Who told you, and who sent you?
 | |
| People | |
| Dwarves of the Blue Mountains | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Other names | Dwarves of Ered Lindon |
| Locations | Blue Mountains |
| Affiliation | Union of Maedhros, Thorin and Company |
| Rivalries | Iathrim |
| Languages | Khuzdul, Sindarin, Westron |
| Members | Azaghâl, Telchar, Gamil Zirak, Fíli, Kíli |
The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains were the various Dwarven cultures that settled the Ered Luin.
History
Elder Days
According to Dwarvish traditions the ancestors of the kindreds of dwarves of the Firebeards and Broadbeams awoke in the north of the Blue Mountains[1] in the First Age after the Awakening of the Elves.[2] It is presumed that these two kindreds of dwarves built the great underground Dwarven cities of Nogrod and Belegost.[3][note 1]
The Dwarves built their great mansions in the mountains, commanding the only passes. These had probably been built even before the arrival of the Eldar into Beleriand on their Great Journey.[4]
From their cities, the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains came down into Beleriand to trade with the Elves. These Dwarves were friends to the Sindar[5] and later allies of the Noldor of Beleriand.[6] They played a great part in the making of Thingol's halls at Menegroth, and later aided in the delving of Nargothrond beside Narog.[7] Finrod rewarded them with treasures he brought from Tirion. It was during this time that the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains created the Nauglamír for Finrod, the most renowned of their works of the Elder Days.[7]
After Morgoth's return to Middle-earth, the Dwarves were loosely allied with the Elves in the Wars of Beleriand that followed. They fought in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, where Azaghâl of Belegost drove Glaurung from the field but was himself slain. After the battle, relations between the Elves and Dwarves cooled; the Dwarves of Nogrod slew Thingol and stole the Nauglamír, and after this time, enmity and mistrust grew between the two peoples.
Later History
The cities of Nogrod and Belegost were ruined when Thangorodrim was broken in the War of Wrath. As a result, around S.A. 40 many dwarves left Nogroad and Belegost and moved to Khazad-dûm[8] bringing their lore and craft with them,[9] however, there always remained some Dwarves on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains in days afterwards.[10]
After the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, Thráin II and his people established a new realm-in-exile in the northern Ered Luin beyond the Little Lune.[9] His people prospered in a fashion and were swelled in numbers by many of the wandering folk of Durin and they built many fair houses in the hills.[3][9] Years later, after King Thorin went on the Quest of Erebor and was killed in the Battle of Five Armies, the Kingdom under the Mountain was re-established by the new king Dáin II Ironfoot. Many of the people of Durin's folk went to him and it became a great and prosperous kingdom once again.
Even later in the Fourth Age, Dwarves still lived in the east side of the Blue Mountains, especially south of the Gulf of Lune where they had active mines, and still travelled east along the East Road.[11]
Portrayal in adaptations
2013: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:
- While Thorin and Company are lost in Mirkwood, Bofur finds a dwarven tobacco pouch on the ground, which he recognizes as one from the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. Bilbo tells him that it is his own pouch that fell earlier, and they are going on circles.
2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:
- It is possible for Dwarf player characters to choose the Blue Mountains as their background, though this is only for aesthetic purposes and has no impact on the game's story or mechanics.
- The Blue Mountain dwarves in the late Third Age are among the first non-player characters beginning Dwarf and Elf characters meet, and consist of both the noble Longbeards of Thorin's Hall and the villainous "Dourhands", renegades from the two Blue Mountain Houses. A later update introduced the "Narfanghoth" and the "Landorrim", the game's representations of the Firebeards and Broadbeams.
See also
Notes
- ↑ While Tolkien mentions that the two kindreds occupied the Blue Mountains, it is not clear which kindred (Firebeards and Broadbeams) corresponded to which of either people (the Dwarves of Nogrod and the Dwarves of Belegost). It is possible however that both kindreds were associated with both cities, but there is no canonical word on this.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Relations of the Longbeard Dwarves and Men"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Aulë and Yavanna"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Notes", note 24, p. 322
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Eldarin Hands, Fingers & Numerals and Related Writings — Part Two: III. Variation D/L in Common Eldarin" (edited by Patrick H. Wynne), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 48, December 2005
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Sindar"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Noldor in Beleriand"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Return of the Noldor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Second Age", entry for the year c. 40, p. 1083
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "Durin's Folk", p. 1071
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur", p. 1039