Fanart: A LOTR Space AU

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Yeade

The mearas or their ancestors are supposedly brought to Middle-earth by Oromë, right? I've brainstormed some preliminary ideas for the Rohirrim already and need to work out how their most famed horses fit in. Another alien species?

Yes, it's said they are basically the creatures of Oromë. How do you handle "normal" horses? How about just some sort of intelligent carriers (vehicles)? Or is everything you make still more of the "organic" type? You could just make them similar to your Eagles, of course (the basic idea behind it is the same - clever animals specifically "made" by/for one of the Valar).

Are there any canon descriptions of the Havens of Umbar? The harbor must be deep and wide enough to stage a fleet of warships, and there are presumably extensive quays, upon which Aragorn as Thorongil fights the Corsair captain. A poster over on LJ mentioned that there's a white pillar with a shining crystal globe set at the top--a sort of lighthouse, I guess? I admit I've never heard of any such thing. Is this maybe referenced in The Silmarillion ("Akallabêth"?), HOME, or elsewhere, like Tolkien's letters?

Aragorn does not fight the Corsairs in Umbar, he fights at the Mouths of the Anduin, in Pelargir. Umbar is much, much more south from there, but it used to be the greatest Númenorean port there. There is supposed to be the pillar with the shining globe - it is not really a lighthouse, but it's a monument build by Ar-Pharazon to mark the victory over Sauron (sort of boastful thing, since we know how the captive Sauron managed to corrupt the rest of the Númenoreans and that was the end of it). I think it's mentioned either in Akallabeth (in fact, pretty sure it's there) or in the Unfinished Tales, or both.