Thorin II Oakenshield

"Farewell, Master Burglar; go back to your books, your armchair, your fireplace. Plant your trees, watch them grow. If more of us valued home above gold, it would be a merrier world."

- The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Thorin II, called Oakenshield was the son of Thráin II, older brother of Frerin and Dís 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.

Biography


In the year TA 2746, Thorin II was born to Dwarven prince Thrain II in the mountain city of The Lonely Mountain. 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 an oaken tree branch found on the floor 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.

Quest for the Lonely Mountain


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, in a troll-hoard along with Glamdring. In Rivendell, the Company rested and Elrond translated the moon runes in Thror's Map. During their journey through Mirkwood, Thorin and his Company encountered spiders and were later imprisoned by the Elvenking Thranduil. They escaped through barrels and they traveled down to Lake-town.

Thorin and Company were greeted warmly by the people of Lake-Town and hailed the return of the King under the Mountain. They soon reached the Lonely Mountain and the Dwarves sent Bilbo who converses with Smaug. Realizing that the Lake-Men must have helped the intruders, an enraged Smaug flew towards Lake-town to take revenge on the Lake-Men. There he was killed by Bard the Bowman who pierced the bare spot on Smaug's left breast.

Following the death of Smaug, the people of Laketown 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 a lord of Lake-Town, 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, vengeful and a bit stubborn. 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 upcoming of the Battle of the Five Armies might have come as an exception.

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. 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 will 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.

In the first two films, Thorin is seen with different kinds of weapons aside Orcrist; he wields an axe, swords, bow, and an oaken branch. In the films, he is portrayed rather friendly, but hostile to the Elves and suspicious of Bilbo. However in film two, he becomes more determined to gain the Arkenstone and the treasure. This led to him becoming increasingly determined to have it, even willing to let Bilbo die rather than risk the quest fail. When Balin realized that Thorin was not himself, he believed that the sickness had fallen onto his companion and convinced him to enter. When he learned that Bilbo didn't have the Arkenstone, he menacingly walked towards him and put the sword out towards him, as if he intended to kill him, only to be stopped when he noticed Smaug.

In the final film, Balin recognises that Thorin has utterly succumbed to dragon sickness, and confides this tearfully to Bilbo. Thorin even begins to talk like Smaug, slowly, stressing sibilant syllables. He repeatedly berates and shouts at his followers, almost strangling Bilbo to death on the revelation that he gave the Arkenstone to Bard and Thranduil and later banishes and threatens to kill Dwalin. When the battle breaks out, he refuses to help the elves, men of Dale, or even his cousin Dain against the Orcs, and he barricades himself in the mountain, along with his company, who by now clearly follow his orders out of loyalty alone rather than love.

However, he eventually comes to his senses, casting off his grandfather's crown and robes, he leads his relieved company to reinforce Dain's forces who rally around their rightful King and push back against the Orcs. It becomes clear, however, that they are nonetheless outnumbered, and the departure of King Thranduil renders the defenders even weaker. Thorin decides to take his best warriors, Dwalin, Kili and Fili, and go to Ravenhill, intending to kill Azog and plunge the Orcs into disarray, perhaps securing victory. However, upon finding the Orcish command post upon Ravenhill's ruined towers seemingly abandoned, Thorin, wary of the situation, sends Fili and Kili to scout the towers, warning them not to engage. Bilbo then arrives, too late, warning Thorin that he is caught in an ambush. Fili is trapped by Orcs and turned over to Azog, who reveals himself to Thorin, impaling Fili and throwing him from the top of one of the towers. Thorin enters, intending to rescue Kili, who is instead impaled by Bolg. Thorin himself only survives due to assistance from Legolas, who kills Bolg. Thorin finally shows down with Azog on the edge of a frozen waterfall. Wielding a brick on a chain as a morning star, Azog eventually smashes the ice, only to fall into the water and seemingly drown due to the weight of his own weapon. However, Azog floats back to the surface, and stabs Thorin in the foot from under the ice. While he is incapacitated, Azog re-emerges, fatally wounding him in the chest, only to be stabbed by Thorin in turn, who completely impales Azog, killing him immediately. Thorin survives long enough to be found by Bilbo and has time to say a final farewell and succumbs to his wounds by the time the rest of his company arrives.

Radio
In the BBC's The Hobbit 1968 radio series, he was voiced by John Justin and by Tom Luce in the 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.

Trivia



 * In Gene Deitch's film adaptation in 1966, Thorin II Oakenshield was actually a human and a general and was one of three survivors in Erebor and Esgaroth along with 'Princess Mika'.

External link


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