Northmen Villages

So, beyond the normal residents from the region one would expect, I would also be willing to bet that a higher than normal percent of the residents of Rhovanion would be immigrants from other areas. Mainly from the nations east of the Misty Mountains and north of the White Mountains. This means Gondor, Rohan, Rhun, Mirkwood, Lothlorien, The Lonely Mountain and Moria. But probably little from Umbar or Harad.   Now, when immigrants move to an area, they tend to start families. So the immigrant community becomes larger over time than the people who moved initially. The following numbers will be based on this assumed population growth on top of the immigrants themselves.   Getting exact numbers would be incredibly prone to errors and thus we need to take these as guesses and estimates rather than actual hard numbers. But those can still prove useful. Due to the hyper class societies I suspect that the dwarf kingdoms to be, the lower classes would be highly prone to leaving. But the recent reestablishment of Moria would mean that there would be more work and opportunities there. I would guess that fewer dwarves would need to leave Moria seeking opportunities. So, I suspect that the size of the dwarven community within Rhovanion would probably be between 10% and 15% of the populations of the Lonely Mountain and Moria.   The elven domains appear to be much more stable and rich. Not to mention the impacts of their immortality leading to much closer bonds and social capital. But there would always be a few that feel that there fortunes would be better served elsewhere. Not to mention the merchant class that would naturally have a more long term presence outside their homelands. My guess is that the elven population of Rhovanion would be about 1% of Rivendell and Mirkwood.   Gondor's greater distance would lower the immigrant numbers coming to Rhovanion. But it also has the most reasons for people to flee. Its government is in decline. Attacks from Mordor, Southrons and Corsairs mean increased risk of death, dislocation and slavery. Poverty and recurring famine would make the society precarious economically. Feudal societies are also fond of granting monopolies to cronies and prioritizing political power and social privilege over economic growth. Those who are cut out of this power structure (such as the middle classes and noble second sons) would move out to seek wealth elsewhere. I would suspect that at most the Gondorian immigrant community would be 5% the total of the remaining population of Gondor.   Lastly, the Easterlings would represent a major exile community. Probably roughly 15% to 20% the size of the helot population. Naturally, this population would want to leave - after all they are effectively slaves in one of Middle Earth's more brutal societies. Nor is there any effective geographic barrier to fleeing.

Based on what we see in Lake-town and Dale, villages would be a likely blend of full blown republics and constitutional monarchies. Local lords might be formally in charge, but local councils of elders, guild jurors, masters or elected representatives would probably hold real power.

Ideally, the motte would be as tall as possible and the ditch as wide and deep as possible. The motte does not need to be natural. In fact, it often was artificial. There are cases of quite impressive mounds made with purely human power. But I would imagine that many villages would choose to locate themselves in areas where there is a solid hill already in the area to serve as the foundation. These mottes were anywhere between 10 feet to 100 feet tall, and between 98 to 295 feet in diameter. Most (69%) appear to be less than 16 feet tall. A palisade was commonly added to the top of the motte as well to protect the keep.   Some had two mottes. It is possible to use this two motte system to add layers of defense. A smaller one could be built with a gatehouse on it, accessed by either a bridge or stairs - but a bridge ideally. The other should be larger and hold the keep. This second one should be only connected to the smaller motte and only by bridge. The idea is that this would channel attackers and provide a means to totally cut off the main attack route. But naturally this would be uncommon due to the costs of it.   Mottes, depending on size, could take between 1,000 and 24,000 man hours of labor to make. So, like all these variations, the specifics of the village construction would be based on local geography, needs and resources. Smaller, less impressive designs could be built in a matter of days. More common though was the casltes whose construction is estimated to have taken 4-9 months to build. It is suggested that earlier sites were built using the smaller, quicker to build versions. Once survival was assurred, the villagers could then work on converting the defenses to more impressive designs. I would expect the Northmen to follow this same idea.   The palisades were, as one would be able to assume, were made with hewn logs. Towers would be added as resources allow. Often the dirt dug out to make the ditch would be piled on the inside to make a rampart. The palisade would then be placed on top of this. Stones used to reinforce the foundations and wall walks were added in larger, grander motte and bailey castles. Animal skins were used to help protect the wood from being set on fire during attacks. This palisade would protect the bailey, which included most of the castle outside the keep.   Some had an inner and outer bailey. Others had several bailies forming sections flanking the central motte. The ditch was as often as possible connected to local streams to form water filled moats or artificial lakes for water based defenses. The bailey was connected to the motte with a bridge, but steps were popular in England. More clay in the soil allowed for steeper and thus more defensible mottes. Chalk and sand based soil require more gentle slope. Gravel and turf could be added to stabilize the sandier soils to allow for a more ideal slope. But naturally this was limited based on local resources. When available, stone and wood were used to prevent the constant threat of erosion.   I suspect that there would be one majot change to the Motte-and-bailey design for the Northmen. The keep would be replaced with a more traditional blockhouse design. This I suspect would be done because Keeps, from my understanding, are essentially grand private residences for the lord and their family, not the wider village population.   I will be using the design for Fort King George's blockhouse as a basis here. Mainly due to the fact it was the right size and function for what I envision here. Theoretically the garrison was as much as 300, but appears to have been closer to 100-150 - the sort of range I suspect for the northmen villages. Therefore a design based on this would allow the entire village to take shelter in the blockhouse. The garrison was also an "invalid" formation, which means Ft. King George's defenses were designed for troops not considered the most fit. This would mirror the wide range of troop quality one would expect out of a small village militia.   The fort itself was earthworks and a wood palisade for its outer defenses. It, like the sort of villages we are talking about here, was made with the local dirt and native woods. This construction and its archetectural style were very popular in frontiers due to the lack of resources the British Empire had to invest in its own extremities. This contruction allowed for the garrison to quickly and easily repair damage without having to wait for resupply from a government that might not be able to send it. Also like the Northmen, King George and similar forts were not meant nor likely to experience powerful enemy attacks.   The blockhouse here is three strories. The bottom was the storage area, prison and work area. The work areas and storage in the main fort were meant to be the primary, day to day facilities. This meant the blockhouse facilities were only really needed in emergencies, such as when the rest of the fort had fallen. This means they did not need to be near as big. The entrance and main firing platforms were on the second floor. Thus, one needed to climb up (often with ladders) to the second floor, then go down stairs to get to the food. This added a layer of security. The second floor also overhangs the first. This allowed the defenders to fire down at those at the base trying to get in. Think a similar idea to what machicolations are meant to provide. The third floor had some firing platforms. Both the second and third floors provide sleeping areas. Again, this would not be enough for normal conditions. But for short term emergency conditions, it was good enough for the full garrison.   Toy, Sidney. (1985) Castles: Their Construction and History. ISBN 978-0-486-24898-1.   Kenyon, John R. (2005) Medieval Fortifications. London: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-7886-3.   Pounds, Norman John Greville. (1994) The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a social and political history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3.   I would suspect that the mottes for the Northmen would not just have the houses of the lords on them. All other public buildings would be here too. Possibly emergency shelters and granaries.

Trade would be the main means these villages make their money. Hotels and inns would probably be common. We can assume based on their in universe history and real life medieval villages that rivers and streams would be the preferred location. If there would be nearby hills, the village would be likely located there.   Though full blown commercial farming would probably not be viable due to low population densities and poor defenses. The infrastructure, police and military forces that led to real world farming based on exports and commodity crops seems to require more of a centralized state than what is in this area.   Now, lets look for a second at the slave trade. As discussed in the section on the history of the Northmen, they would not have much love for the institution of slavery. Nor would the helot refugees that would make up a sizable percentage of the population of Rhovanion. Thus, any loss of cultural aversion to slavery due to the passage of time easing the traumas of the native population would be countered by the constant arrivals of the helot refugees. I doubt the slave trade would be looked on kindly in many if not all of the main Northmen villages.   Dale naturally would probably be the exception. Its close links with the Lonely Mountain means that those whose love of profit is greater than their morals would concentrate there. The main slave trading infrastructure would be centered there. The result in my mind is that Dale would become a pariah state due to its participation in the slave trade. Its residents stereotyped as slavers and treated as outcasts in the rest of Rhovanion as a result.   A side effect of this is the slave trade might become Middle Earth's biggest black market. The Northmen villagers outside Dale would organize a form of underground railroad seeking to free and resettle slaves. Slavers would face lynchings and the destruction or seizing of their assets. Slavers would be effectively smugglers with all the horrific implications that would have for the poor people they are transporting.   Meanwhile, dwarven mercenaries would possibly be used to capture runaway slaves. Dale, being the center of the trade, would likely finance and organize these parties. The Lonely Mountain and Moria would probably post bounties for the runaways. Thus, outside Dale, dwarves would probably not be too popular. lynchings might be unfortunately common against them too.

Now, given the role trade is likely to have in Northmen economics, villages are likely to be sited so they can control trade routes. This means that where terrain channels travellers into an area, villages would arise. These would probably become the larger of the villages and might even become full blown towns. Fortifications might arise to control the best river crossings. This was done in real life to prevent banditry in the area and to collect the tolls demanded. We can expect then that the northmen in these towns would become more skilled than the rest in road contruction. They would also have more of a vested interest in the maintaining of these roads. The only places that would approach full cities would be where major rivers have important crossings. To me, this would suggest that Lake-town should be more populated than it is.

Any valuables would be stored in the blockhouses. The main buildings would be located in the bailey.

Wood would be the prime exploited natural resource. Subsistence agriculture would then supplant the forests.   Now, the dwarves are likely to play an important economic role outside the trade issues already discussed. If we remember, the dwarves would have a particular concern over food security issues. Rhovanion would prove a wide open for the land purchases the dwarves would be looking to make. So many villages in the area would probably also have dwarven plantations in the area as well.