#easterlings

For @tolkienofcolourweek

Greetings, old friend!

Here comes the darkness again.

I name you friend, darkness;

show your kinder face to us, I pray you.

Veil our tracks to others,

but do not conceal our enemies!

Cool our heated brows,

but do not freeze our marrow!

Let us rest tonight in peace

To love one such as he, is to be slowly poisoned.

A tale from the First Age, of the Easterlings who served the Feanorians and refused to betray them to Morgoth.

A tale of how Bór the Faithful, his family and people ended up in Beleriand, and their relationship with the Noldor.

@tolkienrsb

Looking forwards to see what story that my art, nr 31 in the gallery for Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2025, have given inspiration for @luthnethril

@tolkienfashionweek day nine | off the map | dragon-hunters of the sunlands

Of all Morgoth’s twisted creations, dragons are perhaps the most formidable. After their Master’s defeat in the War of Wrath, most were destroyed, but enough fled the destruction of Beleriand that a small population established themselves in the Northern Wastes and multiplied to harass the Free-peoples of Middle-earth in later Ages, often (though not always) at the bidding of Sauron the Terrible. Yet there were other dragons, manipulated by other evil spirits in other realms. The Were-worms of the Last Desert burrowed beneath the sands of the East and South; in the far north-eastern regions, some smaller dragons were even domesticated into wily, dangerous pets; and in the Lands of the Sun, East of East and past the Sea of Rhûn, Túvon the Serpent-Lord bred his dragon-servants for his own dark purposes. Though these were weaker and smaller than the most formidable dragons of the First Age, and never so destructive as those under Sauron’s dominion, the dragons of Túvon’s lairs were nevertheless vicious and cruel, and much more numerous. When his conquered peoples among the Sun-dwarves and East-men threatened to rebel, Túvon would unleash his creatures upon them to render them weak and desperate. But his will was not so strong as Sauron’s, and many of his dragons would escape his dungeons and fly free, wreaking havoc of their own designs. Thus dragon-hunting became a respected profession among the Sûhalar Axe-Men and their neighbors among the Blacklock and Stonefoot dwarves, and also the reclusive Kindi elves who dwelt high in the mountains of the Walls of the Sun. Though Men were always best at dragon-slaying, hunters of all those kindreds claimed victory over these wild beasts, and brought back the spoils of their kills. Dragon-meat is, of course, highly poisonous and inedible even for the hardy dwarven-folk, and the carcass of a dragon must therefore be burned and the ground beneath it purified, lest nothing ever grow there again. But the teeth and claws and most of all the scales are valuable, and can be crafted into fearsome weapons and fireproof armor. Still, these resources are scarce, and dragon scales are rarely numerous enough to make up a full body’s worth of armor, leading to many partial or ceremonial dragonscale outfits and embellishments, only somewhat useful in actual battle and more a symbol of the wearer’s status. The Sun-dwarves especially are fond of dragonscale armor; the Sûhalar prefer to wear dragon-like imagery in their jewelry. The Kindi, while they use dragonscale mail and dragontooth daggers, treat such necessities as a grim reminder of Arda Marred, and only their fiercest warriors who have pledged themselves to dragon-hunting are permitted to wield such evil tools. These dragonslayers are kept apart, lest they corrupt the souls of their kindred, and if one should retire and wish to rejoin the Kindi community, they must endure a decade-long purification ritual to cleanse themselves of the Shadow’s influence.