While not one of the original seven kingdoms of the dwarves,
it would become one of their most prosperous. While it’s history with Smaug is well-known,
there was a time long before when the dwarves willingly abandoned this very kingdom.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the History of Erebor, the Kingdom under the Mountain.
While the Lonely Mountain wouldn’t become a kingdom until well into the third age,
we know that the dwarves of Durin’s Folk had control of the mountain during
the early Second Age at the latest. They also had control of the nearby Iron Hills
as an additional settlement of their people. The Mountain would take on a
much more important role after the fall of Khazad-dum to the balrog in 1981 TA.
With both Durin VI and his son Nain I killed by the balrog, the kingship of Durin’s Folk passes
to Thrain I. Thrain leads a group of his people in their exile from Moria to the Lonely Mountain.
There, the dwarves dig halls and caves in order to create an underground city. Thus, the Kingdom
under the Mountain is born in 1999 TA. As Thrain I rules his people as the first King Under the
Mountain, the dwarves discover riches within the rock, including the Arkenstone. The increasing
wealth of Erebor leads men to found their own settlement between the slopes of the mountain.
Thrain I dies in 2190 TA, passing the kingship to his son Thorin I. Real quick, it’s important to
note these are not the Thrain and Thorin of The Hobbit tale - those dwarves are the 2nd of their
names, whereas these are the first. Thorin I would rule as King Under the Mountain for 20 years (2210
TA) before making a huge decision for his people - they would abandon the Lonely Mountain. In the
aftermath of Khazad-dum’s fall, Erebor was not the only location the dwarves fled to. Most notably,
a great number of dwarves settled in the Ered Mithrin, the Grey Mountains north of Mirkwood.
Thorin I hoped to reunite Durin’s Folk, as well as take advantage of the mountains themselves, which
were largely unexplored and richer for mining. They leave Erebor, which would remain a much
smaller settlement for the dwarves, and make their way to the Ered Mithrin. For well over 300 years,
the dwarves of Durin’s Folk would prosper in their capital now in the Grey Mountains. However,
a great and terrible threat would come - one that would plague them for many long years - dragons.
As Tolkien says in Appendix A: But there were dragons in the wastes beyond;
and after many years they became strong again and multiplied,
and they made war on the Dwarves, and plundered their works.
In 2570 TA, the dragons from the northern waste make war upon the dwarves. What is
notable is that for twenty long years, the dwarves would hold out against this
mighty foe. Like the dwarves of the First Age fighting the dragons of Morgoth - the dwarves
show it is possible to withstand such a mighty foe for a time. However, in 2589,
the dragons attack the very halls of King Dain I. Both the king and his second son
are killed by a great Cold-drake, that is, a dragon that cannot breath fire.
With the death of the king, most of the dwarves abandon the Grey Mountains in
the following year (2590 TA). The kingship has now passed to Thror, the grandfather of
Thorin II Oakenshield. He leads his people back to Erebor with the Arkenstone in hand,
re-establishing the Kingdom under the Mountain. Thror’s younger brother Gror leads another
group to the nearby Iron HIlls, establishing a lordship for this long-held dwarven settlement.
Erebor once again becomes the capital of Durin’s Folk and over the next 200 years,
the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain would become the greatest smiths in Wilderland. Both
Erebor and the Iron Hills would prosper greatly - as would their closest neighbor.
The settlement of men in the valley of the mountain would become a great city - the
city of Dale. The Men of Dale and the Dwarves of Erebor would have a great
friendship and both would prosper greatly in the years to come. However, this would
not last - a familiar foe would come to wreak havoc upon the people of this land - a dragon.
This was not any mere dragon, it was Smaug, the greatest fire-breathing dragon of all the
Third Age. Smaug had heard of the wealth of Erebor and in his lust for riches, and one
night in 2770 TA, he descends upon the Lonely Mountain, bringing fire and death.
Then he came down the slopes and when he reached the woods they all went up in fire. By that time
all the bells were ringing in Dale and the warriors were arming. The dwarves rushed
out of their great gate; but there was the dragon waiting for them. ... The river rushed up in steam
and a fog fell on Dale, and in the fog the dragon came on them and destroyed most of the warriors
With the warriors of both dwarves and men mostly destroyed, Smaug returns to Erebor,
routing the remaining dwarves and driving out any survivors.
We are told Smaug then amasses a pile of gold within the mountain, which is now his. The Kingdom
under the Mountain is no more, and the dwarves are once again exiled. All told, the death toll
of the Sack of Erebor is in the thousands. Most of the dwarven survivors escape to the Iron Hills,
joining Gror’s people. Thror, his son Thrain II, and grandson Thorin II would lead the others in
their exile. These wanderings would lead to Thror’s death and a war with the orcs of the
Misty Mountains before Thrain leads his people to settle in the Blue Mountains west of the Shire.
As for Smaug, he would only occasionally exit the mountain over the next two centuries to
feed. We are told he would carry away people, especially maidens of Dale, to eat as well as
continue his destruction of the city. This leads to the total abandonment of Dale, with
the survivors living in Esgaroth upon the Long Lake, also known as Lake-town. Their former home,
and the lands around both Erebor and Dale, come to be known as the Desolation of Smaug. And there
was neither bush nor tree, and only broken and blackened stumps to speak of ones long vanished.
This would of course not be the end of Erebor, however. With the help of the wizard Gandalf,
Thorin II Oakenshield, now king of his people, organizes the Quest of
Erebor - an effort to reclaim their homeland. For his part, Gandalf knew that Smaug would almost
certainly ally with a resurgent Sauron and cause mass destruction in the north of Middle-earth.
The company would of course come to Erebor itself after many adventures. During their time in
Erebor, we learn that the south-western spur of the mountain contains a dwarven guard-post called
Ravenhill - where the birds of its namesake dwelt and from which they would carry messages for the
dwarves. We also learn of the Back Door - a secret entrance on the western side of the mountain,
which led to the bottommost cellar of the dwarven halls. Similar to the West-gate of Moria,
this door was invisible from the outside - though this door would only become noticeable
with the setting sun - the last light - of Durin’s Day, which would shine upon
the keyhole. This door would not only lead Bilbo and Thorin’s company into the mountain,
but it was also the way that Thor and Thrain had escaped Smaug’s attack.
After learning that Bilbo must have been helped by the Lake-men,
Smaug leaves the mountain seeking to destroy them. He comes in a reckless rage,
taking no heed of any who may resist him, but seeking only to set the town ablaze. In this
moment, Bard the Bowman, ancestor of Lord Girion of Dale, turns to his black arrow.
The Dragon swooped once more lower than ever, and as he turned and dived down his
belly glittered white with sparkling fires of gems in the moon — but not in one place.
The great bow twanged. The black arrow sped straight from the string, straight for the
hollow by the left breast where the foreleg was flung wide. In it smote and vanished,
barb, shaft and feather, so fierce was its flight. With a shriek that deafened men, felled trees and
split stone, Smaug shot spouting into the air, turned over and crashed down from on high in ruin.
Full on the town he fell. His last throes splintered it to sparks and
gledes.... And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth.
With the death of the dragon, Thorin and his company retake Erebor and the treasure
within. He is now officially King under the Mountain, and the Lonely Mountain belongs to
the dwarves once more. However, the peace would be short-lived. Thorin succumbs to dragon sickness,
an immense greed brought on by treasure upon which a dragon has long brooded. In
his sickness, Thorin refuses to give any of the reclaimed treasure in compensation for
the destroyed Lake-town. Along with the elves of Mirkwood, the men place Erebor under siege.
The conflict nearly becomes a full-on battle with the arrival of Thorin’s cousin Dain Ironfoot,
now Lord of the Iron Hills. However, Gandalf intercedes and warns that goblins and wargs
from the Misty Mountains and Grey Mountains were marching upon them. Agreeing that the orcs were
the enemies of all, the elves, men, and dwarves join forces and the Battle of Five Armies begins.
The goblins, wargs, and bats would be defeated in the end, thanks in large part to the late
arriving great eagles and Beorn. However, Thorin and his sister-sons and heirs Kili and Fili would
die from the battle. Dain Ironfoot takes up the kingship of Durin’s Folk and over the coming
decades would return Erebor to its lost glory. In addition to the returning wealth and prosperity,
they would build great towers upon the mountain itself and dig roads deep underground.
With the returning prosperity of the dwarves comes the returning prosperity
of their mannish neighbors. Dale is re-established as its own kingdom,
with Bard himself becoming its first ever King. The men would be commonly known as Bardings,
in affection of their first ruler. Despite the renewed glory of their realms, both dwarves and
men would face a new threat with the coming War of the Ring. In 3018 TA, an emissary from
Sauron comes to Dain, seeking the location of Bilbo and his ring. Dain turns the messenger
away and sends Gloin and Gimli to Rivendell to warn Bilbo that Sauron was seeking him.
Months later, King Brand, the grandson of Bard, holds an invading army the Easterlings at the
river Carnen for a time, but are eventually driven back. And on March 14, 3019, the Battle of Dale
begins. A combined force of Men and Dwarves march out to meet the Easterlings at the feet of the
mountain. For three days, the armies take part in bloody, close-quarters combat. On March 17,
King Brand is killed, and Dain fights to his last breath defending the body of his friend.
With their kings slain, the men and dwarves retreat into the mountain.
Led now by their princes Bard II and Thorin III Stonehelm, they withstand the ensuing Siege of
Erebor. For ten days they are made to hold out against Sauron’s northern army. On the eighth day,
March 25th, the One Ring is destroyed along with Sauron’s southern forces.
Seeing the morale of their foes fall with the news from the south, Thorin and Bard
lift the siege on March 27th, driving the Easterlings out of Dale and back to Rhun.
With the victory, Thorin Stonehelm is officially crowned the 6th dwarven King under the Mountain
and Bard II becomes King of Dale. They each send ambassadors to the coronation of King
Aragorn Elessar and would remain in friendship with Gondor. From that moment onward, both
Erebor and Dale would fall under the protection of the High King of the Reunited Kingdom. We are
told that both realms would continue to prosper well into the Fourth Age, even after Khazad-dum
is reclaimed by Durin VII after 171 FoA. Finally free from the threat of dragons and Sauron,
Erebor and Dale are left to prosper in both wealth and friendship.
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