference to marble might imply that Aragorn reopened or founded new, quarries in Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains seem rich in resources and Gondorians certainly had thriving mining, metalworking and quarrying industry). Naturally the war with Mordor caused enormous damage, much was looted or burned to the ground by advancing armies, so there would be lot of work rebuilding all that was destroyed. We know for sure that the North Kingdom was slowly rebuild and as Gandalf predicted much more people would settle in there. "‘Then the Greenway will be opened again, and his messengers will come north, and there will be comings and goings, and the evil things will be driven out of the waste-lands. Indeed the waste in time will be waste no longer, and there will be people and fields where once there was wilderness.’ ... ‘You will be let alone, Barliman,’ said Gandalf. ‘There is room enough for realms between Isen and Greyflood, or along the shore lands south of the Brandywine, without any one living within many days’ ride of Bree. And many folk used to dwell away north, a hundred miles or more from here, at the far end of the Greenway: on the North Downs or by Lake Evendim.’" We know for sure that of the ancient cities of Arnor, Annuminas at the very least was soon rebuild and Aragorn had there royal palace at shores of Lake Evendim/Nenuial. "1436 King Elessar rides north, and dwells for a while by Lake Evendim.... He gives the Star of the Dúnedain to Master Samwise, and Elanor is made a maid of honour to Queen Arwen." The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix B, The Tale of Years: Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring ... "Our King, we call him; and when he comes north to his house in Annúminas restored and stays for a while by Lake Evendim, then everyone in the Shire is glad.... But he rides often with many fair people to the Great Bridge, and there he welcomes his friends...; and some ride away with him and stay in his house as long as they have a mind. Thain Peregrin has been there many times; and so has Master Samwise the Mayor. His daughter Elanor the Fair is one of the maids of Queen Evenstar." The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur: The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain Naturally the early period of Elessar's reign was not only a prosperous and peaceful time, because there were still many wars to wage with former servants of Sauron. After the collapse of his empire (since Dark Lord ruled not only Mordor but vast area of Rhun and Harad) there were still many dangers and evils to face. "In Eomer’s day in the Mark men had peace who wished for it, and the people increased both in the dales and the plains, and their horses multiplied. In Gondor, the King Elessar now ruled, and in Arnor also. In all the lands of those realms of old he was king, save in Rohan only; for he renewed to Eomer the gift of Cirion and Eomer took again the Oath of Eorl. Often he fulfilled it. For though Sauron had passed , the hatreds and evils that he bred had not died, and the King of the West had many enemies to subdue before the White Tree could grow in peace. And wherever King Elessar went with war King Eomer went with him; and beyond the Sea of Rhun and on the far fields of the south the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard, and the White horse upon green flew in many winds until Eomer grew old" Aragorn also had help of many Dwarves and Elves who became much more frequent guests in realms of Rohan and Gondor doing great works, which must have helped in bringing economic prosperity (especially the Dwarves considering their sheer talent for commerce and craftsmanship): "After the fall of Sauron, Gimli brought south a part of the Dwarf-folk of Erebor, and he became Lord of the Glittering Caves. He and his people did great works in Gondor and Rohan. For Minas Tirith they forged gates of mithril and steel to replace those broken by the Witch-king." Tolkien himself gives more information about happenings in earlier years. He points out that while Mordor is defeated, the dark creatures like Orcs and Trolls, not to mention other things (giant spiders of Shelob's brood, maybe even other monsters, various outlaws and maybe deserters and marauders from various armies) are around. That there would be a job of recolonization and rebuilding Ithilien from ruins, dealing with Morgul Vale and Minas Morgul that Aragorn wanted to tear down in the future and he generally gave bits of info on political structure of Gondor: "A Númenórean King was monarch, with the power of unquestioned decision in debate; but he governed the realm with the frame of ancient law, of which he was administrator (and interpreter) but not the maker. In all debatable matters of importance domestic, or external, however, even Denethor had a Council, and at least listened to what the Lords of the Fiefs and the Captains of the Forces had to say. Aragorn re-established the Great Council of Gondor, and in that Faramir, who remained by inheritance the Steward (or representative of the King during his absence abroad, or sickness, or between his death and the accession of his heir) would [be] the chief counsellor." ... "[To] be Prince of Ithilien, the greatest noble after Dol Amroth in the revived Númenórean state of Gondor, soon to be of imperial power and prestige, was not a 'market-garden job' as you term it. Until much had been done by the restored king, the P. of Ithilien would be the resident march-warden of Gondor, in its main eastward outpost - and also would have many duties in rehabilitating the lost territory, and clearing it of outlaws and orc-remnants, not to speak of the dreadful vale of Minas Ithil (Morgul). I did not, naturally, go into details about the way in which Aragorn, as King of Gondor, would govern the realm. But it was made clear that there was much fighting and in the earlier years of A.'s reign expeditions against enemies in the East. The chief commanders, under the King, would be Faramir and Imrahil; and one of these would normally remain a military commander at home in the King's absence." We know also that immediately after the victorious Battle of Morannon large forces went inside Mordor to tear down strongholds and fortresses (who knows maybe they recovered some valuable resources or loot taken from raids?). In foreign politics we see how after coronation Aragorn receives embassies from many peoples and realms, makes peace (at least temporarily) with Harad and Rhun, releases war prisoners, rewards his allies and grants them land (like giving Woses the Druadan Forest for their own), releases slaves of Mordor and grants them land around Lake Nurnen that they were farming for Sauron, makes alliance with realms of Dale and Erebor. "[Dale and Erebor] sent their ambassadors to the crowning of King Elessar; and their realms remained ever after, as long as they lasted, in friendship with Gondor; and they were under the crown and protection of the King of the West." Aragorn also takes over the managment of Isengard and Orthanc tower: "But King Elessar, when he was crowned in Gondor, began the re-ordering of his realm, and one of his first tasks was the restoration of Orthanc, where he proposed to set up again the palantir recovered from Saruman. Then all the secrets of the tower were searched. Many things of worth were found, jewels and heirlooms of Eorl, filched from Edoras by the agency of Wormtongue during King Théoden's decline, and other such things, more ancient and beautiful, from mounds and tombs far and wide. Saruman in his degradation had become not a dragon but a jackdaw." Aragorn as a king had to resolve disputes and judge criminal cases: "In the days that followed his crowning the King sat on his throne in the Hall of the Kings and pronounced his judgements. And embassies came from many lands and peoples, from the East and the South, and from the borders of Mirkwood, and from Dunland in the west. And the King pardoned the Easterlings that had given themselves up, and sent them away free, and he made peace with the peoples of Harad; and the slaves of Mordor he released and gave to them all the lands about Lake Núrnen to be their own. And there were brought before him many to receive his praise and reward for their valour; and last the captain of the Guard brought to him Beregond to be judged." He not only knew the laws and obeyed them himself, but he also could temper the laws with mercy.

Okay but what was his tax policy though

Actually surprised we know so little about it considering Numenorians were amazing mariners. Then again, not much point of describing a navy when the Corsairs are the only other relevant sea power

@@Omnilatent the story set in Second Age, the Mariner's Wife touches a bit more on the seafaring of the Numenoreans, though even then it's not nearly enough, but we do learn how the Numenoreans developed their craft of shipbuilding, their voyages of exploration, led by Aldarion, the heir and later king of Numenor, and we are told that Numenorean ships became larger and stronger over the years, the numenoreans ships then would be huge and powerful, one can imagine them having a mix of design of earlier galleys with later European XV/XVI century ships maybe (using both oars and sails on high seas, one description of a ship build by Aldarion is telling: "And a vision came to him of a mighty vessel like a castle with tall masts and great sails like clouds, bearing men and stores enough for a town. Then in the yards of Rómenna the saws and hammers were busy, while among many lesser craft a great ribbed hull took shape; at which men wondered. Turuphanto, the Wooden Whale, they called it, but that was not its name." ... "Then Aldarion restrained his desire, and remained at home for a while for the comfort of his father; and in those days he put to use the knowledge he had gained of Círdan concerning the making of ships, devising much anew of his own thought, and he began also to set men to the improvement of the havens and the quays, for he was ever eager to build greater vessels. But the sea-longing came upon him anew, and he departed again and yet again from Númenor; and his mind turned now to ventures that might not be compassed with one vessel's com­pany. Therefore he formed the Guild of Venturers, that after­wards was renowned; to that brotherhood were joined all the hardiest and most eager mariners, and young men sought ad­mission to it even from the inland regions of Númenor, and Aldarion they called the Great Captain. At that time he, having no mind to live upon land in Armenelos, had a ship built that should serve as his dwelling-place; he named it therefore Eämbar, and at times he would sail in it from haven to haven of Númenor, but for the most part it lay at anchor off Tol Uinen: and that was a little isle in the bay of Rómenna that was set there by Uinen the Lady of the Seas. 7 Upon Eämbar was the Guildhouse of the Venturers, and there were kept the records of their great voyages..." ... “The ships of the Númenóreans became ever larger and of greater draught in those days, until they could make far voyages, carrying many men and great cargoes…” And that craft have been developing also further after times of Aldarion! In the writings in HoME there is even this interesting remark: "Therefore he began to prepare a vast armament for the assault upon Valinor, that should surpass the one with which he had come to Umbar even as a great galleon of Numenor surpassed a fisherman's boat." The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 1, Ch 5, The History of the Akallabêth A 'great galleon of Numenor' sounds interesting hehe, of course it's from the drafts of writings but hey it seems quite possible that especially at the time of the Downfall the ships of Numenor would be huge sailing vessels, even description of Alcarondas Castle of the Sea the flagship of Ar-Pharazon sounds impressive: "Then Ar-Pharazôn ... went aboard his mighty ship, Alcarondas.... Many oared it was and many-masted, golden and sable; and upon it the throne of Ar-Pharazôn was set." The 9 ships of Elendil were probably vast enough to carry thousands of people. As for Gondor well we hear less of their naval capabilities, though they always developed great fleets and were mighty naval power in times of their glory, Gondorians of early time after the Downfall seems to have even reached other lands in their search: "And those that sailed far came only to the new lands, and found them like the old lands, and subject to death. And those that sailed furthest set but a girdle about the Earth and returned weary at last to the place of their beginnings; and they said: 'All roads are now bent.' Thus in after days, what by the voyages of ships, what by lore and star-craft, the kings of Men knew that the world was indeed made round." That would require quite a seamanship on the part of Gondorian sailors. Then much, much later, nearly at the end of Gondor's power when the last kings of House of Anarion ruled before Stewards, we hear of the gondorian ships: "Then Eärnil sent his son Eärnur north with a fleet, as swiftly as he could, and with as great strength as he could spare. Too late.... when Eärnur came to the Grey Havens there was joy and great wonder among both Elves and Men. So great in draught and so many were his ships that they could scarcely find harbourage, though both the Harlond and the Forlond were also filled; and from them descended an army of power, with munition and provision for a great war of kings. Or so it seemed to the people of the North, though this was but a SMALL sending-force of the whole might of Gondor. Most of all, the horses were praised, for many of them came from the Vales of Anduin, and with them were riders tall and fair, and proud princes of Rhovanion. Then Círdan summoned all who would come to him, from Lindon or Arnor, and when all was ready the host crossed the Lune and marched north to challenge the Witch-king of Angmar. […] At the same time a force under Glorfindel the Elf-lord came up out of Rivendell." Even in decline the Gondor's naval capabilities were great! The early gondorian kings the Ship-kings were ruling during early days of sea power of Gondor becoming uncontested. Corsairs of Umbar no doubt due to the old connections what with being old Numenorean colony, then being sezied by Castamir and gondorian rebels and finally by Haradrim, one would imagine that they derived a lot of their knowledge from Numenorean one, still it is probable that not only Umbar had naval power that came to rival Gondor, possibly other Haradrim realms had some developing it over time, well there is a possiblity of it in any case: "From the havens of Harad ships of war put out to sea; and out of the East Men were moving endlessly: swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen upon horses ..." The 'havens of Harad' definitely also encompasses Umbar, but also may mean other Haradrim realms and ports.

Of these Isengard is old english I believe

Otherwise, spot on

@@moscanaveia oh okay my bad 😅

My favourite name is Helcaraxë, the frozen lands that connects Aman and Middle-Earth

@@srinjyay Hell yeah I love that one too, between Angband and Utumno are my two favorites, I love Isengard as well.

agreed

Another reason why they are a perfect candidate for sauron!

@@richmondlandersenfells2238 The East in particular, as Sauron was given a lot of help in driving the South into his column.

If Amazon weren't lazy shills they could have done exactly this. They could have had almost no white people in it and it would have been fine, appropriate even. You could have some good guy rebel Haradrim resist some evil and pale-skinned Black Numenorians. They could have more than ticked their political boxes yet still produced something that's not garbage.

Lord Of The Rings is a work of fiction not fact!

That explains why a Denethor and a Echteleon exist in both the Silmarillion and LOTR.

@@bobo577 They weren't the only ones:Húrin I the fifth Steward,Túrin I the sixth Steward ,Hador the seventh Steward,Barahir the eighth Steward,Dior the ninth Steward,Húrin II the fourteenth Steward ,Orodreth the sixteenth Steward ,Egalmoth the eighteenth,Beren the nineteenth,Túrin II the twenty-third,Turgon twenty-fourth.so many

@@talesoftheeldar8688 those I was unaware of except for Barahir. I’m still learning much, have been going through the Silmarillion on Audible. Still an insight into the Numenorean heritage of Gondor and Arnor.

@@bobo577 tolkiens world is so complex but so interesting

* a man, an elf and a dwarf

And two dozen Rangers.

What is a man, an elf, a dwarf, and an undying army doing in the South of Gondor? Speak!

I wonder what Jack's Middle Earth name will be .

@@valentinkambushev4968 Let's see, Jacadan Spërow II son of Taeragon Spërow

@@virtualunreality3771 sounds about right.

@@virtualunreality3771 LMAO!

Personally, I would’ve preferred the larger scope of any Kin-strife material if not the War of the Last Alliance taken from the top. But this is still much better than whatever RoP came up with.

I believe it is nominally independent within gondor but still loyal to gondor. Plus it was founded before anarion and ilsildur founded gondor. Over the centuries before the fall of numenor, refugees loyal to the valor founded settlements in ME

@Steven Keck Excellent points, but not only that. In medieval times in many places, the title "Prince" would refer to a ruler of any kind and not just the son/brother of a king. If a land were not especially large, then it might be counted a principality rather than a kingdom and thus would have a Ruling Prince. An example that's persisted until today IRL is the Principality of Monaco, which is ruled by a prince not a king. Similarly, some medieval realms were ruled by an archduke rather than a King.

There a real-life kingdoms where the highest title was also Prince. Aragorn also made Faramir the first Prince of Ithilien.

@Steven Keck I knew someone out there would have the ME history; thanks!

Indeed it is, but I thought that it was chosen to depict a "typical Black Numenorian", not Sauron.

Might not be much to it. It sensed to me they are basically just a badge of office, so to speak. Might well be little more than symbols.

@@twistedtachyon5877 That's what I thought but why would Saruman's power be so diminished after his staff was broke? Why was Grima so insistent the guards take Gandalf's staff?

But now the rains weep o'er his hall, with no one there to hear.

That who they are supposed to be .

Tolkien intentionally wanted Bombadil to be a mystery.

Same in Final Fantasy 11

Only if he sings the song 🎶🎶

While I have little sympathy for Martin, I would point out that "corsair" is a historic term for state-sanctioned pirates, hardly a brand of originality for either Martin or Tolkien to use

@@moscanaveia I know it is, I'm just saying he's also from the same brand as we also are. I'm not crediting Tolkien, just saying we also made use of cool ass historic terms cuz while i can't speak for the others, it was Tolkien that got me into writing fantasy like he does :)

To whom?

@@valentinkambushev4968 Amazon

@@antifajesus I know that already. I thought Amazon had sold them to someone else.

I think that was the different international Daylight Savings Time dates at work there. :)

And divided even still in Numenor