Umbar

Umbar is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. It was a great haven and seaport to the far south of Gondor in Middle-earth. 'Umbar' was a name—of unknown meaning—given to the area by its original inhabitants. The Númenóreans adopted the name, probably aware that 'Umbar' was the Quenya word for 'fate'.

Fictional context

Umbar was located on the south-western coast of Middle-earth. The great cape and land-locked firth of Umbar south of the Bay of Belfalas formed a natural harbour of enclosing rock, but the "great fortress of Númenor" (The Lord of the Rings) within it was not built until S.A. 2280. It was only by this time that the evil necromancer Sauron had dared to threaten Númenor: "...the strength of his terror and mastery over men had grown exceedingly great, he began to assail the strong places of the Númenóreans upon the shores of the sea."

Like the earlier New Haven in Enedwaith far to the northwest, and the later harbour Pelargir on the river Anduin, Umbar became a base from which Númenórean influence spread over Middle-earth. It was at Umbar that the last king of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, landed in S.A. 3261, to challenge Sauron. After the Downfall of Númenor 58 years later, Umbar remained in the hands of the Númenóreans, in essence a Realm in Exile alongside Arnor and Gondor. But unlike these others, Umbar had been used by the "King's Men", who had turned to the worship of Sauron's former master Melkor in the last days of Númenor. These "King's Men", unfriendly to the Elves and to their fellow Númenórean survivors who were allied to the Elves, became known as Black Númenóreans.