Iron Hills

The Iron Hills was a mountain range in the north of Middle-earth, inhabited by Dwarves.
== History ==
The Longbeard Dwarves of Khazad-dûm colonized the Iron Hills in the First Age. The Hills were their primary source of iron-ore. The Dwarf-road through Greenwood ran north-east to the Hills for the dwarf-traders and merchants between Khazad-dûm and the Hills. Also in the First Age, some Men who migrated out of the east—"laggard kindred" of the Edain—chose to settle in the lands between the Iron Hills and Mirkwood, becoming the Northmen of Rhovanion.
After Sauron destroyed Eregion in the Second Age, the Longbeards sealed Khazad-dûm and Orcs took control of the northern Misty Mountains and the Grey Mountains. This ended communication between the Iron Hills and Khazad-dûm for some time.
In TA 1981 the last of the Dwarves living in Khazad-dûm fled from the Balrog who had slain kings Durin VI and Náin I. Some of those who escaped wandered as far as the Iron Hills and resettled there.
In 2570 dragons began afflicting the Dwarves in the north and in 2589 King Dáin I was slain by a cold-drake outside his halls in the Grey Mountains. Due to these depredations, in 2590 Grór son of Dáin left the Grey Mountains and established a Lordship in the Iron Hills.
Over the next few centuries Grór and his people built the hills from just an ancient mining colony to a great realm, especially after the destruction of Erebor in 2770 when the Dragon Smaug scattered the Longbeards who dwelt there. Most of the survivors subsequently went to their kinsmen in the Iron Hills, swelling its numbers.
Before the death of Smaug in TA 2941, the Dwarven realm in the Iron Hills was the only force in the north-east of Wilderland capable of offering a large and strong enough resistance to the forces of evil. Sauron sought to secure his flank from them by conquering Erebor and rallying Smaug to his cause, which would have allowed him to secure the lands of Angmar.
In 2941 Lord Dáin Ironfoot led his warriors in the Battle of Five Armies near Erebor. The battle was won, but Thorin was slain and Dáin became the new King under the Mountain and King of the Longbeards as Dáin II. He relocated to Erebor with many of his people, and re-established it as Durin's folk's greatest and strongest dwelling in the north.
The Iron Hills are an area in the region of "The Dwarf-holds", ruled by "Lord Náin the Slakeless", brother of King Thorin Stonehelm. The hills and the scrub-land connecting to the Dale-lands are also known collectively as the "Ironfold". Settled by "Farin Blackmattock" in the First Age, the capital "Járnfast" was destroyed by the fall of Thangorodrim and afterwards rebuilt. During the time it features in the game, Járnfast has been damaged by tremors caused by Mount Doom's recent eruption. It is also the site of a seal that confines a horde of Nameless creatures in "The Howling Pit" below.
Category:Locations