Dale

**Dale** was a city of the Northmen, destroyed by the dragon Smaug and rebuilt after his demise.

## Description

Dale was situated in the Long Valley (from which it takes its name) between the south-western arm (hosting Ravenhill) and south-eastern arm of the Lonely Mountain, nestled in a sharp U-shaped bend of the River Running. It was built on two raised mounds across the Celduin and over a patch of farmland and vineyards. Alongside trading with Dwarven goods (including but not limited to toys) from the nearby Kingdom Under the Mountain, this was the city's source of prosperity.

Dale was a city-state, and a Lordship until it was re-established by Bard, becoming a Kingdom.

## History

In TA 2590 King Thrór re-established the Kingdom under the Mountain. The realm prospered and Northmen living to the south came up the River Running and built Dale. The town shared in the prosperity of the Dwarves and nearby Esgaroth, and it was governed by the Lord of Dale, of whom the last was named Girion.

In 2770 Smaug descended upon the Dwarf-kingdom. Although the Men of Dale fielded warriors against the monster they could not prevent him from killing or scattering the Dwarves and then occupying the Lonely Mountain. After the attack the dragon would crawl out of the Front Gate of the Mountain by night and carry away people (especially maidens) from Dale to eat. The remaining population soon fled (many to nearby Laketown) and the deserted city fell into ruins.

Smaug was killed in 2941, but not before conflagerating Laketown. The surviving refugees sought shelter in the ruins of Dale, and were bolstered by the arrival of Thranduil, who brought provisions alongside his army. Together, the Men of Dale (led by Girion's descedant, Bard) and Elves of Mirkwood besieged Erebor, where Thorin refused to share his treasure with them, and fought the Iron Hill army before Orcs under Azog intervened.

The fighting spilled into the streets of Dale, forcing Bard to retreat to defend the women and the children who remained among its ruins. The great hall on top of the hill served as a refugee for most of the elderly, the women and the children during the fighting, although many of them chose to stand and fight. With Thorin leading a charge that pushed the Orcs back in the Long Valley, the defenders were able to get the upper hand before Thorin went to Ravenhill to confront Azog. A second army by Bolg arrived, but was thwarted by Beorn.

After this, the city was rebuilt by Bard and resettled by many of the Laketown refugees. Bard founded the Kingdom of Dale and it gathered men from the Long Lake, the South, and the West. Lake-town was rebuilt and grew wealthy from traffic with Dale. Its people became known as Bardings, after their new ruler. Bard was succeeded by his son, Bain.

During the reign of King Brand, the grandson of Bard the Bowman, Dale served as the capital for the lands he ruled, which extended far south and east of Lake-town. Before the War of the Ring, Sauron sent messengers to Brand and Dain, and there were enemies gathering upon the Kingdom of Dale's eastern borders. Brand sent two emissaries to the Council of Elrond: Járnsmid and Erland.

During the War of the Ring, the Easterlings crossed the border and moved to attack the city. On 17 March 3002 the Battle of Dale began. Not able to hold back the Easterlings the Bardings and their allies, the Dwarves of Erebor, retreated into the Lonely Mountain, but lost Kings Brand and Dáin Ironfoot who were both slain at the Gate of Erebor. For seven days the Men and Dwarves barricaded themselves in Erebor until news came from the south of the defeat of Sauron. The new kings of Dale and Erebor (Bard II and Thorin III Stonehelm), broke the siege and chased the Easterlings out of Dale. After the siege, the Bardings rebuilt Dale, with the help of the Dwarves. Bard also sent an emissary to the coronation of King Elessar.