Dark Land

The Dark Land, also referred to as the South Land, was a continent that lay southeast of where the events of the The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings occurred. Little is known about its geographical features, but it may have several mountain ranges going through it, including the Yellow Mountains.
== History ==
The Dark Land was created as a byproduct of the Battle of the Powers, in which the Valar overthrew Melkor in his original fortress of Utumno.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV: The Shaping of Middle-earth, V: "The Ambarkanta", First Ballantine Books Edition Originally, Middle-earth was one landmass, set between the western sea of Belegaer and the Eastern Sea.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV: The Shaping of Middle-earth, chapter V: "The Ambarkanta", Map IV This changed during the War, when the inland Sea of Ringil, originally landlocked and set in the mid-south of Middle-earth, grew in size and "became a great sea flowing north-eastward and joining by straits both the Western and Eastern Seas."The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV: The Shaping of Middle-earth, chapter V: "The Ambarkanta", First Ballantine Books Edition This event split Middle-earth into two landmasses; the landmass to the south and east of the former Sea of Ringil (which was also called the "East Sea" by Tolkien) was known as the Dark Land.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV: The Shaping of Middle-earth, chapter V: "The Ambarkanta", First Ballantine Books Edition, Map V
No habitations in the Dark Land were ever recorded. The Númenóreans might have visited it on their long eastward journeys. If so, it is not known whether they established dwellings there.
== In adaptations ==
In The Atlas of Middle-earth, Karen Wynn Fonstad depicted the continent in a map as being covered by vast forests bordering much of its shorelines.The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Introduction"The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Introduction"
In the game Middle Earth Role Play by Iron Crown Enterprises, a Quenya name for the Dark Land, Mórenorë ("Dark Land"), was given, although it does not appear in any of Tolkien's writings; the name Hyarmenor, "south-land" is given instead in Tolkien's works (as seen in The History of Middle-earth).
== Behind the scenes ==
Before Africa was visited by people from Europe, it was known as the "Dark Land". It is possible that Tolkien was inspired by this, as he was born in South Africa. However, the continent directly south of Gondor where Harad was located (possibly corresponding with the Sahara Desert, as they are similar in position) is closer in shape to Africa, as well as being the proper distance away from northwest Middle-earth (if northwest Middle-earth is taken to be Europe and Rhûn is taken to be Asia).
As seen in the Ambarkanta, Dark Land occupies a position in Arda much like Antarctica and Australia do compared to Eurasia, if Antarctica and Australia were one landmass.
Some fans have speculated that this land may have been part of the Empty Lands at the end of the Second Age along with the Burnt Land of the Sun. The Empty Lands were cast back to make room for the new lands.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Donker land
Albanian 	Vendi i errët
Amharic 	ጥቁር አገር
Arabic 	بلد مظلم
Armenian 	Մութ երկիր
Assamese 	আন্ধাৰ ভূমি
Azerbaijani 	Qaranlıq diyar
Basque 	Herrialde iluna
Belarusian Cyrillic	Цёмная краіна
Bengali 	অন্ধকার দেশ
Bhojpuri 	डार्क लैंड के बा
Bosnian 	Mračna zemlja
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Тъмна страна
Cambodian 	ប្រទេសងងឹត
Catalan 	País fosc
Cebuano 	Ngitngit nga nasud
Chinese 	黑暗大陸
Croatian 	Tamna zemlja
Czech 	Tmavá země
Danish 	Det Mørke Sydkontinent
Dogri 	अंधेरा भूमि
Dutch 	Donker land
Estonian 	Tume riik
Faroese 	Myrkt land
Filipino 	Madilim na bansa
Finnish 	Musta maa
French 	Terres sombre
Galician 	País escuro
Georgian 	ბნელი ქვეყანა
German 	Dunkelland
Greek 	Σκοτεινή χώρα
Gujarati 	ઘેરો દેશ
Hebrew 	ארץ כהה
Hindi 	अंधेरा देश
Hungarian 	Sötét ország
Icelandic 	Myrkur land
Indonesian 	Negara gelap
Italian 	Terra Oscura
Japanese 	暗い国
Kannada 	ಡಾರ್ಕ್ ಕಂಟ್ರಿ
Kazakh 	Қараңғы ел (Cyrillic) Qarañğı el (Latin)
Konkani 	काळोख जमीन
Korean 	어두운 나라
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Караңгы өлкө
Laotian 	ປະເທດຊ້ໍາ
Latvian 	Tumša valsts
Lithuanian 	Tamsiai šalis
Macedonian Cyrillic	Темна земја
Malagasy 	Firenena maizina
Malayalam 	ഇരുണ്ട രാജ്യം
Maltese 	Pajjiż skur
Marathi 	गडद देश
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Харанхуй улс
Nepalese 	गाढा देश
Norwegian 	Mørkt land
Pashto 	تور هیواد
Persian 	کشور تاریک
Polish 	Ciemny Ląd
Portuguese 	País escuro
Punjabi 	ਹਨ੍ਹੇਰਾ ਦੇਸ਼
Romanian 	Țara întunericului
Russian 	Тёмные Земли
Scottish Gaelic 	Dùthaich dhorcha
Sindhi 	ڪارو ملڪ
Sinhalese 	අඳුරු රට
Slovak 	Temná krajina
Slovenian 	Temna dežela
Spanish 	País oscuro
Swahili 	Nchi ya giza
Swedish 	Mörkt land
Tajik Cyrillic 	кишвари торик
Tamil 	இருண்ட நாடு
Telugu 	చీకటి దేశం
Thai 	ประเทศที่มืด
Turkish 	Karanlık Diyar
Turkmen 	Garanky ülke
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Темна країна
Urdu 	سیاہ ملک
Uzbek 	Қоронғу мамлакат (Cyrillic) Qorong'u mamlakat (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Đất nước đen tối
Welsh 	Gwlad Dywyll
Yiddish 	טונקל לאַנד
Yoruba 	Orilẹ-ede dudu
== References ==
Category:Continents
Category:Arda
Category:Far Southern Lands
es:Tierras Oscuras
fr:Mórenorë
it:Terra Oscura
pl:Hyarmenor
ru:Тёмные Земли