men of middle-earth ❅ northmen ❅ headcanon disclaimer
Bain was the son of Bard the Bowman, and the second King of Dale. He was only a youth when Lake-town was destroyed by Smaug, and survived the following Battle of the Five Armies alongside his sisters. In the aftermath, his father was crowned the King of Dale, making Bain a prince, and as he grew into a young man he settled into the mantle of Bard’s heir, learning how to rule his people well. The wife of Bain was Iona, a woman whose family had dwelt on a small island in the Long Lake separate from the settlement of Esgaroth. When the dragon’s corpse crashed into the lake, the island was swallowed up by the waters, forcing them to flee with their infant daughter Iona to the shore and integrate into the people of Lake-town. Bain’s sister Tilda befriended the family, and it was through her that he met Iona when she had become a woman. Their love was simple and happy, and they were married in the summer of Iona’s twenty-first year. Iona bore Bain several children, the eldest of which was Brand, his grandfather Bard’s pride and joy. When Bard passed away, Brand resolved to carry his memory in his heart forever, and when he married the wise-woman Helka, he gave his grandfather’s name to their first son. Bain ruled wisely for thirty years before he too passed on, and Brand succeeded his father as King of Dale. Brand extended the borders of his realm to the south and east, stopping at Esgaroth, which remained a settlement independent of Dalish rule. But though his people were glad to have more land on which to farm, and his new subjects were grateful for his protection, Brand’s kingship would be marked by hardship as the War of the Ring loomed on the horizon. When the a messenger of Sauron came to Erebor, he spoke also to Brand, who was shaken by the encounter though he remained firm in his refusal to submit to the Dark Lord. Brand prepared for the war gathering on his eastern borders, and when Sauron’s armies of orcs and Easterlings crossed the River Carnen he retreated into Dale. He held a siege for three days, but in the end his enemies broke through and slew both him and the dwarven-king Dáin II Ironfoot in the Battle of Dale. The refugees of dale were driven into Erebor where they were once again besieged alongside Durin’s Folk. They held out valiantly against the assault for seven days until the news of Sauron’s defeat arrived in the North, whereupon Dáin’s son Thorin III and Brand’s son Bard II rode out once more to rout their foes from their land. In the aftermath, Thorin and Bard both ascended to their respective thrones, swearing friendship and brotherhood with one another as their forefathers had failed to do, ushering in a new era of peace and cooperation between Erebor and Dale.
