Southlands

A term used to refer to the lands at the latitude of Gondor, the old South-kingdom of the Dúnedain, as opposed to the Northlands where Arnor stood in ancient times. From the point of view of the Gondorians, the old North-kingdom was distant in both place and time. The Northlands lay hundreds of miles northward from Gondor, and the last remnant of the realm of Arnor had been lost more than a thousand years before the War of the Ring. Nonetheless, half-forgotten tales of the northern lands were remembered in the Southlands, as shown by the fact that Faramir recognised the Halflings as a people out of the legends of the North.

The use of 'South' in the name 'Southlands' is a relative term. The Southlands of the Gondorians were by no means the most southerly of all the lands in Middle-earth. Southward beyond them, stretching for countless leagues, lay the uncharted deserts and jungles of the Harad.