Before the Numenoreans Came - Page 5
© Michael Martinez
In fact, the Edain lived in Lindon for about 35 yeas before they began to set sail across the Sea, and the migration to Numenor is said in The Peoples of Middle-earth to have lasted at least 50 years. So the Edain of Lindon migrated over Sea from about SA 32 to SA 82. During that time they were enhanced by the Valar, and tutored by Eonwë and perhaps other Maiar. But they seem to have had no contact with their kinsmen in the east.
The first fleet to set sail to Numenor consisted of at least 150 ships, perhaps as many as 300. Each was piloted by one of Cirdan's mariners, who presumably returned to Lindon when their voyage was finished. One must wonder what became of the ships when the Elves were finished transporting the Edain over Sea. Some, no doubt, were used by Eldar to sail to Tol Eressea, but the rest must have become incorporated into the new economy of Lindon. The ships were small, holding between 30 and 40 passengers with goods and animals. How long did it take the Elves to build the ships, one must ask? Did Cirdan have to train new mariners?
As the Edain left Lindon the Dwarves of Belegost began leaving Ered Luin and migrating to Khazad-dum. These Dwarves most likely reinforced the Longbeard Dwarves (Durin's Folk) in their renewed wars with the Orcs, who coming from the ruin of Angband seemed numerous to Durin's Folk. If a reason for the Dwarvish migration must be sought, it may be supposed that the Longbeards invited the Belegostians to join them as a result of the Orcish invasions.
The Dwarf migration must have impoverished Eriador, however. The Edain there would have had Nandor to trade with, but few Dwarves. So it may be that their cultural development proceeded along different paths from that of the Edainic Men of Wilderland, many of whom became allied with the Dwarves and benefitted from Dwarven trade. It would seem that one difference between the (mostly) Beorian Edain of Eriador and the (mostly) Marachian Edain of Wilderland was the use of horses. The Marachians raised horses even in Beleriand, but the Beorians seem not to have used them.
The Edain of Eriador settled in the Hills of Evendim, the North Downs, the Weather Hills, and the lands between them as far west as the Baranduin river. According to both Unfinished Tales and The Peoples of Middle-earth the Edain sometimes wandered into the lands beyond Baranduin but that was Elvish country and they did not settle there.
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