|
[QUOTE=Formendacil;414935]According to dictionary.com, swarthy means:
In other words, these swarthy men were darker skinned than those the narrator would be most familiar with. If this means they were darker in the manner of southern Italians or Arabs (darker than those of more Teutonic descent) or really and truly swarthy in the manner of Africans, who knows.
I think that Swarthy in this case would refer to a skin tone of the first listed, simlar to those of Mediteranian or Middle Eastern descent. Actual skin tome of the kind that one would assocaite with those of Indegenous African descent appeared to be reseved for those from Far Harad who are noted by Tolkein as having skin much darker than the merely swarthy Near Haradrians.
This leads to an intersting question. If the Lossoth are indeed based on the Inuit would they be considered a "swarthy" race in ME?
|