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Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain is a major character in The Hobbit and is mentioned in passing 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, the King of Durin's Folk in their exile from Erebor, and the grandson of King Thrór.
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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. His appearance is also characterized by his distinct sky blue hood. He refers to his homes in the Blue Mountains as "poor lodgings in exile." He is a capable and a cunning warrior, if not a particularly inspiring or clever leader.
In The Hobbit, Thorin and twelve other Dwarves, mostly relatives of his or others of Durin's Folk, 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 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.
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 known as the Battle of Five Armies. During the battle Thorin was mortally wounded, but before he died he made his peace with Bilbo.
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.
Part III of Appendix A in The Return of the King, gives an overview of the history of Durin's folk and further elaborates Thorin's 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 his axe to chop a branch from an oak tree to defend himself, thus gaining the epithet "Oakenshield".
In the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit, he is voiced by Hans Conried. In the Golden Joystick Award winning[1] 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", which occurs when the player does nothing for a while, became quite famous.[2] In the 2003 video game, Thorin was voiced by Clive Revill.
In the extended edition of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring film, Gandalf mentions that Thorin gave Bilbo a chain shirt made of mithril, a 'kingly gift" worth more than the value of the whole Shire. (Unbeknownst to Gandalf, Frodo, who overhears this comment, is wearing the mithril shirt at that moment.)
In the upcoming 2012/2013 film adaptation of The Hobbit, Thorin is to be portrayed by Richard Armitage.[3]
Tolkien borrowed Thorin's name from the Old Norse poem "Völuspá", part of the Poetic Edda.[4] The name "Thorin" (Þorinn) appears in stanza 12, where it is used for a dwarf, and the name "Oakenshield" (Eikinskjaldi) in stanza 13.[5] The names also appear in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.[6]
As he was by right the king of Erebor, he was King Under the Mountain. The title passed to Dáin after his death.
| Preceded by Thráin II |
Kings of Durin's folk | Succeeded by Dáin II Ironfoot |
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