Sea of Núrnen

The Sea of Núrnen - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Lake Núrnen also known as the Sea of Núrnen was an inland sea in the middle of Nurn in Mordor.

The lake was fed by four unnamed major rivers, of which two flowed from the Ephel Dúath and two from a mountain spur that branched off from the Ered Lithui into Lake Núrnen

It was referred to as a bitter sea and held dark sad water, but the area around it was fertile enough to support great fields that were cultivated by slaves. An old meaning of sad is dark-coloured, in particular an unpleasant colour. Bitter is perhaps by analogy with sad or in the sense of unpalatable, referring to poisonous water from the rivers.

After the War of the Ring King Aragorn freed the slaves of Mordor and gave them ownership of all the lands around Lake Núrnen.

Etymology

Núrnen is Sindarin for "sad-water" or "dead water". Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, and Paul Strack suggest that it is a compound of Nurn (the name of the region in which the inland sea is located) and nen ("water"). Tolkien also noted the related Sindarin word guru ("death").

Commentary

In The Atlas of Middle-earth, Karen Wynn Fonstad assumed that the Sea of Rhûn and Sea of Núrnen were the remnants of the inland Sea of Helcar. The atlas was however published before The Peoples of Middle-earth, where it was revealed that the Sea of Rhûn existed already in the First Age, as an apparently different body of water than the Sea of Helcar.

Portrayal in adaptations

1982-1997: Middle-earth Role Playing:

The river that flows northeastwards from the southern part of the western Ephel Dúath is called Dúaduin on a map of the plateau of Gorgoroth and the western part of Nurn. A smaller river that flows southeast in the direction of the western part of Lake Núrnen from a source in the mountain spur that branches off to the northeast in the southern part of the western Ephel Dúath, a source in the mountain spur that branches off to the southwest from the eastern part of the Ered Litui and a source roughly in the middle of the gap in between those mountain spurs is called Ruinen on that map. The longest river in Mordor that flows (southeastwards and then) southwestwards from the northern part of the mountain spur that branches off to the southwest from the eastern part of the Ered Litui to Lake Núrnen is called Sirilith in the Geographic Features section of the Mordor Gazetteer that was made by MERP fans. A river that flows (southeastards) from the southern part of the mountain spur that branches off to the southwest from the eastern part of the Ered Litui to Lake Núrnen is called Caranduin in that Gazetteer. A river that flows (northwestwards and then) northeastwards from the eastern part of the southern Ephel Dúath to Lake Núrnen is called Culduin in that Gazetteer. A river that flows northeast from the Nargil Pass (in the central part of the southern part of the Ephel Dúath) to Lake Núrnen was called Nargil River in that Gazetteer. The Gazetteer also includes Gurthrant River as an alternative name of the Dúaduin and states that the Dúaduin and the Ruinen flowed into Lake Núrnen.

2014: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor:

Queen Marwen is the queen of the Tribesmen of Núrnen and rules over the Sea of Núrnen.

2022: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:

In the second episode, when Bronwyn tries to warn the Southlanders of Tirharad in Waldreg's tavern of the ruin of Hordern, Waldreg notes that Crookfinger Lake has always been spewing vapors, possibly referring to Lake Núrnen as it is the only and the most well known body of water nearby. The dark and damp forested lake that Arondir was suddenly seized from may possibly be a sub lake of Crookfinger Lake.