Dale

Dale was the merry town of Men that stood in the valley under the shadow of the Lonely Mountain, at the point where the Running River looped eastward before flowing toward the Long Lake. In the days of its prosperity, before the coming of the dragon, it was a wealthy and populous place, renowned for its toy market, which was the wonder of the North, and for its close trade with the Dwarves of the Mountain. The Dwarves of Thror's halls supplied the Men of Dale with crafted goods, and the Men in return provided food-supplies, since the Dwarves did not grow or find their own. Kings used to send for Dwarven smiths, and fathers would beg the Dwarves to take their sons as apprentices, paying handsomely in food. The town was ruled by lords such as Girion, whose emerald necklace, made of five hundred emeralds green as grass, was given for the arming of his eldest son in a coat of dwarf-linked rings of pure silver to the strength of triple steel. The bells of Dale rang out, and the town was full of life and song.

Destruction by Smaug

All this ended when Smaug the dragon, greedy, strong, and wicked, flew south from the North and descended upon the Mountain. The first the Dwarves knew of it was a noise like a hurricane from the North, with pine-trees on the Mountain creaking and cracking in the wind. The dragon settled on the mountain in a spout of flame, then came down the slopes, setting the woods ablaze. The bells of Dale rang and the warriors armed, but the dragon came on them in a fog that rose from the river, and destroyed most of the warriors. Then he crept in through the Front Gate and routed out all the halls of the Dwarves, taking all their wealth. Later he used to crawl out of the great gate and come by night to Dale, carrying away people, especially maidens, to eat, until Dale was ruined and all the people dead or gone. The town was left in grey ruins, its towers and walls broken, its bells silent, and the valley became the Desolation of the Dragon, barren and blackened, with only broken and blackened stumps to speak of the woods that had once been green and fair.

After the Dragon's Death

After Smaug was slain by Bard, the heir of Girion, the ruins of Dale lay in the valley, shadowed by the Mountain's arms. The dwarves who survived the Battle of Five Armies buried Thorin Oakenshield deep beneath the Mountain, and Bard laid the Arkenstone upon his breast. Dain son of Nain became King under the Mountain, and in time many other dwarves gathered to his throne. Bard then rebuilt the town in Dale, and men gathered to him from the Lake and from South and West. All the valley became tilled again and rich, and the desolation was filled with birds and blossoms in spring and fruit and feasting in autumn. The new peace brought friendship between elves, dwarves, and men in those parts, and the rivers were said to run with gold.