Northmen

So, there are three main groups of humans in Middle Earth. The first are those loyal to Mordor - The Corsairs, Southrons and Easterlings. Then there are the Numenorians. They went west in the days when the Valar were more active in Middle Earth. Thus became the most noble of the humans and founded Gondor. The Northmen were the sort of middle ground. Less advanced and with shorter life spans, but inherently more noble than the ethnic groups loyal to Mordor. The Northmen lived in the territory between the grey Mountains, the Misty Mountains, the northern boundary of Rohan and the western boundary of Easterling territory. This territory was caught between a series of enemies. First, the Wainriders conquered and enslaved a large portion of the area before Gondor defeated them. Then Angmar from the west caused damage as well. But the Great Plague was a major problem as well - up to 50% of the people here died. The result is a thinly populated region. Still, they were important figures in defending against Sauron's influence. They organized partisan bands that used hit and run attacks against Wainrider forces occupying the area. They struck fortified camps, wagons, storehouses and houses. When Gondor was too weak to provide aid, they still struggled on, even if little more than desperate and poorly equipped/trained outlaws. This kept the Easterlings at bay during critical periods. Later, more traditional soldiers helped finally crush the Witch King of Angmar. Many different groups fall under this banner. The men of Bree, Lake-town and Dale all were all Northmen. The most famous is the Eotheod. Fram, the guy famous for killing the dragon, was part of this ethnic group. They lived in the far north for a long time, displacing the remnants of Angmar and incorporating many refugees. It went on to save Gondor in an important battle. They were given the lands of Rohan to settle as a result. But these "Middle Men" suffered from discrimination even with their loyalty and friendship to Gondor. One king made many Northmen officers in his army, but the Gondorian officer corps did not like this. His son married a woman from the north and their son became the heir to the throne. Rather than accept this mixed person as king, the disastrous civil war known as the Kin-Strife broke out. From here, the Corsairs became a threat. The continued mixing is blamed for Gondor's decline ever since. Now, we can assume that their loss of wealth, population and central political organization, big settlements are not likely. Literally, Lake-town is the largest between Dale's destruction and its reestablishment. This means that the average population center would be isolated and probably no more than 200 people. They would probably be built on hills and near rivers for trade purposes.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The Northmen who founded Dale and Lake-town spoke an older version of Westron. This was the parent language for what the Eotheod spoke. They also had the ability to understand songbirds. This is how Bard the Bowman was able to understand the thrush and thus learn Smaug's weakness.

Culture and cultural heritage

While this is not explicitly confirmed, we can assume that the culture of the Northmen were heavily influenced by the dwarves. First, many of the Northmen settled in the areas between the Iron Hills and the Lonely Mountain. Their economic activities created many links on top of mere proximity. Apparently the Northmen looked up to and were eager to learn from the dwarves. Due to the abundance of wood and wood related trades the Northmen relied on (palisades, bows, boats), we can assume that they are master woodworkers. This is probably one of the stronger Elven areas of cultural influence. So, ale is typically a northern European drink. However, the northern shores of the Sea of Rhun is a major wine exporting region. The major importer of this wine is Mirkwood. The distance is over 500 miles. The major river that is the trade link starts in the Iron Hills and Lonely Mountain and feeds into the Long Lake. The Forest River also comes out of the Long Lake - which is the river running to Mirkwood. So, I would suspect that relative to other cultures in the area, wine would be the preferred drink. Due to the cultural and economic links, I suspect they would be the most cosmopolitan of the cultures of Middle Earth. The long ago destruction of their established states, elven influences and experiences with foreign occupation and slavery would all explain how Lake-town became a republic. I would also imagine that the same influences would mean the people would prize a sort of rugged individualism and distrust of governments. More so than any other culture, they would probably be the most well armed with bows and short swords. These would be primarily for hunting but prized for self defense. Part of their frontier lifestyle would be higher rates of horse and boat ownership. Small plots of land would be owned - such ownership would be prized as well out of values of self reliance and hard work. So a lot of the lands around Lake-town and Dale would probably be owned by these isolated family smallholders. Hunting and fishing would be more important cultural elements as well. We actually see this in the Hobbit. The Woodsmen formed a subgroup of the Northmen. Operating out of Mirkwood and the rivers in the area, they made their living in stereotypical frontier occupations. Hunters, trappers, fishermen, loggers and so forth.

Average technological level

The Northmen are likely to be technologically connected to the dwarves, for many the same reasons that their culture was influenced by them. As stated elsewhere, the Northmen were eager to learn from the Dwarves. Then one cannot ignore the fact that much of the Northmen's manufactured goods were imported from the dwarves. Building, mining and making tools and weapons were all industries in the area provided by the dwarves in exchange for Northmen grown food. This would have a clear impact on the technology of the Northmen. Prior to the advent of this close relationship, the Northmen were skilled with making bows. This was actually their primary weapon before metal weapons imported from the dwarves. The dwarves also prized the Northmen/s abilities to tame horses. So, we can assume that items related to horses would be more developed by the Northmen - such as saddles and lances. But when the horse lords moved south to found Rohan, I suspect that these skills would have moved with them. Remaining however, would be the boat makers and bowmen.

Art & Architecture

The art and architecture is the most clear example of where the Northmen would differ culturally from the dwarves. Dwarves live exclusively underground - while the Northmen all live above ground (or water). This demands fundamentally different construction methods. Nor would the elves provide a clear and direct inspiration either. Northmen build directly on the ground instead of up in the trees. We can see from the movies that Russian, Baltic, Turkish and Finnish styles are used in Lake-town. I would imagine that these would extend to all other Northmen construction. This would allow for the dwarven influence, who appear more inspired by northern eurpeans than other Middle Earth cultures, but with above ground contruction. Then, the heavily wooded terrain of a lot of these regions would allow for more direct elven influences to manifest. Construction and art, as stated in the Lake-town and Dale sections, were inspired by Northern/Eastern European cultures. But a lot of the naming and languages of the Northmen were derived from Old Norse and Old English. So we can also assume some inspiration from them as well in other areas. Thus, epic poetry in the style of Beowolf, possibly also tapestries would also be key parts of the artistic legacy. Prior to the close cooperation of the Dwarves and Northmen, the northmen relied on dikes and palisades to defend their towns.

Encompassed species