Rothgar was the greatest of the elder dragons and lived in Tarnberyth. Rothgar led a relatively easy, unchallenged life and accumulated much power. His only threat came from the Elven people. The peaceful Elves seemed to shrug off the hardships he imposed and prosper despite his attempts to destroy them.
After helping Naymakh and Zastek kill the dragon Brynaldilath, he spent many years exploring Pendaran for Brynaldilath’s hidden hoard. Giving up without finding it, he returned to Tarnberyth to find that the elves had built a fabulous city. Rothgar destroyed the city in a single day, killing most of the elves living there. Rothgar hunted and killed as many of the elves as he could find. To this day, only a handful of elves remain alive.
Rothgar’s power increased and spread as the other dragons died one by one until Rothgar ruled Tarnberyth, Pendaran and the Stonelands. His reign was bought to an end by the Tamaraith hero Erryn Surehand. Erryn had been an adventurer for many years. Tales say he had traveled the length and breadth of the continent. After an absence of thirty years he returned to the highlands with a band of faithful followers intent on slaying the last of the elder dragons. The battle against Rothgar is detailed in the famous bardic epic ‘Erryn’s Saga’.
After a long battle, in which many of Erryn’s band were killed, Erryn finally slew Rothgar with his spear Cewyr (the ancient Tamaraith word for ‘slayer’). Rothgar body crashed into the Lythdaen mountains. Tremors rent the earth, cracking the mountains in two leaving a great valley between them, now known as the Vale of Erryn. Rothgar was the last of the elder dragons to die and his death heralded the end of the second age.
