The Dunlendings - Villains or Victims? 

The ones portrayed in Peter Jackson’s film were enticed to attack by Saruman’s promise of dental insurance.

Whenever someone says that the Lord of the Rings idealizes imperialism and Tolkien is a racist I always think of stuff like this and I'm like yeah you clearly did not read the same story I did. The good guys make several terrible mistakes and some people fight on the side of evil because of them more so than any loyalty to actual evil

‘The Dunlendings: Playing Middle Earth on Hard Mode’

What Tolkien left out is the elves views of the Dunlendings. It totally looks like Gil-Galad saw Aldarion as a strong ally against Sauron and was prepared to overlook habitat destruction and ethnic cleansing in exchange for security for his realm to the north.

They thought the Rohirrim were evil but changed their minds after being showed mercy in Helms Deep. Do not underestimate the voice of Saruman.

Consider the following: Tolkien wrote his legendarium pretending to having access to ancient writings and documents about Middle Earth, these documentation is obviously written by Dunedain and Elves so there is a case for doubting the veracity of the information they provide about the Dumlings, specially when we already know how racist and supremacist the Dunedain were about the native peoples of Middle Earth, even amongst the faithful.

And people say Tolkien never had shades of grey or moral ambiguity in his works!

I think of the Dunlendings as a "celtic" kind of people, like the welsh or Irish or Picts. People the Saxons wouldve warred with. I dont think the Rohan Dunland conflict is a case of good vs evil, but the kind of conflict that arises in the normal course of human affairs especially after the Dominion of Men. Heres a question I wonder: if the Rohirrim are based on Anglo Saxons, where are all the slaves? 10 to 20 percent of anglo saxon society was enslaved.

Too be completely fair Saruman is said to have the ability of magical influence. Your honor I argue that dunland was a victim of magical persuasion. And Saruman might be able to dissuade their fears by saying these orcs are different, disciplined and intelligent.

If King Helm Hammerhead approved Wulf's request to marry his daughter, how would that impact Rohan's relationship with the Dunlendings?

Now that's what I call an interesting topic.

What I find fascinating is what the Dunlandings didn't do: reclaim their land, specifically southern Arnor after the Witch King had destroyed Cardolan and Arnor as a whole. Perhaps they were scared of the Wights, but I'd have expected them to at least try colonizing parts of Cardolan not situated near the Barrow Downs, as well as southern regions in Arthedain and Rhudaur, perhaps trying to settle the lands south and west of Bree.

The conflict between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings is reminiscent of the British land grab by the Anglo-Saxons, who pushed the indigenous Celtic population to the fringes.

Even when I first read the trilogy, I was struck by Tolkien's nuanced references to the Dunlendings and their sad history with Gondor and the Rohirrim. They definitely seem a people who just can't get a break, leaving them vulnerable to Saruman's exploitation.

There is a 1600 year gap between the defeat of Sauron and the Plague. During this time the Dunlendings appeared to have been pretty much left alone in Enedwaith. After the Great Plague they began to move into Calenardon. This event is analogous to the successive waves of barbarian incursions into the Roman Empire beginning with the Antoine Plague.

Dunlendings are basicly new players to a Grand Strategy game

Excellent content. I never knew much about them other than the origin of the feud with Rohan.

another excelent video bro, wonderfull misterys uncovered, always felt the same way about them...

I think their situation could have improved in the Fourth Age. I'm not sure if Eomer occupied Dunland in the Fourth Age. Whether or not, I think they could have been part of the founding populations of the new colonies in Enedwaith and Arnor. Who knows, eventually they might have even migrated into Eregion once Khazad-dum was reestablished.

The CC keeps calling them the dumb lendings lmao