History of Moleryn

A local perspective on the history of western civilized Hârn

Ilkka Leskelä, © 2006 (ileskela@hotmail.com)

Disclaimer: This is a derivative work discussing Hârn or Hârn World, originally created by N. Robin Crossby. No assertion of copyright to Hârn or Hârn World is made by producer or the publisher of this work.

This treatise covers the entire history of the Moleryni, the inhabitants of the modern Moleryn and the surrounding area on the banks of the River Teb. The aim of this treatise is threefold: 1) to give a local perspective to the “global” changes in western Hârn, 2) to show that writing histories for Hârnic locales may open interesting perspectives even without maps, floor-plans, mysteries, murders and characters’ stats, 3) hopefully to inspire a general interest for the study of Hârn as an alternative and challenging pre-modern setting instead of a “ready-made” fantasy game world.

Jarin tribal realm

Atani Wars – 2nd century TR

Timeline
c. BT 800	The Moleryn area is inhabited by Jarin (Sindarin Melloneryn, Mollenryn)
6th C BT	Arrival of the Gozyda; The Moleryn Jarin withstand Gozydan incursions
c. 100-120	The Moleryn Jarin escape the tyranny of Lothrim the Foulspawner

The first known inhabitants on the River Teb and on the modern site of Moleryn were tribal Jarin. It is not known if the site had any inhabitants prior to humans, nor it is known if the elder races had anything to do with the Jarin – if they for example “let the Jarin settle” on the site. I will not speculate with an earlier history only because of such Sindarin names as Melloneryn or Mollenryn. If the wording of names is to be discussed, one should also think of Melderyn as somehow connected to Moleryn. If there was a Sinda connection, it has apparently been totally lost since the Atani Wars. Also, the Jarin might have had relations to the Sindar giving them a reason to use Sindarin names of themselves. And finally, the Jarin have often been seen by the Pharic newcomers as possessing an enigmatic aura, giving them perhaps a reason to think that even the Moleryn Jarin might have had something to do with the Sindar – or indeed be Sindar.

It is clear that the Jarin formed some kind of tribal realm with a functional kin-based organization, with hereditary or collegially chosen leadership. This tribal unity let them to successfully oppose first the Gozyda and then the lieutenants of Lothrim. It remains unknown how large an area the Jarin tribal realm controlled, but likely the area was centred on the River Teb, around the present location of Moleryn, on a traditional place to cross the river. The presence of the Gozyda, and briefly Lothrim’s Empire, prevented the Jarin to extend their power very far east of the River Teb or the Teb Marshes. Similarly, the presence of proto-Corani tribes on the northern banks of the River Thard probably limited the Jarin presence to south of the River Thard. In the west and south-west no other tribes are mentioned, and likely the Moleryn Jarin did most of their hunting and gathering on the Waroak Hills west of the River Teb.

The Jarin were mostly hunter-gatherers, but practiced a crude form of forest agriculture probably very early, possibly already when settling the site of present Moleryn. On the River Teb, fishing surely played a role in their economics. Given the area they inhabited and their base of sustenance, the Jarin population must have been over one thousand, and possibly reached two thousand. (The present, much smaller but more intensively cultivated area around Moleryn is inhabited by 4000 farmers and townspeople.) Such a population could have been mostly self-sufficient, and the presence of copper and tin mines in the Waroak Hills suggests that the Jarin could produce bronze. But other metals, especially iron and precious metals, probably had to be imported, as was the case with salt. This in turn led to contacts and trade with neighbouring tribes. The Jarin were not alone or secluded, and may have played a major part in local (power) politics in the pre-Corani era.

Jarin tribal realm and Thardan civilization

2nd century – 5th century

Timeline
2nd-3rd C		Several petty states rise and fall in the Thardic region
early 4th C		Unified Corani power near Moleryn
	304	Esuron fortification built by Corthir
	307	Hibut fortification built by Corthir
	c. 320	Kuseme fortification built by Kusem
early 5th C		Corani Empire starts to conquer lands south of the River Thard.
	421	Heroth fortification built by Kobar
447		Corani Empire (Mejenes the Great) defeats Kingdom of Aleathia
	452	Eidru fortification built by Mejenes the Great
	453	Aleathia de facto part of the Corani Empire

After the era of Lothrim, when the intensity of local power struggles in the Thardic region grew, the Moleryn Jarin were probably better off than their neighbours. Having stopped the advance of the Gozyda and survived the times of Lothrim, the Moleryn Jarin may indeed have played a major role in the rise and fall of tribal states in the neighbouring Thardic region. Nothing stands against the possibility that the Moleryn Jarin influenced the cultural evolution of the Corani tribes.

The early history of the Corani Empire tells us little of the spiritual atmosphere in the rising Empire and its neighbouring tribal cultures. There is one mention of a fanatical Agrikan Emperor, who was murdered. However, we can be sure that as the tribal civilization in the Thardic region grew in complexity, so did their religious practices. The rising Corani civilization was not based on local Ilvirian or Siemian doctrines of what life is. Instead, it rested on earthly Peonian basics, as the intensifying agriculture led into intensifying understanding of the relation between human civilization and agriculture.

The importance of Agrikanism both in the Corani Empire and its successor states was probably not accidental, and the Agrikan faith may have played a major role in the formation and fall of the petty states prior to the Corani Empire. Likely the Corani emperors could control local Agrikanism and give its militant urge some outlets, mostly in conquering wars, but also in the form of public fights, later on arena. Subtle adoption of Laranian ideologies about ruling and morality could have built a base to confront and control the rampant Agrikanism. Laranian abbeys are mentioned to have existed in modern Kanday in the 5th and 6th century TR (Erone and Welur), but the Laranian mission had been established on Hârn in the 1st century BT at the latest, and knowledge of the Laranian ideals must have spread even into the western part of the island by the 4th century.

In addition to new religious thoughts, the whole of Hârn also saw an economical reordering taking place. While the short-lived empire of Lothrim may have opened trade routes between western and eastern Hârn, they probably collapsed with his empire, and the ensuing local power struggles did not encourage trade. But the formation of an empire in the western part of the island brought local peace, changed local trading patterns, and gave rise to inter-tribal and imperial elites that had more economical assets than any of their predecessors or neighbours. The peace and prosperity of the Corani Empire reintroduced interregional trade, and caravans started to roll on the Salt Route, bringing to the Corani Emperors Kaldoric and Melderynic goods, and very important Khuzan gold from the east.

Intensifying interregional trade was probably the most important change in the lives of the Moleryn Jarin. Even if they stood aside of the rising Corani Empire, the ensuing interregional trade moved through the homeland of the Moleryn Jarin. The Jarin leaders must have grown rich by controlling the crossing of the River Teb. The Moleryni possibly came to be traders themselves, organizing and protecting caravans that crossed the tribal lands of their neighbours, the Gozyda. As there are no signs of historical conflicts between the Corani Empire and the Moleryn Jarin, it is apparent that they had shared interests in the trade and mostly trusted each other.

Corani Empire

5th century – TR565

Timeline
5th century	The Jarin of Moleryn annexed by Corani Empire (probably later 5th C)
493	Moleryn fortification built as a legion base for the Corani Empire
497	Ibonost fortification built as a Corani Empire fortress

After the Kingdom of Aleathia had been annexed and secured, the Corani Empire did not face any southern threats, and the emperor Mejenes (the Great) turned northwards. In the history of the Corani Empire, the annexation of Moleryn was not a major event. It is possible that it was neither a major event for the Moleryni themselves. Even if they had Jarin roots, the Moleryni had had intensive contacts with the Corani heartlands for centuries, and both the Moleryni and the Corani elites thrived because of the imperial peace and the ensuing interregional trade. It is thus possible that the annexation of Moleryn was no annexation at all, but instead a peaceful merging together.

The exact time of the annexation of Moleryn into the Corani Empire in the 5th century TR is not given. However, the practice of the Corani Empire to build legionary forts in every newly annexed corner of the empire suggests that the annexation of Moleryn took place no earlier than late 5th century TR. The Emperor Mindrithar ordered the building of two fortifications on the River Teb. The fortification at Moleryn was built as a legion base, which also meant that a large number of mostly foreign troops were stationed in Moleryn.

The reasons for such an investment and new positioning of troops can be just a tradition of building legionary forts in newsly annexed territories. But we should bear in mind the loss of Peran in TR477, and Mindrithar’s reform program. The Corani Empire had lost its costly struggle in the north, and Mindrithar did not want to continue the aggressive and whimsical projects of Mejenes’ sons. He also promoted trade, and the Salt Road definitely was a major trade avenue for the Corani Empire. Taking control of Moleryn and relocating a legion in there was probably a logical part of Mindrithar’s policy.

Of course, there can be also other, local reasons for the fortification program on the River Teb. Perhaps the Moleryni were, after all, resisting the Corani Empire. Or the troops may have been repositioned in order to protect the Moleryni and the Salt Road against the Gozyda. Perhaps the Moleryni elite even asked the emperor for the troops. Perhaps Mindrithar saw Moleryn as a power base in his struggles against the Corani nobility, or the nobility wanted to remove imperial forces from the vicinity of their own strongholds and Corani cities. Likely several reasons, both empire-wide and local, were simultaneously present when the decision to build the Moleryn fortification was made. None of these reasons needs to have been apparent for the Moleryni themselves.

After Mindrithar’s death in TR512, the Corani Empire was ruled by a generation of weak, corrupt, tyrannical and generally bad emperors. The empire hit economic and cultural stagnation, and the traditional nobility concentrated on gaining personal power and protecting their positions. The early part of the 6th century TR saw a divided Empire, where the nobility built local power bases. The position and function of the legions during these decades is not known, but was of crucial importance for places like Moleryn. Probably the legion stayed mostly in Moleryn, and the local elite slowly built ties to the local military. Trade on the Salt Route kept the legion busy and the merchant elite prospered.

It is clear that 70 years of legionary presence in Moleryn brought changes to the local society and economics. Even if the troops positioned in Moleryn might have been changed often and not encouraged to settle down, there were surely legionary veterans who stayed on the area where they had served their careers. Thus the legion brought not only new faces but new families and new blood to the traditionally Jarin Moleryn. In addition, a large number of soldiers meant a large number of mouths to be fed, and even the Corani Empire at its height could not import large quantities of food into Moleryn. The food was definitely produced as near to Moleryn as possible, which led into intensified agriculture of food crops around the legionary base.

The incorporation of Moleryn into the Corani Empire brought thus major local changes. These changes were probably not adverse, leading instead into mutual prosperity and mostly an easy assimilation of the Moleryni into the Corani culture. Local Moleryni elites may have risen to important positions both in the provincial and the imperial governments, and Moleryni merchants thrived because of the increased trade. The population of the Moleryn area probably rose to present-day (TR720) or even higher numbers. Of course, the progress might have been much more problematic than described here, and even if everything mostly had gone smoothly, the changes must have been problematic or even outright cruel for some Moleryni.

After more than two centuries of Corani influence, including a century of Corani rule, the Jarin ethnicity of the Moleryni probably mixed with the Corani, and their language – if it had not turned into ordinary Hârnic already before – grew to resemble western, “imperial” Hârnic. But it must be remembered that most Moleryni, Jarin or not, spent their lifetime in one place and lived very local lives. Thus while the Jarin origin of the Moleryni culture may have thinned, it does not mean that the Moleryni turned into generic Thardans. Pre-modern societies change slowly, and a myriad of Moleryni customs, traditions, beliefs and words lived on under the Corani influence.

Balshan Jihad and Theocracy of Tekhos

TR565–588

Timeline
558	Prophet Balsha executed; Balshan Jihad begins
559-561	Red Death, empire wide famine, civil war; almost 20% of Thardans die
565	Corani Empire falls; Moleryn surrenders peacefully to the Balshan Jihadists
568	Theocracy of Tekhos founded by Horahnam of Tekhos
?	Morgathian expeditions against the ”offal” Gozyda
588	Horahnam of Tekhos assassinated, collapse of the Theocracy

After the loss of Peran in TR477 the Corani Empire never quite returned to its former glory. The inability of the Empire to conquer more lands led to stagnation and localisation. The cultural stagnation led into a new spiritual momentum, and the second and third quarters of the 6th century saw many astrologers and prophets winning a large following. One of them, Workol, even had major influence on emperor Shorka. Apparently, the masses grew weary with the imperial government and the changing moods of the governors, and listened to local men who spoke with global words. Even if the last one of the Corani emperors, Medak, was vigorous, his hate of astrologers and prophets only worsened the situation, which blew apart after the execution of the prophet Balsha.

However, the Morgathian heretic rebellion known as Balshan Jihad inflamed in western Corani Empire, and Moleryn was located at the opposite end of the empire. The direct effect of the rebellion probably was the mobilization of the legion at Moleryn. Depending on the swiftness of the mobilization, most legionaries may have been away when the Red Plague hit Moleryn. Whatever was the exact situation, the fact that Moleryn surrendered peacefully and without a siege to the Balshan Jihadists in TR565 suggests that the legionary fortress was at this time hopelessly undermanned.

The regions where the Balshan rebellion was fought with arms saw the most horrible face of the Red Plague. In Moleryn the effects of the plague were probably not as severe as in Rethem, even if the plague itself was as deadly. This is because the local society at Moleryn did not break down as it did in Rethem. The somewhat backwater Moleryn, where foreign traders and their Laranian-Peonian (and Halean) customs were part of everyday life, and where people had accustomed to a strong military presence, is hardly a place to rise to arms to support a religious rebellion more than a 30 leagues away. The mobilization of the legion may instead have eased the local situation a bit, because the number of mouths to be fed dropped.

On the other hand, when the Red Plague hit Moleryn, the situation was definitely as bad as in most other places of the empire. The loss of life was felt in every family, and even people who survived were ill and weak for weeks and months in a road. When the Balshan rebellion succeeded and the rebels got the whole of Rethem into their hands, the imperial legions probably started to enlist in all possible locales. Moleryn, being the centre of a legion, probably saw many healthy, able-bodied men marching out and never coming back again. Also, the Balshans controlling the fertile parts of the lower flow of the River Thard forced the empire to supply its troops from other parts of the empire. Moleryn with its legionary stores on the slowly flowing River Teb was logistically an ideal place, and thus most of Moleryn’s food reserve was shipped away.

Finally, the division between the rich and the poor was felt also in Moleryn. The elite with good connections could live with food salvaged from the legionary stores, which the poorer farmers had originally filled. When the situation grew worse and famine hit the region, many Moleryni either had to beg or to resort to their old, Jarin traditions of hunting and gathering. With dwindling population, deserted fields, and paralysis of the interregional trade, even the living conditions of the elite deteriorated. Rebellion or not, the government of Moleryn lost its control when it lost its income. When the Jihadists arrived, they found little organized resistance.

The Balshan regime ruled in Moleryn for more than 20 years, about a generation. It did little to improve the local conditions, and the internal problems of the Morgathians meant a steady need for both soldiers and victims. In addition the Balshan regime at Moleryn decided to send military against the neighbouring Gozyda. The coming and going of troops, governors and priests, and the continuing commercial depression slowly dislodged the Moleryni from the lifestyle they had enjoyed before and under the Corani rule. Barbarisation of the government led to barbarisation of the masses. More people deserted their fields and moved into the forests and hills. It is likely that the population of the Moleryn area dwindled even after the Red Plague, mostly because the Balshan regime. As is the nature of plagues, the Red Plague also returned several times during the following years. With dislodged society and rampant disease especially the infant mortality was very high.

Independent Moleryn & Kandian Ibonost

TR588–661

Timeline
588-	Moleryn becomes the centre of a small, independent, merchant ruled “republic”
589	Andasin of Kand seizes the Ibonost fortress from its Tekhosian governor
632	Moleryn forms an alliance with the Kingdom of Kanday

The Theocarcy of Tekhos fell with its leader Horahnam of Tekhos in TR588. No successor to the chief architect of terror was found, and very soon it became apparent that the local Balshan governors were unable to defend their power without the centralized theocracy. Their resistance against the surge of local hate and outlaws returning from the wilderness failed. Moleryn, on the edge of the civilized world and very close to the wilderness and the Gozyda that had given refuge for many outlaws, was one of the first to fall into the hands of the locals. The southern Corani fortification on the River Teb, Ibonost, was seized in the spring of TR589 by Andasin of house Kand, resulting in an area free of Morgathians on the banks of the River Teb.

Moleryn and Ibonost went different ways with their governments. The free Moleryni formed a tribal realm led by the heads of locally important families. The organization could do without the bureaucracy of the Corani Empire, and resembled the Jarin tribal organization prior to the annexation by the Corani Empire. (The Hârnic sources speak repeatedly of republics, but this concept is obviously totally anachronistic in the Hârnic context, and only hides the nature of these pre-modern oligarchic and family-based communities.) Andasin in turn held Ibonost by himself and used the fortification as his base in his personal struggle against the Morgathian successor realms in the valley of the River Eryn. With his triumph Ibonost remained part of the Kingdom of Kanday.

First the breakdown of the Theocracy of Tekhos and then the increasing animosity between Thardic League and Kingdom of Kanday gave the tiny realm of Moleryn an extraordinary freedom. Moleryn was to become one of the most stable political entities to rise from the ruins of the Tekhosian Theocracy, its independence lasting for over 70 years. Apart from the political situation, at least three other reasons for the success of Moleryn can be recognized.

The first reason is the strength of the local tradition. Moleryn had formed an independent community for well over a millennium before it was annexed into the Corani Empire. The long tradition was not actively suppressed by the Corani rule, and indeed local rulers may have stayed in power in Moleryn even after the annexation. Thus, even as a part of the Corani Empire, Moleryn was first Moleryn, and the locals taught their traditions to new generations. The Morgathian Theocracy could not destroy this tradition, because it could not kill all Moleryni. Instead the Morgathians may have played into the hands of the traditionalists, who could survive on their traditional, local knowledge. When the Theocracy fell, the old stories and practices of the Moleryni lived on, and gave them the needed vitality to found an independent local realm once again, after more than hundred years of Corani and Morgathian rule.

The second reason is trade. The geopolitical situation of Moleryn simply makes it one of the central points of interregional trade between western Hârn and the Kingdom of Kaldor. As soon as western Hârn had struggled free of the Morgathian theocrats and formed some sort of stable local political entities, trade started to flow. Kaldorians wanted salt and could pay with exotic eastern products and Khuzan gold, which has always been in demand in western Hârn. Salt Route presents a traditional and well known avenue for this trade, and there is a bridge over River Teb at Moleryn. From the first caravan on, Moleryn was again the western centre of this interregional trade, having a good position to negotiate prices for lodging, storage, provisions – and intelligence. The local traditions of trade gave the Moleryni a splendid control of the information concerning the barbarians of the western wilderness and the realms beyond. Many Moleryni had visited these parts of the island, and some merchants probably had escaped the Theocracy by emigrating into Kaldor or beyond, and now returned.

The third reason follows from trade and intelligence – it is cultural contacts in general. The Moleryni had traditional contacts with Kaldor and beyond. These contacts did not yield only information and trading goods, but also ideologies, world views. One of these, and quite contrary to Morgathianism or Agrikanism, was Laranism. The Laranian code of honour has been a base for stabile societies throughout Hârn. As stated before, Laranian influence landed in western Hârn, in the region of the modern kingdom of Kanday, probably in the 4th century TR. It may be assumed that Laranian code of honour had been central in the formation of stable political entities on western Hârn, and continued to be so. The Laranian contacts of the new Kandian king probably went through Moleryn before he could control the port of Aleath.

The strength of local traditions and a practical ideology of honour, combined with beneficial geopolitics and commerce, gave the Moleryni 73 years of independence. This independence was not immediately lost when the Thardic League invaded Moleryn in TR661, but the situation has become more complicated, and the local traditions of Moleryn have perhaps been suppressed.

Thardic League/Republic and Ramala province

TR661–present

Timeline
661	Thardic League conquers Moleryn; Kuseme war with Kanday 661-666
663-666	Thardic League holds Ibonost, but cedes it back peacefully
666	The ruling class of Moleryn co-opted by the Thardic League; prosperity based on key position on the Salt Route, and being a provincial capital and headquarters of the Ramala Legion
670	Fort Taztos built; abandoned in 673
672-673	The Salt War; Thardic Republic defeated; trade concessions by Kaldor
674	Thardic Republic formed; Autarchy abolished
685	Fort Taztos built again
691	A major Tulwyni attack on Fort Taztos
702	The Tulwyni wipe out the seasonal caravan from Tharda to Kaldor; the merchants are allowed to go free
712	The Kuseme war between Thardic Republic and Kingdom of Kanday
714	Tulwyni massacre a Thardan legionary company
718	Semi-official council of local merchants and wealthy citizens formed to advise the Marshal, and since 719 the Magistrate’s two incompetent legars

Being conquered by the Thardic League brought Moleryn once again into the power game of a large and disunited political system. In the past 60 years Tharda has seen two wars with Kanday and one with Kaldor. In addition, Tharda has shown a tendency to overlook and underestimate the Gozyda and Tulwyn barbarians east of Moleryn, resulting in occasional sudden bloodshed and a continuing stalemate with the Fort Taztos. The capricious nature of the Thardic senate has brought Moleryn problems. It is impossible to say if the problems are counterbalanced by the advantages of being part of a larger political entity with more resources and manpower.

The very conquest of Moleryn itself was machinated by the Thardan Autarch Jalien of Shiran. Not just Moleryn but the whole of the Thardic League suffered from the autocratic rule of the Autarchs. Especially the last Autarch of the Thardic League, Aglir of Telen, used the Thardic army, the territory of Moleryn, and the Salt Route as basis and bites in his personal power struggles against the Ramala barbarians and the Kingdom of Kaldor. His failure to defeat Kaldor led to the failure of his imperial pretensions, but damaged the dignity of the Thardic League and its successor, the Thardic Republic, in diplomatic, military and commercial matters.

Moleryn had no say in the policy of the Autarchs, but it had some say in the civil and commercial matters of the League. The leading merchant class of Moleryn was co-opted by the Thardic League and entered its ruling circles. In TR666 the Kuseme War ended in a Thardic defeat, but the Moleryn elite had already grown happy with its new position. The success and status of the merchant princes of Moleryn cannot be traced from the sources, but it is possible and even probable that the Thardic great clans Chebelos, Elernin and Ostardas originate from Moleryn. The rise and actions of Marshal Kronas Elernin have brought a Moleryni family in the spotlight of Thardan politics.

For the commoners of Moleryn the Thardic rule has brought changes. Even if their rulers still have local origins and contacts, they are now part of a larger entity, and it probably shows in their policy both in the senate and at home. The locals of Moleryn have hard time contacting their patrons and trying to tell them what needs to be done or should not be done. The regime of the Marshal Parga Ostardas and the never present Magistrate Mardova Seris just make things harder. But the locals still have the spirit and apparently the means and the contacts to take things into their own hands. Local merchants and wealthy citizens have been able to form a council to advise the Marshal on civil matters. They have attained a semi-official status, and in effect may have much control over the local government.

On a practical level Moleryn does well. While the Thardic claim over the Ramala wilderness still stays, practical measures to force this claim are not visible in the near future. Thus there is little chance for war, meaning that caravan trade on the Salt Route continues. Moleryn plays a major part in organizing and supplying the caravans, and the inhabitants make good money in the caravan business. Some of them have also made brilliant careers as merchants. In addition, the presence of several legionary companies means that all kind of military business also brings coins to the locals. The apparent dislike the troops show to the Marshal is widely echoed by the locals, and thus the troops and the locals have much to agree upon. And in the end many men in the Ramala Legion have been enlisted from Moleryn and the surrounding countryside, meaning that there are family members among the local guards.

All of this makes Moleryn a mixture of local traditions and practices with a surface of Thardan politics. The interplay of the senate factions on the one hand and the local potent families on the other hand creates a dense net of power and dependency, and the lines of power are not always controlled from the Thardic Senate. The practical conduct of trade and the local knowledge of the eastern wilderness and eastern kingdoms all play power into the hands of the local merchants, innkeepers and litigants. They know it. Being present at Moleryn they have much keener understanding of local business and an ability to act immediately. A delicate balance of local and Thardan interests ensues.

What can be remembered - and how?

This treatise is written with a total view on the whole of the history of Moleryn. The people in Moleryn do not have a similar possibility, and thus do not understand their history in the same way as we might do. Their traditions of written history are thin, and most probably in bad condition after the Morgathian Theocracy. But their traditions of oral history are strong, and even if such traditions adapt, forget and invent all the time, some of the stories told by the people in and around Moleryn may reach back to the Jarin era.

Written evidence

Written documents are mostly meant to help remember things that someone could remember even without the documents. As all pre-modern people, also the Hârnians have the custom of presenting all personal, family, trade and social contracts in public, in the presence of several people. Local customs tell how many people should be present, but usually a dozen or half a dozen is normal. If the contractors disagree or one of them dies, the people who were present can together retell what was in the contract. This is important especially in a situation when sons try to understand who controls what after their fathers have died away. Old people are important, because they remember.

Of course, there are Hârnians who understand what written history is, and who produce annals, chronicles and collections of stories for the reading public – or more often to be read aloud for any kind of public, even if the public could themselves read. But such individuals are quite rare, and the literary culture is mostly restricted to Save-K’norian libraries, to temples and to certain colleges and guilds that act as schools for the sons of the rich merchants, pilots etc. Most of the literary works thus produced are quite young, and include a lot of errors and discrepancies when older times are mentioned. Probably all original documents concerning Moleryn before the Morgathian times – ie. documents older than late 6th century – have been lost. Some parts of them may have been luckily preserved as citations in some later documents that can still be found and read in Moleryn. The situation is largely the same in all Tharda and Kanday, because the Morgathians happily torched the literary accomplishments of their predecessors.

Some really old documents may of course have survived hidden or abroad, and some Save-K’norians may have collections that could give new insights on the Moleryni history. The Save-K’norian library of Maryael in Kanday, for example, did survive the Morgathians, and might have some original documents and works describing Moleryn. But generally, such documents are secret. On Hârn written knowledge is the object of archival interest, an antiquity, which does not support an idea of libraries open to those who can read. The church of Save-K’nor, the foremost representative of Hârnic learning, practices censoring, which is supported by an elitist ideology telling that the common man should not know certain things. One thing lost to the Moleryni but possibly known to the Save-K’norians is the connection of the Sindarin words Melloneryn and Mollenryn (“woods-friend”) to the site of Moleryn and its history.

Oral evidence

Oldest humans in a typical Hârnic settlement of the size of Moleryn are perhaps 80 years old. They remember situations they have themselves seen and been part up to 70 years ago, but generally perhaps 50 years ago. They have in turn met people who were old 50 to 70 years ago, and who in turn could remember what happened some 50 to 70 years before. All together this makes 100 to 150 years of local history the elders have lived through or heard directly from people who have lived through it. 100-150 years is the span of oral history that can be taken to be “documentary”. For Moleryn this means that the locals may have knowledge of individual happenings since about TR600, give or take a decade or two. This means that the people of Moleryn know for sure that Moleryn was independent and prospering before the Thardic League invaded some 60 years ago.

Things before TR600 are mostly legendary. The people of Moleryn are pretty sure that evil men ruled Moleryn before it was independent, and even most children can name Morgath or his epithet if asked who these evil men were. There are surely many local stories about the atrocities of the evil era, and of the end of the evil overlords. None of these stories need to be true, but they convey the general feeling of what it was like “back then” when things were really wrong.

If asked of times before the evil era, most people in Moleryn might mention the Corani Empire. Or they might mention Tharda. None of the locals in Moleryn have any direct knowledge of what the world was like before the evil era, and many confuse the Corani Empire with Tharda and the city of Coranan, which both exist in the present. Perhaps the locals tell stories of the emperors of old when they want to contrast the modern Thardic ruling classes. As is the nature of commoners, they mostly despise the modern Thardic rulers, and thus most of their stories of the “ancient Thardic Emperors” etc. may stress how good they were in contrast to the present Thardic rulers. Indeed the whole subject of the Corani Empire may lie in the sphere of nagging at the modern Thardic rulers. In Moleryn people usually tell stories of good and bad emperors, who may or may not have some of the names of the historical Corani emperors.

The example of the Corani emperors vividly shows how stories of legendary times are used to contrast the present. Such legends and stories mix with myths. Myths explain how things were made in the first place and why, how the world came to be, what is good and what is bad, who the gods are and what is the place of human communities and individuals in all of this. Myths form the basics of the society and its ethics. Myths are as far from historical, chronological data as can be. Still, myths include stories that have a hint of historical truth in them, and some situations and names may be historically genuine. But those retelling the myths cannot say what is true and what is not, because the myths are the truth, the only truth they have, and the truth that has always been. Well, there might be a couple of stories that retell certain things differently, but such differences tell more of the present changing attitudes to certain matters than of actual historical conflicts.

An example could be the name of the Foulspawner. The people in Moleryn might know stories where the Foulspawner is mentioned as the most horrible and evil human that ever lived on Hârn. But his evil deeds may be a combination of bad Corani emperors, Morgathian despots and the grand-grandfather of the village tanner. And the name Foulspawner itself may be not understood. It might figure in some stories concerning the origin of domestic and wild birds, naming a mystical Fowlspawner as the father of all birds.

To continue the example with the Foulspawner, most people in Moleryn have heard that there are horrible monsters in the mountains called Gargun, but very few have seen a dead Gargun and fewer still a living one. As there are no Gargun around Moleryn, it is irrelevant for the locals to understand the true nature of the Foulspawner as the creator of Gargun. They can be repeatedly told that the Foulspawner spawned the Gargun, but they will not change their stories where the Fowlspawner is spawning the fowl. Instead they might start to tell a new story of a mercenary who thought the Gargun were birds – which of course can be true to most locals, because not knowing what Gargun are they might indeed confuse legends of Gargun with legends of the Hârnic gargoyle, which in turn can fly – or so the legend goes...

Human memory and the elder races

On Hârn there reside beings who have lived hundreds or even thousands of years. Some of the Sindar may have lived tens of thousands of years or longer. These beings can and do communicate with humans. But it would be folly to think that this would necessarily or even markedly change the human memory.

Firstly, the elder races live almost totally secluded from humans. Secondly, the elder races do not understand human time concepts and oral traditions well. The Sindar especially do not understand short-lived humans. Thus the elder races have little to tell to the humans, and the humans have little worth of learning, if the elder races tell them anything at all. Short-lived humans often cannot conceptualize the information the elder races possess, and thus mostly cannot order their historical data in relation to their own data. Thus the histories learned from the elder races remain disconnected and are easily forgotten or misunderstood.

As an example none in Moleryn has any opinion as to whether the Sindarin words Melloneryn or Molneryn are connected to Moleryn or not. If a Sinda traveller happens to mention that yes, this is the place she used to call Melloneryn “just a thousand solar years ago”, the locals probably remember that a very strange person visited the local inn. The exact Sindarin wording means nothing to the locals, however, so that that part of the story is soon forgotten.