On my middle earth map there is no Umbar, just the "city of the corsairs". Then when looking online I came across a middle earth map that cited Umbar as a region rather than a city.
So my question is: is Umbar a city or a region?
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2I can be both (New York City and New York state).– MaxFeb 4, 2015 at 13:48
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Is this your map? corecanvas.s3.amazonaws.com/theonering-0188db0e/gallery/… - if so it's worth noting that this is the map drawn by Christopher Tolkien and published in earlier editions of Lord of the Rings, and has quite a few defects (noted by CT in his introduction to Unfinished Tales).– user8719Feb 4, 2015 at 16:44
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1 Answer
It's both.
From the Lord of the Rings appendices, first we read:
Umbar is made into a great fortress of Númenor.
And:
King Eärnil I takes Umbar, which becomes a fortress of Gondor
And:
King Ciryandil slain in the siege of Umbar.
These suggest that it is a walled fortress-city, which we know from elsewhere is also a port-city.
However, in a footnote to the appendices we also read:
The great cape and land-locked firth of Umbar had been Númenorean land since days of old...
Which suggests that the name Umbar was also used of the region containing the city.
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4It's not exactly uncommon in out of universe history to name a region after its central city. Feb 4, 2015 at 14:15
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1Also Bree-land and Bree for another in-universe example.– user8719Feb 4, 2015 at 18:22
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An entire region (if sufficiently defensible) can be (metaphorically) considered a "fortress". For example, England was an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" during World War II.– JasperFeb 4, 2015 at 22:29
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@Jasper - it's difficult to besiege a region though.– user8719Feb 4, 2015 at 23:34
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The Germans tried to cut off England's supplies of food, weapons, and ammunition during World Wars I and II. The United States successfully beseiged Japan during World War II.– JasperFeb 4, 2015 at 23:50