Why did the Dwarves Leave Erebor in 2210?

Q: Why did the Dwarves Leave Erebor in 2210?

ANSWER: According to Appendix B, the Tale of Years in The Lord of the Rings, Thráin I fled from Khazad-dûm in Third Age year 1981 after the Balrog slew his grand-father Durin VI in 1980 and his father Náin I in 1981. The entry only says “The Dwarves flee from Moria”. 18 years later, in 1999, Thráin settles in Erebor. He apparently died in 2210, when his son Thorin I left and went north to the Grey Mountains, “where most of the remnants of Durin’s Folk are now gathering.”

Although we can only make guesses, it seems that Tolkien envisioned the Dwarves of Moria/Khazad-dûm scattering across Wilderland after they were driven from their home. In the essay “Of Dwarves and Men”, written in the 1950s, Tolkien said that the Dwarves of Durin’s Folk claimed all the Misty Mountains and Grey Mountains as their territory, and therefore they probably had many small colonies scattered throughout the mountains. One plausible guess is that many of the survivors sought out friends and kinsfolk living throughout the mountains.

Thráin may have spent 18 years wandering from hall to hall, but it’s possible Tolkien conceived of another reason for Thráin to settle in Erebor around 1999. That would have been 22 years after Frumgar led the Éothéod to the northern Vales of Anduin. Although we don’t know how old Frumgar was when he led his people north, it seems likely that his son Fram could have grown to manhood after the Dwarves were driven into exile. Hence, what if Fram slew Scatha the Worm sometime between 1981 and 1999? According to “The House of Eorl” in The Lord of the Rings, Fram quarreled with the Dwarves over Scatha’s treasure:

‘Many lords and warriors, and many fair and valiant women, are named in the songs of Rohan that still remember the North. Frumgar, they say, was the name of the chieftain who led his people to Éothéod. Of his son, Fram, they tell that he slew Scatha, the great dragon of Ered Mithrin, and the land had peace from the long-worms afterwards. Thus Fram won great wealth, but was at feud with the Dwarves, who claimed the hoard of Scatha. Fram would not yield them a penny, and sent to them instead the teeth of Scatha made into a necklace, saying: “Jewels such as these you will not match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by.” Some say that the Dwarves slew Fram for this insult. There was no great love between Éothéod and the Dwarves.

Regardless of whether the Dwarves slew Fram, if their conflict occurred late in the 20th Century then Thráin may have felt compelled to seek a better refuge with fewer enemies nearby.

Thráin and his people remained in Erebor until he died after 211 years. At that time his son Thorin I led his people north to the Grey Mountains, where most of Durin’s Folk had gathered. It may be that Thorin would have wanted to be closer to the majority of his people. The Iron Hills had yet to be colonized. Erebor may have been more like an outpost than anything else. It’s entirely possible that Tolkien felt the Dwarves and Men of Éothéod may have reached some sort of arrangement by which the Dwarves were able to prosper in the northern mountains. It could also be that there were other Men living in the lands between the Grey Mountains and northern Mirkwood with whom the Dwarves could trade.

There are no published anecdotes concerning either the Éothéod or the Dwarves during this time, but we do know one thing about this period. It falls in the middle of the Watchful Peace, which lasted from 2063 to 2460. Húrin I was the 5th Ruling Steward in Gondor at this time (his father Belegorn having passed away in 2204). Aranuir was the 3rd Chieftain of the Dunedain of the North. It would be another 130 years before the Oldbucks colonized the Buckland on the eastern bank of the Baranduin river, leaving the Tooks in possession of the Thainship.

There is virtually nothing significant in this century. No wars, no great disasters, no disputes over fortunes or legacies. Thorin’s departure from Erebor was thus probably due to economic or social reasons. But that is about all that we can be sure of, and we cannot even prove that.

# # #

Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?