Okay, this is just my understanding of the term, but ‘Easterling’ doesn’t actually mean the Haradrim, who are, as you have pointed out, from south of Gondor. It more accurately describes the people of Khand and Rhun, rather than of Harad (the Haradrim are, in fact, called ‘Southrons’ in the books).
It’s fairly common not to make the distinction though, and to call both the people of Harad and the people of Khand and Rhun ‘Easterlings’ as an umbrella term… probably to delineate those nations that sided together against the West.
And there we have another ‘direction’ grouping – Arnor is North-west, and Erebor is p much directly north (the Iron Hills are more or less in Rhun!), but they are generally lumped in with ‘the West’. The central point of the compass appears to be Gondor, mostly. IDK, it’s probably got something to do with the Numenoreans, It usually does.
Check askmiddlearth‘s post on Rhun and Easterlings here. It includes a map that shows the Orocarni Mountains – which are indeed, to the east. There are some other goodmaps that show the lie of the continent as well. Here’s some of them:
Haradrim – Southrons, south of Gondor & Mordor
The Variags of Khand – South-East of Mordor
Rhun – Easterlings, east of Rhovanion (incl. Orocarni)
The maps are reproduced from the Appendices of LOTR and from excerpts from Karen Wynn Fonstad’s Atlas of Middle Earth.
Okay, I’ve gotten several messages lately regarding my racism posts that basically argue that “it wasn’t racist for Tolkien to make everyone white since it’s supposed to be Europe.” Unfortunately, the only thing this tells me is that you haven’t actually read my first post on racism, since I presented about eight pages of research highlighting how many people in Middle Earth actually weren’t described as white. Maybe you didn’t have time to read it, I don’t know. Whatever the reason, I made this little map that basically sums it all up (but if you want to check the research behind this map, definitely go read the original post.)
Now presenting, in its full, complete, and downloadable glory, the Racism and Middle Earth series! This six part guide to Tolkien and Racism collects relevant tidbits from Tolkien’s own writings (from the most familiar to the most obscure) in order to highlight what the most problematic and the most potential-ridden parts of Middle Earth are, and outlines how we, as fans, can make Middle Earth a better place for characters of all ethnicities.
Aw Yiss 