INTRODUCTION
THE PHARIC SOCIETY
II. The Wandering Years
III. The Phari Who Invaded Harn
This essay is an atempt at rewriting H’rns history the way I want it to be, the following text is a bit rough at the moment since it continiously is revised and expanded, the diffrent parts have not yet been fully interigatet with eachother.
My object with this essay is to provide a H’rn where Jarin traditions are strong; where the humans, unknowingly, are heavily influenced by the elder peoples; where these Elder peoples are more inline with their Tolkienian heritage; where society is not feudal but clanish and where religion is an integral part of society. The great events of the 'official' history of H’rn are included, their consequences may not be the same though....
One issue that is not very well covered by official sources is why the Jarin made the laborious and dangerous journey to Harn. If Emelrene was their 'promised' land why leave? The sources mention a new wave of eastern Jarin pushed westward by Pharic peoples further east, would these people have conquered Shorkyne/Emelrene and forced the Jarin living there to move west? Ilvir is claimed to have told 'his' people to come to Harn, but he was not their dominating God (or was he?).
It's quite a project to move a large number of people from Emelrene to Harn, above all you need to know how to make big enough boats. To me it seems that those people who made the journey either a) was forced so by a forceful pressure from other, eastern, peoples or b)their resources were coming to and end. Immigrants from the east were perhaps allowed to settle but over a couple of generations the land became scarce, the peace of the land was disrupted. People fled to a new promised land. Another (c) possibility is that while the Emelreans allowed or could not stop new people from settling in the area, the conservative ones saw their world crumble and decided to leave and seek this green and pleasant island the had heard of.
Anyhow this project would need the co-operation of a large number of people. If the Jarin by now had split up into larger sets of related clans -- tribes -- a social organisation would have existed who could cope with this project. Another reason for the development of tribes could have been to keep track of the newcomers and those people who had always lived there. The tribes would still feel that they were a part of the 'people', but the distance between the different parts of the people had grown during the years. The tribes had needed to develop 'government', originally to take care of inter-clan conflicts. The 'King' was originally a Judge who had great knowledge of what was right, a knower of secrets, a sorcerer. The King was elected, and had certain rights and duties. One who was to protect the people from spirits who didn't follow the rules and mingled with the living. This would give the title and office of King a mystic/magical meaning or association. Later Harnic kings would be thought to have 'powers' as a result of being Kings, these 'powers' are used in certain semi-religious rituals who are thought to be vital for the well being of the Kingdom. When the Jarin came to Harn the tribes split up and settled different areas. They met the Sindarin and their notion of 'King' was widened.
As in the previous case we need to decide why the Jarin migrated to Harn. In this case the Jarin living in Emelrene held on to their notion of 'the people', they remained a hunter/gatherer people. The population was stable. The coastal areas lived of the sea, they developed seaworthy fishing vessels who were able to sail far away, even so far as to discover Harn. Maybe there was trade between the Henge culture and the Jarin. There was little need of social or technical development, as there was plenty of food and lots of land. Conflicts between clans were rare, as there was no need to compete for resourses.
The Jarin who was forced west by the Pharic lived a much more rugged life, they would have had to develop the art of war. When they moved into Shorkyne and Emelrene, they must have been able to fairly easy settle the land they needed. These people had cattle and were semi-nomadic, they used simple forms of agriculture and worshipped slightly different Gods. The people must have felt threatened, they had two choices: stay and fight or leave. Some stayed and some chose to leave, the 'sundering of the people' was a fact. If 'the people' was, relatively, few and those that chose to leave was only a part ( but maybe a big part?) of the people, the transportation problem might be solved with the fishing boats of the coastal people. Maybe there was a war and 'the people' stole the boats?
The Jarin made it to Harn. They were probably not that many maybe a couple of thousand people. They were still hunter/gatherers but the land was large and vast forest spread before them. Now the people splitt up in clan groups and wanders of seeking good places to live, this is the begining of the tribes. They meet the Sindar and the notions of King and Leader is introduced. Each part of 'the people' choses a 'King'. Later more Jarin from Shorkyne and eastlerlings too arrive and settle in the virgin lands.
With these people the plough is introduced and from the
Sindar they learn about the Horse, wine making, destilling grain
or wine into alcholic beverages. The new agricultureral
techniques spreads to all areas which the Jarin inhabits.
It's important to remember that the Jarin migration to Harn
probably, mostly due to the fact that they lacked big ships,
where not a mass migration involving a large population. If it
was why would the Elder people allow them to settle? A rough
estimation of the early Jarin population on Harn lies between 5
and 10,000, while he Elder peoples had a population around
20,000. I base this figure on the current population in Azadmere
and Evael. Since Kiraz (as I understand it) was larger and had a
larger population than Azadmere, the Khuzdul could have numbered
around 10,000 and since a large number of the Sindarin left after
the Atani-wars they might have been around 10,000 at the time.
The Humans would at the beginning been a large minority but would presumably have increased in number quickly, this is the impression one is given by the official sources, a problem with this notion is that a hunter/gatherer society would not have grown as much and as fast as a agricultural one would. My impression is that NCR treats the Jarin as a agricultural society already before coming to Harn, as I said earlier this seems less likely than the hunter/gatherer theory. The question remain, however: why would the Jarin change from hunting/Gathering to agriculture? Archaeologists provides a number of answers to the question why humanity began to grow food instead of hunting it.
Maybe the answer is that the Jarin spread over the entire surface of Harn settling where conditions for their style of life was optimum and as a result of the good conditions their population grew, until it reached a level where either a part of the tribe was forced to find new hunting grounds or they increased their food-production. The alternatives where cattle-raising or agriculture, for a people with permanent settlements agriculture would have been the best choice. This probably happened in several small steps instead of one big, and must have taken several generations. At the eve of the Atani-wars most of Harn's Jarin would have used some sort of agriculture, only the most densely populated areas used the plough, many used burn-beating.
Another consequence of the Jarin being hunter/gatherers when they came to Harn is that the population spread more evenly over the island instead of being concentrated to the coastal areas as the official sources have it.
A general problem with this chain of events is that the shift from Hunting to Cattle raising to Agriculture is not automatic but rather depends upon food shortage, if enough food cannot be produced by hunting people will switch to cattle raising, but if the population is stationary society might move from hunting/gathering directly to agriculture, since cattle-raising assumes a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. My take is that the Jarin fairly short after their migration to Harn moved from hunting to agriculture. They need to have done it fairly early since by the Atani-wars the sources have thaem as an agricultural population, which the Atani was not...!?
As you may well know, many archaeologists believe that the hunter/gatherer societies were much less socially stratified than the cattle raising ones or even more so agricultural ones. Their opinion seems to be, in short, that private property was not as important in hunter/gatherer societies as it became in Cattle-raising and agricultural ones. This might or might not be true, I would rather concentrate on the level of social complexity that is needed, generated or made possible, by either trying to cope with cattle-raising or Agriculture.
We might safely assume that the Jarin society grew more complex on Harn than that is had been in Emelrene, both because the introduction of agriculture and the influences from the Elder peoples. New crafts were learned; new tools employed; more was food produced; the population boomed. To me the centuries before the Atani-wars saw a rapid development of jarin civilisation.
If one uses the second alternative, the development of modern Harnic culture is very much influenced by the Elder peoples, this might or might not be desirable. To me it is.
The Elder peoples had their ideas about what a King was supposed to do. Both view the King as the highest legal instance, as the leader in war and as a peacekeeper. The King was also aided by a royal council, in which the wisest and most 'noble' (meaning of noble spirit, that is pious...) in the Kingdom assembled to take decisions on important issues, the king was just 'first among equals' in this assembly, he was not supposed to make important decisions by himself. The clans have great autonomity versus the King he could not decide in clan issues. They also had the principle 'one people- one King', no dwarf nor no elf had any other King than Daelda.
The humans copied these traits. A tribe was obligated to have a King (or Queen) to be reqognised as one by the other tribes. The human Kings commonly gathered in a moot once a year,but since Harn was big they gathered at 'regional' centers. These centers where located near or at sites that later became the cities of: Burzyn, Cherafir, Corannan, Tashal and Thay. Daelda might or might not attend these meetings. To represent the Over-King the tribal Kings elected one to be 'The Kings Steward' he presided over the meeting. All the Kings sat as a Jury hearing complains that the tribes had against each other, the Steward was the chairman and could decide if the voting was a draw. The tribal Kings from the Tribes which had come from Emelrene were genneraly thought to be the most prestigious, of those tribes some had honours from Emelrean myths and was held to be the most prestigious of all. The Steward was elected from among the tribal Kings whose tribes where the largest and/or oldest of the Emelrean tribes. There were five Stewards: Melderyn isles, Solora, Horadir (including present day Chybisa), Kaldor and Thard.
The present King of Kaldor's claim on the marches stems from his claim of being the legitimate heir of the Steward of Kaldor. The King of Chybisa claims to be the heir of a Steward, this is also claimed by the King of Kaldor and the King of Melderyn (who is recognised as heir of the Stewards of Meldeyn and Solora). The claim of heir of the Steward of Tharda is contested by the Kings of Rethem and Kanday, none who have a really good claim. The importance of these claims lies in the right to claim sovereignty over all the land that by tradition was included in the Stewardship. Should the King of Rethem be accepted as the heir of the Steward of Tharda, he could demand tribute from Kanday and the Thardic republic.
In each tribe, below the tribal Kings, emerged a group of clans from which custom and tradition said one could chose the King. These clans were also well represented on the Tribal council, where the wise and prestigious of the tribe assembled to advice the King. These individuals began to be known as 'the nobles of our tribe'. But this title was not hereditary and was strictly personal, it was awarded to individuals who merited it not because of ones bloodline.
The King still had very limited rights to interfere with clan activities, but he gained rights in the field of trade. It became the Kings right to issue trading 'licences' to foreign traders. The King remained a official primarely occupied with 'foreign affairs' and trade. He also had importandt juridical duties and (optionaly) ritual duties.
It's worth noticing that the Jarin and Pharic cultures were not that different, they shared many concepts and cultural traits.
I should perhaps point out that it's unlikely that the Phari managed to wipe out the jarin and their culture. In similar invasions in Europe, such as the Frankish invasion of Gaul and the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain, as well as the later Norman invasion of England, the invaders managed to insert themselves as an elite, which held on to their own customs, while the rest of the population (being the vast majority) held on to their traditions. I mean we are not talking about genocide or race wars here... The Jarin culture lived on and grew strong in the country side, the rulers remained Pharic.
Here are a two tables comparing cultural elements in Jarin and pharic societies before and after the Atani-wars.
Jarin and Pharic cultures at the eve of the Atani-wars:
| Jarin | Pharic | |
| Law | Clanbased | Clanbased with individualistic tendencies |
| Military | Militia | Professionals |
| War craft | Mote and bailey,armour | Swords, Shields, little armour |
| Leader/s | Elders | Mightiest warrior |
| Larger political units | Tribes | None above clan |
| Political titles | Tribal King, Over-King (Steward) | none |
| Agriculture | Plough, cattle | Cattle, slash and burn |
| Crafts | Advanced | 'Primitive' |
| Religion | Ancient-Larani, Ancestors, proto-Peoni, Siem, Ilvir, Spirits | Agrik? Earthgoddess, Ancestors, proto-Larani, Sarajin?, Many gods and spirits |
| Settlements | Homesteads and Villages, large markets form seasonal 'towns' | Villages |
Jarin and Pharic cultures at the dawn of the Atani-wars
| Jarin | Pharic | |
| Law | Clanbased | Clanbased with individualistic tendencies |
| Military | Militia, professionals | Professionals |
| War craft | Mote and bailey,armour, Cavalry, infantry tactics | Swords, Shields, armour, light cavalry |
| Leader/s | Elders, war Leaders | Mightiest warrior |
| Larger political units | Tribes, Kingdoms | Kingdoms |
| Political titles | Tribal King, Over-King | King |
| Agriculture | Plough, cattle | Cattle, plough |
| Crafts | Advanced | Still 'primitive' |
| Religion | Ancient-Larani, Ancestors, proto-Peoni, Siem, Ilvir, Spirits | Agrik? Earthgoddess, Ancestors, proto-Larani, Sarajin?, Many gods and spirits |
| Settlements | Villages, large markets form seasonal 'towns' | Villages |
Eventually the two cultures grew to one, it probably took several generations (even tens of) and in some fields, such as the language, progress was reasonably swift while in others, such as peoples myths, progress was slow and varied greatly from place to place, but in most cases the Jarin culture was stronger. We can see this process in Gaul where the invaders adapted to and tried to become one with the Gallo-roman culture. A reason could be that the Franks viewed the Gallo-roman culture as more advanced than their own.
In the Harnic case it is my belief that the Jarin, _compared_ to the Phari, were very civilised. They had a society were might (of arms) did not give right, they had skilled craftsmen able to produce excellent pieces of artwork, they had much more complex society and they had a much more advanced language and script.
The Jarin language had been significantly influenced by in the first hand Sindarin and in the second hand by Khuzan. This influence was not confined to just words but also included the grammar. The Sindarin language had reached a high level of grammatical sophistication (with sophistication I don't mean complexity but versatility, ease of use [for their needs...]) both in the spoken form and in the written. They had a well developed system of punctuation (which I'm sure you realise would make their texts much easier to read and understand than e.g. medieval Latin ones...), words were spelled the same way and verbs were conjugated the same way by all users. In short they had a grammar comparable to our own.
These features were introduced in the Jarin language when scribes began to write Jarin using the Selenian script, one of the great intellectual efforts made by the Jarin before the Atani-wars was the construction of a formalised written language. As is often the case the written Jarin was based on the ancient language used to memorise the oral traditions of 'The People'. Is was old-fashioned already when constructed but since most learned Jarin knew this language this was not a problem. The Selenian script was modified to be able to represent Jarin sounds and the punctuation system was imported in extenco. Efforts were made to standardise the language but it was only partly successful, still texts written in this language was much easier to read and thus understand even centuries after it was written. The scribe who wrote 'The History of The People and their Exodus from the Promised Land to the Courts of King Daelda', the first well known book on Harn was later given the honour of naming the Jarin script. It was named after the village he had lived in: 'Lakise' just north of present day Chybisa. [To be quite honest I don't know were Robin thinks that Lakise comes from...]
The invaders who of course was illiterate, would have had to rely on Jarin scribes for communication and record keeping. This is not really a problem, Latin had this role for many years... A consequence of this is that there is a great discrepancy between modern spoken Harnic and written Harnic, making written sources inaccessible to others than the learned. A PC who would like to learn how to read and write would basically need to learn a new language too...
I will begin with an account of the early Pharic society and then make some notes on how it changed over time.
The Pharic were pastoralist, that is they lived primarily by herding cattle and sheep, agriculture was practised as a supplement to herding. They lived in permanent settlements that usually contained one extended clan 1, each settlement was surround by a wall or fence because the Phari were a warlike people who raided each other frequently. Their houses were made of logs and the walls were very low and the roofs steep (like a wooden tent), the basic layout was a long and narrow rectangular house with a heart in the middle, the heart was almost as long the entire length of the house. People slept in bunks along the wall, the bunks were filled with hay and one covered oneself with skins during cold winter nights. Most settlements were entirely self sufficient, although some trade in rare and/or essential commodities, such as gold, iron, salt etc., certainly took place.
The Tribe was the largest social structure of the Phari, however people saw them self as members of a particular clan before being members of a tribe, tribes were important in large scale wars only (because warleders were chosen among the warrior of the clans who belonged to the tribe).
The clan was headed by a Chief, he had no more influence on the clan members than his personal qualities merited, and beyond the clan there were no authority to be found what so ever. In time of great need a WarChief might be elected, but he also had no greater influence than his reputation merited and even in battle he was limited to an advisory role. The clan Chief was advised in minor issues by a board of elders, this board was filled with men who were respected because of their skills in arms or their wisdom. When decisions on major issues were called for all the warriors were assembled to vote on the suggestions put forth by the chief. The main day to day function of a Chief was to mediate in conflicts between clan members. Crimes were atoned for by fines paid in cattle or sheep. Serious crimes usually resulted in a feud...
The society was patriarchal, and men and women lived in monogamous relations, the children belonged to the husbands family and were raised there if the father died. Only men who could carry and use arms were allowed to marry, the man was probably much older than the woman he married2. Marriage could be dissolved by either part, in which case the woman returned to her fathers house. A family's wealth was measured in terms of cattle (which was owned individually 3).
As mentioned above the Phari were Pastoralists, and each settlement was self sufficient. Tools and utensils were made of wood, flintstone4, clay or bone. Metalobjects were rare, when iron was introduced (sometime around BT 1000 5), bronze objects became slightly more common. The clans traded among them selves and traders came to the settlements and bartered for skins and sold gold, amber, iron, salt and other luxuries that could not be produced in the settlement.
The Clans raided each other frequently, there was traditional rules connected with these raids, these rules regulated the amount of violence that could be used in the raid, depending on how the raid was set up the defenders would know what level of violence to respond with. The warrior was armed with a long spear , or maybe an axe or stone headed club, and a round wooden shield, no armour was used. Horses was known and used as transportation (but was very expensive) but the stirrup was not known. Chariots may have been used. A battle consisted of a series of small individual battles between champions, large formations or discipline were unheard of.
The Pharic peoples developed a complex myth of their own. The Pharic myths have very few similarities to Jarind myths, which seems to imply that their common heritage and subsequent sundering is a very ancient one. Probably the Pharic were a group who stayed in Reksyne while the early or even proto-jarind peoples moved west. The early Pharic beliefs were animistic the also worshipped their ancestors. Shamans mediated between the living and the dead.
BT 1700 Ketari tribes began to force the Pharic tribes living in Reksyne to move westward, this migration is not uniform, some areas are more densely settled by Phari immigrant other less so, some tribes stayed in the Quarpor area while others moved toward present Harbaal and Shorkyne and later Trierzon. Even later some tribes living in Shorkyne will try their luck in Harn. The Phari people becomes culturally diversified and three main branches appear: The Northern, The Central and The Southern. These develop differently.
The Central Phari remained much as they were in Reksyne, they developed no central government and few if any new agricultural skills.
The Northern Phari first migrated to Harbaal and eventually they migrated to Ivinia, the land was mostly empty some Yarilli tribes inhabited it but they were swiftly pushed into the hinterland. The Ivinians didn't conquer the land they colonised it (like the Norse colonised Iceland). The difference between conquest and colonisation may seem trivial but by tradition the spoils of conquests were divided among the warriors and became their own property. Land that were colonised became the property of the colonising clan. This may help explain how come the Ivinians kept their clansystem while the southern Phari moved on toward an individualised society.
The Southern Phari moved into the Shorkyne area, this land was already inhabited by the ancestors to the Emela jarin, some tribes took possession of land by force, some tribes settled peacefully, but the pressures from the Phari nevertheless forced large parts of the jarin to migrate westward to Emelrene or Harn, the jarin who at this time migrated to Harn settled in northern Harn, later others would follow but they would settle in South-eastern Harn.
The result of these migrations were that a new culture emerged, a mix of Pharic and Jarind influences. New gods were introduced: Peoni, Ilvir, Larani, Agric and Sarajin. Ancestor worship was still practised but slowly dwindled in favour of the more organised religions. The Phari were also exposed to influences from even further south, trade brought new goods and new ideas.
During the long years of wandering the Southern Phari developed an individualised view on ownership of land, this came about partly because the spoils of conquest were divided among the warriors and it became customary to treat the land received in this fashion as the warriors own land, this later lead to a change in the view on Kin owned land too.
During the migration the Chiefs and Tribal Kings gained more power since they were the war leaders and therefore were the ones who led or advised on were to go and they divided the plunder.. A custom who restricted the tribal kinship to a few "royal" clans developed. The Tribe gained importance as unifying factor between the different clans.
The legal system also underwent changes, when land became individually owned it became reasonable to individualise legal systemtoo, and when the clans needed to co-operate in larger units a system to settle conflicts peacefully was needed as well. The solution that developed was a kin of Judge and Jury system. Judges were men respected for their wisdom and integrity and the Jury was a large assembly of men were honourable and who represented many different clans. The Tribes tried cases at the Tribal moot, an ancient institution that was further developed at this time.
About BT 900 a new wave of Ketari tribes pushed some of the Central pharic tribes south into Shorkyne, the unrest and competition for land led some tribes to try their luck in Harn.
The Pharic tribes who invaded Harn had a great deal in common with the people who already lived on Harn. They were organised in tribes who were loose alliances of related clans. The tribe was led by an elected King who had limited power but who could only be recruited from certain clans. They were herders with limited agricultural skills. Land was held by individuals who had individual legal responsibility. They knew how to work iron and had learned from the Shorki how to make swords. The barely knew how to make armour. They knew how to make boats large enough to carry men and women across the sea to Harn.
The Pharic warriors who invaded Harn came from many diffrent tribes, most of whom had settled in Shorkyne. They were lead by experienced warriors. Few had armour, most had roundshields, some had larger rectangulat fir shields and as a result they where in the early days of the atani-wars at a clear disadvantage when they ecountered defending forces. Spears and Axes where the weapons of choice. The leaders had iron helmets, swords and large shields. None was mounted. Their aim was to plunder
The Phari who came to Harn did not represent a whole comunity, they where warriors, their leaders represented the warrior-aristocracy and the followers where young men who had meager possibilities back home. They had diffrent cultural virtues than the Jarin, they where pridefull, vain, jealous and boastfull. A man's honour was his most important asset, honour was won or lost at the battle field. The Ivinians display many of the social traits the Phari had.
Against my interpretation of the history of the Jarin people on Harn can be argued that it relies on
One should remember thought if one decides that the Elder people did _not_ interact very much, if at all, with the Jarin things in modern Harn needs to be changed. In this case, for example, the Elder people would hardly have fought in the Battle of Sorrows and Daelda wouldn't be dead; since many Kuzdhul who otherwise would be dead then would be alive, Kiraz might still be populated, etc.
If the Sindarin have a flaw it's their pride. They are reluctant to back down on given promises. It seems as they have a pride in their own wisdom, they know that they are able to make decisions that can stand the wear of time. They are unwilling to admit, to themselves and others, that their promise was unwisely given. This trait has caused them considerable grief and sorrows over the years. JRRT's Simarilion is basically all about how the Elves were unable to back down on their proud promises to stay and fight the Enemy until the bitter end . Only when disaster is around the corner do they plea for help, the Enemy is defeated but the 'Land of Lands', the jewel of MiddleEarth sinks below the sea.
All this was known to the Sindarin of Harn, yet Daelda promises his allies the Kuzhdul and the jarin to protect them against the invaders. Already at the very beginning of the Atani-wars must they have known that if the invaders just kept on coming they would be forced to fight for hundreds of years, sacrificing many Sindarin lives. Why? The answer lies many hundred years back in time, when the Sindarin permitted the Jarin to settle Harn and accepted to be the over-lordships of the jarin people, they also accepted the responsibilities as Leaders.
When the Elves chose their Leaders they put in this choice the same pride and loyalty as they do to their promises. Indeed the relationship between Leader and Follower in Elvish society is based on their mutual, unspoken, promises of faith and devotion to each other. The leader accepts certain duties and the followers gives him certain rights and in turn accepts to follow him where he leads. Never does an Sindarin leader rule without listening and following the advice of his followers, if the advice points in opposing directions the leader must decide and the followers must follow. The main difference between Sindarin Leader-Follower relationships and human ones are the lengths to which the Sindarin are prepared to take the consequences of their promises, they simply do not back down on their oaths.
When Daelda accepted to be the Pendragon of Harn and the tribal Kings accepted to be his followers, as far as the Sindarin goes they were eternally locked in an Leader-Follower relation. Since Humans dies the oath would have been renewed by each new tribal King upon his ascension to the 'throne'. This was their bad judgement, if any, from then on they could just wait for the inevitable to happen. The Sindar was forced whether or not they liked it to protect the Jarin from the Atani invaders. This the Sindar did, they built coastal fortresses in SE Harn, they brought out their ancient gear from the wars in MiddleEarth, they thought the Jarin how to fight from horseback, teaching the essential skills to be able to create a cavalry force. The Khuzdul built Keeps at key locations further inland and thought the Jarin infantry tactics.
Still the Sindar must have been aware of that this war could not be won, just slowly lost. But they were forced by the weight of their oaths and by their pride to keep on fighting, but this time there would be no help from the west. Daelda knew that this war was not in the best intrest of his people, but he could not back down on his word, unless he died... If Daelda died his promise would not be valied anymore and his succsessor could chose to end the Sindarin engagment in the war. So the final Battle, the Battle of Sorrows, the 'Nirnaet Androeidad' (means 'Tears Inummerable' and is the name of a disasterous war in MiddleEarth) of Harn where Daelda 'dies' and the Atani are utterly defeated. Daeldas death wouldn't be of much use if it happned in a small sqirmish, better then to give the Jarin some time to build strenght.
The Battle of Sorrows seems to be the only great battle in the entire war, the Sindar must have challanged, insulted, fooled or something else to be able to gather almost the entire war-host of the enemy to the same battle field. In this situation, experience, tactics and good equipment would have been enormously beneficial to the Elder people, they abviously managed to slay a very large number of enemies, the lost many themselve too but seems to have reached their objective - to break the momentum of the Atani attacks. Daelda 'died', it sure seems strange that Daelda died while Aranath his nephew, who should be close to him in battle, survived. Besides one wonders what could possibly harm an Sindarin King...
No, Daelda gave his people peace, he gave a chance of peace to the Jarin, only the Kuzdhul he really betrayed, they would rather have fought to the bitter end...
Daelda is Harns King Arthur, he is the perfect leader who died leading his people in a desperate battle against an vile enemy. The Battle of Sorrows is Harns greatest tragedy, over the years the memories of the Atani-wars have been muddled and the defenders have been turned ito the heroes. Numerous tales are told about Daelda's knights who rides out from his shining castle to save Ladies in distress, kill monsters, chase of Garguns and fight the vile enemy. Daelda and his warriors are viewed in a very romantic way, the rise of feudalism together with influences from the continent has created a new style of romantic ballads where Daelda and his knights are prominent figures.
The official material states that the Sindarin have little of written records and that they rely on oral traditions. In the same time the Sindarin immortality is explained as a continuous regeneration of the cells in the body, even in the brain, with the result that the Sindarin forgets things as time goes. If the cells in the brain regenerates in this fashion they would have to spend a great deal of time relearning things they once knew, resulting in a very slowly developing culture. I imagine that if is the case there would be a strong imperative for saving knowledge in a written form. The Sindarin would simply have dealt with the problem by writing down their oral traditions. To me it's likely that the Sindar relies more on written records than on oral ones.
If one view the Sindarin as mainly spiritual beings (as I personally does) whose 'power' keep their bodies 'young' one still need to understand how they keep track of all the knowledge they have gained over the years. Written works are the solution.
When Daelda became the over-lord of all Jarin he also assumed the responsibility for the well-being of the Humans. As they had done on MiddleEarth the Sindarin began to, carefully and patiently, teach some fundamental skills that the Jarin would need in their new life. They did not want to teach skills which the Jarin did not knew how to handle but at the same time the Jarin needed knowledge of certain skills to not become dependant of the Elder peoples. The Khuzdul would probably have preferred to trade tools, glassware, etc. for foodstuffs but the Sindarin would never had allowed it. The skills that the Jarin learned from the Elder peoples were in the fields of metalcrafting, weaponcrafting, jewelcrafting, gold and silver crafting, house building, bridge building, engineering, wood-craft, agriculture and animalcrafts.
Generally the skills were thought by accepting humans as apprentices, in some cases as with wine making and other agricultural skills a more active method of teaching was employed. The humans who learned the crafts as apprentices came back to their relatives and built their workshops and continued in the traditions they had been toufgt. The humans never had time to acquire the level of skill of their teachers but the sophistication of the basic techniques the learned was and is far superior to what other humans in lythia knows. They also as learned or rather copied the design and layout of the workshops.
Both the Sindar and the Khuzdul have over the years developed the design of their workshops so as to help them produce the itens they want in the most eficcent way. The Sinadrin designs of workshops are elegant, aesthetically attractive, yet their workshops are easy to use. The Sindarin are not primarily interested in the time it takes to finish a project, they are more concerned with beauty. Since the object is to produce a beautiful thing which you can only do if you can envision this beauty and transfer your vision into the object, the workshop should help the crafter create the emotion and feelings he wants to transfer to the object he crafts.
The Khuzan designs are effective, especially cost and space effective and 'clean' they have a no frills approach to their design of the workplace but the designs are meant to help the craftsman do a better job. To a Khuzdul a perfect cube of bronze is more beautiful than a rose, their idea of beauty is to create things nature could not have made. The Khuzan workshops are compact, money is spent on tools and utensils not on the building. Harnic workshops are usually compact, things are placed in a certain way and the crafters movements inside the workshop is almost ritualised, the crafters are aware of that the design is important to their effectiveness as crafters.