Harondor ~The Strategic Role of South Gondor~ This essay examines the region of Harondor and its role within the realm of Gondor. By the end of the Third Age, South Gondor had become “a desert and debateable land”, contested between the Stewards of Gondor and the Corsairs of Umbar. Like other parts of the realm that had been given up or overrun, its inhospitable state at the time of the War of the Ring does not reveal the full history of the region. The reoccurring theme though is the influence on its history of external powers, principally Umbar, Harad...