This is the first of a number of posts I hope to write about Thorin II and his background. It has been a joy to be able to read excerpts of JRR Tolkien's wonderful writing.
I'm currently re-reading The Hobbit and whilst I'm enjoying the adventure, I felt that I was still not quite learning much about Thorin II or Thorin Oakenshield as he was known. I therefore went back to read the appendices located at the end of "The Return of the King". There I found an excellent chapter written about Durin's folk - ancestors and descendants of Thorin; their kingdoms, and their battles. I hope to explore these stories further but with the help of the diagram from Appendix A: III in Return of the King p. 352,( to which I've added a few extra details), the stories of Thorin and his ancestors are beginning to become clearer.
Thorin II is descended from a long line of Kings of the Longbeards reaching back to Durin the Deathless, the eldest of the seven fathers of their race. (There were four Ages: 1st, 2nd,3rd and 4th. Thorin lived in the 3rd Age). Durin I was known as "the Deathless" because he lived for so long and his descendants resembled him so greatly that six were named Durin also. Durin I made his home in the Misty Mountains in Khazad-Dûm (known many ages later as Moria).
I will explore the stories of Thorin's ancestors a little later but for the moment I wanted to find the explanation as to why Thorin II is known as Thorin Oakenshield. The name was given to Thorin during the War between the Dwarves and Orcs at the Battle of Azanulbizar. While fighting the Orcs, Thorin's shield was split rendering it useless. He cut a branch of an oak tree with his axe and held it in his left hand to ward off attack and use as a club as needed. He was called "Oakenshield" after this battle. I'm wondering if we might be lucky enough to have this included as part of Thorin's backstory in The Hobbit movies.
Next: Thorin's meeting with Gandalf before he meets Bilbo.
Wow! It was fascinating to read your report about Thorin Oakenshield and his ancestors. As I see you do really enjoy to research famous family trees. It's awesome, thanks a lot
Posted by: poker en ligne | 03/29/2011 at 11:50 PM
The following books will yield further info about Thorin, his genealogy, family history, the creation of the race by Aule, its disemination over the Blue Mountains into the West, and the dwarrows' alliances/feuds with the other races (and why):
The Books of Lost Tales
The Book of Unfinished Tales
The Silmarillion
The appendices of LotR
If you're reallllllly ambitious, you can also delve into the multi-volume, annotated texts on Tolkien's notes that were edited by his son, Christopher. Heavy plodding at times, but full of interesting minuitae. ;)
Posted by: Luthien | 12/21/2011 at 06:04 AM
Thanks for these references :). I have Unfinished Tales but not the Books of the Lost Tales. History of Middle Earth sounds interesting too, but I have no idea where to start. Hopefully this holiday season I will be able to delve into Middle Earth and Dwarf history a little more. (Also will adjust this post).
Your comments and input are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for visiting the blog!
PS: Managed to pick up a 1st edition of The Silmarillion on ebay and some older editions of Lord of the Rings (to replace the volumes my late father in law had. They were loaned to someone and never returned).
Posted by: Mulubinba | 12/23/2011 at 07:01 AM
I'm loving your blog! I stumbled on it a while back and it got me rereading all of Tolkien's books (and their appendices) Thanks for your extremely informative maps and charts.
Posted by: Matthew Beckmann | 03/23/2012 at 04:08 AM
Thanks so much for such an informative article, Thorin's family and the line of Durin is something I find so interesting!
Posted by: Xloudia | 01/30/2013 at 05:34 PM
May i ask with what program this family tree graphic was made with?
Posted by: Barrylex | 09/09/2015 at 10:22 AM