Ranger For Hire: Have Horse, Will Travel

Tolkien had in mind when speaking of these secretive hunter-folk. In Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings Tolkien writes "In the days of Argeleb II the plague came into Eriador from the South-east, and most of the people of Cardolan periished, especially in Minhiriath....It was at this time that an end came to the Dunedain of Cardolan, and evil spirits out of Angmar and Rhudaur entered into the deserted mounds and dwelt there." The lack of settled dwellings (of Men) farther west than Bree implies that there were no towns in Eryn Vorn, but the Gwathuirim are said to have been the original people from whom came the Folk of Haleth in the First Age. These Edain settled in the forest of Brethil and mostly lived apart from one another in single-family homesteads. It is reasonable to infer that the Gwathuirim lived in similar homesteads throughout Eryn Vorn. They were far removed from the evil creatures which haunted northern Eriador and would not need to dwell together in stockades and towns like the Woodmen of Mirkwood. And there is no reason to assume that these Men were savage or in any way hostile toward the Hobbits, especially the Stoors who had settled along the Baranduin after having migrated north from Dunland. In fact, if the Gwathuirim of Eryn Vorn were in any way similar to their remote kin the Dunlendings, they may have been friendly to the Hobbits. Although Tolkien doesn't say the Stoors actually interacted with the Dunlendings, they did bring to the Shire many unusual words and names which imply a strong Dunlendish influence. Communication between the Shire and the Gwathuirim after the end of Arnor may be the chief reason for why the Rangers kept a guard at Sarn Ford, the place on the Baranduin where the ancient highway crossed the river on its way from Tharbad to Lindon. Of course, until Tharbad was deserted in 2912 it, too, may have had some intercourse with the Shire. But the presence of Men in Minhiriath seems to explain why the Rangers were active in the lands south of Bree. They were keeping an eye on things there. But it is also possible that some of the Dunedain actually lived in Minhiriath, raising horses in the plains, and/or pasturing sheep or other animals. These would have been few in number, and perhaps would not have been the largest group of Dunedain, but they

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