Thorin Oakenshield

Thorin Oakenshield is a significant character in "The Hobbit" and has a minor presence in "The Lord of the Rings". He was the leader of the Company of Dwarves who aimed to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the dragon, and was the son of Thráin II and the grandson of King Thrór.

Characteristics

Thorin is described as being very haughty, stern and officious. He has a talent for singing and playing the harp, wears a gold chain and has a very long beard. He refers to his homes in the Blue Mountains as "poor lodgings in exile." Even though he is quite old (even for a Dwarf) by the time of "The Hobbit", he is very capable and a cunning warrior, if not a particularly inspiring or clever leader.

Appearances

The Hobbit

In "The Hobbit", Thorin and 12 other Dwarves, mostly relatives of his or others of Durin's Tribe, visited Bilbo Baggins on Gandalf's advice to hire him as a burglar, to steal back their treasure from Smaug. He especially wanted the Arkenstone, the heart of the mountain.

He alone was not taken by complete surprise when the company encountered a band of Trolls, and he and Gandalf fought valiantly in the Goblin tunnels. Even so, his leadership is not particularly distinguished until very late in the quest, and then he does not show much wisdom. Thorin is the first to be captured by the Wood-Elves of Mirkwood, and insists that the other Dwarves do not disclose their quest to their captors. He is the first to emerge from the barrels at Lake-town and marches right up to the leaders of the town, declaring himself as King Under the Mountain.

He has a big lump on his head and a scar under his left knee from battling one too many trolls.

Thorin was furious when Bilbo stole the Arkenstone to use as a bargaining counter with Thranduil, the Elvenking, and Bard the Bowman, both of whom had some claim to the treasure. The conflict was averted by an attack of Goblins and Wargs, and the Dwarves joined forces with the Elves, the Men of Lake-town and the great Eagles to defeat them in what came to be called the Battle of Five Armies. During the battle Thorin was mortally wounded, but before he died he made his peace with Bilbo. His last words were, "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But, sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell."

Thorin had recovered the Elven blade Orcrist during the quest. He came upon it in a Troll stash (after barely escaping with his life). He used it throughout the Quest of Erebor, but it was taken from him after he was captured by the Wood-elves. The sword was given back after his death and was laid upon the tomb (the Arkenstone was placed in the tomb itself) so that ever after the blade would glow blue should enemies approach and the mountain could never be taken by surprise. Thorin was succeeded as the leader of Durin's Folk by his cousin, Dáin Ironfoot.

The Lord of the Rings

Thorin is mentioned in "The Fellowship of the Ring" when Gandalf speaks of a mail shirt of "mithril" that Thorin gave to Bilbo at Erebor. While Gandalf says this, Bilbo's kinsman Frodo is wearing the shirt. Since the armour was worth more than everything in the Shire, Gimli said it was a "kingly gift".

Part III of Appendix A in "The Return of the King", gives an overview of the history of Durin's folk and further elaborates Thorins background. Born in the year 2746 of the Third Age (T.A.), Thorin was driven into exile by the dragon Smaug in 2770, along with the rest of the surviving Dwarves of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. At the Battle of Azanulbizar in 2799, when he was 53 (a young age for a Dwarf) he marched with a mighty Dwarf-army into Nanduhirion beneath the East-gate of Moria. Thorin's shield was broken and he used a tree branch to defend himself, thus gaining the epithet "Oakenshield".

Thorin became King in Exile of Durin's Folk as Thorin II Oakenshield after his father, Thráin II, disappeared. It was not until a century later that Thorin learned his father had been captured and tortured to death by Sauron (then secretly in the guise of the Necromancer). He worked hard and long, making many things out of iron and prospered somewhat in the Blue Mountains. Appendix A also mentions that he met Gandalf in Bree one day quite by chance and that they decided to undertake the quest to the mountain.

Adaptations

In the 1977 animated version of "The Hobbit", he is voiced by Hans Conreid. In the Golden Joystick Award winning [CRASH (magazine) #4, p. 43 [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=Crash/Issue04/Pages/Crash0400043.jpg] ] game "The Hobbit" Thorin appears as an AI controlled character and one of his seemingly random actions: "Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold", occurs when the player does nothing for a while, became quite famous. [Campbell, Stuart. [http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/ystop100_3.htm "Top 100 Speccy Games"] . Your Sinclair Magazine, #72 DEC 1991 pp.28] . In the 2003 video game, Thorin was voiced by Clive Revill.

Names and titles

Tolkien borrowed Thorin's name from the Old Norse poem "Völuspá", part of the "Poetic Edda". The name "Thorin" ("Þorinn") appears in stanza 12, where it is used for a dwarf, and the name "Oakenshield" ("Eikinskjaldi") in stanza 13. [cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe03.htm |title=Poetic Edda |accessdate=2007-09-27 Tr. Henry Adams Bellows (1936).] The names also appear in Snorri Sturluson's "Prose Edda". [cite web | url = http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/GylfaginningXI-XX.htm
title=Prose Edda |accessdate=2007-09-27 Tr. Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. Note: The names appear as "Thorinn" and "Eikinskjaldi". His name is also originated from Thor, which was the name of a Viking God meaning lightning.]

As he was by right the king of Erebor, he was King Under the Mountain. The title passed to Dáin after his death.

References