| Oliphaunt | |
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| Sapience level | Non-sapient |
| Average height | 50-100 ft. |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Danger rating | Extreme threat |
Oliphaunts (or Mûmakil) are oversized elephants originating from within the jungle of Far Harad and were often used in battle by the Haradrim.
Overview[]
To most cultures, Oliphaunts were creatures of legend, as fabulous and fearsome as dragons, and to them were ascribed all kinds of strange powers. Oliphaunt was another name for them given to them by the Hobbits. No complete mûmak skeleton has ever been found, but accounts suggest that they stood between fifty and one hundred feet tall, with four huge tusks and two smaller ones to each side of the mouth.
When charging into battle, they bellowed and screeched at great volume, and a thunderous din that shook the very earth preceded the advent of their coming. The Haradrim often used war paint on their mûmakil, to make them more fearsome. The war paint used could differ from the individual Haradrim tribes.
These thick-skinned beasts were almost invulnerable to arrows; only in their eyes, could mûmak be blinded or even killed by arrows released with great force. When blinded they went into a rage of pain, often destroying masters and foes alike in their rampages. The tendons in their legs seem to be a vulnerable point however, as several had been taken down by being hamstrung during battle.
Among the tribes of Haradrim, a mûmak would have been, literally, a huge status symbol, and there would have been great competition among the tribes to possess one; it is likely that this competition led to frequent tribal wars. The mumakil would have moved with the tribes as they traveled across the desert, which would have been quite often something as big as a mûmak would soon have exhausted the available resources. A dead mûmak was almost as valuable as a living one, as it would have provided the tribe with a mountain of resources: tusks, bone, hide dyes, sinew and meat that could be salted, keeping the tribe in food for months.