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Which parts of Middle-earth will we not see? - Page 2

© Michael Martinez

There were also two forts in Tharbad, one on either side of the river. The northern fort was manned by Arnorian soldiers, and probably by Cardolan's army after the breakup of Arnor in the year 863 of the Third Age. The southern fort was manned by Gondorian soldiers, which was an unusual station, I think, since Gondor never fully controlled the lands of Enedwaith. The Dunlendings lived in the hills to the southeast of Tharbad, wild clans of men who resisted Numenorean incursions, and whose ancestors had served Sauron in the War of the Elves and Sauron (much to their own regret, for Sauron destroyed the northern forests which had been their homes). Although we don't know whether Tharbad would have served as Cardolan's capitol city, it did become important to another population which settled in Dunland after 1150. These were the Stoors, the riverside Hobbits who crossed the Misty Mountains by the Redhorn Pass over Moria. I suspect they settled in the marshes around the mouths of the Glanduin river, which marked the southern boundary of Eregion, the ancient Elvish realm which remained deserted after the War of the Elves and Sauron. The Stoors probably lived close enough to Tharbad to establish contact with the Dunedain there, and they may have maintained contact with those Stoors who passed northward to settle in the Angle, the lands between the Mithetheil and Bruinen rivers. The Stoors would not have been numerous -- not as numerous as the Harfoots, at any rate. So I doubt if the streets of Tharbad were ever filled with Hobbits. But they most likely maintained good relations with the town until the Great Plague swept through the region in 1636. Then all the Stoors who remained in Dunland perished, and that was probably the greater part of them. Some had by this time fled back over the Misty Mountains because of the wars with Angmar, and some had gone north to settle along the Baranduin river in the lands which King Argeleb II had granted to the Hobbits. Gondor relinquished its claims to Tharbad after the Great Plague, recalling any soldiers who may have survived. From that time forward the Southern Kingdom's border ended at the Isen river, and even Calenardhon's population was greatly diminished. It seems that Arnor and Gondor stopped communicating with each other at this time, so the plague didn't just herald a diminishment in population, it brought about a devastating loss of trade with the south and nearby peoples. Almost no one remained in Cardolan, and Dunland's people were somewhat hostile.

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