LotR demographics

[redwing]

After watching the movies, reading the books, looking at maps, and asking a bunch of questions I have come across another.....

What were the demographics of middle earth? How many cities were there? I noticed that each country only has one major city and a few surrounding towns.

For example Rohan. The major city in the kingdom wasn't all that large. There were only (from my understanding) 3-4 villages surrounding it.

So I'm guessing there was a lot of empty space.

 

[Renaissance Man]

I don't purport to be an expert on the subject, but I will say that I noticed the same thing and thought it odd. Where are all the cities? In the end, I've concluded that JRRT chose to chart only those that were germaine to the War of the Ring.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

That's a good question.

I always assumed that the Rohirrim were both semi-nomadic, and much like Vikings, with smaller, often-moving settlements.

Gondor we only really see from the proximity of Minas Tirith, which is veryt close to Mordor. It seems that west of Minas Tirith the land is fairly densely populated, as is the coastline - Gondor was known as a seafaring nation. Dol Amroth was probably a pretty major city also.

For the most part, I've always assumed that the majority of settlements in Middle Earth were small towns and villages, especially the nearer to Mordor one got. A good chunk of Eriador was probably empty land, also, never having recovered from the wars with Angmar.

 

[Olive]

i always assumed that the land was mostly empty. in fact i'm pretty sure there are references to the land being mostly empty, with ruins etc being the remains of formerly great kingdoms.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

In the north, yeah. But there are some fairly direct references to Gondor's coast being the most heavily populated area in Gondor, which, by extension, would make it one of the most heavily populated areas in the free areas of Middle Earth.

 

[Mark]

In the north, yeah. But there are some fairly direct references to Gondor's coast being the most heavily populated area in Gondor, which, by extension, would make it one of the most heavily populated areas in the free areas of Middle Earth.

...unless you count the Shire in there...

(Talk about over-populated, by comparison!)

 

[Eben]

Gondor still has a few cities: Dol Amroth, Belfalas,... The south has af few, the most notable being Umbar.
Rohan is a rather 'recently' populated area: the Rohirrim are actually restetled northmen.
And the north is actully morstly depopulated. The great kingdoms in the north all fell and the Shire is somewhat the anomaly. In the west you still have Forlindon and Harlindon, the remnants of Beleriand, where the Grey havens are.
ME during LotR is actually a world in decline, pretty dim when compared to it's great history.

 

[Mark]

Gondor still has a few cities: Dol Amroth, Belfalas,... The south has af few, the most notable being Umbar.
Rohan is a rather 'recently' populated area: the Rohirrim are actually restetled northmen.
And the north is actully morstly depopulated. The great kingdoms in the north all fell and the Shire is somewhat the anomaly. In the west you still have Forlindon and Harlindon, the remnants of Beleriand, where the Grey havens are.
ME during LotR is actually a world in decline, pretty dim when compared to it's great history.

I'm unclear (it's been a long time since I browsed the Silmarillion) on how the Shire managed to remain and flourish while so much else fell and was not rebuilt. Any insights?

 

[Scribe Ineti]

I'm unclear (it's been a long time since I browsed the Silmarillion) on how the Shire managed to remain and flourish while so much else fell and was not rebuilt. Any insights?

Simple. Hobbits are short and live in and around hills. By contrast, men are (generally) tall and build big cities. An evil army wandering the land will see and attack the big men in their big cities before they see the little hobbits hiding behind the hills.

Classic case of the short inheriting Middle-Earth.

 

[Greybar]

I'm unclear (it's been a long time since I browsed the Silmarillion) on how the Shire managed to remain and flourish while so much else fell and was not rebuilt. Any insights?

Yea Geography!

Just off the top of my head, so all disclaimers apply.

Basically the wars that happened in the late Second Age and Third Age revolved around Mordor, so the Shire was neatly away from all that. The other big nastiness that wasn't in the south and east happened up and down the mountains to the northeast and far north (where the orcs/goblins/dwarves are busy killing each other). Thus the Shrine in the north-central area pretty much just wasn't tramped on. Nice key here - if you don't have something people want they won't bother to come rob you.

I don't think the northwest (Rivendell, Grey Havens) has seen much battle for the entire Third Age. Then again, Elrond Half-Elven hanging out with the "greatest of the Elven Rings", can't hurt.

Now Lothlorien is a bit more amazing. The only reason it hasn't been tromped goes something like this:
* Galadriel is the oldest elf in Middle-Earth (as far as I know), having actually *lived* in Valinor before joining with Feanor to charge back into Middle-Earth after the Simarils. Thus by general Tolkien logic, she is pretty powerful of spirit.
* She has the Ring of Adamant, which can't hurt.
* I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other elves in Lothlorien are as old as she.

John