Bodyguard of Bolg
| This article describes a concept which is mentioned in J.R.R. Tolkien's works, but was never given a definite name. |
The bodyguard of Bolg were a group of large Orcs who served as the bodyguards of Bolg of the North, son of Azog, during the Battle of Five Armies.[1]
History[edit | edit source]
As the battle began to drag the day on, the Orcs regrouped in the valley upon the arrival of a ravening host of Wargs, alongside the bodyguard of Bolg. These huge Orcs were armed with "scimitars of steel" and as the darkened sky grew into a storm, the battle seemed to be going in their favor.[1]
Yet, the tide of the battle shifted against them as Thorin Oakensheild left Erebor and entered the fray, rallying Dwarves, Lake-men, and Elves alike to push back against the Orcs. Thorin's charge scattered the host of Wargs and he drove against the bodyguard of Bolg itself. Yet the bodyguard maintained their ranks, leaving Thorin and the dwarves of his company to be vulnerable to attackers.[1]
Shortly after, when the Orcs and the Wolves had surrounded the company, forcing them to gather into a great ring, the bodyguard of Bolg made their own assault upon them. They closed in howling on every side being "like waves upon cliffs of sand".[1]
Sometime after Thorin "had fallen pierced with spears", Beorn arrived in the final hour of the battle and carried him to safety, before he swiftly returned. In his great wrath, nothing was able to hinder him as he "scattered the bodyguard" before bringing Bolg himself down and crushed him.[2]
Whatever happened to the bodyguard of Bolg after they were scattered by Beorn is not known. They may have possibly been killed before they could flee. If they were among those that fled, then they may have been among the many that were driven into the River Running; or among those hunted down in the marshes around the Forest River. Yet even if they were among those that fled almost as far as the Woodland Realm, then they would have either been killed, or have been drawn deep into Mirkwood and left to die there.[2] Whether or not they met any of these fates will remain unknown regardless.
