Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-5601442-20151231172926/@comment-5601442-20151231212327

High King Ithilion wrote: I know that there is very little proof to it, but really everyone believes the Variags are mounted horse archers and axemen. There is some evidence supporting this.

1. Khand supplied many of Mordor's horses, therefore were likely a horse nation.

2. Variags are stated as axemen, similar to the Varangian Guard, which many people think inpsired the name. "Variag", in fact, is an old word signifying a rower of a viking longship rower.

3. Khand is a steppe climate, similar to the Mongolian Plain.

Also, random fact: Khand was once at conflict with the Wainriders.

Here are some quotes from various Tolkien websites, which add to the discussion.

Michael Martinez says (bold is mine):

"In that essay I suggested two very realistic and plausible explanations for the Variags, who are only mentioned twice briefly in “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields”. One possibility is that the Variags were renegade Northmen who settled among the Easterlings of Khand after Minalcar sorted out Gondor’s affairs among the Northmen, some of whom had gone over to the Easterlings. However, Tolkien only added some of the details of Northman history in the Second Edition (1965) of   The Lord of the Rings.

The other possibility is that the Variags were Numenoreans who settled among the Easterlings of Khand. The name Variag  originally referred to outsiders who had settled among the Slavic peoples of Russia. The Variags of Khand could, therefore, have been Black Numenoreans. If that is the case, they could have been the people from whom the Mouth of Sauron was recruited. "

In another essay, Martinez says that the Variags probably weren't the original inhabitants of Khand.

The One Wiki to Rule Them All syas:

" it is mentioned in  The Return of the King  that they 'hated the sunlight. "

Tolkien Gateway says:

"  They were described as tall and ferocious warriors, wielding large battle-axes in combat and descending on their foes with great wrath. "

I hope this information helps. Really, we know so little about the Variags that people come up with their own ideas.

High King Ithilion (Chat moderator) (Ni celeb ithil) 20:39, December 31, 2015 (UTC) There actually isnt anything in the text that says they were a horse nation. Even on Tolkien Gateway people have asked for sources to be cited on that fact and none have been brought forward. So no, nowhere in lore does it say they were a horse nation. Its also never stated that Khand would be a steppe, and if it was it would be because of its proximity to the steppes of Rhun to its northeast.

But yes, we do know they weilded axes.