When Was the Kingdom of Dale Founded?

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Q: When Was the Kingdom of Dale Founded?

ANSWER: J.R.R. Tolkien left no foundation date for Dale in any of the published works I have read. Robert Foster speculated (in The Complete Guide to Middle-earth) that Dale might have been quite ancient. In The Hobbit Thorin tells Bilbo that men built “the merry town of Dale” during the time when his grandfather Thror was King Under the Mountain. However, in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth the section titled “Cirion and Eorl” contains a lengthy description of the wars between Gondor and the Wainriders. In that story we find the following comment (after the defeat of King Narmacil II of Gondor in Third Age year 1856):

As for the Northmen, a few, it is said, fled over the Celduin (River Running) and were merged with the folk of Dale under Erebor (with whom they were akin), some took refuge in Gondor, and others were gathered by Marhwini son of Marhari (who fell in the rearguard action after the Battle of the Plains). Passing north between Mirkwood and Anduin they settled in the Vales of Anduin, where they were joined by many fugitives who came through the Forest. This was the beginning of the Éothéod, though nothing was known of it in Gondor for many years. Most of the Northmen were reduced to servitude, and all their former lands were occupied by the Wainriders.

This passage is problematic and if J.R.R. Tolkien had published a companion book to The Lord of the Rings containing a finished version of “Cirion and Eorl” he might (one guesses) have noticed the contradiction and altered the story.

To be precise, in “Appendix B: The Tale of Years” to The Lord of the Rings Thrain I only established the first Kingdom Under the Mountain in Third Age year 1999 (143 years after Narmacil’s death). So while most readers assume (based on Thorin’s account) that the town of Dale was built sometime between 2590 (Thror’s return to Erebor) and 2770 (Smaug’s attack on Erebor), the mention of “the folk of Dale under Erebor” in a narrative describing events from the 19th century seems rather odd. Various comments in the narrative and/or notes seem intended to suggest that the entire collection of essays about the Northmen was composed in Gondor, probably during Eldarion’s reign as part of the revisions and enhancements made to the Red Book. If that was Tolkien’s intent then he might have tolerated some “errors of fact” or contradictions either out of a desire to keep the complex materials moving toward publication or perhaps for some sense of “realism” (true historical documents often contradict each other as they are composed by different authors who themselves may either have different sources or different points of view).

One can suggest that perhaps a Gondorian scholar would have referred in retrospect to the ancestor’s of Dale’s inhabitants as “the folk of Dale under Erebor” to signify that their “tribe” had a long association with the mountain prior to the founding of the town; or, perhaps, the loremasters of Gondor were less familiar with Dale’s history and merely assumed that if Northmen were living near the Long Lake 600 years prior to Thror’s return to the Lonely Mountain that they were directly connected with the founders of Dale.

The only definitive statement is Thorin’s comment that the town was built in Thror’s time. However, that statement does not preclude the earlier colonization of the area by Northmen, who could have moved their settlements around over the centuries, building no permanent towns. Thror’s people would have encouraged the building of a town because (according to Thorin and the essay “Dwarves and Men” published in The People’s of Middle-earth) the Dwarves preferred to acquire their food from Men through trade. The Dwarves could have assisted in the construction of the town.

If that reasoning is similar to Tolkien’s own thinking then Thror may have assisted in building a town soon after arriving at Erebor — perhaps between 2590 and 2600. There are no significant events associated with these years in “The Tale of Years” or an of the genealogies. Aravorn was Chieftain of the Dunedain of the North from 2588 to 2654; Hallas (son of Cirion) was Steward of Gondor from 2567 to 2605; and Aldor the Old (3rd King of the Mark and 2nd son of Brego) ruled the Rohirrim from 2570 to 2645. Brego had finally defeated the Balchoth and driven them out of the Wold for good and Aldor conquered or drove the last of the “Dunlendish people” out of the Mark (Rohan). Although Sauron had returned to Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood in 2460 there appear to have been no major incursions of new Easterling peoples in these years. The only great evil acknowledged in this time frame is the rise of dragons in the north (the reason why Thror led his people to Erebor).

If you are writing fan fiction or a role-playing adventure, you may want to consider the following timeline:

  • Prior to 1856 Northmen settle in the area near Erebor.
  • In 1856, Northmen fleeing the destruction of Rhovanion flee north along/across the Celduin.
  • From 1856 to 1999 there is no economic activity in Dale or near Erebor — perhaps only scattered clans live in the area.
  • In 1999 Thrain I settles in Erebor and probably trades with nearby Men (perhaps established on the Long Lake).
  • In 2210 Thorin I leaves Erebor; if any Men are living in Dale at this time they may depart.
  • Circa. 2500 Cirion hears that the Balchoth (successors to the Wainriders) are driving the last Northmen across the Celduin toward the Long Lake and Erebor.
  • In 2590 Thror returns to Erebor with many Dwarves.
  • The town of Dale is built.
  • In 2770 Smaug destroys Dale, slays Girion, and seizes Erebor. The surviving people of Dale flee to Esgaroth or elsewhere.
  • By 2941 there are Northmen living south of the Long Lake along Celduin.
  • In 2941 Smaug is slain and Erebor is retaken by Thorin II; Thorin is slain in the Battle of Five Armies and succeeded by Dain II.
  • In 2944 Bard rebuilds the twon and becomes King of Dale.
  • In 2949 Gandalf and Balin visit Bilbo in the Shire.
  • In 2977 Bain succeeds Bard as King of Dale.
  • In 2989 Balin leads a great following of Dwarves from Erebor to Moria.
  • In 3007 Brand succeeds Bain as King of Dale.
  • In 3019 a large army crosses the Carnen, seizes Dale, and lays siege to Erebor. Dale’s people take refuge inside the mountain. After the Fall of Sauron Brand II succeeds Brand as King of Dale an Thorin III Stonehelm succeeds Dain as King Under the Mountain.

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One comment

  1. One of the facts that often goes unmentioned in discussions around Dale is that the area surrounding Erebor was originally forested and probably attached to the rest of Greenwood. Tolkien mentions that in UT. Of course, it is open to debate whether the area was deforested by intense Northman inhabitation, like the East Bight further south, or if Smaug burnt it to the ground and turned it into the eponymous Desolation. For a number of reasons, I think that the former hypothesis is more believable.

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