men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer
Umbar was a great sea-haven in the far south of Gondor, once a trading post established by the men of Númenor. It was here that Ar-Pharazôn the Golden landed to make his challenge upon Sauron, and as the Shadow lengthened over Anadûnê the power of the King’s Men in Umbar only grew. The haven was governed by a council of lords, and provided goods and slaves to Númenor; these lords easily adopted the customs of Melkor-worship and spread the practice of human sacrifice across much of the East and South of Middle-earth. A contemporary of Ar-Pharazôn, Lord Eärmerco was a fearsome sea-captain who dominated the Council of Umbar and marauded the eastern coastline. He had no qualms about attacking even ships from the Númenórean navy, taking all he could for himself and delighting in bloodshed. Shortly before his capture, Sauron came to Eärmerco and promised him power and riches if he would quietly resist Ar-Pharazôn’s rule in Umbar, offering him a Ring of Power in return for his loyalty. Enchanted by the ring, Eärmerco accepted, and thus became ensnared in Sauron’s trap, eventually becoming one of the Nazgûl. Though Eärmerco would leave Umbar to obey Sauron’s will, Umbar remained a source of power for his Black Númenórean kin. Yet as the Third Age progressed and the might of Gondor grew, they realized they were threatened by the power of their neighboring rival-kingdom, a fear which came to fruition when Gondor’s King Eärnil I launched a surprise attack, capturing the haven by sea and land. The Men of Umbar fought back fiercely, but Gondor had the upper hand, and the Council of Lords was disbanded in favor of regents hand-selected by Eärnil himself. But these lords were not satisfied with their lot, recalling the glory of Eärmerco and jealous of the power they once had held. In vengeance, the brothers Azgarzîr, Dolgimil, and Azruthôr secretly plotted to arrange Eärnil’s downfall, and three years later the King of Gondor was lost at sea. In truth, the lords had sabotaged his ship before a great storm Dolgimil had scried, but when Eärnil’s son Círyandil took the throne in his place the Lords of Umbar were frustrated in their scheme to regain their power. Though with the aid of their Haradrim allies, the Black Númenóreans managed to slay Círyandil, the siege was not enough to win back control of the haven. Not until the kin-strife in Gondor would Umbar finally cast off the bonds of Gondorian domination. It was the sons of Castamir who shook Umbar free of Gondor’s rule, but not until the time of their grandsons would the haven strike back against the Kingdom of Stone. Lord Arnakhôr, chief of Umbar’s council and the great-grandson of Castamir, rallied together the quarrelling pirates who operated out of the haven and with the aid of his personal champion, his cousin Azgarzîr, led a great fleet against Pelargir. For their prowess in battle and the fear they struck into the hearts of Gondor’s soldiers, they became known in Quenya as Angamaitë and Sangahyando—but despite their savagery, the siege of Pelargir was unsuccessful and they were forced into a retreat for some years. During this time they continued to harass Gondor’s coastline, becoming known as the Corsairs of Umbar. But when they heard that King Minardil of Gondor was visiting Pelargir, Azgarzîr stirred his liege to action and they led a devastating raid upon the port, ravaging the city and slaying Minardil. Yet there was now little left in Pelargir over which to rule, so Arnakhôr forsook the ruins of the city and returned victorious to Umbar. Their descendants would hold Umbar for some generations after, but when the Great Plague struck Gondor, they were not spared, and both Arnakhôr Angamaitë and Azgarzîr Sangahyando were killed by the deadly disease. Still their legacy lived on, for the Corsairs of Umbar had taken control of the haven entirely, ousting the Council of Lords. Perhaps they would have fared better with a more central leadership, for when Gondor recovered from the Great Plague, King Telumehtar destroyed the main fortress and ship-haven of Umbar, killing the last of Castamir’s descendants and retaking the city. Telumehtar took the name Umbardacil for his victory, but left the haven in ruins. As Gondor declined in the following centuries, Umbar was conquered again by the Haradrim, retaking the land the Men of Númenor had claimed from them millennia ago. A new generation of Corsairs arose, a mix of Haradrim pirates and Black Númenóreans, who often raided the coasts of Belfalas and Anfalas in Gondor. Throughout the reign of the Stewards, the Corsairs were a constant threat, primarily countered by the Princes of Dol Amroth when other threats besieged Minas Tirith; indeed, Prince Karazôr, the fifteenth Prince, perished in battle against the Corsairs. When Sauron declared himself openly near the end of the Third Age, Umbar and its Corsairs swore allegiance to him and began amassing a mighty fleet to attack Gondor under the command of Batânhir, the Captain of the Haven. But during the rule of Steward Ecthelion II, Umbar was suddenly besieged by the Gondorian army, led by the mysterious warrior Thorongil who slew Batânhir personally. Thus Umbar was still weakened when the War of the Ring began in earnest, only able to send fifty great ships and a number of smaller vessels to raid the coastlands of Gondor, commanded by the fearsome Balakhôr the Scourge. While their attacks did draw some forces away from the defense of Minas Tirith, they were no match for the Army of the Dead summoned out of the White Mountains by an ascendant Thorongil, now declaring himself openly as Aragorn II Elessar, the next King of Gondor. Aragorn and the Dead utterly destroyed the Corsair fleet, and with the subsequent fall of Barad-dûr, Umbar lost what little of its power it had retained and submitted to the rule of King Elessar.