BARBARIANS 1
Ethnicity and Demographics in Harn: The Origins,
Languages and Populations of Harnic Barbarians
Nihil tam difficile est ut non possit studio investigari
Terence
Seventeen barbarian tribes inhabit the Hârnic Isles,
together numbering 127,900 of Hârn’s total population of
approximately 800,000. Like the civilized population of
the island, Hârn’s barbarians fall in to three linguistic and
ethnic categories: Hârnic (or Pharic), Jarind, and Other
(see Table A). Although barbarian populations are divided
fairly equally in to Jarind and Hârnic elements, the Jarind
tribes are numerically by far the most important
representatives of Hârn’s original human inhabitants.
The comments which follow are deductions based on
the information provided in the Hârn corpus. In particular
the various articles on individual tribes do give hints,
when they do not actually say what language is spoken.
This is merely one version of Hârnic reality, of course, but
if it inspires, all to the good.
Much of my linguistic-cultural scheme is based on a
comparison of the historical notes given for each tribe. It
is fairly certain, for instance, that the Jarind tribes of the
Northwest represent the descendents of the first, Jarind
wave of Human migration to Hârn. Largely because of
their remoteness from the centers of Sindarin and Khuzan
civilization, they remained hunter-gatherers for the most
part, never evolving permanent settlements, agriculture, or
the relatively sophisticated political institutions modeled
on Khuzan or Sindarin kingship which some of the preAtani War Jarind peoples enjoyed. The higher level of
civilization attained by these peoples’ distant cousins, the
Jarin of Jara, is largely explained by the significant
number of refugees from the Kald region, who by settling
in the fastnesses of the Jara Mountains were able to avoid
assimilation by the Pharic invader.
The Southeastern Hârnic-speaking tribes are the
descendants of the next, Pharic, migration. Their cousins
in Kaldor, Elorinar and Melderyn benefited from the level
of civilization attained by the Jarin inhabitants of those
places (hence, for example, the survival of Jarin
inheritance customs throughout the civilized Hârnic
kingdoms). Tharda, far from these Jarin centers, is also
very recently civilized despite the arrival of small
numbers of “civilized” Jarin refugees in the aftermath of
the Atani Wars; the first permanent urban settlement,
Coranan, dates only from the early 4th century TR.
However, the present-day Hârnic barbarians are
descended from Pharic tribes which did not settle in these
areas of pre-Atani War Jarin civilization. As a result these
Hârnic tribes still retain ways of life not very different
from the original Pharic invaders, while in the meantime
their civilized Hârnic relations have assimilated not only
the original Jarin inhabitants, but much of their culture as
well.
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The Chymak, Bujoc and Solori form a small third
group of peoples who, for whatever reason, managed to
avoid assimilation to the Pharic wave of migrants; often
their geographical remoteness is sufficent explanation, but
the influence of the powers of Melderyn cannot be ruled
out. Melderyn was itself assimilated to the Pharic speech
and customs, but retained certain institutions which
apparently pre-date even the Jarind invasion. The survival
of Emelan speech among the Chymak and the Bujoc (two
of the most cultural isolated people in the Hârnic Isles)
may well suggest that these people are descendants of the
original, pre-Jarind, human inhabitants of the Isles. The
Kamaki, on the other hand, are an enigmatic exception to
Hârnic anthropology; their language shows the influence
of southern Lythian peoples, and it is quite possible that
they are the descendants of some forgotten shipwrecked
Falanians.
A cursory comparison of tribal populations with
curent political-cultural status will indicate which of
Hârn’s barbarian tribes are likely to have a future and
which are doomed to assimilation and oblivion. The Kath,
for instance, with a mere 1,500 souls living very near a
dynamic and energetic Kaldoran population, which
moreover speaks a language not markedly different from
their own, are almost certainly marked down for historical
footnote status; any day now Tashalan property
developers will start surveying Kathela for new condos.
The Kubora, on the other hand, show some promise:
they are numerous, they speak a language distinct from
their southern neighbours, and they have a fairly
sophisticated socio-political structure which might well
evolve in to a recognizable state someday. The Kubora
have already proven their ability to withstand external
pressure, and indeed in the person of Arlun, even to
export a little mayhem themselves. It is not at all unlikely
that by the 12th c. T.R. the westernmost reaches of Hârn
are occupied by a fiesty little Duchy of Kubora, fending
off all comers and sticking to their odd Jarin ways.
Although it is very unlikely that the present
inhabitants understand themselves in these terms, the
ethnic geography of the Hârnic Isles is essentially a
division between a Hârnic core and a Jarind periphery.
The south and east are occupied by the populous, civilized
and dynamic Hârnians. A minority of Jarind-speakers
lives in a fringe stretching across Hârn’s northern and
western reaches, from Azadmere to Anfla Island. Whether
the Jarind can withstand the ancient and more recent
pressures on their civilization remains to be seen.
Author Unknown
BARBARIANS 2
Hârnic Human Populations, 720 TR
Notes
(all figures approximate)
Total Human Population: 800,000
ethnic: Hârnic 664,000 (83%)
Jarind 120,000 (15%)
Other
16,000 (2%)
Civilized Population:
Hârnic
Jarind
(most Ivinian) Other
670,000
596,000 (89%)
67,000 (10%)
7,000 ( 1%)
Barbarian Population:
Hârnic
Jarind
Other
127,900
60,100
57,800
10,000
1.
2.
3.
(47%)
(45%)
(8%)
The Barbarian Tribes of Hârn
Tribe
Appr. Pop.
Language
1,500
Kamakin
1
Peoples:
Jarind-Adaenian
Jarind-Peranic
Jarind-Peranic
Jarind-Peranic
Jarind-Nuthelan
Jarind-Nuthelan
Jarind-Nuthelan
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Kamaki
Northwestern Jarind
Adaenum
6,700
Kubora
17,000
Urdu
10,200
Equani
7,400
Ymodi
1,800
Anoa
4,500
Taelda
10,200
Notes
South-Eastern Hârnic peoples:
Tulwyn
8,900
Hârnic
Gozyda
4,000
Hârnic
Chelni
3,200
Hârnic
Kath
1,500
Hârnic
Pagaelin 17,500
Hârnic
Hodiri
25,000
Hârnic
3
3
3
3
3
3
Chymak
2,000
Emelan-Pharic
4
Bujoc
4,500
Emelan-Pharic
4
Solori
2,000
Jarind-Hârnic
5
Author Unknown
4.
5.
Kamakin is a language based on Old Jarinese and
heavily influenced by Falani and Thonian;
unintelligible except to native-speakers.
The Jarind fringe speaks three dialects (Adaenian,
Peranic, and Nuthelan), all closer to Old Jarinese than
the Jarinese spoken in Orbaal, Azadmere or Evael.
Speakers of modern Jarinese find these dialects rather
odd and quaint (-15 ML to speakers of modern Jarin).
Among the Kubora and to a lesser extent the Taelda it
is not uncommon to find people who speak enough
Hârnic at least to trade.
Each Hârnic-speaking tribe speaks its own dialect, all
of which are essentially Old Hârnic (-15 ML to
speakers of modern Hârnic), although the Gozyda and
Chelni, who have fairly consistent contact with
civilized people, speak grammatically modern Hârnic
with some unique or archaic vocabulary (no ML
mod.).
The Chymak and Bujoc languages are composites of
Emela and Pharic, with some of the later’s oldest
linguistic survivals in western Lythia. Neither
peoples’ tongues are intelligible to speakers of Hârnic
or Jarin, though a speaker of Emelan would probably
be able to understand (-30 ML).
Solori is a unique Jarind survival in eastern Hârn,
though much mixed with Hârnic elements; a speaker
of Hârnic would recognize perhaps every third word
but not the grammar, while a speaker of Jarin would
be able to understand with some difficulty (-25 ML).
Many Solori speak enough Hârnic at least to trade,
but in the current circumstances few will chose to
communicate in the language of their oppressors.
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