Dunland

Dunland was the land of the Dunlendings, located in western Middle-earth near the Misty Mountains and south of the Glanduin.
The name Dunland means "Dark Land", in reference to its swarthy and dark-haired inhabitants.The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Men" This name was given by the neighboring, future Rohirrim after they had arrived in nearby Calenardhon, in the later Third Age.
== Inhabitants ==
The Dunlendings were a race of Men, mostly bearded with dirty faces and long matted hair. They wore clothes of leather and animal skin and carried weapons that were simple but effective for their purpose. They usually fought with clubs and pitchforks, and at times they carried torches to act as lights at night and to burn buildings by day. The buildings that Dunlendings lived and worked in were crude shacks of wood and animal skins that were often sabotaged by Wargs and sometimes Rohirrim.
The vernacular of this land's inhabitants, including possibly the Stoors, was Dunlendish.
Ancestors of the Dunlendings had inhabited the forested regions of Middle-earth on either side of the Gwathló in the early Second Age; thus the early Númenóreans called them Gwaithuirim. They spoke a language related to that of the Second House of Men, the Haladin, rather than the vastly different Bëorian-Marachian tongue which stood at the base of Adûnaic, and this lack of mutual understanding led to outright hostility. The Númenóreans greedily harvested Gwaithuirim forests for timber, and after much war and bloodshed, the Gwaithuirim from south of the Gwathló fled east to the Hithaeglir while others scattered to the cape of Eryn Vorn and the White Mountains.
The Hillfolk of the Hithaeglir kept their hatred of the descendants of Númenor (unlike those of Eryn Vorn and the White Mountains, who nevertheless remained uncooperative). The Dead Men of Dunharrow who betrayed Isildur were descended from Gwaithurim. From the early Third Age to TA 1636 Gondor maintained garrisons in Dunland and patrolled the North-South Road, but these forces were withdrawn following the Great Plague, which also decimated the population of the region.
In TA 2770, Smaug the dragon destroyed the Kingdom under the Mountain. Dwarves fleeing from this disaster settled in Dunland, from where Thrór departed when he and his companion Nár journeyed to Moria in TA 2790. After the Battle of Azanulbizar, provoked by the Orcs' brutal slaying of Thrór, Thráin II and Thorin II led the remnants of their followers back to Dunland but soon left (to eventually settle in the Blue Mountains).
When Gondor decided to give the depopulated province of Calenardhon to the numerous people of Éothéod in TA 2510, the Hillfolk of the Hithaeglir felt threatened by these Forgoil "Strawheads" (a demeaning reference to the blonde hair of the Northmen). The Hillfolk had slowly colonised Calenardhon during the dwindling of the Dúnedain and were driven out by the new arrivals. War did not break out again until the reign of Helm Hammerhand (TA 2741 - TA 2759) when Freca, a lord of the West-march, tried to obtain the throne of Rohan for himself by petitioning for the marriage of his son Wulf to the daughter of Helm. Freca was killed and Wulf led the Dunlendings into open war with Rohan. They unsuccessfully besieged the Hornburg during the Long Winter of TA 2758 - TA 2759. Wulf did take Edoras and killed Haleth, the son of Helm, in front of the golden hall of Meduseld. Helm and his younger son Háma both perished in the Siege of the Hornburg. But Helm's nephew Fréaláf Hildeson held out against the Dunlendings in the refuge of Dunharrow. As the snows melted and aid arrived from Gondor, Fréaláf recaptured Edoras at the end of the Long Winter and killed Wulf personally. The Dunlendings were driven out of Rohan, and Fréalaf succeeded the deceased Helm Hammerhand as king.
Guarding the Gap of Rohan was the fortress of Isengard, where a hereditary guard watched for Gondor. However, by the time of the Steward Beren, these guards had mixed with Dunlendings, and the fortress had become hostile to Gondor and Rohan. Following the Long Winter Fréaláf recaptured Isengard and the Steward Beren gave Saruman the keys of Orthanc to hold Isengard for Gondor.
Following his corruption by Sauron, however, Saruman used the Dunlendings historical hostility against Rohan to tempt them into supporting him during the War of the Ring. Following his army's defeat at the Battle of the Hornburg, the Dunlendings surrendered to the Rohirrim, who in return spared their lives and buried their dead in a more honorable mound than the Uruk-hai. The Men of Dunland were surprised by this, as Saruman stated Rohan would slaughter them all with no mercy. Rohan then ordered the surviving Dunlendings to rebuild the ruined walls of the Hornburg. 
Due to the mercy of Rohan and the lies of Saruman revealed, many Dunlendings came to the muster at Dunharrow. These hill-folk went on to fight the armies of Mordor in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields alongside Rohan and Gondor, their new unlikely allies. Due to their actions of heroism, the Dunlendings repented for their past deeds, and were counted among the Men of the West. After the war, the Dunlendings returned to their homes, ceasing hostilities towards Rohan, and they never again invaded over the Isen river. During the Fourth Age, Dunland became a protectorate of the Reunited Kingdom.
== Nearby locations ==
*North: Glanduin river
*East: Misty Mountains
*South: Isengard
*West: Enedwaith
== In adaptations ==
Though the land of Dunland is not directly shown in Peter Jackson's films, many Dunlendings are depicted in The Two Towers. In the extended edition of the film, a Dunlending warlord is shown giving a blood-oath to Saruman.
It is represented in The Lord of the Rings Online, where it is entirely available for exploration and adventuring.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Chinese (Hong Kong) 	登蘭德
Danish 	Dysterland
Dutch 	Donkerland
Finnish 	Mustainmaa
French 	Terres Brunes
Georgian 	ყავისფერმიწეთი
Greek 	Ντάνλαντ
Hebrew 	דונלנד
Hungarian 	Dúnfölde
Italian 	Dunland
Japanese 	褐色人の国
Polish 	Dunland
Portuguese (Brazil) 	Terra Parda
Romanian 	Țara Negurilor
Russian 	Дунланд
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Tierras Brunas
Thai 	ดันแลนด์
Category:Regions
de:Dunland
es:Dunland
it:Dunland
nl:Donkerland
pl:Dunland
ru:Дунланд