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Posted on 12/12/2002 3:03:37 PM PST by JameRetief
The Merchants of Middle-earth
Every now and then someone asks whether money was used in Middle-earth. It's hard to find evidence of money in The Lord of the Rings but there are some references to it. When Gandalf arrived in Hobbiton with a wagon-load of fireworks for Bilbo and Frodo's last birthday party together, Hobbit children followed him to Bag End hoping for some advance goodies. But instead Bilbo gave away a few pennies and sent the children on their ways. Gaffer Gamgee also notes that Bilbo is free with "his money" while talking with friends in a local inn..
Tolkien goes on to say in "Three Is Company" that Frodo purchases a house at Crickhollow between Brandy Hall and Newbury in the Buckland. Frodo later sells Bag End to the Sackville-Baggins family, the pestering cousins who for long had hoped to inherit Bilbo's fortune and residence before Bilbo adopted Frodo.
Money comes up again when all the horses and ponies are stolen from Barliman Butterbur's stable in Bree. He pays Merry 18 silver pennies to compensate him for the loss of the Hobbit's ponies and purchases a pony from Bill Ferny for another 12 silver pennies, 3 times what the pony was worth. After this point, the Hobbits and the companions they gather are provided with supplies and transportation by the various peoples who help them, so money becomes a very transparent device for the rest of the story.
Pennies are an 8th century Anglo-Saxon coinage modelled on the contemporary but slightly older Frankish denier. Offa, King of Mercia, expanded penny production after he conquered the Kingdom of Kent, which had begun minting pennies around 765. The ancient pennies were thus unlike today's pennies. They were made of silver and were the staple coin of the Anglo-Saxon realms from the 8th century onward, much as the solidus had been the staple coin of the Roman empire centuries before. Pennies replaced an older coin, called a sceat, which was used in commerce between the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians (the Anglo-Saxons' close relatives).
Just prior to The Lord of the Rings' publication J.R.R. Tolkien was forced to condense the extensive material he had prepared for the appendices. Among the excluded passages which were only published in The Peoples of Middle-earth was a brief but fascinating section detailing the names of money used in Gondor. The tharni, we are told, was a silver coin, the fourth part of a castar. The tharni may thus have been equivalent to the silver pennies of Eriador.
The Elven equivalents for tharni and castar were canath (from kanat-, 'four') and mirian (from mir, 'a jewel or precious thing'). "The Etymologies" provides a root-word, mbakh, meaning 'exchange', from which words for 'trade', 'tradesman', and 'commerce' were derived in Qenya (the precursor to Quenya). There were also words for 'pedlar' and 'ware' in Noldorin (Sindarin).
That the ancient languages of Middle-earth acknowledged trade and commerce implies that Tolkien gave some thought to the economic activities of the early Elves and Dwarves, although he did not provide details of these activities. We don't actually know if money was used in Beleriand, for example, although Cirdan reportedly traded or gave pearls to Thingol, who in turn supplied them to the Dwarves of Ered Luin (the Firebeards and Broadbeams of Nogrod and Belegost).
The Dwarves built roads throughout Middle-earth early in its history. The Dwarves of Ered Luin built one or two roads leading to Doriath, and the road eventually extended all the way to Nargothrond (which they helped to build). Dwarven trade passed through the Dor Caranthir, and Caranthir is said to have become wealthy because of this. So he presumably charged tolls or fees of some sort in exchange for ensuring the roads remained safe. He may also have supplied the Dwarves with food, since in The Peoples of Middle-earth we are told the Dwarves did not grow their own food.
The Dwarves only helped build two cities in Beleriand of which we know (Menegroth and Nargothrond). The Noldor had their own stonemasonry to rely upon and they presumably built their towers of stone without Dwarven help. But the Dwarves and Noldor exchanged knowledge and forged goods, it seems. The potential for trade is thus consuiderable, at least in eastern Beleriand.
Beyond Beleriand the Dwarves had a road system extending at least from Ered Luin all the way to the Iron Hills and apparently beyond. The Dwarves apparently engaged in some sort of trade with Avari and Nandorin Elves as well as Edainic Men, but we don't know if money was a medium of exchange or if barter of goods and service was the primary means of commerce.
In the Second Age the Eldarin civilization spread from Lindon (the last remnant of Beleriand) eastward and south to Eregion and Edhellond. Edhellond was just a small settlement, an enclave of Sindarin and Nandorin Elves who apparently wished to remain isolated from Gil-galad's Noldor-dominated realm in the north. Eregion was considered a Noldorin realm but its population included at least some Sindarin and/or Nandorin Elves. Eregion also engaged in some sort of trade with Khazad-dum, which trade was so productive the Dwarves tunneled for miles through the Misty Mountains in order to provde the Elves with a gate to their underground realm. Prior to that time Dwarves had to pass over the mountains, either by the Redhorn Gate (which gave them access to Eregion) or by going north to the High Pass where the ancient road crossed into Eriador passing near the valley where Elrond later founded the refuge of Imladris.
Although there seems to have been virtually little or no trade between Beleriand and the eastern lands in the First Age, the Second Age realized a sort of boom in Eriador and Wilderland. Two east-bound migrations occurred early in the Second Age which brought Khazad-dum into closer contact with Beleriandic civilization. The first migration was the large exodus of Dwarves from the Ered Luin in the 1st century. The ancient cities of Nogrod and Belegost had been ruined in the War of Wrath. The Belegostian Dwarves also appear to have been greatly disturbed by the war between Doriath and Nogrod. Hence, most of them departed and went to Khazad-dum, where they enlarged the population and infused Durin's Folk with much of the knowledge they had gained from the Noldor and Sindar.
The second migration was that of the Elves when many Noldor and Sindar passed eastward. Some of the Sindar passed over the mountains and organized kingdoms among the Silvan Elves in the Vales of Anduin (at least two, but possibly more than two). Those Elves who founded Eregion created a center of commerce which drew even the Numenoreans to establish some sort of port or colony at nearby Tharbad on the Gwathlo river. Although we cannot know for sure how extensive Eregion's influence was, the realm was in a position to trade with the Men of Eriador, the Elves of Lindon and the Vales of Anduin, the Dwarves of Ered Luin and the Misty Mountains, and Numenor.
All that came to an end, however, in the War of the Elves and Sauron. Eriador and Wilderland were overrun and many of their peoples were slain or driven off. The great Elven civilization was not destroyed but it was virtually driven back to the sea, save for a few enclaves which survived in valleys and the deep woods. The war created an economic and political void which the Numenoreans subsequently fulfilled, displacing the older Elven culture to such an extent that by the end of the age Adunaic, the native language of Numenor, had given rise to Westron, which replaced Sindarin as the common tongue of northwestern Middle-earth's peoples.
The Numenoreans established colonies throughout Middle-earth and they appear to have settled widely in Eriador as well as along the southern shores of the Anduin. The two great Numenorean cities of the northern world were Lond Daer Ened at the mouth of the Gwathlo and Pelargir at the mouth of the Anduin. But again Tolkien tells us nothing of the commerce the Numenoreans must have conducted in these regions. Lond Daer Ened was originally founded as a seasonal port by Aldarion in the 8th and 9th centuries. He used it as a base for harvesting trees with which to build ships and he doesn't seem to have compensated the native people (the Gwathuirim, distant kinsmen of the Numenoreans) in any way.
Pelargir's name implies it was a royal port and fortress, 'royal garth of ships'. As such it may have served as a base of operations for the Numenoreans in their later wars with Sauron, but they never mounted a great expedition against Mordor from there. Instead, it seems to have served to have protected the colonists living along the Anduin's shores, and the Pelargirian ships may have been more involved in scouring the coastlands where the Gwathuirim lived.
Numenor's vast empire seems to have developed a trade which benefitted the motherland, much as England's colonial empire benefitted the motherland in the 17th and 18th centuries. Wealth flowed mostly into Numenor rather than between Numenor and its colonies. The colonies thus provided raw materials, slaves, and tributes to the Numenoreans, except where occasional Numenorean adventurers probably established small kingdoms.
So commerce in northwestern Middle-earth probably was close to non-existent from the time of the War of the Elves and Sauron to the time of the founding of Arnor and Gondor. The arrival of Elendil and the Exiled Faithful from Numenor would have been preceded by a gradual buildup of Faithful colonists in the preceding centuries who depended less and less on help from Numenor and more on help from the Elves and Dwarves. Trade and commerce should have revived somewhat, especially after Ar-Pharazon took Sauron to Numenor and reduced the Dark Lord's influence in Middle-earth sufficiently to allow Gil-galad to extend his own influence as far eastward as the Vales of Anduin.
Elendil thus found a large productive population waiting for him and his sons in Eriador and the southern Vales of Anduin. These peoples, Numenoreans, Edain, and men of mixed heritage, set to work building great cities (Annuminas and Fornost Erain in the north, Minas Anor, Minas Ithil, and Osgiliath in the south), imposing fortresses (Angrenost and Aglarond in Calenardhon), and rich and powerful kingdoms. In the early years Arnor and Gondor communicated mostly by ship (not considering messages passed through the Palantiri). Ships left Pelargir or Osgiliath and sailed north to the Gwathlo river, where they passed upstream to Tharbad (Lond Daer Ened was apparently by now destroyed or long since abandoned).
Both kingdoms had extensive farmlands with which to feed their populations, but if Arnor took on the burden of feeding the Dwarves of the Misty Mountains Gondor may have found some benefit in sending food north as well. Of course, trade would also include luxury items such as furs, jewels, precious metals, wines, and special cloths, dyes, and perfumes (to name just a few). A monied economy had probably existed prior to the founding of the Dunadan realms-in-exile, but most certainly one would have arisen or expanded after their establishment.
The great wealth which the Exiles accumulated in their first 110 years helps explain how Elendil and his sons could raise such a great army. Armies must be paid, equipped, and supplied, and only a strong economy could have supported the immense forces Elendil and his allies assembled for the 10-12 years of war they experienced (the martialling of forces began two years after Sauron attacked Gondor).
In the late Second Age Arnor and Gondor were probably cut off from the rest of Numenorean Middle-earth. The southern lands were possessed by the Kings Men, who became the Black Numenoreans, supporters or Sauron and traditional enemies of the Faithful. Gondor would thus have been a more junior partner in the economic relationships between the Faithful Dunedain and their allies. But after Sauron was defeated and Isildur was lost in the Vales of Anduin Gondor drifted away from Arnor's sphere of influence. As Arnor declined in population, wealth, and power, Gondor extended its boundaries north, east, and south, coming into contact with peoples who had lain outside Gil-galad's influence.
The shift away from Arnor in Gondor's policies must have hurt the economy of the northern kingdom. With the decline of Lindon as a major power Arnor had only the Dwarves left with whom to trade, and Tolkien doesn't tell us anything about their relationships in the Third Age. The influx of Hobbit peoples early in the second millenium undoubtedly brought new wealth to the kingdoms of Rhudaur and Cardolan, but they could not restore the northern Dunedain to their former power.
The situation in Eriador must have been very confusing for several centuries. With three Dunadan kingdoms there were probably three coinages. Did the Elves and Dwarves also mint their own coins? Disparities in resources and the constant bickering and feuding between the Dunadan realms would have further weakened the northern economy. Dwarven merchants probably passed with impunity through Eriador. Elves were also probably not harassed. But Cirdan's people and the remnant of Gil-galad's kingdom were dwindling. Prospects for trade would have been limited. The Dwarves still needed food, the Dunedain still needed ores and perhaps stone for construction.
The rise of the realm of Angmar in the north would actually have helped to stabilize the situation among the Dunedain in some ways. Rhudaur was soon destroyed and Cardolan so weakened it became virtually reintegrated into the kingdom of Arnor (Arthedain). Arthedain's influence thus increased with the intervention from Lindon and Rivendell (Elrond even enlisted aid from Lothlorien in the wars against Angmar). A single Dunadan coinage would thus have been restored to the north and it's doubtful that Eriador ever again experienced a diverse coinage. Hence, the pennies that Bilbo and Butterbur gave out were probably equivalent in value and form.
From 1409 onward Eriador's economy would have been dominated by three regions: Fornost Erain in the southern end of the North Downs, Bree at the crossroads of the great highways, and Tharbad at the crossing of the Gwathlo river. Tharbad was in serious decline, for though it had originally been a fotress and trading center for the Dunedain Gondor's economic and political interests in the north were by this time declining, and the last Gondorian garrison was pulled out of Tharbad after the Great Plague of 1636.
The great influx of Stoors to Dunland around 1300 which would have benefitted Tharbad economically was offset by the demise of the Stoorish population in the Great Plague. The only Stoors wh survived west of the Misty Mountains from that time onward were those who had recenty migrated to the newly founded Shire beyond the Baranduin river. The Plague also wiped out most of Cardolan's people and organized settlement effectively came to an end between Tharbad and Bree. Tharbad was thus isolated from the rest of Eriador and its population probably never fully recovered from the effects of the Great Plague.
Arnor survived another 338 years but its population declined. The Shire, Bree, Fornost Erain, and Tharbad were the only productive regions left. Fornost and the Shire were both overrun in the final invasion launched by Angmar. The Shire was resettled but Fornost was finally deserted by the Dunedain who probably retreated to the deep hills of the North Downs.
For the rest of the Third Age Eriador's economic activity limped along. A few travellers passed through Bree and the Shire but there was no longer a foundation to support significant commerce. The Shire apparently continued to supply food to the Dwarves of Ered Luin, whose numbers swelled after Khazad-dum's civilization was destroyed by the Balrog in 1980-1. Bree remained an important stopping point in any journey across Eriador but it was no longer vital to the needs of the north kingdom. So the question of who minted the money arises?
Probably the Dwarves of Ered Luin provided the money for Eriador. They would have needed it to pay for the food they purchased from the Shire and it would have benefitted Bree to honor the currency as well. If the Elves of Lindon and Imladris made use of money (or whatever Wandering Companies might have been left) then it would make sense for them to use a Dwarven currency as well.
The Shire expanded a little in the 24th century of the Third Age when the Oldbucks founded the Buckland, "a virtually small independent country" as Tolkien describes it. It's not clear why Gorhendad Oldbuck felt the need to found a new land beyond the Baranduin river, but it's conceivable that the influence and authority of the Thain was by this time declining. When it became clear the Dunedain would not re-establish the northern kingdom, the chieftains of the Shire Hobbits elected Bucca of the Marish to be their Thain, essentially to be a local king. But the Thainship though hereditary had little power by the end of the Third Age.
So Gorhendad may have desired to establish a land where he would have greater authority than in the Shire. The effect of his colonization, however, was to rejuvenate activity between the Shire Hobbits and the Bree Hobbits. The Bucklanders traded with both the Shire and Bree.
330 years later Tobold Hornblower revolutioned the economics in the Southfarthing by planting Pipe-weed. Although the Bree-landers were the first to smoke Pipe-weed the Southfarthing eventually became the primary source for this luxury item and its reputation extended to Isengard and probably beyond. Dwarves took up the habit of smoking from the Hobbits, and they may have purchased supplies to ship to relatives in distant lands.
It is thus evident that the Shire established a small but thriving trading economy with Bree, the Buckland, the Dwarves of Ered Luin, and probably also Tharbad and Dunland. Trade with the south probably dropped off after Tharbad was deserted in the 30th century, but Saruman seems to have developed a strong connection with the Sackville-Bagginses from around the year 3000 onward.
Bree's influence declined steadily throughout the later Third Age, but it seems the Dunedain of Eriador used Bree as a center of operations. They could purchase supplies there and gather news as well as organize their Ranger activities which seem to have focused on protecting Bree, the Shire and Buckland, and their own homelands, where those lay. In "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" Tolkien writes that the Rangers lived east of Bree, and Barliman's mention to Frodo of a saying in Bree, "there's no accounting for East and West, ... meaning the Rangers and the Shire-folk", implies the Breelanders were pretty sure the Rangers lived in the eastern lands.
Aragorn mentions the Forsaken Inn a day's journey east of Bree, implying this is the last sign of civilization in Eriador between Breeland and Imladris. If that is the case, then it seems unlikely the Dunedain of Eriador actually lived directly east of Bree. There wasn't much there except for the Weather Hills beyond the midgewater marshes, and Aragorn told the Hobbits that no one lived in the Weather Hills. On the other hand he ventured south of Weathertop to find Athelas near an old place where his people had once camped or lived, so it's conceivable the Dunedain lived in the North Downs and/or the South Downs (probably resettling every now and then to avoid detection by Sauron's spies).
The Dunedain are not much of an economic power at the end of the Third Age, but their occasional traffic combined with Dwarves passing on the road would have helped to keep Bree's inn, the Prancing Pony, in business. But it seems clear that traffic was insufficient by itself. Barliman seems to have served as the hostler for the village of Bree, since many of the local horses and ponies were kept in his stable.
Commerce did exist elsewhere in the northern world. The Northmen of Laketown traded with the Elves of northern Mirkwood and some unnamed Northmen living farther south on the Celduin. The mysterious land of Dorwinion on the northwestern shores of the Inland Sea of Rhun provided these peoples with a potent wine. The re-establishment of Dale and Erebor in the 30th century strengthened the regional economy considerably, but it was still a largely isolated region. Bilbo's special orders for gifts from Dale and Erebor were most likely made for sentimental reasons rather than as a matter of custom. In The Hobbit it seems Bilbo had never heard of Dale and Erebor before Thorin told him the story of how Smaug destroyed the two kingdoms.
Despite all these visions of trade and commerce passing along the roads of Middle-earth, there was a limit to the economy of Tolkien's storied world. The Shire developed some sort of government but it apparently lacked the wealth to maintain a large bureacracy. Such officials as the Shire had answered to the Mayor of Michel Delving, and he oversaw the Messenger Service and the Watch (which consisted of the Shirriffs and the Bounders).
Tolkien writes in the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings "the Shire at this time had hardly any 'government'. Families for the most part mamanged their own affairs. Growing food and eating it occupied
most of their time. In other matters hey were, as a rule, generous and not greedy, but contented and moderate, so that estates, farms, workshops, and small trades tended to remain unchanged for generations."
Although the Messenger Service employed more Hobbits than the Watch, when Bilbo's invitations and orders for the Party flooded the Hobbiton and Bywater post offices, "voluntary assistant postmen were called for". The fact volunteers were needed implies there was no budget for hiring extra (even if only temporary) workers, and whatever revenues were generated by the mail were insufficient to provide additional salaries.
Lotho Sackville-Baggins' secretive trade with Isengard also seems to imply there were no export fees. It's not clear how the Shire paid for the twelve Shirriffs, much less the greater number of Bounders and the Messenger Service. Some sort of fees or tithes must have gone to provide for their upkeep, but they could not have been significant. Without a large revenue base, the Shire "government" therefore was not much of an economic factor even within the Shire itself. Thus most of the money was probably concentrated in the hands of the various powerful families such as the Tooks, Brandybucks, Bagginses, etc. who looked after their own affairs.
The presence of inns and taverns throughout the Shire implies a fair amount of social activity and travelling. These local watering holes probably served as the centers of their communities' social lives and probably were located close to whatever markets were set up in the villages. It's doubtful there were many powerful tycoons like Lotho Sackville-Baggins, who bought up many farms and plantations in Southfarthing. His undertakings were at least partially financed by Saruman.
As usual, I've only been able to touch upon these matters, but I think it's evident that Tolkien devoted a considerable amount of thought to money and economics in Middle-earth, although it would be impossible to fully document the trading activities of the various peoples. The scale of trade was probably always small, except in the supply of foodstuffs for great armies or the Dwarven nations. Tolkien probably did not envision a massive economy but he seems to have been aware that ancient traders wandered across Europe for thousands of years and in constructing Middle-earth he allowed for a broad and usually stable economy.
Author: Michael Martinez
Published on: November 5, 1999
Michael Martinez is the author of Visualizing Middle-earth
Your Daily Tolkien Ping! Coming from many sources, these articles cover many aspects of Tolkien and his literary works. If anyone would like for me to ping them directly when I post articles such as this let me know. Enjoy!
11) He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water by Michael Martinez
12) All About Sam by Quickbeam
13) Count, count, weigh, divide by Michael Martinez
14) Real orcs don't do windowsby Michael Martinez
15) Olog-hai Fidelity by Mister Underhill
16) Middle-earth Connections: Lore of the Ringsby Michael Martinez
17) Pasta la feasta, baby by Michael Martinez
18) Why Lord of the Rings Is Not Even One Novel, Much Less Three by Anwyn
19) Of thegns and kings and rangers and things by Michael Martinez
20) Dragons in the Writings of J.R.R.Tolkien by Gene Hargrove
21) The Merchants of Middle-earth by Michael Martinez
 Ring Ping!! |
"You cannot pass!"
With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. His staff broke asunder. The bridge cracked, and broke right at the Balrog's feet. With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished.
Even as the Balrog fell, it swung its whip, and the thong curled about the wizard's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell to the stone, and slid into the abyss. "Fly you fools!" he cried, and was gone.
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