Category: The Battle of the Five Armies

Erebor has been reclaimed. The leader of the Dwarf company along with the last two members of his line have lost their lives. The Dwarves of Erebor are now led by King Dáin Ironfoot of the Iron Hills. The lone Hobbit accompanied by the Wizard responsible for his quest, walks back home to the woods and little rivers of the Shire. 

There are no more Orcs left to fight, no more Azog to lead them. Those that have witnessed the three armies of Dwares, Elves and Men prevail, have fled to the holes dug for them by the Were-worms. The battlefield is silent, what remains is to come to terms with the losses that have occurred. 

The Dwarves have entered the fray with all their might and skill. They move and fight in a way typical for their race, as a unit, a team. The dexterity they have shown in Bag End while cleaning up after themselves, can also be seen in their fighting style. 

The battle has taken a much more positive turn for our heroes. As the Men of Lake-town struggle against the Orcs in Dale, so does Thorin, Fili, Kili and Dwalin ride their goats to Ravenhill to face their leader. 

The tide of the battle has turned. Not because the Dwarves’, Elves’ or Men’s forces have somehow doubled, but because the Dwarves of Erebor have joined the fight. The atmosphere and the moral of the troops already on the battlefield has gained in determination and will. The Dwarves have rallied to the king, thereby pushing the Orc frontlines back.

The way Thorin’s acute mental state plays out is that these voices snap him out of the reality he has been living in. In a moment of relief and sudden emergence from his diseased state of mind, Thorin throws the hard-won crown from his head onto the golden covered floor of the Gallery of Kings. He can breathe the free air again, air that has escaped his lungs that have filled with the smell and influence of the dragon and its sickness. 

Battle rages outside the gates of Erebor. The army of the Iron Hills Dwarves has come as requested to assist Thorin in his attempt at protecting his home. However, the leader of the Erebor Dwarves himself is cowering inside the walls, unwilling and unable to face the chaos he helped to orchestrate. 

Elves and Dwarves are no longer the only armies on the field before the gates of Erebor. What Gandalf had seen and the army about which he warned Thranduil and Bard has now come, with their leader, Azog, on Ravenhill instructing its every move. There is now no time and space to fight out their old grievances, Dwarves and Elves must unite against a common enemy. 

Just as Thorin was deliberating what to do in this blackmail situation, the joyous sound of marching Dwarves reaches his ears. His hopes and wishes had come to fruition, for his cousin is here with his army to help in settling the situation, or rather aggravating it even more. The Dwarves of Erebor are no longer alone. 

The dawn of a new day has broken, the day of great significance, will Dwarves, Elves and Men come to an agreement or will the day end in war. It all now lies in the hands of a mad, stubborn, dragon-sickness stricken King Under the Mountain. The Arkenstone will be used as compensation for the share of the treasure that is owed to both races, or will it?