War of the Dwarves and Orcs: Difference between revisions

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When Nár returned to the king's son Thráin, he told him of his father's murder and the Orc's warning. For seven days without eating or sleeping the new king sat, until he stood and cried "This cannot be borne!"<ref>{{App|A3}}</ref>   
When Nár returned to the king's son Thráin, he told him of his father's murder and the Orc's warning. For seven days without eating or sleeping the new king sat, until he stood and cried "This cannot be borne!"<ref>{{App|A3}}</ref>   


From 2790 to {{TA|2793|n}} the [[Longbeards]] responded to this tragedy by gathering an army, and calling on all the other [[Seven Houses of the Dwarves|Houses of the Dwarves]] for war.
From 2790 to {{TA|2793|n}} the [[Longbeards]] responded to this tragedy by gathering an army, and calling on all the other six Houses of the Dwarves for war.


=== Early Stages===
=== Early Stages===

Revision as of 16:28, 6 January 2013

"Who told you, and who sent you?" — Gandalf
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Previous war: War of the Dwarves and Dragons
Next war: War of the Ring
War of the Dwarves and Orcs
Mikel Janin - Battle of Azanulbizar.jpeg
Beginning: T.A. 2793End: T.A. 2799
Place: The northern Misty Mountains and Mount Gundabad
Outcome: Crippling defeat for Orcs, pyrrhic victory for Dwarves
Major battles: Sacking of Mount Gundabad, various battles in mines, strongholds, and colonies, Battle of Azanulbizar.
Combatants

Dwarves of all Seven Houses, Longbeards, Firebeards, Broadbeams, Blacklocks, Stonefoots, Ironfists, and Stiffbeards.

Orcs of the Misty Mountains

Commanders

King Thráin II, Thorin, Náin, various generals and/or kings or lords of the other houses

Azog and likely other Orc-chieftains

The War of the Dwarves and Orcs was a great war fought between the two races.

History

Prelude

After their home under Erebor had been sacked by the dragon Smaug, many of the Dwarves of Durin's Folk were homeless and wandered through western Middle-earth, trying to make as best a living they could. After some years of wandering they settled down in Dunland.[1] Among these Dwarves were Thrór, formerly the King under the Mountain now King of Durin's folk in exile, his son Thráin II and grandson Thorin II who became later known as Thorin Oakenshield.

Thrór fell into despair after living many years in poverty, or perhaps the Ring he wore was ultimately working towards his bearers evil. Whatever the case, he decided to leave his people in T.A. 2790 to seek out and look upon the ancestral halls of Khazad-dûm. Accompanied by his friend Nár, they crossed the Redhorn Pass and came down to the East-gate of Moria where the Thrór took it upon himself to enter alone, despite the warnings of Nár who stayed behind in the dale.

Thrór was found and slain by Azog the Orc-chieftain who had ruled in Moria, and after a few days Thrór's head had been branded with Azog's name and the corpse was thrown out of the gate where it was found by Nár. He was left alive to serve as a messenger to the Dwarves that Azog now claimed to be the King of Moria, and to stay away.

When Nár returned to the king's son Thráin, he told him of his father's murder and the Orc's warning. For seven days without eating or sleeping the new king sat, until he stood and cried "This cannot be borne!"[2]

From 2790 to 2793 the Longbeards responded to this tragedy by gathering an army, and calling on all the other six Houses of the Dwarves for war.

Early Stages

In 2793 they attacked, assailing and sacking one by one all the Orc-holds they could find from Mount Gundabad in the north, to the Gladden Fields in the south.

Little is known about what happened during the first six years, but most of the war was fought underground, in the great mines and tunnels of the Misty Mountains, where Dwarves excelled in combat.

The Final Battle

The war climaxed in 2799, when the final battle was fought in the valley outside the East-gate of Moria, the Battle of Azanûlbizar. The Dwarves finally won this notoriously bloody encounter when reinforcements arrived late on the scene from the Iron Hills. Azog was slain by Dáin Ironfoot.[3]

After the battle, King Thráin II wanted to enter Moria and reclaim it, but the Dwarves not of Durin's folk refused, saying that the city was not their Fathers' House; they had honored Thrór's memory by fighting, and this was enough. Dáin Ironfoot also warned Thráin that Durin's Bane still dwelt within Khazad-dûm.

Aftermath

The war was very costly for the Dwarves. Half of those involved in the Battle of Azanulbizar were killed and possibly a couple thousand more were killed throughout the rest of the war. Náin, Frerin, and Fundin were among the more notable casualties. Thráin II himself lost an eye, and Thorin was wounded when his shield broke and he had to use an oak branch to defend himself, which gave rise to his epithet "Oakenshield".

The Orcs that survived the final battle (as many as 10,000) fled south through Rohan, trying to find a refuge in the White Mountains beyond, where they troubled the Rohirrim for two generations.

One positive outcome however was that the Orcs of the Misty Mountains virtually disappeared as a threat for Eriador and Wilderland. One and a half centuries later the Orcs of the North were recovering, but their numbers were permanently depleted during the Battle of Five Armies in 2941, where Bolg son of Azog tried to avenge his father, and in the process three fourths of his people were killed.

It is possible that without this War, the later War of the Ring would have been lost in the north, and the Ring-bearer might never have made it south to Mordor.

Noteable Veterans

See Also

References

Preceded by:
Long Winter
Major events of Middle-earth
T.A. 2793 - T.A. 2799
Followed by:
Fell Winter