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The Merchants of Middle-earth - Page 3

© Michael Martinez

Although there seems to have been virtually little or no trade between Beleriand and the eastern lands in the First Age, the Second Age realized a sort of boom in Eriador and Wilderland. Two east-bound migrations occurred early in the Second Age which brought Khazad-dum into closer contact with Beleriandic civilization. The first migration was the large exodus of Dwarves from the Ered Luin in the 1st century. The ancient cities of Nogrod and Belegost had been ruined in the War of Wrath. The Belegostian Dwarves also appear to have been greatly disturbed by the war between Doriath and Nogrod. Hence, most of them departed and went to Khazad-dum, where they enlarged the population and infused Durin's Folk with much of the knowledge they had gained from the Noldor and Sindar. The second migration was that of the Elves when many Noldor and Sindar passed eastward. Some of the Sindar passed over the mountains and organized kingdoms among the Silvan Elves in the Vales of Anduin (at least two, but possibly more than two). Those Elves who founded Eregion created a center of commerce which drew even the Numenoreans to establish some sort of port or colony at nearby Tharbad on the Gwathlo river. Although we cannot know for sure how extensive Eregion's influence was, the realm was in a position to trade with the Men of Eriador, the Elves of Lindon and the Vales of Anduin, the Dwarves of Ered Luin and the Misty Mountains, and Numenor. All that came to an end, however, in the War of the Elves and Sauron. Eriador and Wilderland were overrun and many of their peoples were slain or driven off. The great Elven civilization was not destroyed but it was virtually driven back to the sea, save for a few enclaves which survived in valleys and the deep woods. The war created an economic and political void which the Numenoreans subsequently fulfilled, displacing the older Elven culture to such an extent that by the end of the age Adunaic, the native language of Numenor, had given rise to Westron, which replaced Sindarin as the common tongue of northwestern Middle-earth's peoples. The Numenoreans established colonies throughout Middle-earth and they appear to have settled widely in Eriador as well as along the southern shores of the Anduin. The two great Numenorean cities of the northern world were Lond Daer Ened at the mouth of the Gwathlo and Pelargir at the mouth of the Anduin. But again Tolkien tells us nothing of the commerce the Numenoreans must have conducted in these regions. Lond Daer Ened was originally founded as a seasonal port by Aldarion in the 8th and 9th centuries. He used it as a base for harvesting trees with which to build ships and he doesn't seem to have compensated the native people (the Gwathuirim, distant kinsmen of the Numenoreans) in any way.

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