Middle-earth seen by the barbarians: The complete collection including a previously unpublished essay (7 page)

The next major catastrophe was the Great Plague of 1636 TA from which all the remaining settled areas took almost fatal blows. Now as well, ‘
Minhiriath had been almost entirely deserted, though a few secretive hunter-folk lived in the woods
’ of Eryn Vorn and others.

When Arthedain-Arnor, last northern kingdom, fell as well, the history of the Middle Men in Eriador had virtually come to an end. ‘
In Bilbo’s time great areas of Eriador were empty of Men
,’
(
DM
)
and no significant settlements were found within at least a hundred leagues from the only survivors: the pre-Númenóreans of Bree and the Lossoth in the far North. (
FR
, see chapter
II
) Gondor made no attempt to resettle her northern sister before the Fourth Age. She had no interests to defend there, and until the War of the Ring, other peoples were neither numerous nor courageous enough to immigrate into the vast, desolate regions. Tharbad, where once a large population of pre-Númenóreans may have dwelt in the suburbs, became the Ultima Thule of the Southern Kingdom: Beyond lay  an almost mythical land full of strange, otherworldly beings like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and worse.

Finally, after a long and dreadful winter, even Tharbad was inundated and fell into ruin, and its famous Bridge was no more. The river Greyflood was not only an effective psychological barrier but had also become a physical one. It could be crossed only at the dangerous ford, at the site of the collapsed bridge.

^[1]
  It was probably at the same time that trolls first appeared in eastern Rhúdaur, advancing into the regions which later were known as the Trollshaws. Though the name seems to precede their arrival, for
Rhúdaur
means exactly that: ‘Trolls haws’
(
WPP
)

1. Tarannon extended the sway of Gondor
   

The South Kingdom had assumed a completely different policy with regard to indigenous minorities, pursuing an expansionist strategy and maintaining a restrictive attitude against its non-Dúnedain citizens. Isildur’s curse may have been only the most prominent among similar incidents, and its memory was probably kept alive among the indigenous population for many generations. On a private level, of course, there was much intercourse between Dúnedain and the occupied minorities. Mixed marriages were frequent, and slowly ‘
the blood of the Númenóreans became much mingled with that of other men, and their power and wisdom was diminished
.’
(
RP
)
That afterthought, rarely met in Arnor, is a quite common racial slur in Gondorian official documents. It demonstrates how they promoted apartheid, raising suspicion even against people of ‘mixed blood’.

Originally, Gondor comprised only Anórien and Ithilien. But in the 8
^th
century TA, the victories of crown prince Tarannon ‘
extended the sway of Gondor far along the shore-lands on either side of the Mouths of Anduin
’
(
HE
)
. Those few pre-Númenóreans who were still living there were subdued and never regained political independence. In most parts, they became virtually extinct: their memory was preserved only by a few geographical names whose meaning had been lost in time. The White Mountains faced the same fate with the demise of the Men of Dunharrow. Calenardhon followed suit, stretching from the river Isen to the Argonath. And finally, southern Rhovanion as far East as Dorwinion at the shores of the Sea of Rhún shared their fate. Only in this latter - most tenuously held – province, successfully númenórised indigenous folk survived the sway of Gondor, see chapter
V
.

1. The pre-Númenóreans in Gondor
   

1. Too much in awe of the might of the kings
   

1. From Enedwaith to Dunlendings
   

The most resistant minority outside of Arnor proved to be the small nation of the Gwathuirim
^[1]
, ‘
remnant of an old race of Men (akin to the Breelanders?)
’
(
TC
)
and known to the Rohirrim as Dunlendings. One argument to their benefit was that, to the region of Enedwaith, ‘
few Númenóreans had ever come, and none had settled there
’
(
FI
)
even in the Third Age, ‘
owing to the hostility of the Gwathuirim (Dunlendings), except in the fortified town and haven about the great bridge over the Greyflood at Tharbad.
’
(
DM
)

There is doubt about the political status of the territory. Some sources claim that it ‘
belonged to neither kingdom
[though]
both kingdoms shared an interest in this region. … A considerable garrison of soldiers, mariners and engineers had been kept there until the seventeenth century of the Third Age. But from then onwards the region fell quickly into decay; and … back into wild fenlands
.’
(
GC
)
Others state that ‘
in ancient days … the western bounds of the South Kingdom was the Isen
’,
(
FI
)
but the same source reports that Enedwaith ‘
in the days of the Kings … was part of the realm of Gondor, but it was of little concern to them, except for the patrolling and upkeep of the great Royal Road.
’
(
FI
)

These superficially conflicting statements may suggest that Enedwaith was not fully integrated into the South Kingdom but constituted a protectorate, like the barbarian regions beyond the northern borders of the Roman Empire. It is evident, though, that till 1636 TA, the Gwathuirim were nominal subjects of Gondor, more by decree than by conviction. They lived remote enough from the major population centres that they did not feel very concerned about the distant lord in Osgiliath. Their spirit remained as independent as that of their relatives in Bree-land. But in contrast to the successfully integrated Bree-folk, the Gwathuirim maintained the ancient animosities of the Second Age, though they may not have remembered their reasons, and they ‘
did … hold to their old speech
^[2]
and manners: a secret folk, unfriendly to the Dúnedain
’,
(
LP
)
who ‘
had little love for Gondor, but though hardy and bold enough were too few and too much in awe of the might of the Kings to trouble them
.’
(
FI
)

Gondor, whose eyes were turned East and South, was oblivious to these most unimportant of its subjects, referring to Enedwaith as the ‘Wild Lands’ even then. This was a tragic development because it meant that the Gwathuirim never became númenorised to the degree that had cultivated the pre-Númenóreans of Arnor. But despite Gondorian claims that, throughout the millenia, the Dunlendish ‘
hatred remained unappeased in their descendants, causing them to join with any enemies of Númenor
’,
(
DM
)
the Gwathuirim have never been reported to wilfully submit to the Necromancer or any of his minions, though they would not hesitate to take advantage of other military conflicts arising around them. And orcs they despised like any man would, up to expelling individuals from the community whom they suspected to have dealings with them, such as a certain ‘
outlaw driven from Dunland, where many said that he had Orc-blood. … He was the squint-eyed Southerner at the
[Prancing Pony]
Inn.
’
(
HR
)
.

Non-Dúnedain foreigners, however, enjoyed the same hospitality and generosity from the Dunlendings that was inherent to the Bree-folk: the Stoor hobbits who allegedly ‘l
iked to live with or near to Big Folk of friendly kind’
(
DM
)
dwelt quite contently
‘at the borders of Dunland
’
(
FT
)
. They even were on such good terms with the Dunlendings that the Stoors ‘
appear to have adopted a language related to Dunlendish before they came north to the Shire
.’
(
LP
)

Conditions severely changed with the Great Plague of 1636 TA. When it had passed, ‘
in Enedwaith the remnants of the Dunlendings
[still]
lived in the east, in the foothills of the Misty Mountains,
’
(
FI
)
and they had ‘
suffered … less than most, since they dwelt apart and had few dealings with other men
.’
(
LP
)
But Gondor’s hold on Enedwaith had loosened, because of heavy losses among the troops and garrisons. Thus, ‘
when the days of the Kings ended (1975-2050) and the waning of Gondor began, they
[= the Dunlendings]
ceased in fact to be subjects of Gondor.
’
(
FI
)

But even northern Dunland had been considerably deprived of inhabitants
(
RK
)
and the Stoors, finding their abode untenable, headed for the Shire. The Gwathuirim would later meet only the occasional Dwarf north of their territory.
(
KR
)

1. After the Great Plague: Surviving population centres
   

It should not surprise that they took interest in the nearby plains of Calenardhon that before ‘
were ever guarded against any incursion from the ‘Wild Lands’. But
[when]
during the Watchful Peace (from 2063 to 2460) the
[Dúnedainic]
people of Calenardhon dwindled … the garrisons of the forts were not renewed, and were left to the care of local hereditary chieftains whose subjects were of more and more mixed blood. For the Dunlendings drifted steadily and unchecked over the Isen.
’
(
FI
)