Lonely Mountain
Template:Infobox LOTR place In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, the Lonely Mountain (Sindarin Erebor) is a mountain in the northeast of Rhovanion. It is also the source of the Celduin River.
Internal history
Origins of the Kingdom Under the Mountain
Erebor became the home of the Folk of Durin, a clan of Dwarves known as the Longbeards, after they were driven from their ancestral home of Khazad-dûm. In the latter days of the Third Age, this Kingdom Under the Mountain held one of the largest dwarven treasure hoards in Middle-earth.
The mountain was aptly named, as it stood hundreds of miles from the nearest mountain range. Tolkien's map shown in The Hobbit depicts the mountain as having six ridges stretching out from a central peak that was snowcapped well into Spring. The whole mountain was perhaps ten miles in diameter, with Dale, a town of Men, built between the two southern spurs.[1]
Erebor was founded by Thráin I the Old, who discovered the Arkenstone there. His son, Thorin I, left the mountain with much of the Folk of Durin to live in the Ered Mithrin (Grey Mountains) for the great riches to be found in that range. After dragons plundered their hoards, the Longbeards, led now by Thrór, a descendant of Thorin, returned to Erebor to take up the title King under the Mountain. Under Thrór's reign, Erebor became a great Dwarven stronghold, where the Dwarves became a numerous and prosperous people. The Dwarves of Erebor were at that time well known to be skilled in the making of matchless weapons and armour, and there was great demand for their work by the surrounding peoples. The Longbeards amassed a large treasure hoard during this time, perhaps due to Thrór possessing one of the Seven Rings of the Dwarves.
Erebor in The Hobbit
In 2770 T.A., while a young Thorin II Oakenshield was out hunting, the dragon Smaug flew south from the Grey Mountains, killed all the dwarves he could find, and destroyed the town of Dale. Smaug then took over the mountain, using the dwarven hoard as a bed. King Thrór, his son Thráin II, and several companions escaped death by a secret door. Although Thrór and Thráin later perished, Thorin lived in exile in the Ered Luin until, by chance, he met the wizard Gandalf. Together they formed a plan to reclaim the mountain. Gandalf insisted burglary was the best approach and recommended the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, whom he represented to be a professional thief.
Thus Bilbo, Thorin, and Thorin's company of twelve other Dwarves travelled to the Lonely Mountain to regain the treasure. They planned to use the secret door, whose key Gandalf had managed to obtain (from Thráin, whom he had found in the pits of Dol Guldur). On Durin's Day, when the setting sun and the last moon of autumn were in the sky together, the day's last sunlight would fall on the door and expose its keyhole so that it could be unlocked. By a fortunate coincidence, this happened soon after Bilbo and the dwarves arrived, and the hobbit was able to enter the mountain and steal a golden cup. Smaug, enraged by the theft, emerged from the mountain and destroyed Lake-town, which he thought to be the source of the 'thieves.'
Smaug was eventually slain by Bard the Bowman and Thorin claimed the mountain. However, the Men of Esgaroth, supported by Thranduil and the Elves of Mirkwood, demanded a part of the dragon's hoard as recompense for the destruction. Thorin, mad with greed, refused all claims and managed to contact Dáin II Ironfoot, chief of the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, who came to aid their dwarven cousins. Before the battle began, an army of Orcs and Wargs descended on Erebor. Dwarves, Elves, and Men joined ranks against them, which led to the Battle of Five Armies. During the battle, Thorin's nephews Fíli and Kíli were slain, and Thorin himself was mortally injured and died shortly afterwards. The title of King under the Mountain passed to Dáin.
Erebor in The Lord of the Rings
With the restoration of the Kingdom under the Mountain the area became prosperous again. Dale was rebuilt, and the Dwarves and Men reforged their friendship.
During the War of the Ring, Dale was overrun by Sauron's Northern army, and many dwarves and men took refuge in Erebor which was promptly surrounded. Dáin II was killed before the gates of Erebor defending the body of his fallen ally King Brand of Dale. Dáin was succeeded by his son Thorin III Stonehelm, who along with King Bard II withstood the siege and later routed Sauron's forces. As told in "The Quest of Erebor", Gandalf states that the restoration of the dwarven kingdom of Erebor would later prove to be a bulwark against Sauron's Northern allies, even as the main thrust was against Gondor, which otherwise could have done great harm in Arnor and The Shire.
Gimli, a dwarf of Erebor, was later chosen to represent his people in the Fellowship of the Ring and helped Aragorn II regain the throne of Gondor.
Adaptations
The Lonely Mountain: Lair of Smaug the Dragon is a board game produced in 1985 by Iron Crown Enterprises,[2] designed by Coleman Charlton which features groups of adventurers, either Dwarves, Elves, Orcs or Men entering Smaug's Lair to capture his treasure before he awakens.
"Erebor", specifically the southern spurs of the Mountain and Dale, is a playable map in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II. It has three gates, including the one Tolkien described and two which cannot be closed, to allow those playing as invading forces to easily enter the stronghold.
Namesakes
The International Astronomical Union names all mountains on Saturn's moon Titan after mountains in Tolkien's work.[3] In 2012, they named a Titanian mountain "Erebor Mons" after the Lonely Mountain.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Fonstad, Karen Wynn. The Atlas of Middle-earth (Revised Edition) . Houghton Mifflin Company. New York. 1991. pp. 110-1
- ^ Newsboard, Fellowship Follows, White Dwarf (magazine) #57, September, 1984 p45
- ^ International Astronomical Union. "Categories for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Accessed Nov 14, 2012.
- ^ International Astronomical Union. "Erebor Mons". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Accessed Nov 14, 2012.
- Harper, Amelia (2006). "Lonely Mountain (Erebor)". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Routledge. pp. 384–385. ISBN 0-415-96942-5.