Q: What Do We Know about the Black Serpent of Harad?
ANSWER: One of the most popular moments in The Lord of the Rings is Théoden’s charge in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. He leads 6,000 Riders of Rohan on what seems to be an impossible charge against the massive army surrounding and on the verge of entering Minas Tirith. This is also one of my favorite scenes from the movies.
Théoden King of the Mark had reached the road from the Gate to the River, and he turned towards the City that was now less than a mile distant. He slackened his speed a little, seeking new foes, and his knights came about him, and Dernhelm was with them. Ahead nearer the walls Elfhelm’s men were among the siege-engines, hewing, slaying, driving their foes into the fire-pits. Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was overrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will. But they had not yet overthrown the siege, nor won the Gate. Many foes stood before it, and on the further half of the plain were other hosts still unfought. Southward beyond the road lay the main force of the Haradrim, and there their horsemen were gathered about the standard of their chieftain. And he looked out, and in the growing light he saw the banner of the king, and that it was far ahead of the battle with few men about it. Then he was filled with a red wrath and shouted aloud, and displaying his standard, black serpent upon scarlet, he came against the white horse and the green with great press of men; and the drawing of the scimitars of the Southrons was like a glitter of stars.
Then Théoden was aware of him, and would not wait for his onset, but crying to Snowmane he charged headlong to greet him. Great was the clash of their meeting. But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest. Right through the press drove Théoden Thengel’s son, and his spear was shivered as he threw down their chieftain. Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered. Then all that was left unslain of their cavalry turned and fled far away.
In March 2019 a reader asked the following question: “What can we know about the Black serpent of Harad (the man and the herald [Michael’s note: “standard”?]) in term of Diegesis and inspiration?”
I believe English is a second language for this reader and I may be misinterpreting the intention behind “herald”.
Regarding what we know about the diegesis (the in-story sub-plot concerning the cavalry force fighting under the standard of the black serpent on red field), the only passage I could find was the two paragraphs I quoted above. The cavalry were part of a larger force of Haradrim (aka “Southrons”) who had joined Sauron’s war against Minas Tirith. Gollum describes a column of Haradrim entering Mordor to Frodo and Sam, and he mentions their “red flags”, but no emblems. There is no way to know if they were connected to the Southrons whom Theoden charged.
One can infer from various anecdotes scattered throughout the Appendices that there were some Haradrim kingdoms or realms with long histories of animosity toward Gondor and its allies. So I think it’s reasonable to infer that the Haradrim of the Black Serpent were there in part by choice (long animosity) and out of loyalty to Sauron.
The Haradrim May be Styled on a Modern Stereotype
Because they are from the south, and ride horses, and fight with scimitars, many people deduce or assume that this force of Haradrim owe something to “Arab culture”. I suspect cheap Hollywood movies were more of an inspiration than actual Arab culture. I don’t know about British cinema but during the 1930s and 1940s Hollywood made a lot of “Desert Adventure” or “Desert Drama” movies. If there is a correct, formal classification for such movies I don’t know what it would be.
Typically these films featured single male adventurers who find themselves in exotic desert cities. There is a princess or slave girl who is connected to palace intrigues. The “Arabs” are actually loosely modeled on Bedouins (tribes of desert-dwellers ranging from the Middle East across northern Africa). The Arab/Bedouin groups ride horses, fight with scimitars, and wear long flowing robes (based on actual desert clothing, which protects people from the heat and helps conserve body moisture).
I’ve provided you with more detail about stock movie characters than Tolkien provided about his horse-riding southerners who follow a Black Serpent banner. We do know they fought with scimitars.
The Serpent or Snake Emblem May Blend Historical Inspirations
The serpent is an ancient emblem, found in many cultures around the world. In western mythology it is most well-known for being used by doctors for thousands of years. I always thought that was a curious association, but that’s a thought for another blog.
There are historical accounts of serpent gods in the ancient Middle East and possibly eastern Africa. In fact, there is a 70,000-year-old cave in southeastern Africa that was carved to look like a giant serpent. At least some archaeologists suggested it may have been associated with a serpent cult (I think they were speculating wildly, but let’s go with it).
The snake is well-represented in Egyptian mythology and symbology. The pharoahs used a snake among their emblems. The 3rd Egyptian King of the 1st Dynasty is known as “King Snake” to modern English-language scholars (ala “King Scorpion”).
The serpent is familiar to anyone who has read the Book of Genesis in The Bible. It was the creature who lied to Eve about eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God punished the serpent, forcing it to crawl on its belly (thus depriving it of legs). [As an aside – this is exactly how evolutionary biologists describe changes in snake biology – they were originally legged creatures. Cue spooky music riff …]
So mankind has a long association with serpents and serpent emblems in Africa and the Middle East. It is associated with both royal power and evil, as well as with gods and the sky.
When I first began to research this question I thought there was no snake or serpent connection to northern Africa, but I was wrong.
The Numidians were Snake-charmers
The Numidians were an ancient people living west of Carthage who fought with the Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. They were divided into two major tribes and their most famous king was Jugurtha. Scholars apparently believe the Numidians were related to north Africa’s Berbers – a desert people often confused with the Bedouin Arabs – and possibly the Tuareg peoples of the Sahel (the part of the Sahara deeper inland than the coastal regions along the Mediterranean Sea).
Jugurtha was apparently an evil, murderous prince who killed one of his rivals. He came into conflict with Rome by killing some Roman businessmen who were helping Carthaginians. If you thought ancient political dramas were simple compared to modern current events, you need to read more about ancient history.
Jugurtha was powerful (and wealthy) enough that even though Rome defeated him in battle he was able to retain his kingdom and – well, get away with murder. This went on for a few years until Gaius Marius – the guy most famous for reforming the Roman Republic’s army and defeating the Cimbri and Teutones – took a Consular army to northern Africa and fought “the Jugurthine War”. Marius’ cavalry commander, Sulla, captured Jugurtha, who was taken back to Rome in chains and executed.
If you read all that on Wikipedia you won’t see anything about snakes (or serpents). But there are 19th century texts that mention the Numidian snake-charmers. And there are stories about giant snakes in north Africa that gave the Roman soldiers a serious fright. I don’t know if such giant snakes really existed or if they survive today. But apparently some myths rose up around these horrendous man-killing creatures. So I imagine a Numidian snake-charmer might be highly respected by the religious and superstitious peoples of the ancient world.
Why else would they still be mentioned by modern peoples?
How Tolkien Might Have Put All This Together
Keep in mind that J.R.R. Tolkien was often amused by people’s attempts to reverse-engineer his sources. One can only speculate based on what we think he knew and what we think he liked. Even his own family would be unable to explain some of the random things one can find in the stories – although I don’t doubt Christopher Tolkien could tell us a tale or two still, if he were of a mind to do so.
I’m confident that the Haradrim cavalry were inspired by stereotypical desert warriors. I’m sure Hollywood got the idea from real history somewhere but Tolkien just needed an image his readers could easily recognize. So horse-riding southerners wielding scimitars would have made sense.
The snake or serpent symbol probably signifies two things: that the chieftain was a king and a powerful one, and that he was associated with a god-like power. He was a servant of Sauron, who (according to one of Tolkien’s random notes) claimed to be Morgoth returned at the end of the Third Age.
Yes, Sauron was claiming to be a god at the end – or God. I don’t think Tolkien would have overlooked the irony of giving a serpent emblem to one of Sauron’s cronies. I’m pretty sure it was intentional because of all the forces mentioned on the battlefield, this one was singled out for the purpose of identifying an emblem.
The story symbolically pits the white horse on green field (both colors associated with life and health in some cultures) against the black serpent on scarlet field (both colors associated with death and evil in some cultures). The white horse is almost certainly based on the Uffington White Horse – a great white hill-carving that many people in Tolkien’s day thought had been created by the Anglo-Saxons. Modern research shows that the feature is much more ancient but Tolkien wouldn’t have known that.
Well, I don’t think Tolkien meant to imply that the Southrons were Egyptians. After all, in his letters he identifies the Numenoreans with Egyptians (who, presumably, are descendants of Gondorians – but they could also be descendants of the Kings Men or Black Numenoreans).
So the Southrons could be sort of proto-southern Egyptians. But the Egyptians didn’t have much of a cavalry force. They are famous for their charioteers (who also famously drowned in the Red Sea – an event that science has proven really could have happened – but I digress again).
The Numidians may not have used snakes as emblems but they did wage war on horseback and they were not the nicest of peoples. The Romans were quite proud of defeating the Numidians horso-a-horso, so to speak. That is, the victory of Sulla’s cavalry force over Jugurtha’s cavalry was a major event for Rome.
The word “scimitar” is problematic. It doesn’t have a very long history in English and the Oxford English Dictionary (which Tolkien worked on for a few years) never provided a definitive origin for the word. In Tolkien’s fiction, many of the bad guys fight with scimitars. I think he just uses the word to describe generic curved swords with no intentional historical connotation.
Historically scimitars were used by cavalry forces across northern Africa and the Middle East. Turks and Mongols used scimitars at least as far back as the 800s. Now, before you start yelling “Aha! Another medieval reference!” let me tell you about the Egyptian Khopesh. It was a curved sword. Curved swords predate scimitars but if you saw some of them you’d probably think they were scimitars – except for those of you who study sword history. Hannibal’s Celtiberians used curved swords called Falcata, which look more like scimitars than the sickle-shaped Egyptian blades.
So I think when J.R.R. Tolkien writes “scimitar” he just means “a really wicked curved sword you would not want to be struck with”. But I’m guessing.
At the end of the day, the Haradrim remain enigmatic. They’re horse-riding cavalry, men, serving an evil Dark Lord, and they have a nasty-looking standard that is the only emblem on Sauron’s side worth mentioning in the story.
It probably meant something to Tolkien at the time he wrote it.
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Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
It probably did mean something to Tolkien when he wrote it (these things don’t arise spontaneously), but it may not have been as connected to his personal history as The Shire. To me it seems to be a cultural shorthand that would resonate easily with Britons of Tolkien’s era. The Southrons seem akin to Saracens, “The Turk,” Persians, Afghans, and Mughals – settled, territorial powers, rather than nomadic Bedouin tribes. As a stereotype it draws on British engagement in that region that started with the Crusades and lasted through and beyond WWI. Curved-bladed swords of various names were wielded by fierce, dark-skinned cavalries throughout that period. For this sort of tale it always helps to have enemies who are obviously “other” and follow another god.
That wonderful battle passage may well be Tolkien’s most Technicolor moment (well, it could just have easily been a 19th Century mural)… Whether it had specific inspiration or was an amalgam of many influences seems incidental to me. Coiled serpents with bared fangs have been used on many a banner, sometimes by the “bad guys,” and sometimes by the “good.” Consider the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag of the American Revolution. And vanquishing the serpent is so Saint George (talk about an oft-painted subject) that Tolkien did it twice in the same battle (Saint Éowyn?).
While sometimes there is deeply-considered meaning behind every word, sometimes a storyteller need only dip his quill into stereotype and archetype for a splash of ready-mixed color.
I think it most likely that Tolkien based his account on the 1898 Battle of Omdurman where 3000 British and Egyptian cavalry shattered the 15,000 strong cavalry of the Mahdi (think ISIS). It was the last great classic cavalry charge in history. British and Egyptian Lancers took on and defeated 15,000 Sudanese Arabs who were armed with curved swords . One of the British officers involved was Lt Winston Spencer Churchill who wrote his first best selling book on the subject called “The River War” The prize was the city of Omdurman which lay on the other side of the Nile to the Egyptian city of Khartoum. At the climax of the battle the 21st Lancers broke through the cavalry forces of the Mahdi allowing the Anglo Egyptian Army to cross the river and take Khartoum sending the forces of the Mahdi into a panicked retreat. Of course Winston preferred his Broomhandle Mauser automatic pistol to a Sabre
The parallels are obvious I would have thought . Omdurman and Khartoun are turned into Minas Tirith and Minas Ithil. Tolkien must have been aware of the story. The force of the Mahdi fought under a Black Flag and were sometimes referred to as the Hadithi.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Omdurman
There was even a second battle. The Battle of Umm Diwaykarat which marked the final defeat of the Mahdist forces.