The Sons of Norin

Afli's Longbeard ancestry is carved in a marble wall at his old home in the Iron Hills. The latest generations are traced back to Norin the smith who lived in Khazad-Dûm during the reign of Durin VI.

The story of Norin is a tragic one. While he lived to see 255 winters, he outlived his wife and his second son who both died before their time by Durin's Bane in T.A. 1980. His son, Nalin, was only 23 at the time. Norin escaped Khazad-Dûm with his second son Galin, following their fellow Longbeard exiles to the Grey Mountains.

When the long years of Norin's life were all but spent, it seemed like his bloodline would end with his only living son Galin, who had born no children. However, Galin did have a son named Ginnar at the unusually ripe age of 184, many years after his father had died. When young King Thorin I joined them sometime during the Watchful Peace between 2063 and 2460, their family grew more prosperous.

Ginnar's legacy seemed more certain before he died in his 244th year. He knew at least one grandson would carry on the bloodline. And so it happened, because his grandson Gísli had two sons shortly after one another at the respectable age of 114 and an unexpected third one at the riper age of 146. The third one he named Bróin, and he was Afli's great-great grandfather.

In the following years, finding brides and producing male heirs proved less difficult for the sons of Norin, and their future seemed certain. But then the dragons came and years of plenty made way for years of woe. Grímr, Gísli's second son, perished in the wake of the war with the Cold-drakes in T.A. 2654. After the death of Dain I and his son Frór, the family fled eastwards from the Grey Mountains, following Grór who established a Lordship in the Iron Hills in T.A. 2590.

The following generation had to live through the six-year conflict with the orcs in what is fittingly called the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. While most had spent their time mining iron in Grór's realm, which had now become a mighty realm, old Róin and his son Glói joined the dwarven host in outrage over Thrór's death. Róin's brother Andvari, Afli's great-grandfather, joined as well, but he insisted that his son Alvir, although old enough to join the fight, would stay home. Their cousin Gorin did not partake in the war, but his youngest son Olaf, who had only just become father of twins the year before, could not be swayed. Despite the plees of Gorin and his brother Orvar, he followed the dwarven host west. When the war had ended, none returned home.

The twins grew up in their uncle Orvar's care. Thirty-nine years later, Agnarr, Alvir's only son, had two sons of his own. Like the twins, Agni and Afli were born in the Iron Hills. Here they grew up in moderate prosperity, mining the iron lodes under his lordship Dáin. After Thorin Oakenshield had reclaimed Erebor in T.A. 2941, they aided in the rebuilding of Erebor. But the Iron Hills remained their home.

The twins still live today at the old age of 229. Together with Agnarr, Agnarr's wife and his two sons Agni and Afli, they recently moved westwards to the Blue Mountains, as the threat of Mordor portends another war. Agnarr, being the family elder, decided their family had endured enough and that they would seek new fortunes in the iron lodes of the West.

Thus the sons of Norin have endured great hardship. But who is to say what the future might have in store for them?