Thrór

Thrór was a King of Durin's Folk, the son of Dáin I and the father of Thráin II, the brother of Frór, and Grór, the grandfather of Thorin II Oakenshield, Frerin, and Dis, and the great-grandfather of Fíli and Kíli.

Biography


In early life, Thrór and his family lived in the dragon-plagued Grey Mountains. In TA 2589, when their halls came under attack by Cold-drakes, his father Dáin I and younger brother Frór were both slain at their gates by a great Cold-Drake. Thrór inherited the kingship. He and his youngest brother Grór resolved to divide their folk: Thrór led a small portion of the House of Durin to recolonize Erebor where they rediscovered the Arkenstone. Grór led the greater portion of Durin's Folk further east to the Iron Hills where he founded his own kingdom. Under Thrór's leadership, Erebor prospered for over a century. Eventually the wealth of the kingdom attracted the attention of the dragon known as Smaug, who flew south and destroyed the kingdom, killing hundreds of Dwarves and driving away Thrór and his family, and thousands of other surviving dwarves. The majority of the survivors migrated to the Iron Hills, but some followed King Thrór, his son Thráin II, and grandson Thorin Oakenshield west into a long and homeless wandering. They eventually settled in the hills of Dunland where they made a living as best they could.

Twenty years later, in TA 2790, Thrór was now old, poor, and desperate. He gave to his son Thráin II the last of the Seven Rings and a map of the Lonely Mountain. He then left his people and journeyed away north with a single companion called Nár. They crossed over the Misty Mountains through the Redhorn Pass and then came south again, crossing the Silverlode into the valley of Azanulbizar beneath the East Gate of Moria. When they arrived, the gate was open. Nár begged Thrór to beware but Thrór disregarded his pleas and proudly entered Moria as its returning heir, but he did not come back.

Nár waited and hid nearby for many days. One day he heard a great shout, followed by the blast of a horn, and a body was flung out onto the steps. It was indeed the body of Thrór, as Nár had feared. Then a voice called out to him from just inside the gate. Rather than being killed as well, Nár was instead made use of as a messenger. He was told to deliver a warning that 'beggars' who would not wait at the doors but instead entered to attempt thieving, would meet a similar fate. Nár was told to bring this message back to his people. But that was not all: the voice proclaimed that he now ruled Moria, and if any wanted to know who was king, he had written his name on the beggar's face. Thrór's head lay severed next to his body. Nár turned it over and found branded across the forehead, written in Dwarven runes, a name that would be branded in the hearts of all Dwarves: Azog. He was barred from retrieving the head of Thrór and was struck with a pouch containing a few coins of little worth, which Azog referred to as a 'fee', but it was meant as a final insulting gesture. Nár took the pouch and fled down the Silverlode. When he looked back, Orcs had emerged from the gate and were hacking apart Thrór's body and flinging the pieces to the black crows.

This was the tale that Nár brought back to Thráin II when he returned to Dunland weeks later. After seven days of sitting in silent grief, Thráin at last stood up and declared that this atrocity would be answered. This was the beginning of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, although it took up three years for the Dwarves to gather their full forces. Several years later, Dain Ironfoot, son of Nain, beheaded Azog and mounted the Orc's head on a stick. The pouch of coins was stuffed into Azog's mouth. Thorin, Thrór's grandson, hated Azog ever since.

The Hobbit film trilogy
In the 2012 live-action film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Thrór is portrayed by Welsh actor Jeffrey Thomas.

In that film's story line (a significant departure from Tolkien's version), as recounted by Balin, Thrór leads the Dwarves forces at the Battle of Azanulbizar, where the displaced Dwarves of Lonely Mountain attempt to reclaim Moria and meet an army of Orcs led by Azog. However, Thrór is killed and beheaded in hand-to-hand combat with Azog, resulting in his son, Thráin II, going mad with grief and disappearing, while Thorin II Oakenshield is enraged enough to challenge the Defiler. With nothing but a sword and a small oak branch as a shield, he succeeds in partially avenging his grandfather's death by cutting off Azog's hand and turning the tide of the battle.

In all three films, Thrór is partially blamed for the coming of Smaug, having become so greedy and overtaken with lust for gold that his massive hoard eventually draws the dragon to the Lonely Mountain. In deleted scenes from the first film, Elrond describes the gold-lust as a hereditary disease of Durin's line, and Thorin is shown worrying about whether he has inherited his grandfather's "sickness." In the second film, Thranduil claims to have warned Thrór about the dangers of amassing so much gold, but the dwarf refused to listen; likewise, Balin warns Thorin that a "sickness" lies upon Thrór's hoard, and Balin fears it will drive Thorin mad as it did Thrór. These words come back to haunt Thorin in the third film, when Thorin finally sees that he has succumbed to his grandfather's sickness, before casting off his crown and rallying the Company to join the other factions fighting against Azog's army.

Personality
Thrór was truly a son of Durin: powerful, honorable, and proud in his own right. However, in time his love of gold had grown far too fierce and he began spending endless hours fawning over his rivers of treasure. It was this obsession and vast treasure that attracted the unwanted attention of Smaug, the greatest fire-drake of the Third Age. Like many Dwarf lords it can be presumed that he was stout in body as he was in spirit, albeit quite greedy. This greed can be attributed, no doubt, to the effects of his ring of power which brooded a great lust for gold within their Dwarven bearers. This greed even lead to the spurning of King Thranduil, and the eventual souring of their relationship.

Appearances

 * The Hobbit (first mentioned)
 * The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (first appearance)
 * The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (mentioned only)
 * LEGO The Hobbit: The Video Game