House Tinarë

Dol Tinarë (W. "Tinarë") contained the highlands of Cardolan east of the Iaur Men Formen. Mindon Tinarë, the keep of the Princes of Dol Tinarë, sat on the crest of the Pinnath Nimren (S ."White Ridge"), the divide between the Baranduin and the Gwathló, overlooking the Len Naugrim .The wild swings of political fortune saw the Tinarë seat moved from Mindon Tinarë to Andrath to Metraith and back again to Andrath. One broad valley cut all the way through the South Downs and allowed free passage of the Old North Road. This was the gap of Andrath (S. "Long climb"). While subterranean drainage kept it from being a major river concourse, it was nonetheless a pretty, fertile, little vale; the town that once bore its name had been among the fairest in Cardolan. Andrath was a major religious center in Eriador in the first millenium of the Third Age. Two small villages and several monasteries were enclosed within a single wall and formally chartered as a town by Prince Thorondur of Arnor, soon to be the first king of Cardolan, in T.A. 860. He had some notion of making Andrath his royal seat, but soon decided in favor of Metraith, which was closer to Tharbad and boasted a more central location. The Hir of Dol Tinarë did make it his capital in 1410 in the ensuing year the it has prospered like never before. Except for the recent acquisitions, Tinarë is not a particularly fertile province and its lords have prospered over the centuries because of their ancient right to impose tolls on traffic on the North Road. The Princes have been unusually astute in investing this income in mercantile ventures. They are the only men ever granted the hereditary right to be called Dwarf-friend. Tinare has probably suffered the least of the principalities in the troubles since the beggining of the war. The Prince follows a vaguely nostalgic policy, designed largely to maintain his own peoples autonomy and prosperity.

The lands of the Ernil of Dol Tinarë historically consisted of most of the highlands along the Royal Roads between Sarn Ford and the Anthiel (S. "Long Well") in central Mintyrnath. Since the destruction of House Fëotar, the Prince has acquired most of the King's lands in the northern Gwathló basin that Fëotar had appropriated. Despite their ancient claims to the Pinnath Ceren, the Tinarlië long ago gave up trying to rule the stubborn Eriedain who dwell there. The Princes had, for a time, ruled from the small city of Andrath, once important as a religious center, at the very south edge of the Barrowdowns. Andrath has been ruined and rebuilt many times, but reconstruction has not been begun since its capture by the Hillman King Bruggha in T.A. 1639. Metraith (Thalion), the bustling town at the junction of the North Road and Redway, virtually in the center of Cardolan, now serves as the capitol as it has many times in the past. Except for the recent acquisitions, Tinarë is not a fertile province, and its lords have always prospered because of their ancient right to impose tolls on traffic on the North Road. The Princes have been unusually astute in investing this income in mercantile ventures. They are the only men ever granted the hereditary right to be called Dwarffriend, because of their frequent dealings with the folk of Khazad-dûm. Dol Tinarë has done the best job among the principalities of sustaining its economy, its political integrity, and itself in the two centuries of trouble since the fall of the kingdom. Its currant Prince follows a vaguely nostalgic policy, designed largely to guard his own autonomy.