The merry city of Men in the valley between the arms of the Lonely Mountain, famed for its toy-market, its bells, and its trade with the Dwarves of Erebor. Smaug destroyed it when he took the mountain, and Girion its lord died defending it. Bard, Girion's heir, refounded Dale after the dragon's death, and it grew prosperous again; in the War of the Ring, Men of Dale and Dwarves of Erebor together held out against Sauron's northern host until victory in the south freed them.