At the end of The Hobbit, Bilbo returns home to Bag End where he resides there for the
next sixty years. But within those sixty years, what happened to the remaining dwarves of
Erebor and what was the fate of Thorin’s company?
[INTRO]
Of course at the end of the Hobbit novel, we know Thorin, Fili and Kili had been killed
on the battlefield in the last chapter, Chapter 19: The Last Stage. But the way they died
in the Battle of the Five Armies was far more dramatic than in the book. Instead of Azog
murdering each one, one by one, and having Tauriel cry over Kili, the two brothers died
attempting to protect their uncle. And Thorin Oakenshield had died on his deathbed asking
Bilbo to forgive him and told him almost the same thing he did in Peter Jackson’s film,
"if more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier
world." And even though Thorin no longer had Orcrist
in his possession, Thranduil had placed it on his tomb and Bard returned the Arkenstone
by placing it on Thorin’s chest. If they had shown this in the movie, it would have
further improved on all three of their character arcs. It would have shown that even though
they were at war with each other, in the end they also learnt to respect one another.
And unless you’ve seen the extended cuts, you wouldn’t even know of Thorin’s funeral
or that Dain Ironfoot becomes the new King under the Mountain, which I think should have
at least been included in the theatrical cut. But what happened specifically to the rest
of them? Most of this is mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring novel. But after the
credits of The Battle of the Five Armies roll, Dain continued to reign, they gained riches
and Dale was rebuilt and restored. And in T.A. 2989, Balin decided to go on an expedition
to Moria with a group of other dwarves. There they had hoped to reclaim it and find Thrór’s
Ring. The Ring of Thrór or originally known as the Ring of Durin was one of the seven
rings given to the dwarf lords as mentioned in the opening of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
These rings were used to gain wealth and help further increase their riches. And eventually
Thrór’s Ring was given to his son, Thráin II. Balin and the others did not know this
however, and still went searching for it as they thought it was lost in Moria when Azog
had killed Thrór. Once they reached Moria, and the dwarves were
able to reclaim it, Balin became the Lord of Moria and there they decided to stay there
to explore and retrieve many lost treasures. But this was short lived, because five years
later on 10th November T.A. 2994, an army of orcs had emerged and Balin was shot by
an orc archer. Some of the dwarves, like Óin, attempted to make their escape through the
Doors of Durin but they ended up getting killed by the Watcher in the Water. Then the few
that survived had closed themselves off in the Chamber of Mazarbul where Balin's body
was placed in a tomb. There, Ori wrote in the final pages of the Book of Mazarbul and
there, they also eventually took The Last Stand of Balin’s Colony.
In The Fellowship of the Ring: Book II: Chapter 2: The Council of Elrond, there is a lot of
discussion there. Glóin tells them that the dwarves ventured into Moria where they would
send word often to Erebor (which suddenly came to a halt), but before they took their
leave, Dain did not approve of them going but he also knew he couldn’t stop them.
Glóin also told them: "Then about a year ago a messenger came to
Dáin, but not from Moria - from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Dáin to
his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he
would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits,
of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. "For Sauron knows," said he, "that one of
these was known to you on a time." (The Fellowship of the Ring: Book II: Chapter 2: The Council
of Elrond) Here, he tells them that a messenger of Sauron
(presumably a Nazgul) came looking for Bilbo and so Gloin was sent to warn Bilbo of this
and to seek Elrond’s council as to what this is all about and what it could mean for
Erebor and Dale. Shortly after, Gandalf reveals the actual
fate of the Ring of Durin: “Balin will find no ring in Moria,” said
Gandalf. “Thrór gave it to Thráin his son, but not Thráin to Thorin. It was taken
with torment from Thráin in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. I came too late.” (The Fellowship
of the Ring: Book II: Chapter 2: The Council of Elrond)
So after finding out what exactly the dwarves were up to during the War of the Ring, their
contributions didn’t end quite there. Because both Dain and King Brand (Bard the
Bow-man’s grandson) had refused to join Sauron and his forces, Sauron sent the Easterlings
to attack Dale (the same time Sam was rescuing Frodo from Cirith Ungol). Together the armies
of Erebor and Dale fought against them, but three days later, both Kings were killed.
And when it seemed that the Easterlings had the upper hand during the Siege of Erebor,
they fled to the East when they had heard the news of the victories in the South. And
thus, the princes Thorin III (as known as Thorin Stonehelm) and Bard II became the new
kings, which I think beautifully parallels the kings during the end of The Hobbit.
So that is what we know of the dwarves and their fates, and as for the ones not mentioned
in this video, it is not clear exactly what happened to them. But if you enjoyed this
video, remember to please give it a ‘like’, comment down below, subscribe and ‘light
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of the 25% off code ‘MEL21’ on Teespring, you have until tomorrow. But anyway, thanks
for watching and until our next meeting, I bid you farewell and a Happy Durin’s Day!