Land of the Sun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Land of the Sun or "Sun-Lands" is an empty land east of Middle-earth where the sun rises at dawn. Nothing is known of its geography except that there was a curve-shaped mountain range called the Wall of the Sun that corresponds to the Pelóri Mountains of Aman. The highest peak of this mountain range is Kalorme, which is an eastern counterpart to Taniquetil. The Gates of Morning, through which the Sun enters Arda are situated here. In the Ambarkanta it is called the Dark land of the Sun. There is a possibility the Númenóreans visited it. It has been interpreted in some Tolkien atlases as being the Americas, with the Wall of the Sun being the Rockies and Andes, although Tolkien himself made no comments regarding this.

The term should not be confused with "Sunlands", the Hobbit name for Harad (as seen in The Two Towers).

In the game Middle Earth Role Play by Iron Crown Enterprises, a Sindarin name for the land — Romenor (Easternesse) — was given, although it does not appear in any of Tolkien's writings. Actually the proper Sindarin form would be Romennor.