-Of the ruin of Edhelion-
Above the Silver Deep mine are the ruins of an ancient elven haven, east of King Thorin's Halls, at Thorin's gate; it is Edhelion, and Talagan was its Lord.
Edhelion was founded countless years ago by the Elves of Lindon, Laiquendi and also Noldor Elves. It produced wines of great taste and delight, and supplied the Grey Havens with good timber for shipbuilding. Now Edhelion lies in ruin, for very pathetic events were to take place on that side of the valley.
It is said that dwarves are a sturdy folk, and indeed they are. Sturdy in combat and in the toils of labour, but also facing the corrupting temptations of the Enemy. And so they were made, but the dwarves have suffered countless wars and misfortunes, and many of their mansions beneath the mountains crumble into forgetfulness. The people of King Skorgrím Dourhand lost their home, and their people soon dwindled in numbers and craftmanship; and in this condition, poverty and envy bred in them lies, deceit and evil; and of all, Skorgrím was the first to be perverted.
More than six hundred years ago, he heard that in Edhelion the elves held great knowledge: It was so, but all the lore of the elves in the world would not suffice to give the king of the Dourhands that which he longed for. Skorgrím thought that by acceding to the wisdom of the elves he could attain, like them, immortality; he was unaware that they could not help him, for they knew as much of their Gift as men knew of theirs, and nothing could work upon it. Only in very few exceptions has eternal life been granted to a mortal, but the dourhand warlord was drowning himself in envy. His anger and ignorance were immense, and dragging his people -who did not resist him- behind himself, he made Edhelion the victim of his attack, and the peace of the Elves was violated.
Skorgrím drove the family of the dourhands and many of the enemy's servants -goblins, orcs and trolls- through the mountain narrows, and began to batter down the gates that held them back. Many guiltless elves were slain that day, victims of foul iron, and most of the halls and buildings were shattered. At last, Skorgrím Dourhand arrived in front of the library, where Talagan, the Lord of Edhelion, awaited him. He went to confront him there, and Talagan fought alone because the bridge had fallen and there was no way to reach him. He broke down the roof of the library and the building collapsed on them both, burying them lifelessly.
Edhelion had been destroyed, and the grieving was long. Those who survived suffered in their own flesh the agony of the haven, for their attachment to the world is greater than that of mortals, because they live in it for so long.
Many years they wept for the ruin of Edhelion in exile, in Duillond or Falathorn or further afield; and all who heard their weeping were moved to pity, but nothing or little was done against the dourhands, to prevent further suffering. They could not fight both the dourhands and the goblins.
The Mean Clan, some called it, wretched and treacherous among the Dwarves, had lost their king. Without him, many remained in the valley of Thrain and in what would later be called Thorin's Gates.
All this was some six hundred years before the departure - and death - of Thorin Oakenshield; of their relationship with the Elves and the forces of the Enemy for so many years we know very little, though it is most likely that they isolated themselves from the world and lived renegaded in the valley.
As is well known, the Son of Thrain invested Gromr Doursmith as steward in his Halls, and after the death of Smaug, many longbeards left the Blue Mountains and moved to Erebor. The power of the Mean Clan grew greatly, and so did their arrogance: Gromr perpetuated the curse of his kin and turned to the sorcery of Angmar, this time to resurrect Skorkgrím. He went down fighting, for his dealings with Evil were discovered by Dwalin's company; but the possessed body of the former King of the Dourhands and the Gaunt-Lord escaped, and many Dourhands followed them. War was waged between the longbeards and the dourhands, and the Mean Ones were defeated, and fortified where they could: in the port of Kheledûl, and more recently, in the forgotten stronghold of Sarnúr. But they were not destroyed, and the war against the Dourhands continued.
The Longbeards of Thorin's Hall have had a relatively quiet existence since the expulsion of the Dourhands. However, the recent discovery of the Dourhand's ancient city, renamed anew Sarnúr, has caused many of the Longbeards concern. With the blood-price set against the Dourhands not yet repaid, the Longbeards of Thorin's Hall are loathe to let the Dourhands begin construction of a fortified stronghold so near to their city.
>Of the siege of Gondamon, mighty battle that strengthened the friendship between dwarves and elves.
>The library of Edhelion before the fall.
>The library of Edhelion collapsed.
>Sarnúr, stronghold of the dourhand clan.
