Easterlings
Encyclopedia
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien
, "Easterling" and "Easterlings" were generic terms for Men
who lived in the east of Middle-earth
, who mostly fought under Morgoth
and Sauron
, not directly but rather on behalf of their own High Lord.
The Easterlings were about 5'8" to 6'1" and muscular; they were swarthy
, dark haired
, and dark-eyed.
, the term was applied to the Swarthy Men who came from the east and went into Beleriand
in , much later than the Edain
. They were of different tribes, which were sometimes on the edge of strife. Some were of the same ethnic stock as the Forodwaith
and later men of Lossoth, but all were dark-skinned and broad. The most powerful of their chieftains were Bór and Ulfang, and the Sons of Fëanor
made alliance with them.
The people of Bór proved to be faithful, but were completely destroyed during the Nírnaeth Arnoediad
, fighting on the side of the Eldar
and Edain. But the followers of Ulfang and his son Uldor, the Accursed, were already in secret allegiance with Morgoth
before their coming, and betrayed the Elves and Men of the West to their defeat during the Battle of Unnumbered Tears in what was later known as the Treachery of Men.
However, Ulfang's Easterlings were also betrayed by their lord Morgoth, who had promised them vast lands, and they were locked in Hithlum
. After the War of Wrath
, those that survived fled back over the Ered Luin to Eriador
and beyond.
, the term was applied to those Men living beyond the Sea of Rhûn, who were allied with Sauron
and frequently attacked Gondor
. Their armies consisted of swordsmen, spear-men, bowmen & mounted archers, horsemen, charioteers, and wain-wagon crews, as well as axe-men.
The first Easterling attacks were in the late 5th century of the Third Age and were repelled by King Ostoher and his son Rómendacil I. Later King Turambar fought wars of conquest against the Easterlings, extending Gondor's borders to the Sea of Rhûn. In 1248 the Regent of Gondor, Minalcar, led out a great force and attacked and destroyed many Easterling settlements, ensuring peace for Gondor in the east until T.A. 1800.
and attacked in full force five years later, defeating the Gondorian army and killing King Narmacil II. They rode in great wagons and chariots (which gave them their name), and raided the lands of Rhovanion
, destroying or enslaving its people. Gondor gradually lost all of its possessions east of Anduin
, save Ithilien
, to them. The thirtieth king of Gondor, Calimehtar son of Narmacil, defeated the Wainriders in battle on the Dagorlad, buying some rest for his land.
However the Wainriders struck back in 1944, allying themselves with the Haradrim of Near Harad and the Variags of Khand. They managed to kill King Ondoher and both his sons, but instead of riding on to Minas Anor and taking the city, they paused to celebrate. Meanwhile, general Eärnil
of Gondor's southern army had defeated the Haradrim and rode north to defend his king. He came too late to rescue Ondoher, but managed to surprise and defeat the Wainriders in the Battle of the Camp. Eärnil was crowned king a year later. After this defeat the might of the Wainriders was broken, and their confederation collapsed.
for "cruel people") were an entire people group of Easterlings, complete with women and children who migrated towards eastern Gondor due to overcrowding. In 2510 they began to settle the plains of Calenardhon and almost sent running the army of the Ruling Steward Cirion
, but were all slaughtered by the Éothéod
under Eorl the Young at the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. Like the Wainriders they rode in chariots and wagons, and they may have been descendants of this people.
in 1944 of the Third Age, fighting alongside the Wainriders. They were also present during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
, over a thousand years later. Little was known about them.
In the real world, Variags is another name for the Varangians
, a Viking
people who had contact with Kievan Rus and Constantinople
, described in one Byzantine
chronicle
as "axe-wielding barbarians".
itself, Easterlings are described as perhaps belonging to more than one culture, plus the Variags of Khand. One group is described as a "new" kind of Easterling that the men of Gondor had previously not encountered: fierce bearded men with axes.
Easterlings are not featured greatly in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
. They can be seen marching when Frodo
and Sam come to the Black Gate in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and in a few quick scenes in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(they can be spotted both on foot and horseback among the Mordor forces that penetrate Minas Tirith
). Gandalf
does not mention them when he tells Pippin of men allied with Sauron (although they were mentioned in a conversation involving Faramir
's briefing in Ithilien when consulting the map). On screen, the Easterlings wear lamellar
often covering the middle of the chest and the full stomach with a neck plate and a wok-like helmet with three crests and a faceplate, rerebraces, vambraces, cuisses
, poleyns, finger-scales, hand-plates, and thumb-scales. Also, they are armed with halberds with the hook below the ax head, scimitars and bronze scutums
. Their armour is inscribed with a script which resembles Tengwar
mixed with Persian
. The clothing they wear is a dull-violet headscarf, tunic, trousers, robe-skirt (comes to knees), red gloves, black boots, and a black facecloth. There is a sculpture at Weta Workshop
of an Easterling with a long bow and a fanned-out quiver of arrows. In early design concepts, the Easterlings wore turbans and their helmets bore crescent moons, an appearance that heavily resembled medieval Arabian dress, but director Peter Jackson
requested that obvious representation of real-world cultures be avoided. In The Two Towers film they carry scarlet standards marked with a black serpent. In the book this emblem is attributed to the Haradrim, and indeed in the Return of the King film, flags with this design (and the eye of Sauron) adorn the Mûmakil.
The real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II
, chiefly based on the film trilogy though also taking material from the book, features one playable Easterling unit: Pikemen. Also, one of the playable maps is Rhûn, complete with Easterling buildings. The buildings' architecture suggests both Asian and Nordic influence and the Easterling helmet crests resemble those of samurai
.
Though the Variags are not a unit in the game, they are mentioned in a caption for the create-a-hero function in the game, and it is possible to create a corrupted man with barbarian-like armour and clothing that differs from that of the Easterlings or Haradrim, and is most likely that of a Variag.
In The Two Towers (MUD)
, both Easterling and Variag are playable races. Variag players start in an encampment called Asubuhi (the Swahili language
word for 'morning') which is a creation of fan fiction with no direct reference in Tolkien's works. Easterling players start at wagons outside of the town of Tavorus, also a creation of fan fiction.
In Games-Workshop's game and in EA-permitted Battle for Middle-earth series mods, the Easterlings are presented as their own faction, with dangerously skilled archers and deadly cavalrymen called "Kataphrakts", and have impressive charioteers, as they were described to have in the book but not in the movie.
In Iron Crown Enterprises "Middle-earth Role Playing
" game, there are various peoples and tribes of Easterlings, including the Sagath, Logath and Igath (identified as the Wainriders), Asdriags, Odhriags and Nuriags and many others. Most of these cultures are more or less contradictory to Tolkien´s descriptions: they are shown as nomadic Horse people much similar to the historical Huns
, Mongols
and Scythes
. The "Easterlings with axes", who were described as bearded like dwarves in the books, inspired a distinct race of half-dwarves similar to the "Mul" of Dungeons & Dragons, known as "Umli".
describes the Easterlings in detail. "Eastland is a very large land and there be many cities and townes within it, and in every one of them is a king: whereby there is continually among them great strife and contention. ... There is no ale brewed among the Easterlings but of meade there is plenty. The wealthiest men drinke commonly Mares milke and the poore people and slaves meade."
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, "Easterling" and "Easterlings" were generic terms for Men
Man (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...
who lived in the east of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, who mostly fought under Morgoth
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
and Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
, not directly but rather on behalf of their own High Lord.
The Easterlings were about 5'8" to 6'1" and muscular; they were swarthy
Brown people
Brown people or brown race is a political, racial, ethnic, societal, and cultural classification, similar to black people and white people. Like these, it is a metaphor for race based on human skin color, reflecting the fact that there are shades of skin colour intermediate between "Mediterranean" ...
, dark haired
Black hair
Black hair is the darkest and most common of all human hair colors globally. It is a dominant genetic trait, and it is found in people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is less dense than other hair colors. Black hair is known to be the shiniest of all hair...
, and dark-eyed.
First Age
During the First AgeFirst Age
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the First Age, or First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar is the heroic period in which most of Tolkien's early legends are set...
, the term was applied to the Swarthy Men who came from the east and went into Beleriand
Beleriand
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional legendarium, Beleriand was a region in northwestern Middle-earth during the First Age. Events in Beleriand are described chiefly in his work The Silmarillion, which tells the story of the early ages of Middle-earth in a style similar to the epic hero tales of Nordic...
in , much later than the Edain
Edain
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Edain were men who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves....
. They were of different tribes, which were sometimes on the edge of strife. Some were of the same ethnic stock as the Forodwaith
Forodwaith
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Forodwaith was the name both of a region and the people that lived there.-Geography:...
and later men of Lossoth, but all were dark-skinned and broad. The most powerful of their chieftains were Bór and Ulfang, and the Sons of Fëanor
Sons of Fëanor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, the seven sons of Fëanor, the eldest prince of the Noldor, led their people from Valinor to rule over kingdoms in the Northeast of Beleriand:...
made alliance with them.
The people of Bór proved to be faithful, but were completely destroyed during the Nírnaeth Arnoediad
Nirnaeth Arnoediad
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium of Middle-earth, the Nírnaeth Arnoediad or Unnumbered Tears was the climactic Fifth Battle in the Wars of Beleriand.-The Fifth Battle as told in The Silmarillion:...
, fighting on the side of the Eldar
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...
and Edain. But the followers of Ulfang and his son Uldor, the Accursed, were already in secret allegiance with Morgoth
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
before their coming, and betrayed the Elves and Men of the West to their defeat during the Battle of Unnumbered Tears in what was later known as the Treachery of Men.
However, Ulfang's Easterlings were also betrayed by their lord Morgoth, who had promised them vast lands, and they were locked in Hithlum
Hithlum
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Hithlum is the region north of Beleriand near the Helcaraxë.Hithlum was separated from Beleriand proper by the Ered Wethrin mountain chain, and was named after the sea mists which formed there at times: Hithlum is Sindarin for "Mist-shadow";...
. After the War of Wrath
War of Wrath
The War of Wrath, or the Great Battle, is a key plot development in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium, portraying the final war against Morgoth at the end of the First Age....
, those that survived fled back over the Ered Luin to Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
and beyond.
Third Age
During the Third AgeThird Age
The Third Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The history of Middle-earth is to be taken fictionally as a history of the real Earth....
, the term was applied to those Men living beyond the Sea of Rhûn, who were allied with Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
and frequently attacked Gondor
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. The third volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with...
. Their armies consisted of swordsmen, spear-men, bowmen & mounted archers, horsemen, charioteers, and wain-wagon crews, as well as axe-men.
The first Easterling attacks were in the late 5th century of the Third Age and were repelled by King Ostoher and his son Rómendacil I. Later King Turambar fought wars of conquest against the Easterlings, extending Gondor's borders to the Sea of Rhûn. In 1248 the Regent of Gondor, Minalcar, led out a great force and attacked and destroyed many Easterling settlements, ensuring peace for Gondor in the east until T.A. 1800.
Wainriders
The Wainriders were a confederation of Easterling tribes who were united by their hate of Gondor, fuelled by Sauron. Following the Great Plague which weakened Gondor, they started their raids in 1851 of the Third AgeThird Age
The Third Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The history of Middle-earth is to be taken fictionally as a history of the real Earth....
and attacked in full force five years later, defeating the Gondorian army and killing King Narmacil II. They rode in great wagons and chariots (which gave them their name), and raided the lands of Rhovanion
Rhovanion
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Rhovanion or Wilderland was a large region of northern Middle-earth. It extended to the east as far as the inland Sea of Rhûn; north to the Grey Mountains and Iron Hills, home of the Dwarves; west to the range of the Hithaeglir, or Misty Mountains; and south to...
, destroying or enslaving its people. Gondor gradually lost all of its possessions east of Anduin
Anduin
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Anduin is the Sindarin name for the Great River of Wilderland, the longest river in the Third Age . The ancestors of the Rohirrim called it Langflood. It flowed from its source in the Grey and Misty Mountains to the Mouths of Anduin in the Great Sea...
, save Ithilien
Ithilien
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Ithilien is a region and fiefdom of Gondor.Ithilien, or "Moon-land," is the easternmost province of Gondor, the only part of Gondor across the Great River Anduin lying between the river and the Mountains of Shadow , subdivided by the stream of...
, to them. The thirtieth king of Gondor, Calimehtar son of Narmacil, defeated the Wainriders in battle on the Dagorlad, buying some rest for his land.
However the Wainriders struck back in 1944, allying themselves with the Haradrim of Near Harad and the Variags of Khand. They managed to kill King Ondoher and both his sons, but instead of riding on to Minas Anor and taking the city, they paused to celebrate. Meanwhile, general Eärnil
Eärnil II
Eärnil II is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth. He was born in T.A. 1883. In 1945 Third Age he was elected as the thirty-second King of Gondor after his predecessor, King Ondoher, was slain in battle. In the previous year a two-pronged attack had been launched...
of Gondor's southern army had defeated the Haradrim and rode north to defend his king. He came too late to rescue Ondoher, but managed to surprise and defeat the Wainriders in the Battle of the Camp. Eärnil was crowned king a year later. After this defeat the might of the Wainriders was broken, and their confederation collapsed.
Balchoth
The Balchoth (SindarinSindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
for "cruel people") were an entire people group of Easterlings, complete with women and children who migrated towards eastern Gondor due to overcrowding. In 2510 they began to settle the plains of Calenardhon and almost sent running the army of the Ruling Steward Cirion
Cirion
Cirion is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth. He is first mentioned in the Appendices of Return of the King as the twelfth ruling Steward of Gondor. His role is later expanded in Unfinished Tales....
, but were all slaughtered by the Éothéod
Éothéod
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Éothéod were a group of Northmen who became the ancestors of the Rohirrim. The word, meaning "horse people", is a compound of the Old English words éoh and théod ; it is cognate with Old Norse jóþjóð...
under Eorl the Young at the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. Like the Wainriders they rode in chariots and wagons, and they may have been descendants of this people.
Variags of Khand
The Variags were from Khand, and they first appeared to the east and south of MordorMordor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Mordor or Morhdorh was the dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of northwestern Middle-earth to the East of Anduin, the great river. Orodruin, a volcano in Mordor, was the destination of the Fellowship of the Ring in the quest to...
in 1944 of the Third Age, fighting alongside the Wainriders. They were also present during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Battle of the Pelennor Fields
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy fiction, the Battle of Pelennor Fields is the battle for the city of Minas Tirith between the forces of Gondor and its allies, and the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron...
, over a thousand years later. Little was known about them.
In the real world, Variags is another name for the Varangians
Varangians
The Varangians or Varyags , sometimes referred to as Variagians, were people from the Baltic region, most often associated with Vikings, who from the 9th to 11th centuries ventured eastwards and southwards along the rivers of Eastern Europe, through what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.According...
, a Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
people who had contact with Kievan Rus and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, described in one Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
as "axe-wielding barbarians".
"Easterlings with axes"
During the War of the RingWar of the Ring
In the fictional high fantasy-world of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Ring was fought between Sauron and the free peoples of Middle-earth for control of the One Ring and dominion over the continent. The War of the Ring took place at the end of the Third Age. Together with the Quest of Mount Doom,...
itself, Easterlings are described as perhaps belonging to more than one culture, plus the Variags of Khand. One group is described as a "new" kind of Easterling that the men of Gondor had previously not encountered: fierce bearded men with axes.
Adaptations
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
. They can be seen marching when Frodo
Frodo
Frodo may mean:*Frodo Baggins, a character in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*"Frodo", a song by New Zealand folk-duo Flight of the Conchords*Fróði, the name of a number of Danish kings, Latinized as Frodo*Frodo...
and Sam come to the Black Gate in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and in a few quick scenes in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
(they can be spotted both on foot and horseback among the Mordor forces that penetrate Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
). Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
does not mention them when he tells Pippin of men allied with Sauron (although they were mentioned in a conversation involving Faramir
Faramir
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Faramir is a fictional character appearing in The Lord of the Rings. He is introduced as the younger brother of Boromir of the Fellowship of the Ring and second son of Denethor II, the Steward of the realm of Gondor...
's briefing in Ithilien when consulting the map). On screen, the Easterlings wear lamellar
Lamellar armour
Lamellar armour was one of three early body armour types made from armour plates. The other two types are scale armour and laminar armour.-Description:...
often covering the middle of the chest and the full stomach with a neck plate and a wok-like helmet with three crests and a faceplate, rerebraces, vambraces, cuisses
Cuisses
Cuisses are a form of medieval armor worn to protect the thigh. The word is the plural of the French word cuisse meaning 'thigh'. While the skirt of a maille shirt or tassets of a cuirass could protect the upper legs from above, a thrust from below could avoid these defenses. Thus, cuisses were...
, poleyns, finger-scales, hand-plates, and thumb-scales. Also, they are armed with halberds with the hook below the ax head, scimitars and bronze scutums
Scutum (shield)
Scutum is the Latin word for "shield", although it has in modern times come to be specifically associated with the rectangular, semi-cylindrical body shield carried by Roman legionaries.-History:...
. Their armour is inscribed with a script which resembles Tengwar
Tengwar
The Tengwar are an artificial script created by J. R. R. Tolkien. In his fictional universe of Middle-earth, the tengwar were invented by the Elf Fëanor, and used first to write the Elven tongues: Quenya, Telerin, and also Valarin. Later a great number of languages of Middle-earth were written...
mixed with Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
. The clothing they wear is a dull-violet headscarf, tunic, trousers, robe-skirt (comes to knees), red gloves, black boots, and a black facecloth. There is a sculpture at Weta Workshop
Weta Workshop
Weta Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, New Zealand, producing effects for television and film.Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Weta Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
of an Easterling with a long bow and a fanned-out quiver of arrows. In early design concepts, the Easterlings wore turbans and their helmets bore crescent moons, an appearance that heavily resembled medieval Arabian dress, but director Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
requested that obvious representation of real-world cultures be avoided. In The Two Towers film they carry scarlet standards marked with a black serpent. In the book this emblem is attributed to the Haradrim, and indeed in the Return of the King film, flags with this design (and the eye of Sauron) adorn the Mûmakil.
The real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, abbreviated BFMEII, is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. It is based on the fantasy novels The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien and its live-action film trilogy adaptation...
, chiefly based on the film trilogy though also taking material from the book, features one playable Easterling unit: Pikemen. Also, one of the playable maps is Rhûn, complete with Easterling buildings. The buildings' architecture suggests both Asian and Nordic influence and the Easterling helmet crests resemble those of samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
.
Though the Variags are not a unit in the game, they are mentioned in a caption for the create-a-hero function in the game, and it is possible to create a corrupted man with barbarian-like armour and clothing that differs from that of the Easterlings or Haradrim, and is most likely that of a Variag.
In The Two Towers (MUD)
The Two Towers (MUD)
The Two Towers, or T2T, is an MUD, a text-based multiplayer online role-playing game, set in Tolkien’s universe at the time of events in the third volume of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.-Description:...
, both Easterling and Variag are playable races. Variag players start in an encampment called Asubuhi (the Swahili language
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
word for 'morning') which is a creation of fan fiction with no direct reference in Tolkien's works. Easterling players start at wagons outside of the town of Tavorus, also a creation of fan fiction.
In Games-Workshop's game and in EA-permitted Battle for Middle-earth series mods, the Easterlings are presented as their own faction, with dangerously skilled archers and deadly cavalrymen called "Kataphrakts", and have impressive charioteers, as they were described to have in the book but not in the movie.
In Iron Crown Enterprises "Middle-earth Role Playing
Middle-earth Role Playing
Middle-earth Role Playing is a 1984 role-playing game based on the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien under license from Tolkien Enterprises. Iron Crown Enterprises published the game until they lost the license on 22 Sep 1999.-Setting:The setting for MERP is an expanded version of J. R. R...
" game, there are various peoples and tribes of Easterlings, including the Sagath, Logath and Igath (identified as the Wainriders), Asdriags, Odhriags and Nuriags and many others. Most of these cultures are more or less contradictory to Tolkien´s descriptions: they are shown as nomadic Horse people much similar to the historical Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
and Scythes
Scythes
Scythes was tyrant or ruler of Zancle in Sicily. He was appointed to that post in about 494 BC by Hippocrates of Gela.The Zanclaeans had contacted Ionian leaders to invite colonists to join them in founding a new city on the Kale Acte , or north shore of Sicily...
. The "Easterlings with axes", who were described as bearded like dwarves in the books, inspired a distinct race of half-dwarves similar to the "Mul" of Dungeons & Dragons, known as "Umli".
Tolkien's inspiration
Tolkien expanded on the term "Easterling", a word long used in England to denote "a native of a country eastward of another." In dispatches, English ambassadors of the 16th century despaired of the Easterlings, those merchant traders from the Baltic coasts who on more than one occasion "retained" other countries' ships at sea. In the classic and often-reprinted Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589), Englishman Richard HakluytRichard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt was an English writer. He is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and...
describes the Easterlings in detail. "Eastland is a very large land and there be many cities and townes within it, and in every one of them is a king: whereby there is continually among them great strife and contention. ... There is no ale brewed among the Easterlings but of meade there is plenty. The wealthiest men drinke commonly Mares milke and the poore people and slaves meade."