I'm running my group through The Marsh Bell tomorrow night. I'd like to come up with some lore to add flavor. Specifically, I'd like to come up with some historical/anthropological tidbits to drop if the players make any lore related rolls regarding the ruins in the Marsh. I'm a Tolkien fan, but not an expert. Does anyone have any ideas I can hint at regarding the story behind the ruins, the bell itself, or the marsh dwellers? It'd be nice to come up with something that relates in some way to Middle Earth history.

You may already be planning this but I would allow a Song roll recall the poem The Mewlips, on which the scenario is based. It is by JRR Tolkien but it's written as an old Hobbit poem. If you do some research in the poem (on Google) there some discussion about where the Mewlips is situated which includes details of the Marshes. They aren't really detailed by Tolkien though, but there were some cool tidbits for inspiration.

THis is the one I have
The Mewlips

sorry have delelted it...

Can that be placed in a spoiler block?

had a senior moment there - sorry

No probs.

Yes, I'm using the Mewlips poem. What I'm looking for on top of that is some historical lore regarding the ruins and the bell (and maybe the marsh dwellers). Like, who are the people who originally built the ruins. I understand that such lore probably doesn't actually exist. I was hoping someone could help me make something up.

That's a tricky question. Rhovanion region suffered some Eaterling invasions and since the place and the bell are evil, I'd give them an Easterling origin.

From Wikipedia:

So, in T.A. 1851 and before we have the cursed city in lands ruled by Easterlings (probably men of Rhûn since they are so close). Maybe the bell is related to the dark religion created by Sauron with him as the only true God (as Melkor did before him). The building could be a temple, the mewlips the former priests, cursed to stay within by somebody they sacrifice and the bell a powerful artifact of Sorcery.

Or you can give the city a even older origin, making it Dúnedain and dating from T.A. 13th century. From the Wiki again:

Then, when the city was taken by enemies (maybe the Witch-king himself) someone placed a curse upon it.

Also, you can mix both stories making it a cursed placed where the easterlings set a temple for the dark religion...

Anyway, this would be old lore and probably the only knowledge about it would be among the Easterlings and maybe the Elves of Mirkwood to a lesser level.

Just my two cents.

As said, if you Google the Mewlips poem and where it may be referring to, you should get some interesting speculation on just that.

This is very helpful guys. Thanks

There was a previous thread which was looking for similar ideas. I can't find it but, one of the things that was suggested was that the Dwellers in the Cellars had somehow been corrupted by the enchantment of the bell. Perhaps they had once been normal men, northmen like the folk of Dale and Esgaroth.
It seems likely that this settlement was flooded by the thaw that followed the Fell Winter but, who is to say when it actually became a ruin? What if the bell was cast from precious metal, stolen from a Dragon's hoard, then disguised with a coting of baser metal to hide it from potential robbers? Similar to the effect of the ring turning Smeagol into Gollum, perhaps the corruption of the gold was not immediate but was insidious and grew over time.

I've been thinking about this and if the Mewlips were in Hobbit songs, it makes sense they were already there when the Hobbits came into Rhovanion migrating from the east.

I can't find the exact date of the migration, but it seems they were already there when Sauron firt came to Amon Lanc (later known as Dol Guldur) in T. A.1000. Since there are Easterlings invasions as soon as T.A. 400, I suppose they should have come before.

Halbarad I didn't know the old threat, but I like the idea the origin of the greedy Mewlips is linked to the origin of the curse. So, I have a new idea...

One of my players, role playing the dwarf, asked about the architecture of the ruins. I told him they were of an ancient Gondorian style probably from the time Gondor's empire spread into Rhovanion.

The bell, which strangely nobody asked about, I assumed wasn't an original feature due to its position in the chimney.

One of the things that attracts me to Middle Earth as a setting is the sense of history the setting has.

You already have some great feedback on lore, but if you haven't seen this adaptation of the poem, it adds some flavor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ntMbUEjf0