Thorin Oakenshield
| House / Order | Line of Durin (Durin's Folk) |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | |
| Status | Deceased |
| Origin | Erebor (the Lonely Mountain); the Blue Mountains |
| Born | Third Age 2746 |
| Died | Third Age 2941, after the Battle of Five Armies |
| Weapon | The Elven-sword Orcrist, called Biter |
| Fate | Mortally wounded in the Battle of Five Armies; reconciled with Bilbo Baggins before he died |
| Portrayed by |
Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, was a Dwarf of the royal line of Durin and the leader of the company that set out to reclaim the lost kingdom of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, from the dragon Smaug. The central figure of The Hobbit, Thorin is at once a noble king in exile and a cautionary study of how the lust for treasure can corrupt even the proudest heart.
Background
Thorin was born in Erebor during the height of its wealth, grandson of King Thrór, King under the Mountain. When Thorin was young, the great dragon Smaug descended upon the Lonely Mountain, slaughtered or scattered the Dwarves, and seized their vast hoard, driving the survivors into exile and wandering poverty. Thorin earned his epithet "Oakenshield" at the Battle of Azanulbizar before the gates of Moria, where, his shield broken, he took up an oaken branch to wield as a buckler against the Orcs.
For long years the exiled Dwarves labored in the Blue Mountains, and Thorin, now their king in exile after the disappearance of his father Thráin, nursed the dream of reclaiming his homeland and his people's stolen wealth.
The quest for Erebor
A chance meeting with the wizard Gandalf set Thorin's quest in motion. Gandalf gave him a map and key to a secret door into the Mountain and persuaded him to take on an unlikely fourteenth member for his company of thirteen Dwarves: the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, to serve as "burglar." Thorin led the company eastward through many perils, troll, goblin, warg, and spider, with Bilbo repeatedly proving his worth, until they reached the Lonely Mountain. There Bilbo crept down to confront Smaug and bore away knowledge of the dragon's weakness, leading to Smaug's death at the hands of Bard of Lake-town.
The gold-sickness and the Battle of Five Armies
With Smaug slain, Thorin gained the Mountain and its immense treasure, but the recovered hoard awakened in him the "dragon-sickness," a consuming greed and suspicion that had afflicted his line before. He refused to share any of the wealth with the men of Lake-town, whose homes Smaug had destroyed, or with the Wood-elves, and he barricaded himself within the Mountain as armies gathered. When Bilbo Baggins, hoping to force a peace, secretly gave the Arkenstone, the heart of the hoard and the treasure Thorin prized above all, to the besiegers as a bargaining piece, Thorin's fury knew no bounds and he cast Bilbo out as a traitor.
Before the dispute could come to bloodshed among Dwarves, Men, and Elves, a vast host of Orcs and Wargs fell upon them all, and the former enemies united in the Battle of Five Armies. Thorin charged forth from the Mountain in his full kingly valor and was mortally wounded in the fighting. As he lay dying, he summoned Bilbo Baggins and took back his harsh words, acknowledging the Hobbit's wisdom and goodness and confessing the folly of his own greed, parting from his friend in peace.
Legacy
Thorin was buried deep beneath the Mountain with the Arkenstone upon his breast and the Elven-sword Orcrist laid upon his tomb. The kingship of Erebor passed to his kinsman Dáin Ironfoot, and the Lonely Mountain was restored as a Dwarf-realm. Thorin's reconciliation with Bilbo became one of the enduring friendships remembered into the age of the War of the Ring.
Character
Thorin is proud, brave, and dignified, a true king of his people, yet flawed by the stubbornness and treasure-greed that run in the blood of Durin's line. His arc traces both the nobility of his cause and the moral peril of the gold-sickness, and his deathbed wisdom redeems him, affirming the values of friendship and cheer over hoarded wealth.
In the films
In Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy, Thorin is portrayed by Richard Armitage, whose performance greatly expands the character's gold-sickness and his death at the Battle of Five Armies.
Appearances
- The Hobbit
- The Lord of the Rings (mentioned)