March 16, 2003

Wild Men and the Harad People
Grub

I was wondering about something in the third book and I decided to post. In the chapter "Ride of the Rohirrim", it mentions wild men. There's a wildmen named GHan-buri-ghan and my friends and I were discussing about him. His description seemed like as if GbG(stands for Ghan buri ghan) were not white but asian or something. One of my friends suggested that he might be japanese or something. Anyway, if that is so, than Tolkien is not a racist. He might have included a character of another race but that's only a theory.

I also am wondering about the people of Harad. In the TTT, I saw a few faces of the men of the south. They seemed to me Arabian or so and I guessed that PJ put that in to encourage the idea of different races, not only white but I wonder if Tolkien ever thought about the people of Harad not being white. Also, lots of names are from ancient times. Harad is a place in Africa and Uruk was a place in Ancient Mesopotamia. Whether purpose or accident, my friends and I imagine that if Middle-earth were modern, it would probably be Africa. Any ideas?


Grub