by Codex Regius
One quite common hypothesis suggests that Bladorthin had been king of Dale. But this can be discarded on the following grounds:
Dale has never been referred to as a kingdom before the coronation of Bard I in the late Third Age, it had only ‘lords’. The distinction between lord and king is evident and not restricted to H. It continues into the drafts of TY which state that Smaug had destroyed the ‘town and lordship of Dale’. (YT).
In Middle-earth, exiled descendants of kings usually keep a royal title like prince or chieftain. Bard had no such title.
If ‘the great king Bladorthin’ had been an ancestor of Girion (and, hence, of Bard), Bard would have referred to this lineage to legitimate his reign and to embed it into the tradition of Dale. Quite likely he would even have requested Bladorthin’s spears to be handed over to him. He does nothing of that sort.
We can rule out Gondor and Arthedain because we know all their kings by name, and a Bladorthin was not among them. Looking for any unattested kings, essentially Cardolan and Rhúdaur may come into mind, the two lesser spinoffs of the defunct kingdom of Arnor. Could one of them have ordered weapons from Erebor?
Bladorthin’s kingdom may be easier to locate if we can pinpoint the time of his rule. Erebor was not permanently settled, and this fact should help narrow down the range of options.
According to KR, there were two periods of settlement in Erebor. The first lasted from 1999 and 2210 TA, the second from 2590 to 2770 TA; the latter was the reign of Thrór II., King under the Mountain, grandfather of Thorin Oakenshield, whose rule was ended by Smaug’s invasion. Even the first settlement began long after the fall of Arnor’s successor states, so this possibility is safely ruled out.[1]
During its first settlement phase, Erebor seems to have stayed rather isolated and did not maintain any attested contact to the outside (non-Dwarvish) world. And it is highly questionable whether even thrice-forged Dwarvish spears would survive 800 years of exposure to the air without decaying (though the swords Glamdring and Orcrist survived multiple times that period without any flake of rust). The second settlement phase, however, was accompanied by intense trade connections that Thorin Oakenshield has witnessed and attested. It is, hence, probable that king Bladorthin was a contemporary of king Thrór II in the 28th century TA.
[1] H seems to suggest that Hobbiton was located in a live kingdom when a claim is made that in the Trollshaws ‘they have seldom even heard of the king’ (H, ii). Bladorthin may have been conceived of as one of this king’s ancestors, i. e. a king of Arnor. The prologue of LR, though, refers to a hobbit proverb concerning the ancient kings of Arnor (long since dead): ‘Yet the Hobbits still said of wicked things and wild folk (such as trolls) that they had not heard of the king.’ That may or may not be so. In H, however, a Dwarf says that, not a hobbit.
WHEN DID BLADORTHIN PLACE HIS ORDER?
We may further narrow down the age of Bladorthin’s reign by examining the reasons why his thrice-forged spears (often misinterpreted as thrice-forked, i. e. tridental) have not been delivered. Both Tyler and Foster believe that his death may have prevented the trade and Foster tells us even that his heirs may have refused payment. But there is nothing in the sources that would support such exaggerated claims. We are merely told that the forging took place long ago and that Bladorthin died some time after it.
Is it not natural to deduce from the context that delivery and payment have been prevented by the arrival of Smaug?
If this is the case, we may conclude that Bladorthin was alive in 2770 TA and died sometime before 2790 TA.
Thror II before he became King under the Mountain
There is a remarkable lack of active kingdoms in the 28th century. Both kingships of the Dúnedain had failed. Vidugavia, self-proclaimed king of Rhovanion, was a faint memory, and it is not even sure that he had not been not first and last member of his dynasty at once. The only Mannish kingdom left was Rohan. But Rohan’s lineage is accounted for: there was no Bladorthin or any king who would have used an Elvish name in general. Moreover, Rohan was too far away to establish a trade route with Erebor because the trade route would have had to pass via Dol Guldur.
A possible clue to the location of Bladorthin’s throne may be hidden in Gimli’s words about king Thrór II, ‘he and his folk prospered and became rich, and they had the friendship of all Men that dwelt nearby. For they made not only things of wonder and beauty but weapons and armour of great worth … Thus the Northmen who lived between Celduin (River Running) and Carnen (Redwater) became strong and drove back all enemies from the East’ (KR).
It is evident that the chief trading routes from Erebor ran south to south-east along the courses of Celduin and Carnen. As a result, Bladorthin’s kingdom will have been located downstream of the Celduin. Was the lordship of Dale just its province?
BLADORTHIN AND HIS AGE
It seems unlikely. If Bladorthin’s successor had dwelt reasonably close to Dale, he would have provided military and humanitarian aid when Smaug came. But this did not happen: Dale was left on its own, and its survivors escaped to Esgaroth because Bladorthin’s realm seems to have been too far away to provide refuge. It is also said of Bard’s descendant, king Brand, that his ‘realm now reaches far south and east of Esgaroth’. (FR) He could hardly have brought this territory under control if he had to face opposition by Bladorthin’s kinsmen and subjects. There was none, but what could have happened to his kingdom in the meantime that we have not heard of?
The obvious conclusion is that the lordship of Dale was the sole authority of the Northmen between Celduin and Carnen. Bladorthin, though a great king, dwelt too far away to consider a dragon descending on Erebor and Dale more than a reason to write off the ordered weapons in his bookkeeping.
The residence of the great king Bladorthin has to meet the following criteria:
It had been long enough exposed to the influence of Eldarin or Dúnedainic culture that its rulers acquired the habit to assume Elvish throne-names.
It was close enough to Dale to maintain trade and transport routes but not close enough to provide aid and support in case of emergency or to assist in military campaigns.
It was powerful enough to maintain its own armies, but not enough to leave an impression in the records of Gondor.
In 2770 TA, it was prosperous enough that its king order a rather luxurious set of Dwarvish arms.
These arms do not seem to have been made for ceremonial purposes. Hence, Bladorthin was exposed to a danger which made such equipment necessary (though a fire-breathing dragon was not his concern, obviously).
There is one place which meets all these requirements.
THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF DORWINION
The land of Dorwinion is as elusive as king Bladorthin. Like him, it was only mentioned once in the canonical history of Middle-earth, and like him, it was in the context of trade routes:
‘The wine, and other goods, were brought [to the Wood-elf realm in Mirkwood] from far away, from their kinsfolk in the South, or from the vineyards of Men in distant lands. … This wine, it would seem, was the heady vintage of the great gardens of Dorwinion.’ (H, IX)
In a general discussion of the influence of Sindarin in Rhovanion, WPP remarks that the Wood-elves of Lothlórien and Mirkwood ‘were under “Sindarin” rule and influence,’ expanding in the following on the name Dorwinion: ‘Dorwinion is Sindarin meaning “Young-land country” or Land of Gwinion. (It as probably far south down the River Running, and its Sindarin name a testimony to the spread of Sindarin: in this case expectable since the cultivation of vine was not originally known to the Nandor or Avari.)’ (WPP)
The name, it says, is derived from a root WIN-: ‘young, Q vinya “young”; S gwein. Q vine “youth”; S gwîn’. (WPP) Which is a surprising etymology. As tempting as previous attempts to translate Dorwinion as ‘Land of Wine’ may have been, these had not been the right guess.
Despite the somewhat indecisive note that Dorwinion was ‘probably far south down the R[iver]
Running’ (Celduin) it does not appear on the published map of LR. It was first seen on PBD at the northwestern coast of the Sea of Rhûn. And this identification allows deductions on Dorwinion’s hidden history.
There, 48 to 50 degrees of northern latitude (see Fig. 25), so far away from the moderating Belegaer ocean, the general climate will have been disadvantageous for wine-growing: continental, subject to powerful and rapid changes of temperature. The large body of the inland sea, though, provided its coasts with a more temperate local climate. And, as any wine grower of the Rhine and Mosel valleys will confirm, slopes oriented towards noon provide more direct sunlight, hence, better conditions for growing than level ground. The territory of Dorwinion will therefore have included the hills of the west and southwest of the Sea of Rhún, and the name was applied to the plain north of them only for reasons of space.
The location of Dorwinion on PBD
In the First Age, the cultivation of vine was restricted to Beleriand. The Valar had invented it, of course. From Q&E we even learn their own word for wine, mirub-. Which is remarkable when it is taken into account that TE or any later source do not provide an Elvish word for this popular drink, except for Q limpe which is glossed ‘drink of the Valar’ and does not signify ordinary wine but only the Valarin brand, Miruvor.
We do not know who planted the first vineyard of Beleriand and when. A certain Sinda, Angrod of Doriath, described the Noldor to king Thingol ‘as if besotted with wine, and as briefly.’ (S) Thingol evidently understood the reference, therefore he was familiar with that feeling. But this must have been a recent experience for vine is a friend of warmth and sunlight: it could not have grown in Middle-earth during the eternal twilight of the Age of Trees.
The Edain in Beleriand have been introduced to the pleasures of alcoholic beverages. Tuor responded positively: ‘This uplifts the heart like the drinking of cool wine!’ (UT) and wine was served to him even in Gondolin. Which begs for the question where it came from, for the Hidden City did not import it but its northerly latitude and proximity to the cold Ered Engrin should have prohibited the cultivation of vine. Hence, either did the Noldor really possess ‘deep’ knowledge that allowed them transcending climatic restrictions to agriculture or the climate of Arda Flat was much different from that of the later globe. At any rate, Tuor’s exclamation testifies that vineyards were a common sight in the late First Age.
Dorwinion is Sindarin meaning “Young-land country” or Land of Gwinion.
Suggestions made in early sources (like the Lay of Leithian) that Doriath was importing goods from Dorwinion have to be discarded. Beside the improbability of such a long trade route, Sindarin language and technology had not expanded to Rhovanion and Rhún until the early Second Age, when Doriathrin refugees established themselves in Greenwood and Lothlórien. As far as Greenwood is concerned, it was as well too far north for cultivation, and Mr Baggins properly observes that ‘the Wood-elves, and especially their king, were very fond of wine, though no vines grew in those parts.’ (H, IX) But Thranduil’s fondness suggests that he got his share even in the Second Age. Certainly he would not have survived several millenia without it?
One source, WPP, seems to suggest that the cultivation of vine was introduced to Dorwinion by Elves, later in the Second Age. But is this evidence that Dorwinion itself was founded, cultivated and inhabited by Sindar? For many other sources agree that it had a long Mannish history instead that has not been explicitly told.
Dorwinion is mentioned first, and not yet by its later name, in the annals of the early First Age when the migrating Northern Atani from the ‘Folk of Hador discovered that a part of their host from whom they had become separated had reached [the Sea of Rhún] before them, and dwelt at the feet of the high hills to the south-west’. (PR) This host was comprised of the pre-Bëorrim, see chapter I. But they all left Dorwinion soon, withdrawing from increasing pressure by ‘Servants of the Dark’, (PR) probably Rhúnedain, and we do not hear about Dorwinion in the chronicles of the First and even the Second Age again. But the pre-Bëorrim did not yet cultivate vine. The wine of Dorwinion has a different origin, and it was not introduced by Elves.
When the ships from Númenor reached Middle-earth, they came to export many pleasures to the ‘wild men’: ‘Corn and wine they brought, and they instructed Men in the sowing of seed and the grinding of grain, in the hewing of wood and the shaping of stone, and in the ordering of their life.’ (AK) This cultivation programme, however, cannot have expanded to the Sea of Rhún because the Númenóreans never ventured this far inland. Vintage follows migration and colonisation patterns, not trade routes.
Dorwinion enters the historical records again in the crucial year 541 TA. In that year, the Dúnedainic king Turambar established it as the east march of his realm: ‘Gondor was first attacked by wild men out of the East. [King Tarostar] defeated them and drove them out, and took the name of Rómendacil “East-victor”. He was, however, later slain in battle with fresh hordes of Easterlings. Turambar his son avenged him, and won much territory eastwards.’ (KR). The scope of this territory won is defined in the following: ‘The realm then extended north to Celebrant and the southern eaves of Mirkwood; west to the Greyflood; east to the inland Sea of Rhûn.’ (KR)
The realm then extended east to the inland Sea of Rhún
It was probably then that Dorwinion received its name: Land of Gwinion or Country of young Lands, the element gwin- also suggesting freshness and greenness. It may have been a propagandistic effort to attract settlers to the east march. Ironically, Turambar himself was rather fresh and green when he was crowned. Perhaps Tarostar Romendacil had rather named Dor-(G)winion for his son: It is not impossible that *Gwinion may have been Turambar’s birth-name before he ascended the throne.
The integration of the territory into Gondor would hardly have been possible if an Elvish colony had been present in Dorwinion then; and if a diplomatic arrangement had been made between the Dúnedain and any Sindar, we would have heard about it. It may be conceivable that a previous Sindarin settlement had vanished long before the Dúnedain arrived, during the War of the Last Alliance or even sooner. But in that case it was unreasonable to assume that traditional vintage would have been continued from Elf to Man without interruption.
We have to conclude that wine-growing was introduced to Dorwinion by Dúnedain of the Third Age.
Its exposed and rather isolated location left it in a precarious position. Gondorian historians soberly state that ‘the wide lands between Anduin and the Sea of Rhûn were however never effectively settled or occupied.’ (DM) Thus failing to kindle interest among the southern Dúnedain, Turambar and his successors finally won Northmen settlers who ‘had increased greatly in the peace brought by the power of Gondor. The kings showed them favour, since they were the nearest in kin of lesser Men to the Dúnedain (being for the most part descendants of those peoples from whom the Edain of old had come [i.e. the Northern Atani]); and they gave them wide lands beyond Anduin south of Greenwood the Great, to be a defence against men of the East. For in the past the attacks of the Easterlings had come mostly over the plain between the Inland Sea and the Ash Mountains.’
It was probably then that regular trade with the Northmen between Erebor and the Long Lake was first established, perhaps including even the route to the Wood-elves, and from that period may the unusual isolated Sindarin town name in the North derive, Esgaroth, otherwise known as Lake-town. But when the defence faded, no doubt, Dorwinion bore the first brunt of the Easterling attacks in the 13th century that led to a major crisis.
‘In the days of Narmacil I their attacks began again, though at first with little force; but it was learned by the regent that the Northmen did not always remain true to Gondor, and some would join forces with the Easterlings, either out of greed for spoil, or in the furtherance of feuds among their princes. Minalcar therefore in 1248 led out a great force, and between Rhovanion and the Inland Sea he defeated a large army of the Easterlings and destroyed all their ca
mps and settlements east [read: west] of the Sea. He then took the name of Rómendacil.’ (KR)
At that time, many northerners were already living in Gondor beyond Anduin and even in its main provinces, and ‘the high men of Gondor already looked askance at the Northmen among them’. (KR) The inhabitants of Dorwinion, however, are explicitly not reckoned as Northmen, nor were they Easterlings. On the contrary, it is recorded that other forces from Rhún, the Wainriders and later ‘the Balchoth were destroying the last of their kin in the South’ of Greenwood (CE) and the Northmen ‘never returned to their former homes’. (CE) Dorwinion only survived and remained inhabited, which would conflict with the above claims if its population comprised lots of Northmen. We have to conclude that the people of the east-march constituted a nation apart, mostly made of Dúnedain.
Men from Dorwinion actively supported the dispossessed Gondorian king Eldacar after he had fled ‘to the North, to his kinsfolk in Rhovanion. Many gathered to him there, both of the Northmen in the service of Gondor, and of the Dúnedain of the northern parts of the realm.’ (KR) The reference to these Dúnedain supports the notion that the ‘northern parts’ refers mainly to Dorwinion! Their losses, too, were probably compensated ‘by great numbers that came from Rhovanion. This mingling did not at first hasten the waning of the Dúnedain, as had been feared; but the waning still proceeded, little by little, as it had before.’ (KR).