The War of the Ring saw battles on many fronts, with Mordor's main thrust being the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of the Pelennor in the fields before Minas Tirith. Far to the north of that major battle, another force of Sauron's many followers made a coordinated strike at the same time. The Men of Dale and the Dwarves of Erebor had been aware of Easterlings massing beyond the river Carnen for some time, but on 14 March III 3019 - the very day that Sauron's forces marched onto the Pelennor Fields - these enemies emerged from the East and launched their attack against Dale.
At that time the King of Dale was Brand, the grandson of Bard the Bowman, and he led the defence of his town. He was joined by his ally Dáin Ironfoot, the famed and venerable ruler of the Lonely Mountain, who had taken up that throne after the slaying of Smaug seventy-eight years earlier. Together these allies met the invading Easterlings in the valley before the Lonely Mountain, and over three days of fighting they were pushed back to the very Gate of Erebor, where both Brand and Dáin fell.
The surviving defenders of Dale were driven back into Erebor, and the Front Gate was shut. With the deaths of Brand and Dáin, their sons and heirs took command of the resistance in their place: Bard II became the new King of Dale, and Thorin III Stonehelm was the new King under the Mountain. The Easterlings outside the Lonely Mountain were unable to breach its Gate, and forced to set up a siege of Erebor. Thus the Battle of Dale proper came to an end, but the siege of the Lonely Mountain began.
While this stalemate held in the north, far away in the south the Ring was destroyed and Sauron fell. It took two days for the news of the Downfall of Barad-dûr to reach Sauron's army in the north, but when it did - on 27 March - the Easterlings lost the will to fight. Brand and Thorin rallied their people and charged out of the Lonely Mountain, routing the dispirited enemy. So Dale and Erebor survived the assault of the Easterlings, albeit with great loss, and with the fall of the former king of each realm.
Notes
1 |
The dating for the battle is a little difficult to disentangle. The Tale of Years gives a date of 17 March for the Battle of Dale, and lists the fall of King Brand and King Dáin on that date. However, we're also told that the fighting lasted for three days, with the fall of Brand and Dáin on the last day of the battle. For these events to align, the battle must have started three days earlier, on 14 March (with the Tale of Years entry therefore referring to the end of the battle and the beginning of the siege of Erebor).
The siege lasted for a further ten days, until news of the Downfall of Barad-dûr reached the besiegers and sapped their morale. The Tale of Years tells us that the heirs of the fallen kings, Bard II and Thorin III, were able to break the siege drive the Easterlings away on 27 March.
|
Indexes:
About this entry:
- Updated 1 July 2026
- This entry is complete
For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.
Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1997-2026. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.
SHARE
