Hadramaut and Ubar

**MarcusAureliusAntoninus** · 09-15-2007, 06:17

You would be surprised on how much of Tolkien's writings were based on historical peoples and events.

I don't know much of the details on Tolkien, though. If you ask over at the Fourth Age : Total War forum, I'd bet someone could tell you upon what, Tolkein based the Haradrim.

**Sygrod** · 09-16-2007, 06:24

As a side note, in Swedish, a "Harad" used to be a geographical area, comprising a few parishes, but smaller than a bishopry (sp?). Tolkien was into Norse and other scandinavian languages, and may have liked the word.
"Gamling", one of the rohirrim, in Swedish means "old man".

**Bootsiuv** · 09-16-2007, 18:14

Yes....I heard he pulled aspects from all kinds of different mythologies, including Greek and Roman, Scandinavian, and even far eastern.

One of the craziest things is that "tolkienists" or whatever sit there and debate and debate small things about a world which existed entirely in some dude's head.

**Watchman** · 09-16-2007, 18:32

Tolkien was a linguist by day job IIRC, and given the amount of influence Danish and Norse have had on English it's hardly surprising he had an interest in the Scandinavian languages.