The White Council

Re: Wanderers?

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : It is the maximum size of settlement I was emphasising. Bree : : is prominent on the maps and it had around 100 houses (not : : including smials) so I would guess that the largest Dunedain : : settlements would be considerably smaller; perhaps in the 20-30 : : house number range with around 100 inhabitants.

: This is not an unreasonable guess, but Bree was not trying to remain hidden. Its past economy had depended on the traffic along the highways. The Dunedain wanted to be left alone after the fall of Arnor, so presumably any settlements they made were not on the map because they were either not permanent (in the centuries-long scheme of the age) or because they were hidden, or both.

: For my part, I would not imagine 100 families living together if the communities actually had to move every now and then. So many people should leave a trail and probably be noticed, unless they had closed off huge sections of lands for themselves. But then, if they were living in the North Downs, South Downs, or Hills of Evendim, they would have been able to wander from valley to valley without many people around to notice their movements.

I think the extent of concealment, and permanence, of Dunadan settlements probably varied considerably. In the east and northeast of Eriador places like Faramir's hidden base in Ithillien were no doubt the norm. Though in areas bordering Lindon or the area around Evendim, where little would have threatened their settlements, they may have been merely unobtrusive. In these areas who would they have been hiding from? Only sparse groups of elves and dwarves would have been likely to stumble on a Dunedain settlement and neither of these folk would have been any threat.

No doubt the immediate environs of the less hidden settlements would have been farmed and therefore quite obvious. However, if the Dunedain used pack-animals for transport then the paths they used between settlements would resemble deer or boar trails, and would not draw attention to the fact that the area was inhabited. Certainly the areas less frequented by travellers would have been favoured by the Dunedain to settle in.