Alliance of Dwarves and Men

The Alliance of Dwarves and Men was an alliance formed in the early Second Age by the Men of the North and the Longbeards.
== History ==
The Men and Dwarves in the north had coexisted peacefully ever since the ancestors of the Northmen settled in the area in the First Age. When Angband fell, multitudes of Orcs fled east reaching the lands occupied by the Dwarves and Men. The Orcs far outnumbered the Dwarves in battles but their Mannish neighbours helped them overcome the Orcs' superiority of numbers and together they were able to drive them back. Thus began a warm friendship between the two races, the Dwarves supplied them with better arms while the Men, who were fierce and skilled riders, sent scouts to look for enemy movement and there was relative peace in the region.
When Sauron invaded Eriador in S.A. 1695, hordes of Orcs invaded the mountains again. Gundabad was taken and Ered Mithrin was raided. It was not only Orcs the Alliance fought but also other savage Men that came from the east. When Sauron was finally driven back from Eriador in S.A. 1701, the Alliance ended. The Men were heavily diminished in number and remained scattered and impoverished living in caves or the edges of the forest. The Longbeards still maintained Khazad-dûm but their communication to the Iron Hills were cut off for some time since the enemy now occupied their former lands.