Thorin II Oakenshield

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

- The Hobbit: The Return Journey

Thorin Oakenshield was a dwarf, the son of Thráin II and the grandson of King Thrór. Thorin was best known for his deeds as leader of a company that infiltrated the lost Kingdom under the Mountain to take it back from Smaug and for  leading an alliance of men, dwarves, and elves in the Battle of the Five Armies. Thorin valued the Arkenstone as much as a river of gold, like his grandfather.

Biography
In the year TA 2746, Thorin Oakenshield was born to Dwarven prince Thrain II in the mountain city of The Lonely Mountain (Erebor). Early in his youth, he and the other Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain were forced to flee by the dragon Smaug in TA 2770. During the exile, he quickly grew to become a capable warrior. This was demonstrated when he participated in the Battle of Azanulbizar in TA 2799. He marched with one of the dwarven armies beneath the East-gate of Moria. At some point in the fighting, his shield broke, and using a branch he cut off from an oak tree as a shield, he gained the epithet "Oakenshield," which would remain with him even in death.

Thorin eventually became King-in-Exile of Durin's Folk after his father went missing, and presumably died in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. In TA 2941, after receiving a map his father had drawn for him and following advice from Gandalf the Grey, he took a contingent of Twelve dwarves to visit Bilbo Baggins in order to hire him as a burglar for their cause. Thorin's intent was to infiltrate the Lonely Mountain and steal back the treasure from Smaug. The Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf experienced a number of dangers on their journey to the Lonely Mountain, surviving trolls, orcs, wargs, and spiders. He found the legendary sword, Orcrist (Sindarin for Goblin cleaver), in a troll-hoard along with Glamdring (Sindarin for Foe-hammer). Additionally, they were briefly imprisoned by Thranduil, the king of the Wood Elves. After they finally reached the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo discovered Smaug's weakness, and this information eventually resulted in the dragon's defeat.

Following the death of Smaug, the people of Laketown (previously known as Esgaroth) asked Thorin for a share of the treasure, as they wanted recompense for the destruction of their city, a part of Smaug's treasure originated from their former city, and it was Bard the Bowman, a lord of Laketown, who shot the fatal arrow that killed Smaug. Thorin, overwhelmed by greed after recovering his family's riches, and enraged by the presence of Thranduil, refused to share any part of the treasure. Instead, he sent a raven to seek aid from his relative, Dáin II Ironfoot, who had a legion of Dwarven soldiers on the move to secure the reclaimed mountain city.

Meanwhile, Thorin charged his companions with looking for the Arkenstone within the hoard of treasure. However Bilbo had already found the Arkenstone, and subsequently, secretly brought it to Bard and Thranduil to use as a bargaining counter. When Thorin learned of Bilbo's actions he became enraged and denounced his former companion as a traitor.

The growing conflict over the treasure between Dwarves, Wood Elves, and Men, likely to result in bloodshed, was suddenly averted by the approach of Goblin and Warg armies, so they instead joined forces to defeat their common enemies in what was later called the Battle of the Five Armies. During the battle, Thorin led an assault that proved his strength as a leader, striking out from the mountain and providing vital aid as the goblins threatened to overwhelm their foes. He fought courageously, but was mortally wounded in the battle, requiring Beorn to take him to safety.

Before he died, he made his peace with Bilbo by commending the Hobbit's bravery and good character, apologising for his harsh words as he now recognised his comrade's fundamentally benevolent motives. His last words are, "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But, sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell."

Personality
Thorin was smart, proud, brave, intelligent and vengeful. He was infamous for a high sense of importance and rank, but valued very nearly every individual of any status. He was extremely noble and highly respectable with a flair of vanity about him. He was respected by many throughout middle earth.

He shared the greed of his family and had an extensive love for gold, though he valued the welfare of others as well. He was immensely brave and was willing to give himself up for any just cause, though this may be to a limit since the upcome of the Battle of the Five Armies might have come as an exception.



In some cases he could be bitter, sly and aggressive, particularly when faced with the likes of Smaug and Azog, and sometimes even Gandalf. He was very trustworthy and had an exceptional level of honour.

Thorin was a born leader and carried the blood of a true warrior deep within him.

Until the time of his death, he seemed to be cruel, stubborn and vain, and had a very high opinion of value. He was obsessed with possession of the Arkenstone, since it was the heirloom of his family and part of the Mountain itself.

Weapons


Thorin fought using typical Dwarven axes, a bow, and swords as well as an Elven blade called Orcrist, which he had discovered on the journey to the Lonely Mountain. Under Thranduil's imprisonment, the blade had been confiscated by the Wood Elves. At Thorin's burial, Thranduil decided it was more appropriate to place it on Thorin's tomb, and did so, along with the Arkenstone.

Abilities
Thorin was a highly skilled warrior and a capable swordsman. Essentially, he fought with a battle-axe but occasionally fought with his Elven sword, Orcrist. He was capable of holding his own against Azog the Defiler during their first encounter at the Battle of Azanulbizar. He was also a capable archer.

Rankin/Bass films
In the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit, Thorin is voiced by Hans Conreid.

The Hobbit film trilogy
"If this is to end in fire, then we shall all burn together."

- Thorin Oakenshield

In the 2012, 2013, and 2014 live-action films, Thorin is portrayed by Richard Armitage. The studio released the following statement about Thorin in the trilogy:

"'As a young Dwarf Prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when a great fire-breathing dragon attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of the Lonely Mountain. When no one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, a once proud and noble race was forced into exile. Now, as the strong, fearless fighter and respected leader of The Company of Dwarves, Thorin is determined to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that brought such misery upon his people.'"

In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Thorin has a long standing grudge with King Thranduil for not helping his grandfather save Erebor from Smaug and for not offering any aid to the refugees afterward. This makes him extremely bitter toward the elves to the point that he almost rejected Orcrist upon discovering it. Thorin is also seen wielding a short sword called 'Deathless' during the first part of the movie as well as a metal battle-axe

A sub-plot in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) is the orc warlord Azog's pursuit of Thorin, to wipe out the line of Durin. In contrast to Tolkien's mythos, in which Dain Ironfoot beheaded Azog long before the events of The Hobbit, in the movie Thorin slices off Azog's arm at the battle of Azanulbizar and Azog survives to pursue Thorin and Company for revenge during The Quest of Erebor.

As seen in the first film, Thorin earns his epithet Oakenshield during his fight against Azog at the battle of Azanulbizar where he used an oaken branch as both a weapon and shield. In the second film, Thorin has Orcrist taken from him by Legolas following the battle with the spiders of Mirkwood and the party's capture by the wood elves. Thorin would later obtain a human long sword for the raid on Erebor from Lake Town's armory.

Radio
In the BBC's The Hobbit (1968 radio series), he was voiced by John Justin and by Tom Luce in the The Hobbit (1979 radio series) done by The Mind's Eye.

Video games
Thorin is a character that appears in The Hobbit (2003 video game).

He is an important dwarf and "King under the Mountain." He gives Bilbo some of the tasks, such as investigating the mysterious fire-light and opening the doors to the great rooms of the Kingdom under the Mountain. He also tells Bilbo to retrieve the Arkenstone from the locked treasury.

External link


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