[Suzerain of Sheol]

It's kind of interesting contrasting the Men in the Hobbit to those in LotR. The Dale-men seem very provincial, sort of nestled in their little pocket of safety, living these dull little lives on the river. Then you read LotR and the Silm. and realize how incredibly far humans have fallen in this setting from their Numenorean ancestors (who averaged 7 feet tall, built all those indestructible towers and fortresses, had an army that made Sauron at his height surrender on the spot upon seeing it, and included mechanized battleships in their war arsenal).

Granted, though, the Men of Laketown are not, I believe, descended from the Numenoreans, they're more closely linked to the indigenous tribes of Middle-Earth who thought that the Numenoreans were gods when they first landed in Middle-Earth.

It also has to do with the original nature of the Hobbit as a fairy tale not tied very closely (if at all) to Tolkien's legendarium until later.