Changes: Beorn

Revision as of 04:14, 25 July 2019

"If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer."

—Gandalf the Grey^[1]

Beorn was a Northman, a skin-changer, and a Beorning chieftain who lived in a valley between Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains. His kin had lived in that region during the last centuries of the Third Age, guarding the Ford of Carrock from the Goblins and Wargs.^[1]

Biography

Third Age

Beorn was a warrior with great strength who could turn into a great black bear. In human form he was a tall, black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. Beorn kept many animals at his residence, such as horses, dogs and sheep. His animals were all extremely intelligent; his dogs, for instance, could walk on their hind legs while carrying things with their forelegs, set the table, and able to speak. Beorn's horses could also understand what their master said. Beorn was also capable of speaking in the tongue of beasts, as he could communicate with bears. When he spoke to his dogs, his words sounded like "barks twisted into some form of speech".^[1]

The Quest of Erebor

In the years following the Battle of Five Armies, Beorn became a great chieftain among the folk of the Anduin Vales and his followers became known as the Beornings. At some point he took a wife and sired a son, Grimbeorn, later known as Grimbeorn the Old. Before the War of the Ring, Beorn passed away,^[2] and his son Grimbeorn eventually took over his duties as chieftain.^[3]

Etymology

The name Beorn originates from an Old English term that means "warrior". It is a cognate to the Old Norse bjǫrn which means "bear".^[4]

Character

Despite being incredibly powerful, Beorn respects all life forms, with the absolute exception of Goblins and Wargs. He has a magic-like effect on his animals, who seemed to be more intelligent and strong than other animals. He keeps bee pastures and spends his nights patrolling the woods and mountains in the form of a bear. He is wise, mysterious and powerful, possessing incredible strength and durability. He is fairly decent, as he allows Thorin and Company to stay at his home for a short while and even offers them sanctuary from the Goblins. He is also vengeful. When Thorin is fatally wounded, he storms the Goblin ranks, rescues Thorin and then returns, destroying the Goblins and killing Bolg himself.

Portrayal in adaptations

The Hobbit film trilogy

Hobit - Šmakova dračí poušť (2013) CZ 1080pHD-16-20-21- — Beorn portrayed in his human form

Beorn is portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt in the films The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies. His appearance in the films is quite different than his description in the book and portrayals in other media. In the films, he has greyish-brown hair, a forked beard, shackles on his left arm, and a mane of hair growing as a ridge down the length of his back. Beorn mentioned his fellow Shape Shifters, who once lived in the mountains before Azog the Defiler came down from the north and killed or enslaved many of his people for sport. Beorn escaped the terrible fate of his kin (explaining the shackles on his arm), and claims that he is the last of his kind. He gives them horses to reach Mirkwood and provides escort to protect them from roaming Orcs. Beorn appears to be aware of the dark presence in Dol Guldur as he knows of an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer, whom he calls the Sorcerer, in Dol Guldur. Packs of Orcs have been seen gathering in the fortress with their numbers increasing every day. Beorn also knows that the Necromancer is not what he seems to be and that dark and foul things are drawn to his power, not to mention Azog's allegiance to him. He also heard word spread of the dead rising and walking near the High Fells of Rhudaur. He asked Gandalf if there actually were tombs in those mountains and Gandalf confirms the tombs as Beorn remembered a time when a great evil ruled the lands and had the power to raise the dead. If that evil had returned, he wished to know from Gandalf.

In The Battle of the Five Armies, he makes a brief cameo during the battle, shifting from man to bear form as he arrives with the Great Eagles, attacking several goblins and wargs. He is later seen at the funeral for Thorin, Fili and Kili.

Beorn watching orcs — Beorn watches Azog's forces.

Beorn's personality is notably different from what it is in the book. Instead of being boisterous and impatient, Beorn is depicted as soft-spoken and collected. Beorn is also said to be in little control of himself in the The Desolation of Smaug, but in the book, he can be tame and gentle as a bear, even following the Dwarves to ensure the return of his ponies when the Dwarves leave his house to go to Mirkwood.

Voice dubbing actors

Foreign Language	Voice dubbing artist
Portuguese (Brazil) (Television/DVD)	Bruno Rocha
Spanish (Latin America)	Octavio Rojas
Spanish (Spain)	Ricky Coello
Italian (Italy)	Paolo Marchese
German	David Nathan
Polish	Zbigniew Konopka
Czech	Miloš Vávra
Français	Miglen Mirtchev

Trivia

In the early film concepts, Beorn's bear form was rather monstrous, looking more like a Troll or Orc.
In The Desolation of Smaug Beorn states that he "remembers" Sauron's heyday, four hundred years ago. His wording makes it unclear whether he lived during that time or if his people passed down stories of the Dark Lord's reign.
At one point in film development, Beorn was intended to play a part in the Dol Guldur story-line, as speculated from his appearance in a LEGO set, 79011 "Dol Guldur Ambush".
Björn Kurtén was famous for his studies on Cave Bears, very large, extinct bear species. Interestingly, his name Bjorn is identical to the etymology of Beorn's name noted above.

Gallery

Swedish poster for "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Beorn attacking orcs, by JMKilpatrick

Beorn and Bolg by moth-eatn

Beorn, by Ted Nasmith

Beorn

File:Beorn.png

Beorn

File:Beorn1.jpg

Art for Beorn by Brothers Hildebrandt

Translations around the world

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	በኦርን
Arabic	بيورن
Armenian	Բեորն
Belarusian Cyrillic	Беорн
Bengali	বেয়ার্ন
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Беорн
Burmese	ဗေဩရ္န္
Chinese (Hong Kong)	比翁
Czech	Medděd
Georgian	ბეორნი
Greek	Μπέορν
Gujarati	બેઓર્ન
Icelandic	Björn
Japanese	ビヨルン ("Biyorun") / ビヨン ("Biyon")
Kannada	ಬೆಒರ್ನ್
Kazakh	Беорн (Cyrillic) Beorn (Latin)
Korean	베오른
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Бэорн
Laotian	ບເໂຣນ
Macedonian Cyrillic	Беорн
Marathi	भेओर्न
Mongolian Cyrillic	Беорн
Nepalese	बेओर्न
Persian	بهورن ?
Punjabi	ਬੇਓਰ੍ਨ
Thai	บีออร์น
Russian	Беорн
Serbian	Беорн (Cyrillic) Beorn (Latin)
Sinhalese	බෙඔර්න්
Slovak	Grizlo (Books only)
Tajik Cyrillic	Беорн
Tamil	பெஒர்ந்
Telugu	బెఒర్న
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Беорн
Urdu	بیورن
Uzbek	Беорн (Cyrillic) Beorn (Latin)
Yiddish	בעאָרן

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 The Hobbit, Chapter VII: "Queer Lodgings"
↑ The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144, (dated 25 April 1954)
↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. II: "The Council of Elrond"
↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 1: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, I: "The Cottage of Lost Play"

[queer-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 The Hobbit, Chapter VII: "Queer Lodgings"

[2] The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144, (dated 25 April 1954)

[3] The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. II: "The Council of Elrond"

[4] The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 1: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, I: "The Cottage of Lost Play"

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 {{Quote|If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer.|Gandalf the Grey<ref name=queer/>}}
-'''Beorn''' was a [[Northmen|Northman]], a [[Skin-changer]], and a [[Beorning]] chieftain. Beorn's kin once inhabited the [[Vales of Anduin|North]] of the [[Anduin]] valley between the [[Misty Mountains]] and [[Mirkwood]] during the last centuries of the [[Third Age]]. They guarded the [[Carrock|Ford of Carrock]] from the [[Goblins]] and [[Wargs]].<ref name="queer">''[[The Hobbit]]'', Chapter VII: "[[Queer Lodgings]]"</ref>
+'''Beorn''' was a [[Northmen|Northman]], a [[skin-changer]], and a [[Beorning]] chieftain who lived in a valley between [[Mirkwood]] and the [[Misty Mountains]]. His kin had lived in that region during the last centuries of the [[Third Age]], guarding the [[Carrock|Ford of Carrock]] from the [[Goblins]] and [[Wargs]].<ref name="queer">''[[The Hobbit]]'', Chapter VII: "[[Queer Lodgings]]"</ref>
 == Biography ==
 === Third Age ===
-Beorn was a warrior with great strength who could turn into a great black [[bear]]. In human form, he appeared as a tall, black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. Beorn kept many animals at his residence, such as [[horses]], [[dog]]s and sheep. His animals were all extremely intelligent; his dogs, for instance, could walk on their hind legs while carrying things with their forelegs, set the table, and able to speak. Beorn's horses could also understand what their master said. Beorn was also capable of speaking in the tongue of beasts, as he could communicate with bears. When he spoke to his dogs, his words sounded like "barks twisted into some form of speech".<ref name="queer" />
+Beorn was a warrior with great strength who could turn into a great black [[bear]]. In human form he was a tall, black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. Beorn kept many animals at his residence, such as [[horses]], [[dog]]s and sheep. His animals were all extremely intelligent; his dogs, for instance, could walk on their hind legs while carrying things with their forelegs, set the table, and able to speak. Beorn's horses could also understand what their master said. Beorn was also capable of speaking in the tongue of beasts, as he could communicate with bears. When he spoke to his dogs, his words sounded like "barks twisted into some form of speech".<ref name="queer" />
 ==== The Quest of Erebor ====
-[[File:Beorn_in_bear_form.png|thumb|342px|Beorn chases the Dwarves.]]
 In the years following the Battle of Five Armies, Beorn became a great chieftain among the folk of the Anduin Vales and his followers became known as the [[Beornings]]. At some point he took a wife and sired a son, [[Grimbeorn]], later known as Grimbeorn the Old. Before the [[War of the Ring]], Beorn passed away,<ref>''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', Letter 144, (dated 25 April 1954)</ref> and his son Grimbeorn eventually took over his duties as chieftain.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]], [[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Book Two, Ch. II: "[[The Council of Elrond (chapter)|The Council of Elrond]]"</ref>
@@ Line 42: / Line 40: @@
 === The Hobbit film trilogy ===
-[[File:Hobit_-_Šmakova_dračí_poušť_(2013)_CZ_1080pHD-16-20-21-.JPG|thumb|left|260px|Beorn in his human form.]]
+[[File:Hobit_-_Šmakova_dračí_poušť_(2013)_CZ_1080pHD-16-20-21-.JPG|thumb|left|260px|Beorn portrayed in his human form]]
 Beorn is portrayed by [[Mikael Persbrandt]] in the films ''[[The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug|The Desolation of Smaug]]'' and ''[[The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies|The Battle of the Five Armies]]. ''His appearance in the films is quite different than his description in the book and portrayals in other media. In the films, he has greyish-brown hair, a forked beard, shackles on his left arm, and a mane of hair growing as a ridge down the length of his back. Beorn mentioned his fellow [[Shape Shifters]], who once lived in the mountains before [[Azog|Azog the Defiler]] came down from the north and killed or enslaved many of his people for sport. Beorn escaped the terrible fate of his kin (explaining the shackles on his arm), and claims that he is the last of his kind. He gives them horses to reach Mirkwood and provides escort to protect them from roaming Orcs. Beorn appears to be aware of the dark presence in [[Dol Guldur]] as he knows of an alliance between the Orcs of [[Moria]] and the [[Necromancer]], whom he calls the Sorcerer, in Dol Guldur. Packs of Orcs have been seen gathering in the fortress with their numbers increasing every day. Beorn also knows that the Necromancer is not what he seems to be and that dark and foul things are drawn to his power, not to mention Azog's allegiance to him. He also heard word spread of the [[Nazgûl|dead]] rising and walking near the [[High Fells of Rhudaur]]. He asked Gandalf if there actually were tombs in those mountains and Gandalf confirms the tombs as Beorn remembered a time when a [[Sauron|great evil]] ruled the lands and had the power to raise the dead. If that evil had returned, he wished to know from Gandalf.