Title: Banners of the Mallenrim
Fandom: Tolkien - Works
Rating: All
Content Notes: None
Artist Notes: Done in Adobe Illustrator, converted to jpgs in Photoshop. Click through for larger sizes.

Summary: Digital art representations of the heraldry of the Mallenrim (OCs, far east beyond the Orocarni, Numenorian descent) in the form it would take on their banners. Arithmetic comes in in the resizing of heraldic clip art, and the shaping of the stars and curved shapes.


The Queen of Gaearon Rhûnen is the most powerful person in the realm, settling disputes of land, commerce, and dynastic uncertainty. She owns the largest fleet of ships and the greatest amount of land in the realm, and her banner is meant to bring to mind that which has made Gaearon Rhûnen wealthy and powerful within their sphere of influence. The blue of the ocean that brought them to the east, and carries them to new lands beyond the eastern sea and in the furthest south. The mountains which border and protect their kingdom, as well as being sources of mineral wealth and allies. And the seven-pointed star to remind them of Numenor, from which their ruling class came.


The King of the Mallenrim is the leader of their armies, and his banner is the war banner of the Mallenrim. He is also a settler of disputes over livestock, the director of public works such as roads and aqueducts, and the greatest purchesor of arms and armor in the East. There are five stars to represent the five great princes of the Mallenrim - Helegrim, Western Gate, Southern Keep, Eastern Gate, and Southern Isles - and the single star which represents Palancirion, the father of the first ruling Queen of Gaearon Rhûnen, and father-in-law of the first King of the Mallenrim.


The Prince of Tol Sáid is the heir to the Queen, and the only woman who has the authority to speak with the Voice of the Queen when the Queen herself is not present. In the early years of Gaearon Rhûnen, she would often spend many years in Numenor, though that practice ceased later. The star is a reminder of that time, and the ford below is to recall the river which surrounds the island of Tol Sáid, for which the title is called.


The Prince of the Braigduin is the husband of the Prince of Tol Sáid, and is the heir to the King. He is the Voice of the King, the herald of war, and the primary defender of the borders of Gaearon Rhûnen, as well as the Prince of Tol Sáid. His banner is crimson for war, with the arc to represent the shore, silver for the ocean for more practical reasons - higher contrast makes for better recognition on the field - and a single star for Numenor.


The banners for other princes of the royal house, male and female - the first usually used for children of the Prince of Tol Sáid and Prince of the Braigduin, the latter for younger daughters and sons of the reigning Queen and King.


The Southern Keep is the oldest land holding and title in Gaearon Rhûnen aside from the monarchs. The banner recalls the oceans from which the Mallenrim came, and the stars are for the five major rivers of the lands between the Orocarni and the eastern seas. The gold is for the hulls of the ships in which the Mallenrim arrived.

The banner of the husband of the Prince of the Southern Keep bears the horse of the calvary that has become the greatest asset of Southern Keep, with their wide grasslands. The five stars on his banner are for the rivers and the Great Princes of the Mallenrim, and crimson for war.

The change from blue - or crimson - stars to black in the banners of the heirs is an older style of marking the arms of the heir in Gaearon Rhûnen, and predates the use of a border as a difference.


Helegrim is the second major settlement of Gaearon Rhûnen, which encompasses much of the colder northern portions, up to the mountains that divide it from the bitter wastes of the furthest north. The silver is the ice that earned the river, the lake that is its source, and the settlement itself their names.

The mountains represent the three major peaks which overlook the lake, and the bar below them the river. The color shift of peaks and river to crimson in the banners for the husbands of Prince and her heir are the typical difference, and a reference to their role in warfare.


The third great princedom of Gaearon Rhûnen was established in the west, at the foot of the Orocarni, and provides trade with the dwarves that live there, as well as access to more western markets for silks and spices that are produced in the various lands that Gaearon Rhûnen lays claim to.

Near the dwarven hall of Coppergate are carved the Royal Archives, deep into stone where delicate manuscripts are easier to preserve. This responsibility is represented by the feather quill in the arms of the Prince and her heir. The Western Gate is also one of the great sources of quality wood for bows, and of archers for the army, which is reflected in the arrow in place of the quill for the husbands of the Prince and her heir.

Both banners are black, for the iron that is one of the major trade goods they recieve from the dwarves, and the mountains are red for the mountains that form the great western wall of the kingdom.


The Southern Isles are in reality the northernmost part of the South Lands, and the two large islands which lay off its coast, and the Prince that claims those lands is only nominally under the rule of the Queen. Technically, the Prince lays claim to all unsettled lands of the continent, but they have little control south of the grasslands that make up the northern tip.

The banners of Prince and heir are green for the fertile grasslands which feed the herds of horses, cattle, and goats that the settlers here keep, with golden peaks for the yellow stone of the mountains which form a large part of the continent. The banners for their husbands are black for war, rather than crimson, and bear a sheaf of crimson arrows for the mounted archers which most of their soldiers are.


The Eastern Gate refers to the lands across the eastern sea which are the most recently claimed lands of Gaearon Rhûnen, within the last two thousand years. Like the Prince of the Southern Isles, the Prince of the Eastern Gate is only nominally under the rule of the Queen, as the distance makes it difficult for the same deep connections as lay between the first three great Princes and the Queen.

The banner's background is divided gold and green for the wealth of forests, and the golden hulls of the ships of the Mallenrim. The silver star is for Numenor, the two green stars for the two lesser princes which hold lands under the rule of the Prince of the Eastern Gate. In the banners of the husbands, the green becomes crimson, as is the standard within the heraldry of the Mallenrim. The star of Numenor is left off in favor of an ax, which is the tool which carved out the wealth of the Eastern Gate, as well as the preferred weapon of soldiers from those lands.