Q: Who Ruled Cardolan, Land of Red Hills?
ANSWER: Cardolan was an ancient part of Eriador that figured prominently in the histories of the Second and Third Ages. Before Men reached Eriador many Nandor and Avari settled throughout the region. The majority of these Elves appear to have been gathered by Denethor, son of Lenwë, and led over the Ered Luin into Ossiriand. The remaining Nandor and Avari in Eriador were said to have been driven into the hills and deep woods by Morgoth’s servants.
The hill-lands of Eriador are named as the Emyn Uial (in the midst of which lay Nenuial, later known as Lake Evendim), the North Downs, the Weather Hills, the South Downs, Tyrn Gorthad (the Barrowdowns), and the White Downs (near the Tower Hills on the border of Mithlond). Tolkien does not say how many of these areas were inhabited by Elves in the First Age but based on later settlement patterns of Men it seems most likely the Elves favored the Emyn Uial and White Downs.
The first Men to reach Eriador were the forefathers of the Beorians (the First House of the Edain) and the Marachians (the Third House of the Edain). They appear to have entered Eriador by crossing the Misty Mountains over the Redhorn Pass (near Khazad-dum). A third group of Men, the forefathers of the Folk of Haleth, gradually migrated north from Calenardhon through Enedwaith to the Gwathlo river. Crossing the river they settled throughout the woodlands between the Gwathlo and the Baranduin, following the Baranduin north to the Tyrn Gorthad. These people were later named the Gwathuirim by the Numenoreans.
From the Gwathuirim came the Dead Men of Dunharrow, the Men of Eryn Vorn, the Dunlendings, the Men of Calenardhon, and other groups who appear to have settled near the Ered Nimrais in Lebennin, Anorien, and Belfalas. The forefathers of the Beorians and Marachians had left behind many communities in the Vales of Anduin, Greenwood the Great, and the lands as far east as the Carnen (the river running south from the Iron Hills that joined with the Celduin, the Running River, which flowed from Erebor to the inland sea of Rhun).
The Beorians, Gwathuirim, and Marachians who entered Beleriand were only “advance groups” of these peoples — the majority of their kinsfolk remained in Eriador, Rhovanion, and the south. Other Men eventually migrated into Eriador before the end of the First Age. These clans included the forefathers of the Folk of Bor and the Folk of Ulfang, both of whom migrated northeast around the Ered Luin into northern Beleriand. Clans of farmers related to the Folk of Bor remained in Beleriand. Other Easterling groups appear to have settled in the eastern parts of Eriador where Angmar and Rhudaur eventually rose.
The Numenoreans named the great forest between Baranduin and Gwathlo Minhiriath, which means “between the rivers”. A settlement of some type was established at Tharbad early in the Second Age but Tolkien does not say if it was an Elvish town or a town of Men. In one note Tolkien wrote that Aldarion met Galadriel at Tharbad. Tharbad would have been on the border of Eregion, which was a Noldorin realm in Eriador that lasted from Second Age year 750 to 1697.
Many of the Gwathurim, having built up resentment of the Numnoreans over the course of a thousand years, supported Sauron in his war against the Eldar. But Sauron burned the great woods of Minhiriath, and the Numenoreans drove the remnants of the hostile Gwathuirim into the small woodland of Eryn Vorn. Some of the Gwathuirim may have remained in the area of Tyrn Gorthad, or they could have resettled there after the war.
By the end of the Second Age many Numenoreans had settled among the various peoples of Eriador from the Baranduin as far east as the Misty Mountains. Tolkien notes that these Faithful Numenoreans often intermarried with the local peoples. However, after the destruction of Numenor the majority of Eriador’s men at least as far east as the Weather Hills accepted Elendil as their king. According to “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” Elendil’s people settled in the Emyn Uial, the North Downs, between the Lhun and Baranduin (where the Shire was later established by the Hobbits), and in the hills of Rhudaur.
When Aragorn brings athelas leaves to treat Frodo’s wound on Weathertop, he tells the Hobbits that the plant “grows now sparsely and only near places where [Numenoreans] dwelt or camped of old.” It may be that the South Downs were settled by Numenoreans at some point; or it could be only that the South Downs were fortified during the wars between Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur.
Cardolan remained a part of Elendil’s kingdom of Arnor until Third Age year 861. Upon the death of Eärendur, 10th High King of Arnor, the realm was divided between his three sons. Amlaith of Fornost took the North Downs, Emyn Uial, and all the lands from Baranduin to Lhun for his kingdom of Arthedain. His younger brothers took Cardolan and Rhudaur as their own kingdoms.
There were probably at most 6 kings of Cardolan from the younger line. Tolkien did not write their names down. He notes in “The Tale of Years” and elsewhere that the Line of Isildur had died out in Cardolan and Rhudaur by Third Age year 1349, when Argeleb I took the throne of Arthedain and asserted a claim over all of the former Arnor as the sole Heir of Isildur. Although at least one princely family survived in Cardolan until 1409, it appears that Cardolan’s people accepted Argeleb as their king. He was slain in battle in Third Age year 1356 and Cardolan’s people were overrun or driven into Tyrn Gorthad in 1409. That was when the last prince of Cardolan perished.
When Frodo and his companions leave Bombadil’s house they pass through Tyrn Gorthad and they see many ancient ruins and fortifications. The narrative suggests that these ruins were once fortified places held by the Dunedain of Cardolan in their wars against Arthedain. Tom Bombadil tells Frodo and his companions something of the history of the Barrowdowns while they stay with him:
Suddenly Tom’s talk left the woods and went leaping up the young stream, over bubbling waterfalls, over pebbles and worn rocks, and among small flowers in close grass and wet crannies, wandering at last up on to the Downs. They heard of the Great Barrows, and the green mounds, and the stone-rings upon the hills and in the hollows among the hills. Sheep were bleating in flocks. Green walls and white walls rose. There were fortresses on the heights. Kings of little kingdoms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire on the red metal of their new and greedy swords. There was victory and defeat; and towers fell, fortresses were burned, and flames went up into the sky. Gold was piled on the biers of dead kings and queens; and mounds covered them, and the stone doors were shut; and the grass grew over all. Sheep walked for a while biting the grass, but soon the hills were empty again. A shadow came out of dark places far away, and the bones were stirred in the mounds. Barrow-wights walked in the hollow places with a clink of rings on cold fingers, and gold chains in the wind.’ Stone rings grinned out of the ground like broken teeth in the moonlight.
Cardolan existed as an independent kingdom for 488 years. During those years the Kings of Arthedain enjoyed lifespans gradually declining from 220 to around 200 years. It seems logical to conclude that the 5 or 6 Kings of Cardolan may have lived similarly long lives. Each king may have reigned for as long as 80 to 85 years.
Except for the Men of Bree, the people of Tharbad, and possibly the Men of Eryn Vorn, the last of Cardolan’s people died or fled during the Great Plague of Third Age year 1636. According to a note in The Peoples of Middle-earth King Araval of Arthedain (reigned Third Age year 1813 – 1891) attempted to resettle Cardolan but the wights that had entered Tyrn Gorthad drove the people away. The colonization attempt may have occurred after 1851, when Arthedain, Lindon, and Imladris defeated Angmar’s forces in battle. If there were any forces stationed in Cardolan when Angmar overran Arthedain in Third Age year 1974, they were either destroyed or driven off. The last settlement associated with Cardolan — Tharbad on the Gwathlo — was deserted after floods ruined it in Third Age year 2912.
See also:
- Who Lived in Tharbad?
- When Was Lond Daer Enedh Abandoned?
- Was Tharbad Ever an Independent City-state?
- What was the Capital of Cardolan?
- Where is the Red Hill of Cardolan?
- What Is the History of Tharbad?
- Who Was the Last Prince of Cardolan?
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