Life in an Elven Fishing Town - Page 3
© Michael Martinez
The men would go into the forests and cut down trees. The trees were used to build houses, furniture, fences, palisades, great halls, wagons, and for firewood. Cutting down trees and sawing or shaving the wood so that it could be shaped into something useful are necessary skills for the development of a seafaring culture. Cirdan's Sindar did indeed cut down trees and work the wood. Brithombar and Eglarest were originally wooden towns until Finrod's Noldor helped to rebuild the cities with stone.
In many ways, Cirdan seems like the first Viking: he is tall, bearded, a warrior, and a mariner. And his people fought with great axes as well as swords, much like Vikings. After the Falathrim were driven from their homes to Balar, Cirdan's mariners ranged up and down the western coasts of Beleriand, raiding the Orcs and disturbing Morgoth's outposts. Cirdan even allied himself with Hithlum during the Wars of Beleriand, an act no doubt born of necessity since his people could not be protected by Melian's Girdle.
Although the Elves of Beleriand did not go a-viking, seeking treasure, adventure, and conquest like the historical Scandinavians, there is something distinctly familiar in the almost casual account of how Cirdan sent a large fleet up the Firth of Drengist to land an army in Hithlum. Thus reinforcing Fingon's forces on the northern plains of Hithlum, Cirdan's people help to drive back one of Morgoth's armies in one of the lesser battles which followed the Dagor Bragollach.
Of course, the image of Cirdan owning a herd of cows, or looking out from his great hall upon his fields of hay and barns, clashes with the stereotyped Elf who supposedly wanders through the woods, dancing and playing the lyre or flute. Cirdan's folk need not have raised cattle to supply themselves with leather. Many fishing communities, especially in the far north, supplemented their food by hunting. Hunters use the hides of animals to make leather. And though some people might not like the idea of Cirdan's people killing seals and sea-lions, the Elves could certainly have gotten plenty of hides from the sea-mammals sure to be found along Middle-earth's northern shores.
Farming and animal husbandry are not as important to the Eldar as raising gardens and orchards. Of the several occasions in The Lord of the Rings where Hobbits are given cheese or milk, it always comes from men. The Noldor raised horses, of course, but their lifestyle does not seem to include the typical farming lifestyle. The Elves probably raised gardens sufficient for their needs, hunted what they needed for meat and hides, and devoted the rest of their time to the arts and crafts which were the staples of their economies.
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