Lore

Dunland was a region in the eastern part of Enedwaith, beneath the southern Misty Mountains. Its warlike inhabitants were known as the Dunlendings, blood-enemies of the Rohirrim.

It was founded by Hill-men travelling northward from the White Mountains during the Dark Years, which places its foundation during the Second Age. While some of the Pre-Númenóreans were absorbed into the population of Gondor and Arnor, the Dunlendings remained unaffected, independent and even unfriendly to the Dúnedain, maintaining their own customs and language.

The Dunlendings suffered from the Great Plague less than other peoples owing to their isolation and were still found in the foothills of the Misty Mountains. By the time of the Ruling Stewards they ceased to be subjects of Gondor and, being surrounded by barbarous folk, they moved to settle the region of Calenardhon as Gondor ceased to man the garrisons during the Watchful Peace.

Some Dunlendings approached the Gondorian fortress of Isengard that was manned by a small garrison led by a hereditary Gondorian chieftain, the Lord of Isengard, and mingled with the Gondorians. With time the line of the original chieftains eventually failed, and the Dunlendings seized control of the fortress, killing any of the ancient guards who wouldn't join with them.

In 2510, the Éothéod were granted Calenardhon by Cirion, the Steward of Gondor. This land became known as Rohan, and the Dunlendings were driven out of its fertile plains. This began a long history of hatred and war with Rohan which would continue up to the time of the War of the Ring.

Saruman recruited Dunlendings into his army, and together with the Uruk-hai they assaulted Helm’s Deep and were defeated. The Rohirrim showed them mercy, and after the war the Dunlendings were no longer enemies of Rohan.


Construction

As the Britons were forced out and (culturally) replaced by the Anglo-Saxons, so were the Dunlendings treated by the Rohirrim. As such, Dunland was heavily inspired by Iron Age Britain. The roundhouses, crannogs and walled homesteads of the period were brought to life with dedicated research conducted over months. The area is divided into various tribes with their own distinct cultural characteristics, including their architecture and religious beliefs.

There are seven villages and twenty-seven homesteads in Dunland, and the project took over a year to complete.

For anyone who is interested in seeing a detailed timeline of the project's construction, the Dunland project thread on our forums provides a good overview.

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Dunland forms part of a larger project which seeks to recreate Middle-earth in its entirety. Credit goes to Lindalher, fruituitella, and daktubalan for leading this project, and to the entire community of builders for leading all the villages and homesteads therein.

Dunland can be viewed from above on ArdaCraft's dynmap. There is no download available, but ArdaCraft is a non-whitelisted server which anyone is welcome to come and explore, provided they have installed our modpack first.

All information can be found on our website.