| Thórin Oakenshield | |
|---|---|
| |
Vital statistics
| |
| Birth | TA 2837 |
| Death | TA 2941 |
| Age | 104 |
| Fate | During the five army battle, Thorin was mortally wounded, but he made his peace with Bilbo before he died. When Thorin died, he was buried with the Arkenstone, and Orcrist was returned and laid upon his tomb. |
Physical attributes
| |
| Hair color | Black (with mix of grey) |
| Eye color | Grayish Blue |
| Gender | Male |
| Weapon | Orcrist |
| Race | Dwarf |
| Actor | Richard Armitage |
Thórin Oakenshield, also known as Thórin II, is the deuteratagonist of The Hobbit trilogy.
He is one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Gandalf) of An Unexpected Journey, before then becoming the deuteragonist of The Desolation of Smaug, and then meets his end as the deuteragonist/central antagonist of The Battle of the Five Armies.
He was the King of Dúrin's Folk. He was the the son of Thráin II and Lagertha, grandson of Thrór, the older brother to Frérin and Dís II, and husband of Lís. Named after Thórin I, Thórin led Dúrin's Folk of the Blue Mountains during their time in exile. In TA 2941 he led the quest for Erebor accompanied by twelve Dwarves, Bilbo Baggins, and Gandalf the Grey; he briefly became King under the Mountain until he perished in the Battle of Five Armies.
History[]
Early life[]
Born in the year TA 2837, Thórin was the elder brother of Frérin and Dís. He and his family lived in the Lonely Mountain where his grandfather, Thrór, ruled the kingdom of Erebor. He eventually married a young dwarf woman named Lís at the age of 43. After his marriage, he and family began to grow suspicious on how Thrór was reacting. They began to realize that Thrór was succumbing to a sickness due to his love for gold, and refused to pay the Elven King Thranduil the gems that his people made.
When the dragon Smaug descended upon the mountain of Erebor in flames, Thórin was with his friend Balin and told him to sound the alarm of what's coming. He yelled at all the dwarves of a dragon that was coming and rallied as many Dwarven soldiers to prepare to fight. After Smaug left the mannish town of Dale in ruins while all the human survivors flee for their lives in terror, Thórin joined his father Thráin at the entrance with a large number of Dwarven foot soldiers that were ready to engage, but their efforts failed. Smaug proved himself to be invincible and many dwarves were who were inside the mountain were killed or injured in the terrible firestorm. Fleeing for their lives, Thórin helped his wounded father as many surviving dwarves flee out of the entrance of the mountain until Thranduil and his elven army arrive and witness the terrible firestorm. Thórin tried to call out to Thranduil to help him and his people, but Thranduil would not risk the lives of his kin from the wrath of the dragon was forced to turn away. Thórin was angry at the elven king for turning his back on him and his people when he came to him in need. Thus the surviving Dwarves of Erebor were driven into exile and Thrór, Thráin, and Thórin fled south.
War of the Dwarves and Orcs[]
In the wake after Smaug took over the Lonely Mountain, the dwarves had been at war against the Orcs of Mount Gundabad, who had began to increase and attack in a large number of territories. Unaware that it was Sauron, who had been living in Dol Guldur as the Necromancer, Thórin fought in a number of battles alongside his father and grandfather. Deciding to find a place to settle, Thórin did not like the idea of his grandfather wanting to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Khazad-Dûm. Since Thrór was still the king and wanted to do what was right for his kin, Thórin followed his father and grandfather to the Eastern gate of the ancient city, which they found was open. Before the Dwarves were about to enter the gate, they discovered that the Orcs, led by giant pale orc Azog the Defiler, had already gotten there first and used this realm as one of their bases.
This led to an open battle between the Dwarves and Orcs, and both sides suffered heavy casualities. Among the first of the causalities was Thórin's brother Frérin. Thórin turned and noticed that his grandfather was slain by the Defiler. Angered, he tried to run and avenge his grandfather, but Thráin stopped him and warned him that the Defiler plans to kill him and the entire line of Dúrin. Ordered to stay here, Thráin charged his way to the Defiler and had disappeared. With no one to lead, Thórin was the only one in the battle that had to take charge. At that moment, he came face-to-face with the Defiler, and the two engaged each other in a duel. The duel ended when Thórin managed to grab and oaken branch and use as his shield. Then, he grabbed his sword and slashed the Defiler's hand off. Rather than killing the Defiler, he allowed the orcs to take him back to the eastern gate since he believed that the giant pale orc would die from his wounds. However, this was proven to be a mistake, and Azog had survived and retreated back to Mount Gundabad to recover.
The battle ended when the Dwarves merged victorious, and Thórin spent most of his time searching among the bodies and seeing if his father hadn't perished. Seeing that his father's body was nowhere to be found, he believed he survived, but some dwarves assumed that he perished. Unknown to them, it turns out that Thráin survived and was held a prisoner in Dol Guldur where Sauron planned on torturing and breaking him. In memory of defeating the Defiler with the oaken branch that he carried, he wore to always bear a plain shield of oak with no device until he should be hailed king, and thus he earned the epithet Oakenshield.
Return into exile[]
After the Dwarves' failed attempt in reclaiming Khazad-Dûm, Thórin believed it was best to leave it as it is since he and all the Dwarven houses knew that the Balrog of Morgoth lingered in the pits of Moria.
Behind the Scenes[]
- Thórin Oakenshield was born in TA 2746 and was 195 years old when he perished in the Battle of Five Armies in the book. In the film trilogy, he was born in TA 2837 and was 104 when he was killed by Azog the Defiler.
- In the film trilogy of The Hobbit, he is portrayed as younger looking (in the original book he was the oldest of the Dwarves in the Company; in the movies he appears to be roughly in the middle of the thirteen age-wise). Thorin, however, does have streaks of gray in his black hair.
- His current age in the film was 104 while in the book he was 195.
- In the book, Thórin was 24 years old when Smaug attacked Erebor in TA 2770. In the film, he is 43 years old when Smaug attacked Erebor in TA 2880.