The gate-guards,[1] otherwise known as orc-guards[2] or goblin-guards, were a group of Northern Orcs that guarded the Goblin-gate on the eastern side of the Misty Mountains.[3] There may have been gate-guards at the gates of other Orc-holds.
History[]
Orcs evidently first began being stationed as gate-guards when they tunneled out what was later called Goblin-town deep within the Misty Mountains, during their great increases in number between the years TA 2060 and TA 2480. These gate-guards were led by a single captain.[3] A great stone door was built and guarded[3] as a means of escape in an emergency and as access to the Lands Beyond.[1] The room that the gate-guards were stationed in was somewhat small in size. There was "a big barrel" that the gate-guards had drinks in.[3]
In the year TA 2941, the gate-guards failed at their task when Thorin and Company escaped through the Goblin-gate by dashing through them.[1] Shortly afterwards, Bilbo Baggins, pursued by Gollum, encountered them as they were on high alert. They saw him and Bilbo just managed to dodge past many of them and squeeze through the door, before losing a few of his buttons in the process. After "picking up his nice brass buttons on the doorstep", the gate-guards tried in vain to pursue Baggins, but eventually gave up and went back to the Goblin-gate where they and continued to guard the door.[3]
In adaptations[]
From non-canon The Hobbit: The Prelude to The Lord of the Rings (2003 video game)
Far larger and fiercer than their fellow goblins, the Goblin Guard are the largest and most vicious goblins of the Misty Mountains. These Orcs use scimitars and tower shields in combat, often retreating after attacking. They are first seen in the Dreamworld before appearing later on alongside Goblin Mages in Riddles in the Dark where they have captured Balfor the Dwarf. Bilbo Baggins frees him from the Goblin Guard captain, Ugslap, before being shown the way out by the Dwarf but mistakenly ending up in Gollum's cave. The Goblin Guard also appear in "A Warm Welcome" and "The Clouds Burst" story missions.
The capitalization of the term Goblin Guard was made for The Hobbit: The Prelude to The Lord of the Rings 2003 video game, and as such are non-canonical.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Hobbit, chapter VI: "Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Prologue", 4. Of the Finding of the Ring
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Hobbit, chapter V: "Riddles in the Dark"