A people of the Dwarves belonging to the clan of the Longbeards, otherwise known as Durin's Folk. About half a millennium before the War of the Ring, the Dwarves of this clan dwelt in the northern Grey Mountains, but they were greatly troubled by dragons in that region. After King Dáin I was slain by one of these dragons, his surviving sons led an exodus into the east. Dáin's elder son Thrór recreated the Kingdom under the Mountain at Erebor, while his younger brother Grór led a part of the people further into the east, to settle among the Iron Hills.
It seems that the two related peoples remained on friendly terms with one another. Years later, when Thrór's descendant Thorin Oakenshield sent to the Iron Hills for aid in restoring Erebor, Grór's grandson Dáin Ironfoot (named after his illustrious ancestor Dáin I) sent many armoured Dwarves. As events developed, the Dwarves of the Iron Hills proved crucial in winning the ensuing Battle of Five Armies. Thorin died in that battle, and with him the royal line of Thrór. Through his ancestor Grór, the Kingship of Durin's Folk then fell on Dáin. As Dáin II, he removed from the Iron Hills, and re-established a kingdom under the Lonely Mountain.
| I |
Grór |
Ruled from III 2590 to III 2805 (215 years)
The youngest son of King Dáin I of Durin's Folk, Grór was raised in the Grey Mountains in a time when Dragons were multiplying to the North. When his father the King and his brother Frór were slain by a cold-drake, the family divided. Thrór, Dáin's elder son and heir, went east to resettle Erebor, but Grór went farther eastward still, and founded a new Dwarf-realm among the Iron Hills. This new colony of the Dwarves prospered, and Grór ruled there for more than two centuries. During his rule his brother's kingdom of Erebor was sacked by the Dragon Smaug, but Grór's own people in the Iron Hills remained safe from the Dragons they had fled in his youth. |
| II |
Dáin Ironfoot |
Ruled to III 2941 (136 years)
Grór's son Náin led many of the Dwarves of the Iron Hills to the Battle of Azanulbizar in III 2799, where he was slain by Azog. On Grór's death six years later, he was therefore succeeded by his grandson, Dáin Ironfoot, the son of Náin. Dáin ruled in the Iron Hills for more than a century, but in III 2941 he was called on by his cousin Thorin Oakenshield to aid in the recovery of Erebor. The ensuing Battle of Five Armies saw the death of Thorin and all his direct heirs, so that Dáin (as a descendant of Dáin I) became the next in line to the Kingship of Durin's Folk. Thereafter he became King Dáin II, leading his people from the newly refounded Erebor until his death in the War of the Ring, seventy-eight years later. |
Notes
1 |
Doubtless there were at least some Dwarf settlements among the Iron Hills. Indeed, at the call of Thórin during the Quest of Erebor, Dáin Ironfoot was able to gather and supply five hundred armed Dwarves of the Iron Hills in a matter of days, which implies a fairly organised and centralised society. No settlements, however, are shown on any map of the Iron Hills, so their exact placement is something of a mystery. The point where the river Redwater emerged from the Hills would seem to be a sensible place to establish a Dwarf-city, but we have no direct evidence for this location or any other.
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- Updated 6 January 2018
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