Part 6/8:
This lack of sustained presence from both Gondor and the Easterlings implies that environmental limitations rendered it an undesirable habitat. Although mapping may depict the area as flat and featureless, Tolkien’s lore indicates that it had limited agricultural potential and lacked the life-sustaining resources found in adjacent territories.
The Question of Naming
The absence of a name for this area leads to intriguing speculation about its historical context. The maps of Middle Earth likely originated from Bilbo Baggins and other primarily Elvish sources, with their knowledge of lands diminishing as one moves eastward or southward. In a way, this uncharted territory becomes representative of the unknown—regions that simply fell off the radar of empires and their histories over time.