When marveling upon Middle Earth’s great cities and kingdoms amongst the realms of Men one can
easily wonder how all these grand cities and their material cultures come into being. Tolkien was a
philologist, not an economist, but when reading between the pages of his works, a semblance of
economic life is present in its various cultures. Indeed, Tolkien devoted a considerable amount of
thought to the withertos and whyfors of everyday life in his world, a phenomenon just waiting to
be explored. In this latest video in our series on the economies and societies of middle earth,
we will explore the lives of realms in exile, that of Arnor and Gondor.
When Men emerged in Arda, they encountered other races, such as the Dwarves, with whom they built
an economic and symbiotic relationship with. “Men held them in awe and were eager to learn
from them; and the Longbeards were very willing to use Men for their own purposes.
Thus there grew up in those regions the economy, later characteristic of the dealings of Dwarves
and Men. Men became the chief providers of food, as herdsmen, shephards, and land-tiller,
which the Dwarves exchanged for work as builders, roadmakers, miners, and the makers of things of
craft, from useful tools to weapons and arms and many other things of great cost and skill” .
Eventually, this relationship between man and dwarf, which had originated upon the exchange
of goods, evolved into a military alliance to fend off the dark forces which threatened their
respective homelands. An arrangement that benefited both races’ war efforts against
the infamous Orcs. “No Dwarf would ever mount a horse willingly, nor did any ever harbour animals,
not even dogs. But Men were glad of the alliance, for they were more vulnerable to the attacks of
the Orks: they dwelt largely in scattered homesteads and villages, and if they drew
together into small townships they were poorly defended, at best by dikes and wooden fences.
Also they were lightly armed, chiefly with bows, for they had little metal and the few smiths among
them had no great skill. These things the Dwarves amended in return for one great service that
Men could offer. They were tamers of beasts and had learned the mastery of horses, and many
were skilled and fearless riders. These would often ride far afield as scouts and keep watch
on movements of their enemies; and if the Orks dared to assemble in the open for some great raid,
they would gather great force of horsed archers to surround them and destroy them.” . The symbiotic
relationship between Men and Dwarves would serve certain groups throughout the ages,
though Men would venture on their lonesome also. After the downfall of Numenor in S.A 3319,
the faithful such as Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion sailed from port Romenna to the shores
of Middle earth. From there they would establish two great kingdoms. Elendil and his folk landed in
Lindon and spread across Eriador, founding the great cities of Fornost and Annuminas,
the latter of which became the capital of the kingdom of Arnor in S.A 3320. Meanwhile,
Elendil’s sons Isildur and Anarion landed at the Mouths of Anduin, and ascended the great river
until they came to Pelargir. In that region, they founded the southern Kingdom of Gondor and built
the cities of Osgiliath , Minas Ithil and Minas Anor . Elendil, Isildur and Aranion each held
a palantiri allowing them to communicate. From Numenor came extraordinary knowledge of stonework
that was put to good use erecting mighty works within Gondor such as the Crown of Gondor , the
Argonath, the great stone city of Minas Arnor . As these two great Kingdoms grew, many roads were
built that aided trade and development between them, such as the Great East Road and the Great
West Road . The Great North-South Road was built by Numenoreans during the second age, linking the
kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor at the bustling port of Tharbad. “though it was still long before they
had the need or sufficient men to undertake the great works of drainage and dyke-building
that made a great port on the site where Tharbad stood in the days of the two Kingdoms.
Both kingdoms shared an interest in this region, and together built and maintained the Bridge of
Tharbad and the long causeways that carried the road to it on either side of the Gwathlo and
Mitheithel. A considerable garrison of soldiers, mariners and engineers had been kept there until
the 17th century of the 3rd age” . Tharbad acted as the literal bridge between the two kingdoms
and one of its most predominant centers of trade for both land and sea, bringing prosperity to
both domains. However, in the centuries that followed, the relationship between both kingdoms
would undergo great strain as they went through respective hardships, such as Arnor’s with Angmar,
and Gondor’s struggle with Sauron during the War of the Ring. Eventually, however,
the two realms were reunited under King Elessar ushering in the 4th age, and restoring the
interconnected and prosperous networks of commerce that had once existed between them.
For the most part, the exact economic life of everyday people in the Kingdom of Arnor
is shrouded in mystery, especially during its eras of strife.
An exception to this rule lies in the village of Bree, where thanks to its role in the story of a
quartet of fateful Hobbits, we receive instances of an economic network at work within its walls.
For example, when all the horses and ponies are stolen from Barliman Butterbur’s stable in Bree,
the Hobbits and the ranger Strider ask Mr. Butterbur if he could acquire some more for
them. “Bill Ferny’s price was twelve silver pennies; and that was indeed at least three
times the pony’s value in those parts. It proved to be a bony, underfed, and dispirited animal;
but it did not look like dying just yet. Mr. Butterbur paid for it himself, and offered Merry
another eighteen pence as some compensation for the lost animals. He was an honest man,
and well-off as things were reckoned in Bree; but thirty silver pennies was a sore blow to him,
and being cheated by Bill Ferny made it harder to bear” . Thus from this we know the worth of a pony
in silver pennies, and if Bree is any indication of the greater trading network of Arnor,
then silver pennies must have been the standard currency of the whole kingdom. Silver pennies
are shown elsewhere in Arnor such as when Gandalf is unloading his cargo of fireworks when visiting
the Shire for Bilbo’s birthday “When the old man, helped by Bilbo and some dwarves, had finished
unloading, Bilbo gave a few pennies away; but not a single squib or cracker was forthcoming,
to the disappointment of the onlookers” . Pennies seem to be the lowest form of currency in the
Arnorish economy. The silver pennies likewise may have been part of an even larger trade network
going as far south as Gondor. “The Hobbit word tharni was an old word for ‘quarter’ seldom
used in ordinary language, where the word for ‘quarter’ was tharantin ‘fourth part’.
In Gondor tharni was used for a silver coin, the fourth part of the castar (in Noldorin the canath
or fourth part of the mirian)” . This seems to indicate the silver pennies of Arnor and Tharni
could be one in the same if not equivalent. Likewise it shows us Elves had words for
such currency, indicating they also partook in this economy.
The reasons why the two separate kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor had a similar if not shared
currency was self-evident: for trade. Infact, we know of one item that was traded back and forth:
pipe-weed. “ the weed itself is not native to our parts of the world, but came northward from
the lower Anduin, whither it was, I suspect, originally brought over Sea by the Men of
Westernesse. It grows abundantly in Gondor, and there is richer and larger than in the North,
where it is never found wild, and flourishes only in warm sheltered places like Longbottom. The Men
of Gondor call it sweet galenas, and esteem it only for the fragrance of its flowers. From that
land it must have been carried up the Greenway during the long centuries between the coming of
Elendil and our own days. But even the Dúnedain of Gondor allow us this credit: Hobbits first put it
into pipes” . While pipeweed may have originated in Numenor and before being imported to Gondor,
its use for smoking originated in the Shire. Thus, being so close to the lands of the Hobbits,
the village of Bree would be where pipe-weed as a smoking commodity would spread throughout the
land. “ certainly it was from Bree that the art of smoking the genuine weed spread in the recent
centuries among Dwarves and such other folk, Rangers, Wizards, or wanderers, as still passed
to and fro through that ancient road-meeting. The home and centre of the art is thus to be found in
the old inn of Bree, The Prancing Pony, that has been kept by the family of Butterbur from time
beyond record” . The fact that pipeweed could be spread so quickly and to so many diverse peoples
is a testament to the intricate road networks built by the men of Arnor and Gondor,
and this most likely meant many other goods also traveled these roads.
Thus far, we have focused our analysis mostly on the Kingdom of Arnor,
which, sandwiched between the Blue Mountains and the Iron Hills, thrived off a bountiful trading
relationship with the neighbouring dwarves. However, this advantageous geography was
not shared by Gondor, which, situated much farther south, was a degree more isolated.
Let us then examine how the economy of the men of Gondor differed from their Arnorian siblings. The
Kingdom of Gondor was divided into regions known as fiefs, each under the rule of a lord who owed
their allegiance to a King, or later Stewards, of Gondor. At the pinnacle of Gondor’s history,
she held numerous fiefs all of whom provided her with a population and a military. Men of war were
not all the fiefs provided, take for example, the contributions of the fief of Lossarnach.
“Its upper valleys were renowned for their flowers, and below them there were great orchards,
from which at the time of the War of the Ring much of the fruit needed in Minas Tirith still came. It
goes without saying Gondor required agriculture to sustain its populace and Lossarnach was one of
many fiefs that provided foodstuff. Beyond it, many other Gondorian fiefs provided different
types of vittles, “The hardiest of the people were engaged in fishing: fish were abundant,
and at all times one of the chief sources of food for Númenor” . Indeed, fishing was a practice
with a long history in the region of Gondor, predating even the arrival of the Numenorians.
“they went in the course of years seeking a place for lives of their own, and at last they
settled at the mouth of the Morthond. There was already a primitive harbour there of fisherfolk,
but these in fear of the Eldar fled into the mountains” . This aforementioned Morthond existed
in the fief of Anflas, which appears to have been the primary fishery of the Gondorian realm.
Granted, they were not the only ones. The fief of Ethir Anduin likely also dealt in the trade
of fish. There was also the great port city of Pelargir where it seems the export of seafood
would continue into the fourth age, as we hear about the story of Saelon of Pelargir during
“the New Shadow” .“We get too few real sailors these days. Fish are more profitable. But at
least all know that the west coasts are not safe for the unskilled.” The men were not unskilled;
they were sons of fishermen. And there have been no storms off the coasts for a long time” .
Pelargir was the main harbor of Gondor and host to its grand navy, which regularly did battle
with the realm of Umbar, whose legendary Corsairs would become a menace to Gondor and its fiefs.
“In T.A 1634 learning through spies that Minardil was at Pelargir,
Angomaite and Sangahyanda, leaders of the Corsairs of Umbar, great-grandsons of Castamir,
made a raid up Anduin, slew the king, ravaged Pelargir and escape with great booty”.
Here, we can see that the Seaborne wealth of the Gondorians had become attractive enough that it
had become subject to piracy at the hands of foreigners, not just of the corsairs, but also
by the Haradrim and other forces of Sauron. Let us now take a look at Gondor’s iconic,
multi-tiered capital: Minas Tirith. Here, we can see a complex structure that must
have taken intensive economic activity to build. Take for example the first level of Minas Tirith,
“Lampwrights' Street, a broadway running towards the Great Gate. In it he found the Old Guesthouse,
a large building of grey weathered stone with two wings running back from the street,
and between them, a narrow greensward, behind which was the many-windowed house, fronted along
its whole width by a pillared porch and a flight of steps down on to the grass” . Paved roads,
stonework, a grand inn, streets lit by lamplight showcased the first level of the grand city.
The splendors of the guarded city only continued as one ascended. “ into the high circles of the
City, and in the light of morning they went their way towards the Houses of Healing; and these were
fair houses set apart, for the care of those who were grievously sick, but now they were prepared
for the tending of men hurt in battle or dying” . Trade of all sorts could be found in Minas Tirith
proving it to be a robust and magnificent city. Perhaps a good real-world parallel would be the
city of Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the most prosperous
city in Europe during the middle-ages. Tolkien himself leaned into this parallel.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that, must like the Western Roman Empire collapsed
long before its Eastern counterpart in our world, the western kingdom of Arnor
declined before the eastern kingdom of Gondor . We are going to talk about the economy of Middle
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