Umbar

On the map Umbar sits well south of Gondor, below Harondor and beyond the southern reach of the Bay of Belfalas. Its haven is sheltered and deep, the best on that whole coast, which is why every power in the south wanted it.

The King's Men of Númenor built their fortress there long before the Downfall. In SA 3261 Ar-Pharazôn landed at Umbar with an army so large that Sauron submitted without a fight and was carried back to Númenor as a prisoner, which began the chain of events that drowned the island. Afterward the haven was held by Black Númenóreans hostile to Elendil's realms.

Gondor took Umbar in TA 933 under Eärnil I and held it for centuries. The Kin-strife undid that: when Castamir was killed in TA 1447 his sons fled south and seized the haven, and their descendants made it a Corsair state at permanent war with Gondor. Telumehtar retook it in TA 1810 and earned the name Umbardacil, but it was lost again, and Corsair fleets burned Gondor's coasts whenever the realm was weak.

In TA 2980 a captain called Thorongil, who was Aragorn serving Steward Ecthelion in disguise, led a surprise raid that burned the ships at their moorings and killed the Captain of the Haven. Umbar recovered, and its fleet sailed against Gondor again in TA 3019 until Aragorn met it at Pelargir.

Events at this place

1. SA 3261 · The Silmarillion

   Ar-Pharazôn lands at Umbar

   The last King of Númenor came ashore with an army so great that Sauron surrendered and was taken to the island as a captive.

2. TA 1448 · Appendices

   The Corsairs take Umbar

   The sons of the defeated usurper Castamir escaped from Pelargir and seized Umbar, founding the Corsair realm.

3. TA 2980 · Appendices

   Thorongil's raid

   Aragorn, serving Gondor under the name Thorongil, burned the Corsair fleet in its own harbor and killed the Captain of the Haven.

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