Tolkien's Variags: The mysterious warriors of Khand
Article first published (in Romanian ) in Revista Online de SF și Fantasy Galaxia 42 . Southron Mercenaries - Harradrim , byChris Guise Many peoples and tribes of greedy and bloodthirsty Men, with "minds filled with hatred"[1] and hostile to the Free Peoples, are counted among Sauron’s forces: from the Easterlings of Rhûn and the Southrons of Harad, to the Corsairs of Umbar and the Wild Men of Dunland and Rhudaur. Yet there is one group that is often overlooked: the Variags of Khand . In fact, this is hardly surprising, given the lack of details J.R.R. Tolkien provided about them and their extremely limited presence within the fictional universe of Middle-earth . For instance, in the main story of T he Lord of the Rings , the Variags are mentioned only once, specifically in the third novel, The Return of the King , where they are listed among Mordor’s vassals summoned to take part in the siege of the city of Minas Tirith: "[The Witch-king] now was destroyed; but Gothm...
