Dwarf realms

Throughout the history of Middle-earth, there have been many Dwarf realms. These realms were:


 * Khazad-dȗm. The most famous and greatest of all the dwarf kingdoms. Located in the Misty Mountains, it was the home of the Longbeards. It prospered for thousands of years until the Dwarves awoke the Balrog which drove them from Khazad-dȗm, it was then renamed Moria ("Black Pit" in Sindarin). The Dwarves returned to Moria in the Fourth Age, lead by their leader Durin VII.  It is said that the halls of Khazad-dȗm were filled with the sounds of hammers once again, and was prosperous till the fading of the Dwarven race.


 * Nogrod and Belegost, located in the Blue Mountains. Nogrod was the home of the Firebeards, and Belegost the home of the Broadbeams. Nogrod was completely destroyed during the War of Wrath and Belegost was ruined, leaving the Firebeards and the Broadbeams to either rebuild their halls or, as many did, relocate to Khazad-dȗm in SA 40. The Ered Luin would later become a refuge for much of Durin's folk who established Thorin's Halls during the latter Third Age. However the Firebeards and Broadbeams continued to live their through the Fourth Age, and probably till the diminishing of the race of Dwarves (There were and always will be Dwarves on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains).


 * Exiled Kingdom in the Grey Mountains, were the great halls of which many of Durin's folk relocated to after being exiled from Khazad-dȗm. The Dwarves of the Grey Mountains became very prosperous in their new halls. for over 500 years they mined and defended their halls from the Dragons of the north and the Orcs from the west.  Until, finally Cold-drakes forced them from the mountains, and killed their king Dain I. However, dwarves still remained in the Ered Mithrin throughout the Third and Fourth Age after the core population fled, surviving in whatever mines and halls were remaining. It is possible that the Dwarves returned to the Ered Mithrin, and retook their ancient halls, though Tolkien never states that this happened.


 * The Kingdom under the Mountain, was one of the greatest kingdoms of Dwarves. Located at Erebor, it was founded by Thráin I, but was abandoned by his son, Thorin I.  It was resettled by Thrór but, years later, Smaug sacked the mountain and drove the Dwarves out.  Thorin II Oakenshield refounded the kingdom in TA 2941 at the cost of his life.


 * The Iron Hills, were a range of small mountains rich with iron, inhabited by Durin's folk. It was established after the Dragons forced the Dwarves to leave the Ered Mithrin but was inhabited much earlier during the First Age.


 * The Glittering Caves of Aglarond, were a cave system in the White Mountains behind Helm's Deep. Gimli son of Glóin led a colony there after the War of the Ring. The Glittering Caves became one of the most important realms of the Dwarves at the beginning of the Fourth Age.


 * The Orocarni (Red Mountains), were a mountain range in the far east of Middle-earth, presumably in Rhun. They were inhabited by four of the Dwarf clans, but not much is known about them.


 * Exiled Realm in Dunland was established by Dwarves fleeing from Erebor after it was sacked by Smaug. This is where Thrór departed when he and his companion Nár journeyed to Moria in TA 2790. After the Battle of Azanulbizar, provoked by the Orcs' brutal slaying of Thrór, Thráin II and Thorin led the remnants of their followers back to Dunland but soon left (to eventually settle in the Ered Luin).

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