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Lonely Mountain

2008-11-15T17:52:30Z

86.151.177.159: /* Prosperity and the War of the Ring */

{{kingdom
| image = [[Image:Rob Alexander - The Lonely Mountain.jpg|300px]]
| name = Erebor
| meaning = Lonely Mountain
| type = Monarchy/Lordship
| hidep=yes
| headofstate = [[King under the Mountain]]/[[King of Durin's folk]]
| executive =
| legislative =
| judicial =
| capital =
| language = [[Westron]], [[Khuzdul]]
| location = North of [[Esgaroth]], west of the [[Iron Hills]],
| populace= Dwarves
| currency =
| religious =
| holiday =
| anthem =
| formed = Part of the Exiled [[Dwarves of the Grey Mountains]] led by King [[Thrór]] in [[Third Age 2590|T.A. 2590]]
| established = [[Third Age 2590|T.A. 2590]]
| reorganized =
| fragmented =
| dissolved = [[Third Age 2770 | T.A. 2770]]
| restored = [[Third Age 2941 | T.A. 2941]]
}}{{Pronounce|Erebor.mp3|Ardamir}}
'''Erebor''', or the '''Lonely Mountain''' (which it translates as from [[Sindarin]]), is a mountain in the northeast of [[Rhovanion]]. It is the source of the river [[Running]], and a major [[Dwarves|Dwarven]] stronghold at the end of the [[Third Age]] and well into the [[Fourth Age|Fourth]].

==History==
===[[Years of the Trees]] and the [[First Age]]===

Erebor was first discovered and colonized by The [[Longbeards]] Dwarves (Durin's folk) sometime after [[Durin I]] awoke in [[Mount Gundabad]]. It was inhabited by a mining colony for hundreds of years, and was connected by the [[Forest Road]]; Which was built by the Dwarves to connect all of its mining colonies. It ran from the [[High Pass]] through [[Greenwood the Great]] (Later called Mirkwood) to the river [[Running]] that went all the way up to the [[Iron Hills]], which was east of Erebor.

===From Colony to Capital===

Erebor continued as a colony for many thousands of years, until the awakening of [[Durin's bane]] in the capital of [[Khazad-dûm]]. In [[Third Age 1980 | T.A.1980]], King [[Durin VI]] was killed by Durin's bane, and in [[Third Age 1981 | 1981]] after the death of Durin's oldest son and heir King [[Náin I]]; the next in line [[Thráin I]] with the rest of his people fled Khazad-dùm (Renamed Moria).
Thráin with those who would follow him, went to the colony in Erebor in [[Third Age 1999 | 1999]]. Where he made himself [[King under the Mountain]], and relocated the capital of the Longbeards.
Under Thráin's rule the [[Arkenstone]] was discovered, and many riches were mined from its depths; After Thráin's death and his son [[Thorin I]] had ruled in Erebor for ten years, he abandoned the mountain in [[Third Age 2210 | 2210]] for the [[Grey Mountains]]; where his people were now gathering.

===Decline and reestablishment===

After King Thorin left the mountain was once again a colony, and its status as capital city was transfered to the Ered Mithrin.

It was nearly four hundred years before Durin's folk returned in mass to Erebor. The reason for this being that the [[Dwarves of the Grey Mountains]] had been fighting a [[War of the Dwarves and Dragons | war]] against the [[Dragons]], who had plagued the Dwarves for hundreds of years. In the year [[Third Age 2590 | 2589]] King [[Náin II]] and middle son [[Frór]] were killed by a great [[Cold-drake]] at the entrance to their halls, which led to the decision by the two remaining heirs, [[Thrór]] and [[Grór]], to leave the mountains with those who wished to follow them. The following year ([[Third Age 2590 | 2590]]) the now king Thrór, led a group back to Erebor, while his borther Grór led another portion to the Iron Hills, and even some stayed behind in the Ered Mithrin.

Thrór eventually made it to Erebor, and declared himself King under the Mountain. Under Thrór's rule Erebor once again became the capital of Durin's folk, the [[Dwarves of Erebor]] became the best crafters and mason in Wilderland, trade increased with their kinsman in the Iron Hills and elsewhere, and they also became very rich.

===[[Sack of Erebor]] and exile===

But with this new found prosperity came trouble. it wasn't long before the great dragon [[Smaug]] heard of their great wealth, and one day decided to take their treasure for himself. in the year [[Third Age 2770 | 2770]] Smaug descended on the mountain in a ball of fire. He killed King [[Girion]] of [[Dale]] with many of his knights, and he killed a large amount of the Dwarves living in the mountain. Most of the survivors fled to the Iron Hills, while other went with the royal family into exile, and other just went their own way.

The Lonely Mountain was empty for over two hundred years, save the ever vigilant Smaug who slept in the inner most chamber on a great pile of wealth. But while Durin's folk wandered from the mountain to [[Dunland]] to the northern [[Blue Mountains]]; they ever longed for the halls of Erebor.

===The Quest of Erebor and restoration===

It wasn't until Thrór's grandson [[Thórin II Oakenshield]] met the Wizard [[Gandalf]] that the hopes of retaking Erebor seemed possible. Indeed in the year [[Third Age 1941 | 2941]] with Gandalf's council, king Thorin and a small company of friends and family actually made it to the Lonely Mountain. After the Dragon Smaug had realized that the Dwarves had been helped by the [[Men of Dale]] he went to their town of [[Esgaroth]] intent on destroying them. Only to be killed by a man named [[Bard the Bowmen]].
With the help of a [[Hobbit]] named [[Bilbo Baggins]] Thorin and company were able to retake the city and the treasure. Therefore allowing Thorin to proclaim himself King under the Mountain. But after refusing to give any of the treasure to the Men of Esgaroth, and the [[Elves of Mirkwood]], the mountain and the Dwarves and Hobbit in it were put under a bloodless siege.
Things nearly came to blows when Thorin's cousin [[Dáin Ironfoot]] (Grór's grandson) arrived as aid to his kinsman and nearly went to battle against the besiegers. But Gandalf interceded and warned them all of a great host of [[Orcs]] and [[Wargs]] coming to take the mountain. So the Elves, Men, and Dwarves made an alliance, and fought a [[Battle of Five Armies | bloody batte]] against their foes in the valley before the gate of Erebor.

In the end the defenders were victorious against the Orcs and Wargs, but king Thorin was mortally wounded and his nephews were both killed in the battle, and after Thorin's death Dáin was made king of Durin's folk and of the mountain. Finally after so many years of longing the Longbeards finally could return to Erebor.

===Prosperity and the [[War of the Ring]]===

Under Dáin's rule the Dwarves of Erebor became very rich and prosperous. They rebuilt the town of Dale, their trade greatly increased with their kinsman in the Iron Hills once again and with Men, and Erebor was restored to its original greatness.
But once again trouble began to brew in the east. The Men of Dale were nearing war with the [[Easterlings]], and in the year [[Third Age 3019 | 3019]] an emissary from [[Sauron]] came to Erebor and told Dáin that if he were to give up the location of Bilbo (Who had discovered the [[Ring of Power]] in his travels) that Sauron would return to him the three remaining [[Dwarf rings]]. But being wary of the emissary, Dáin sent his kinsmen [[Glóinson of Gróin | Glóin]] to [[Rivendell]] to warn Bilbo that Sauron was after him.

Several months later war broke out between Dale and the East. Dale was driven from their borders at the river Running, and was besieged in their city of Dale for three days in what became the [[Battle of Dale]]. Even with the aid of the Dwarves they could not stop the advance of the Easterlings; and on the third day as the Men and Dwarves retreated into the mountain, King [[Brand]] and King Dáin were killed at the its very gates. The Dwarves and Men held out for several days until word reached the ears of the Easterlings that the great hosts of Sauron in the south had been defeated in the [[Battle of the Morannon]]. With this news fear fell on the besiegers. When the besieged saw this they came forth from the Erebor, and attacked their enemy driving them from Dale across the Running, never to be bothered again.

After the death of his father, [[Thorin III Stonehelm]] became king of Durin's folk, and Erebor. Little is known of his reign other than his people helping rebuild the cities of [[Gondor]] and the fortress of [[Helm's Deep]], and part of his people moving to the [[Glittering Caves]]. Erebor continued to prosper until the world grew old and the races of Durin ended.

==References==
* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], ''[[The Hobbit]]'', passim.
* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', [[Many Meetings]]
* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', [[The Council of Elrond]]
* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], ''[[The Return of the King]]'', passim.
* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', [[Appendix A]]: III Durin's Folk
* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] and [[Christopher Tolkien]] (ed.), ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'', [[The Quest of Erebor]]
* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] and [[Christopher Tolkien]] (ed.), ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]''

[[Category:Mountains]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Dwarven Realms]]
[[Category:Rhovanion]]
[[Category:Sieges]]

Sauron Defeated

2008-11-15T17:12:46Z

86.151.177.159: /* Part One: The End of the Third Age */

{{book|
title=Sauron Defeated|
image=[[Image:Sauron Defeated.jpg|225px]]|
author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], [[Christopher Tolkien]]|
isbn=0395606497|
publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]]|
date=October 27, 1992|
format=Hardcover|
pages= 496|
amazon=http://www.amazon.com/Sauron-Defeated-History-Rings-Middle-Earth/dp/0395606497|
amazonprice=$19.80
}}
In the first section of Sauron Defeated [[Christopher Tolkien]] completes his fascinating study of [[The Lord of the Rings]]. Beginning with Sam's rescue of Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and giving a very different account of the Scouring of the Shire, this section ends with versions of the hitherto unpublished Epilogue, in which, years after the departure of Bilbo and Frodo from the Grey Havens, Sam attempts to answer his children's questions. The second section is an edition of The Notion Club Papers, now published for the first time. These mysterious papers discovered in the early years of the twentieth-first century, report the discussions of an Oxford club in the years 1986-7, in which, after a number of topics, the centre of interest turns to the legends of Atlantis, the strange communications received by other members of the club from the past, and the violent irruption of the legend into the North-west of Europe. Closely associated with the Papers is a new version of the Drowning of Anadune, which constitutes the third part of the book. At this time the language of the Men of the West, 'Adunaic', was first devised, and the book concludes with an account of its structure provided by Arundel Lowdham, a member of the Notion Club, who learned it in his dreams.

==Contents==
* Foreword

===Part One: The End of the Third Age===
* I The Story of Frodo and Sam in Mordor
* II The Tower of Kirith Ungol
* III The Land of Shadow
* IV Mount Doom
* V The Field of Cormallen
* VI The Steward and the King
* VII Many Partings
* VIII Homeward Bound
* IX The Scouring of the Shire
* X The Grey Havens
* XI The Epilogue
* Appendix: Drawings of Orthanc and Dunharrow

===Part Two: The Notion Club Papers===
* Introduction
* Foreword and List of Members
* The Notion Club Papers Part One
* The Notion Club Papers Part Two
* Major Divergences in Earlier Versions of Part Two
** (i) The earlier versions of Night 66
** (ii) The original version of Lowdham's 'Fragments'
** (iii) The earlier versions of Lowdham's 'Fragments' in Adunaic
** (iv) Earlier versions of Edwin Lowdham's Old English text
** (v) The page preserved from Edwin Lowdham's manuscript written in Numenorean script

===Part Three: The Drowning of Anadune===
* (i) The third version of The Fall of Numenor
* (ii) The original text of The Drowning of Anadune
* (iii) The second text of The Drowning of Anadune
* (iv) The final form of The Drowning of Anadune
* (v) The theory of the work
* (vi) Lowdham's Report on the Adunaic Language

* Index

{{home}}

[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Books by J.R.R. Tolkien]]
[[Category:Books by Christopher Tolkien]]

Hobbits

2008-11-15T17:08:02Z

86.151.177.159: /* Some well-known Hobbits */

{{race
| image= [[Image:Peter Jackson's Samwise Gamgee.jpg|250px]]
| name= Hobbits
| dominions= [[The Shire]], [[Bree-land]]
| languages= [[Hobbitish]] (a regional dialect of [[Westron]])
| height= 2-4 feet (often less than three feet in later days)
| skincolor= Nut-brown to White
| haircolor= Typically curly brown, rarely blond (until the [[Fourth Age]]), and white and grey in later years
| distinctions= [[Gift of Men|Mortality]], diminuitive stature, furry feet
| lifespan= c. 100 years
| members= [[Marcho]] and [[Blanco]], [[Sméagol]], [[Bandobras Took]], [[Bilbo Baggins]], [[Frodo Baggins]]
}}
{{quote|In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.|[[An Unexpected Party]], [[The Hobbit]]}}
'''Hobbits''' were a small race that typically dwelt underground, believed to be related to [[Men]]. They played little role in history, save during the [[War of the Ring]].

==Description==

Hobbits are, or were, between two to four feet tall, the average height being 3 feet 6 inches, with slightly pointed ears and oversized furry feet with leathery soles, resulting in most never wearing shoes. They are fond of an unadventurous bucolic life of farming, eating, and socializing. Hobbits have a life span somewhat longer than Men of non-Numenorian descent, having an average lifespan of between 90 and 100 years (the two oldest-living recorded Hobbits are The [[Old Took]] and [[Bilbo Baggins]], who reached the ages of 130 and 131, respectively) The time at which a young Hobbit "comes of age" is 33, as compared to the human 21 years. Thus a 70 year old Hobbit would only be middle-aged. Hobbits also like to drink ale in inns, not unlike the English countryfolk, who were Tolkien's inspiration. We can also see that in the name Tolkien chose for the part of [[Middle-earth]] where the Hobbits live: [[The Shire]] ("shires" are administrative divisions in England of Anglo-Saxon origin).

(Mealtimes, at least according to the [[Peter Jackson]] script adaptation of the novel, consist at least of the seven meals known as breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. Tolkien did say that Hobbits eat "at least six meals a day when they can get it", but he didn't give their names.)

==Origin==
Hobbits are evidently related to [[Men]], and are represented as a pygmy offshoot of that race. Their exact origin is unknown, but by the early [[Third Age]] they were living in the Vales of [[Anduin]] in [[Wilderland]].

== Etymology ==

Hobbits are also called ''[[Halflings]]'' (in [[Sindarin]], ''perian'' singular and ''periannath'' collective) due to their small stature. However, the term is slightly offensive to Hobbits, as to themselves they are not 'half' of anything, and certainly do not use the term to refer to themselves. Tolkien's etymology for 'Hobbit' is interesting as well: obviously constructed without prior intent, it would have been natural for him to connect it to the German prefix ''hob'' meaning ''small'' (e.g. ''hobgoblin''). However this prefix dates back "only" to the 13th century, too late by Tolkien's standards, and so he constructed an alternative etymology, from [[Old English]] ''hol-bytla'', "hole-dweller".
When later he began to work out the language relations further, ''Hobbit'' was to be derived from the [[Rohirric]] (actually [[Anglo-Saxon]] - which Rohirric parallels in Tolkien's universe) ''Holbytlan'' (hole builders). In the original [[Westron]], the name was ''Kuduk'' (Hobbit), derived from the actual Rohirric ''kûd-dûkan'' (hole dweller).

According to Tolkien, the word ''hobbit'' was the first element of ''[[The Hobbit]]'' that he created. As a university lecturer, he was in the process of correcting reports when he started scribbling on a piece of paper and wrote, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit", and the multitude of stories sprang from that. The idea of a little hole dwelling creature was introduced to Tolkien by one of his students in a story he had written.

==Some well-known Hobbits==
* [[Bilbo Baggins]]
* [[Frodo Baggins]]
* [[Samwise Gamgee|Samwise "Sam" Gamgee]]
* [[Meriadoc Brandybuck|Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck]]
* [[Peregrin Took|Peregrin "Pippin" Took]]
* [[Folco Boffin]]
* [[Fredegar Bolger|Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger]]
* [[Otho Sackville-Baggins|Otho]] and [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]]
* [[Lobelia Sackville-Baggins]]
* [[Old Took]]
* [[Bullroarer|Bullroarer Took]]
* [[Sméagol]] (who became the creature [[Gollum]])
* [[Déagol]]

Though in [[The Hobbit]] it is mentioned that [[Gandalf]] "was responsible for so many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures," no female Hobbits are depicted in [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]]'s stories doing so; however Hobbit women do appear in his works, such as the formidable [[Lobelia Sackville-Baggins]] and Sam's wife [[Rosie Cotton]].

==History==
Historically, the Hobbits are known to have originated in the Valley of [[Anduin]], between [[Mirkwood]] and the [[Misty Mountains]]. According to [[The Lord of the Rings]], they have lost the genealogical details of how they are related to the rest of humankind. At this time, there were three '''Hobbit-kinds''', with different temperaments. The [[Harfoots]], the most numerous, were almost identical to the Hobbits as they are described in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The [[Stoors]] had an affinity for water, boats and swimming; the [[Fallohides]] were an adventurous people. (Both of these traits were much rarer in later days.) While situated in the Valley of the Anduin River the Hobbits lived close by the [[Eotheod]], the ancestors of the [[Rohirrim]], and this led to some contact between the two. As a result many old words and names in "Hobbitish" are derivatives of words in Rohirric, so much so that even someone without linguistic training could make out the relation (Merry would later write an entire book devoted to the relationship, ''Old Place Names in the Shire'').

Some time near the beginning of the [[Third Age]], they undertook, for reasons unknown, but possibly having to do with the [[Dol Guldur|rising evil power in Mirkwood]], the arduous task of crossing the [[Misty Mountains]]. Some of the Stoors, however, stayed behind, and it is from these people that [[Gollum]] would come many years later. The Hobbits took different routes in their journey westward, but eventually came to a land between the River [[Baranduin]] (which they renamed ''Brandywine'') and the Weather Hills. There they founded many settlements, and the divisions between the Hobbit-kinds began to blur.

Around the year 1600 of the Third Age, two Fallohide brothers decided, again for reasons unknown, to cross the River Brandywine and settle on the other side. Large numbers of Hobbits followed them, and most of their former territory was depopulated. Only [[Bree]] and a few surrounding villages lasted to the end of the Third Age. The new land that they found on the west bank of the Brandywine is called [[The Shire]].

A map of the Shire and surrounding regions may be found at [[Eriador]].

Originally the Hobbits of the Shire swore nominal allegiance to the last Kings of Arnor, being required only to acknowledge their lordship, speed their messengers, and keep the bridges and roads in repair. During the final fight against [[Angmar]] at the Battle of Fornost, the Hobbits maintain that they sent a company of archers to help but this is nowhere else recorded. After the battle the kingdom of Arnor was destroyed, and in absence of the king the Hobbits elected a Thain of the Shire from among their own chieftans.

The first Thain of the Shire was Bucca of the Marrish, who founded the Oldbuck family. However, later on the Oldbuck family crossed the Brandywine River to create the separate land of Buckland and the family name changed to the familiar "Brandybuck". Their patriach then became Master of Buckland. With the departure of the Oldbucks/Brandybucks, a new family was selected to have its chieftans be Thain, the Took family (Indeed, Pippin Took was son of the Thain and would later become Thain himself). The Thain was in charge of Shire Moot and Muster and the [[Hobbitry-in-Arms]], but as the Hobbits of the Shire led entirely peaceful, uneventful lives the office of Thain was seen as something more of a formality.

==The ontological nature of hobbits==
[[Hobbits]] are considered Men in Tolkien's works. Nearly all Tolkien scholars agree that Men are closely related to [[Hobbits]], far more closely than Men are to either [[Elf|Elves]] or [[Dwarves]]. It is thus commonly assumed that Hobbits are among the Younger Children of [[Eru|Iluvatar]] and are the result of the same act of creation as Men. This would imply that Hobbits have the [[Gift of Men]] to pass entirely beyond [[Arda]], which also means that the avoidance of the Gift of Men in Hobbits, like in Men, can be physically and morally destructive. [[Sméagol]], who had originally been a Hobbit, was transformed into the monster [[Gollum]] by a combination of the evil of the [[One Ring]] and the resulting avoidance of the [[Gift of Men]]. [[Bilbo Baggins]] became "thin and stretched" from the immortality that the One Ring granted to him, since neither Men nor Hobbits are intended for immortality in this world. Men and Hobbits appear to have the same ontological nature, which is that they are the result of the act of creation that resulted in the Younger Children of [[Eru|Iluvatar]].

== Usage outside Tolkien ==

"Hobbit" is a trademark owned by the Tolkien estate, as are most of the names, places and artifacts included in books by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]. For this reason [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and other fantasy tend to refer to Hobbits and Hobbit-like races rather as '''Halflings''' (''hin'' in the Mystara universe, ''hurthlings'' in Ancient Domains of Mystery).

The name ''hobbit'' had previously appeared in an obscure "list of spirits" by Michael Denham, which includes several repetitions. There is no evidence to suggest Tolkien used this as a source — indeed he spent many years trying to find out whether he really did coin the word. Denham's "hobbit spirits" (which are never referenced anywhere except in the long list) have no obvious relation to Tolkien's Hobbits, other than the name (which may possibly imply hob- "small", see below): Tolkien's Hobbits are small humans, not spirits. Nonetheless, some few people have suggested that the reference in the Denham list should invalidate the trademark.

The lexeme ''hob'', meaning ''small'', is a root word for ''hobbledehoy'', ''hobgoblin'', and ''hobyah''. This may have influenced Tolkien's name; see '''[[#Origin|Origin]]''' above.

''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]'', a possible species in the genus Homo (thus, related to humans) discovered in 2004, has been informally dubbed a "hobbit" by its discoverers due to its small size.

[[Category:Races]]
[[Category:Characters in The Hobbit]]