Nurnen

[viggho]

Hey! I saw that there's an actual area for Nurnen right now, I'm just wondering when it will be done. I'm a huge Shadow of War fan (if anyone is familiar with that) and there's a huge map made for it which I'd love to see live. Anyone know when it's going to be built ?

 

[Supercat_14]

We are not currently working on Mordor right now. We are waiting on a texture pack to start it. As for if we were to based off of Shadow of War it will be highly unluckily. That's not to say that we don't have locations that are from or based off Shadow of War or similar games, but we try to go by whatever the books or the movies have as a prioritization.

 

[Eriol_Eandur]

What is Nurnen like in Shadow of War?
In the books it's a huge agricultural area.

 

[viggho]

What is Nurnen like in Shadow of War?
In the books it's a huge agricultural area.

 

[Eriol_Eandur]

Well, the Sea of Nurnen is in the middle of Lithlad, the Ash Plains. So I would not expect there any cliffs. Also in the picture the the green is a bit too lush. The area probably semi-arid as it's surrounded by mountains which are blocking most humididy coming from the ocean.

I think a good real world inspiration would be the Aral Sea Basin in Central Asia in the 1960s (before it dried up due to climate change). I didn't find quickly any photos from back then and I have no time for extensive search. But I would expect something like this:

 

[HoverKing]

View attachment 24354

Seeing as Tolkien describes "[...] the mournful plains of Lithlad and of Gorgoroth, and the bitter inland sea of Nùrnen amidmost [...]" (LR50/636) and "[...] the great slave-worked fields away south [...] by the dark sad waters of Lake Núrnen [...]" (LR50/923) - the only thing I can say when seeing this image is "OH DEAR"; lore accurate it is not.

I should note, by the way, that the exact location (and size) of Lithlad, which @Eriol_Eandur mentioned, is quite debatable; but I certainly wouldn't say Núrnen is in the middle of Lithlad. That being said, I do agree that the arable lands of Nurn would look somewhat like the picture he posted above.

 

[Eriol_Eandur]

"the mournful plains of Lithlad and of Gorgoroth, and the bitter inland sea of Nùrnen amidmost"

Doesn't "amidmost" mean "in the middle of"?

The exact naming might be debatable. But all maps clearly show that the Sea of Nurnen is in the middle of a great bassin. With rivers coming down from the mountains from all side. I would expect very flat county with no rocks and cliffs.

 

[HoverKing]

Doesn't "amidmost" mean "in the middle of"?

The exact naming might be debatable. But all maps clearly show that the Sea of Nurnen is in the middle of a great bassin. With rivers coming down from the mountains from all side. I would expect very flat county with no rocks and cliffs.

"Amidmost" with the reference points being Lithlad and Gorgoroth, implying, if anything, that Lithlad would be opposite of Gorgoroth relative to Núrnen. Or perhaps "amidmost" refers to the mountain ranges of Mordor, referenced in the part of the quote I cut out (i.e. that Núrnen is in the relative middle of Mordor):

Upon the west of Mordor marched the gloomy range of Ephel Dùath, the Mountains of Shadow, and upon the north the broken peaks and barren ridges of Ered Lithui, grey as ash. But as these ranges approached one another, being indeed but parts of one great wall about the mournful plains of Lithlad and of Gorgoroth, and the bitter inland sea of Nùrnen amidmost, they swung out long arms northward; and between these arms there was a deep defile. This was Cirith Gorgor, the Haunted Pass, the entrance to the land of the Enemy. (LR50/636)

But interpreting it as Núrnen being in the middle of Lithlad seems impossible to me; that would be potentially possible if it said "the mournful plains of Gorgoroth, and of Lithlad, and the bitter inland sea of Núrnen amidmost..." (reversing the positions of "Lithlad" and "Gorgoroth" and adding a comma between them, so as to attach "Lithlad" to the following clause and separate it from the preceding).