Middle Earth Ranger Forum

So... we know the rangers spend long periods in the wilds of Eriador - but as we've discussed before, they must have "home bases" they return to occasionally.

Physically, what do we think those places might be like? Shared halls akin to those of Beorn or Theoden? Small stone houses like those of Bree? Certainly not hobbit holes or dwarf mines! Would their home have a center hearth like those of the early medieval period? Or a fireplace built into a wall with mantlepiece, much as Bilbo enjoyed?

As nicely done as the Born of Hope fan film was, the Anglo Saxon village never felt quite right. It was mostly nicely lived in, but felt too plain and generic-iron age.

Personally I'm inclined to envision a variety of homes of the Dunedain, based on what's available in their region - sometimes mostly-restored stone ruins of elder days, sometimes small collections of post&beam, thatched wattle-and-daub cottages on the medieval English model, sometimes rude shacks not unlike an American frontier (or Nordic!) log cabin. Generally I think fireplace hearths rather than open firepits, but I'm less certain on that.

What are your thoughts?

Incidentally, this is what inspired the question - seeing how medieval halls were refitted with fireplaces (and extra floors) in the late medieval era -

The book by the way is more than worth a look for those of us who haven't had a chance to see Britain in person - it's a fantastic little book for learning to read the countryside of a long-settled place:
(Amazon is giving a nutball price at the moment, but if you find a used copy for $10 or so, it's a quick fun read)

This is what I always picture nowadays, thanks to "One in the Past".

I picture numerous small settlements like this, scattered in the deep woods of the Angle. Definitely in favor of a clay/stone hearth, though.

Elleth wrote:Incidentally, this is what inspired the question - seeing how medieval halls were refitted with fireplaces (and extra floors) in the late medieval era -

merf-englishvillage-fireplaces.jpg


The book by the way is more than worth a look for those of us who haven't had a chance to see Britain in person - it's a fantastic little book for learning to read the countryside of a long-settled place:

merf-englishvillage-sample.jpg

(Amazon is giving a nutball price at the moment, but if you find a used copy for $10 or so, it's a quick fun read)

Let's see- about $200 used, one for $1,800! or about $6.50 for the Kindle version. Wow.

I recently watched a video about the people who lived in Eastern Europe before the arrival of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. They were agriculturalists, and lived in dispersed settlements. The speaker made a point that they didn't have fortified villages clustered onto promontories, as we see in medieval Italy. (That posture sort of evolved during the barbarian invasions and times of anarchy after Rome's fall.)

Anyway, it looks like these dispersed settlements were easy prey for the incoming Proto-Into-Europeans. The late Henry Harpending lays it out here:
https://youtu.be/QBVGA8LQzUo?t=7m17s

Certainly the Dúnedain would be smart enough to have some sort of fortified settlements. Certainly Bree was like that, but apparently the Hobbits couldn't be bothered with such things.

I get more of a post-Roman Britian impression.

I tend to see more of a walled villa rustica for the families of the Rangers. Such a structure also suggests links to a more civilized past. I suspect that the Dunedain had an agricultural based society--the wife and kids still had to eat, right? With the population decline in the north, these structures were likely extant and building materials could have been easily scavanged for repairs. Examples of larger villas of this type can be seen in King Arthur (2004) and King Ecbert's villa in Vikings. Obviously, I'm speaking about a smaller version of those.

I also think there were fireplaces and maybe some thermal mass type stoves. The Dunedain had a history of advanced construction techniques to call on. The weather in the north makes these more practical. I suspect that the biggest limiting factor in the sizing of older homes had to do more with heating than with available building materials.

I just don't get the Anglo-Saxon hall or the thatched wattle-and-daub cottage vibe. These were Dunedain, after all.

As far as forts go, maybe as an outpost. But that suggests more of a standing army than an elite ranger unit to me.

Harper wrote:I get more of a post-Roman Britian impression.

I tend to see more of a walled villa rustica for the families of the Rangers. Such a structure also suggests links to a more civilized past. I suspect that the Dunedain had an agricultural based society--the wife and kids still had to eat, right? With the population decline in the north, these structures were likely extant and building materials could have been easily scavanged for repairs. Examples of larger villas of this type can be seen in King Arthur (2004) and King Ecbert's villa in Vikings. Obviously, I'm speaking about a smaller version of those.

I also think there were fireplaces and maybe some thermal mass type stoves. The Dunedain had a history of advanced construction techniques to call on. The weather in the north makes these more practical. I suspect that the biggest limiting factor in the sizing of older homes had to do more with heating than with available building materials.

I just don't get the Anglo-Saxon hall or the thatched wattle-and-daub cottage vibe. These were Dunedain, after all.

As far as forts go, maybe as an outpost. But that suggests more of a standing army than an elite ranger unit to me.

In some of his writings, Tolkien stressed that Middle-earth is a post-apocalyptic world, not unlike Anglo-Saxon England, surrounded by the ruins of a much more advanced civilization. I think the desire to stay near the ruins of the old cities and reuse materials would make sense.

It's hard for me to say for certain; I don't like to pull things out of thin air (and we have Nothing to go on re: Arnor/the Dunedain's material culture/architecture)...
(Actually, my immediate response was 'WIGWAMS!' ; )
But...I definitely think that they would not have had 'Halls' like the Rohirrim or Beorn--to me that just seems to be a purely North-Mannish thing.

Hobbits don't have walls and such (excepting the High Hay around Buckland) as they are an unwarlike people...and they (unbeknownst) have the Rangers protecting them.

While 'they're Dunedain', we also have to remember that, as Straelbora has said here and previously, Eriador by the late 3A is practically post-apocalyptic.
Consider: there hasn't been a unified kingdom in 2100+years (Arnor splintered in 861), attacked by Angmar in 1409 (not sure if the war continued until Arthedain's final defeat 500+ years later); the Great Plague of 1636 leaves "many parts of Eriador...desolate", and then the Second capitol Fornost taken by Angmar 1974.
Yeah, it's been a rough Age for the Dunedain, and it seems they've pretty much gone to ground, living from the Angle 'base', while the able Rangers do their thing.

Actually, my immediate response was 'WIGWAMS!'

Ha! Third Age Realism represent!

Interesting that most of us discount the "mead hall" model.

I definitely agree that the wars and ruin following the fall of Arnor not only destroyed much of the more sophisticated constructions of the Dunedain, but also wiped out much of the knowledge to rebuild it. Dunedain or no, I think Udwin's quite right that they've "gone to ground."

That said - I think Greg's wattle-fenced farmstead and Harper's villa are not different in kind so much as degree and materials - living quarters, animal shelter, a few outbuildings and some kind of enclosure. I'd expect far more of the former than the latter dotting the Angle, but the occasional rebuilt stone-walled farm or tower seems reasonable.

Hunh.. I'm actually reminded of the early days of the American frontier, where settlers might weather light native raids in their cabins but would all retreat to a palisaded fort when things looked to get really nasty. I don't know if that speaks to construction techniques, but the pressure to evolve similar behaviors looks there.

Elleth wrote:

Actually, my immediate response was 'WIGWAMS!'

Ha! Third Age Realism represent!

Interesting that most of us discount the "mead hall" model.

I definitely agree that the wars and ruin following the fall of Arnor not only destroyed much of the more sophisticated constructions of the Dunedain, but also wiped out much of the knowledge to rebuild it. Dunedain or no, I think Udwin's quite right that they've "gone to ground."

That said - I think Greg's wattle-fenced farmstead and Harper's villa are not different in kind so much as degree and materials - living quarters, animal shelter, a few outbuildings and some kind of enclosure. I'd expect far more of the former than the latter dotting the Angle, but the occasional rebuilt stone-walled farm or tower seems reasonable.

Hunh.. I'm actually reminded of the early days of the American frontier, where settlers might weather light native raids in their cabins but would all retreat to a palisaded fort when things looked to get really nasty. I don't know if that speaks to construction techniques, but the pressure to evolve similar behaviors looks there.

I'm going to agree with you there, especially from a sort of "Lit Crit" perspective. Tolkien chose the "meadhall" of Rohan and Beorn because he was evoking the Anglo-Saxon culture which he loved. But the Rangers, I think, come from a "frontier" sensibility, whether that frontier was in colonial America, Africa, or stone-age Europe. They would have hewn their structures out of the wilderness around them, and built smart defenses against the terrors without. And, yeah, some decaying stone structures to remind them of their ancient heritage.

I totally dig the "partially rebuilt or re-used ruin" thing. Makes total sense.

HOWEVER.

If *I* were living in the angle, and came across a small numenorean ruin that I could theoretically use as a part of/for my dwelling, I most certainly would not. Anything like a ruin or old structure will always attract curiosity. If I'm going to be living in hiding as an exiled Numenorean, waiting for the appointed time and the Return of the King, the last thing I'd want to do would be paint a giant "I'm here" sign on my back by parking myself in a pile of rocks sticking out of the landscape like a sore thumb.

Interesting.

I never thought of the Dunedain as "hiding" in the Angle itself. I thought of it as their stronghold.

I still think that the families would have had to raise crops for food. There is a technique called "guerilla gardening", but that wouldn't be enough for a settlement.

I assumed that they lived there openly (like say, the Breelanders) and just didn't advertise their role as Rangers--kind of like the Ninja in the Koga and Iga regions of Japan.

I see that point. Well said.

Still, their numbers are few; Halbarad barely managed to get his hands on thirty in haste. A stronghold it may be (though we've no references to support this), but not a stronghold of many, so I still see them as hamlets dotting the area, rather than true construction. All guesses, though!

One has to remember as well that the Dunedain kept to ground so well as not to make such a presence that they'd attract the attention of Sauron. The Chieftains well knew that if any organized force came upon them from Mordor that it would have spelled the end of the Men of Westernesse, so in my mind that is why they made such a small footprint in the wreck of the North.

Ken

Always a good read!

http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/03/ ... nd-things/

Ken