HABAN ❤

Okay, from my ‘Meet a Dwarrowdam’ blurbs:

Haban daughter of Hara
Haban was a successful Firebeard merchant who traded from theIron Hills to Ered Luin and back. She met Gróin son of Farin, a young nobleman,
on a stop at Erebor and they instantly fell in love. Haban had the bright and
abundant red hair of her people, which passed down to her son Glóin and
grandchildren Gimli and Gimrís. She was very canny, aggressively competitive
and liked driving a hard bargain. It was Haban who first instilled an interest
in banking and financial matters in Glóin’s head. She was also an axe-dancer of
some repute, and could spin as many as four at one time. Haban was killed when
Smaug attacked Erebor in 2770 TA.

Streetwise, proudly Firebeard, shrewd, savvy and direct, Haban is a real firecracker! She loves to haggle, and would happily spend all day trading just for the joy of the competition. She doesn’t much mind winning, either 😉

She was a trader in luxury items such as fancy textiles, copperware, jewellery, wine and other such things. She liked a drop or two herself. Red wine please. 

She was a great student of human Dwarven nature, and would study people closely. She liked knowing what they wanted, what they were willing to part with, what they weren’t saying. Never play poker with Haban!

She fell in love with Gróin entirely by accident. He was trying to haggle for one of the fine cloaks she had for sale. She refused his price – couldn’t he see the clasps? – and didn’t think twice about him. But he came back, with a sliiiiiightly better price. She still refused. He came back to her cart seven times that day, each time with a better offer… but it still didn’t tempt her. However, she did notice that the (annoyingly insistent) Dwarf was sort of funny, in a gruff, twinkly way. And he had nice hands. And he had a gorgeous beard. 

She missed him the next day, as she packed up her cart and retrieved her ponies. He hadn’t shown up, and she was almost regretting not parting with the cloak. Still, she had done the right thing by her business. Why, what would be said if it were known that Haban daughter of Hara, sharpest trader in all Middle-Earth, were to go about underselling things? Her reputation amongst her suppliers would be destroyed. No, she had done the right thing. 

Just as she was leaving…

He came back. With an offer of dinner.

She accepted. 

And then, their boys. She taught them both the dances and songs of her people, nearly lost now. Haban is a famous axe-dancer (the great art-form of the Firebeards), and a fierce defender of her clan. Oin was instantly captured by the history of it all. He was such a little scholar: he loved hearing tales of greatness, of mighty halls and far-off lands. He discovered healing that way, through poring through texts about the distant Dwarves of the Red Mountains. 

Gloin was very like Haban in spirit: financially savvy, competitive and prickly. But so, SO loyal, and affectionate to a fault. He would go all-out, tiny fists flying, at anyone who dared suggest that his father had somehow married beneath him. Or worse – attacked their Firebeard heritage. 

Haban wasn’t as smothering as many Dwarven mums can be! She let her boys discover themselves, and helped them along the way. She was a great advocate of learning from mistakes. 

Though she outwardly rolls her eyes, she is very quietly and secretly rooting for her husband every time he begins one of his silly competitions with his brother Fundin 😉

Check out cybermanolo‘s brilliant pic of Haban here!