Battle of the Five Armies

In 2014 The Hobbit film, a gruesome battle occurred between the Grey and Misty mountains against Lonely Mountains. It was the Orcs and the Wargs versus the Men of Dale, Elves, and Dwarves. The Lonely Mountain's thirteen Dwarves under Thorin the Oakenshield recovered the hoarded treasure from Smaug. They declined to share any of the wealth to the Lake Men, which resulted in their onslaught. This event occurred after the Bard slew the Smaug the Dragon. Bard and Thranduil were holding on to hope to wait for Thorin and his allies. But, they were caught in an assault they were not anticipating. With the help of talking messenger Ravens of the Lonely Mountains, Thorin had successfully sent word to his relatives to ask for aid in his predicament he was currently facing. Thorin's note arrived first to Dain II Ironfoot from the neighboring Iron Hills. He gathered five hundred massively equipped and the surviving seasoned warriors of the battle between the Orcs and the Dwarves. He then advanced to the Lonely Mountains to aid Thorin as soon as he could. When Dain's troops finally came, the battle against the two armies was already raging. Gandalf only interrupted at the very last moment of the fight. While the two troops were fighting among themselves, Bolg's command of the goblins from both lines from the Misty Mountain and Grey mountain used the distraction to advance a full assault. They roused through the wizard's slaughter of Goblin the great. After the news broke out of the end of Smaug and the treasure he left without protection, they had arranged to mobilize for a full-on scale onslaught.​

The commanders built alliances with each other and set aside unwarranted offenses among them. The more significant threat they agreed on were the Bats, Wargs, and Orcs. They formed their troops and strategically arranged them on the two openings of the mountain, adjoining the channel for the high gate to close off completely. The first spur's line up for their defense mode was the two hundred Lake-men and five hundred Dwarves. The other spur's army in defense was the one thousand Elves. The reserved men for a retreat were defending the opening of the channel, and they were responsible for successfully luring the Orcs to their destruction. Bilbo was trying to hide away from the Ravenhill battle, which the Elves were defending by using the ring to be invisible. This same event was the time when the wizard had withdrawn. The Bats, Wargs, and the Orcs finally arrived at the scene. The strategy thoroughly worked, and the enemies suffered massive losses because they were enticed into the point of the blockage. The losses were quickly replaced because of the superior quantity of the Orcs'. The Free Folk lost their position almost too fast that they had intended to do.

The next wave hit them so much harder, and it was worse than before. Many Orcs climbed the opposing side of the mountain and began to charge the assembled troops coming from all directions. The first wave they were trying to recover from was crushing on them even harder. While the battle was raging full scale, a distinct noise can be heard above all the chaos. Thorin and the Dwarves' companions joined on the battlefield. They lined a defense wall made of stones opposite the gates' entrance and threw them down hard to the Orcs. It resulted in many casualties coming from the Orcs. They charged into a full-on war, protected from top to bottom with the most excellent armors and weapons they could find from the treasure of the slain dragon Smaug. Thorin charged forward into the Orcs lines and pushed through to the large Orcs, which incidentally were the personal guards of Bolg. His luck ran out, and he cannot go through them even when he tried his full might. The fight worsened into a fierce, tight section fight, and no mercy was requested or granted. The Free Folk was on the verge of total defeat.

The fight was shifting entirely upon them. Hope was not lost when Gwildor commanded several Misty Mountains Giant Eagles to help them out. Bilbo noticed their arrival on the field initially, and he immediately started shouting at the top of his lungs, the great eagles are here. His shout resonated on the battlefield together with the other fighting Free Folk armies. Bilbo was knocked down by the Orcs throwing stones from over the mountain. He lost consciousness because of it. With the joining of the eagles, the tide shifted back again to the Free Folk. The battle was a disadvantage to the Orcs this time. Beorn received news that the vast forces of Orcs were on the move, he came to the fight as soon as he was able. He didn't show up as the giant Man he was known for; instead, he appeared into the skin of an enormous bear. He started to advance through the Orcs lines when he spotted Thorin significantly injured in the ongoing battle.

He carried him into safety first. With a heavy heart, Beorn turned to the fight driven with more fury, and he crushed the lines of Bodyguards of Bolg [1] with his bare hands. His revenge resulted in the death of Bolg. Seeing their commander lifeless and defeated, the Orcs panicked and separated immediately. The retreating Orcs were plucked off by the cleanup units of the conquerors of the war. Most of the Orcs that survived ended up dying in the Mirkwood forest. Nobody was spared from the enemies.​

Bilbo recovered his awareness when the fight had already ended. Thorin the Oakenshield suffered a lot of fatal injuries on the battlefield. Fíli and Kíli, his nephews, died trying to defend their uncle on the battlefield. They were shielding his lifeless body. Thorin had enough time to bid his final farewell to Bilbo before he finally lost his last breath.​

Following the defeat of the Wargs and Orcs, the champions of the war split the wealth. In exchange for the Arkenstone, Bilbo gave his fourteenth portion of his silver and gold to the Bard. His rewards were forfeited, to say the least. The Bard shared his award with the Lake-town Master and gave the Giron's emeralds to the Elven folk, King Thranduil. Bilbo was granted generous compensation for the fact that his cuts were relinquished. But, he declined the offer to accept more than two small boxes full of silver and gold. It was still more than sufficient for him to leave a prosperous life back to the Shire in the next sixty years of his lifespan.​

In the War of the Five Armies, the third installation of the trilogy, The Hobbit, Azog led the attack of his army of Orcs to advance in the Lonely Mountains. The battle among the Men, Elves, and Dwarves was instantly deflected. In the other edition, Dáin commanded his army of whirling ballistas and goat squadrons towards the Elven troops. The Elven countered a defense of a defense barrier and several bowman arrangements. The casualties are evident from both armies accounted for. Dwarven cavalry and Elven forces were both dying from left to right. It only stopped when the were-worms exploded from beneath the earth. Everyone was shocked and stayed still. The battle immediately ended in facing a more significant rival.

When Dáin saw the imminent danger, they were currently facing. He commanded his front ranks to rush through the plain. He commanded them to form a squad ordered to attack the Orcs from Guldur that were starting to attack towards them. The Elves and Thranduil were stunned and remained utterly still. Just a few seconds away from the collision of the Orcs and the Dwarven forces, Thranduil came to his senses and ordered hundreds of his Elves forces. The Elves cut down through the Dwarven ranks and penetrated a direct hit into the opponent lines. It stopped the Orcs from charging, and it gave them a fighting chance to set up a counterblow that resulted in many Orcs being killed in the casualties. The remaining number of the Elven forces and Dwarves' armies followed suit. Azog was relentless in regaining the lead, and he sent in command of his beasts of war.

They were a group of enormous ironclad trolls wreaking havoc in the side flank of the united armies. They did this by smashing them with their bare hands. The Elven bowmen of Thranduil countered an attack directly at the trolls by setting numerous loose barrages of hundreds of arrows towards them. This act took out hundreds of Orcs and some of the creatures. This enabled Dáin the chance to advance his war chariots directly to the Orcs lines and resulted in the death of many Orcs. Azog was furious with this tactic and retaliated by sending his war machines in the plain. In addition to his ironclad ogres, the full-on attack brought down many casualties, and it was a complete slaughter of the opposing army troops.

He was delighted to witness the united troops were nailed down. Azor did not waste any of his advantages, and he ordered half of his army towards Dale. This bounding maneuver is to stop anybody from escaping, forcing them to defend both sides. The Lake-town men in the plain, together with Bilbo, Bard, and the wizard Gandalf, moved towards the city for them to reform with the other Lake-Town forces. This move would help them set up a defense while the Elves and the Dwarves were continuing to battle Azog's unstoppable forces on the battlefield.

As the fight continued to rage on for many times, the united forces were scattered and spent as the Orcs' support kept coming out from the tunnels and straight to the battleground and towards Dale at the same time. Thranduil understood that the Bard was facing difficulty, he sent a massive squadron of Elves through Dale to rescue Bard. During the chaos of the attack, he lost his steed. On the battlefield, Dáin was fighting side-by-side with the Dwarves and the surviving Elvish troops. They were in a bloody clash of losing allies. The allied forces' excellent talents were in no match to the size advantage of the Orcs forces. Amid the turmoil, Dain lost his helmet, and war pig and his surviving troops were being shoved behind without resistance. He was on the verge of being invaded, he commanded to withdraw to the flanks from the mountains, and this move momentarily disentangled Azog's units.

Bard did not have a choice and ended up ordering a withdrawal further into Dale. The remaining Elvish companies were not even more than six thousand barely able soldiers at this time in the fight. Thranduil left with no option but to withdraw, he commanded them to the ways of Erebor. They were trying to go near the town of Dale. Their goal is the edges of the place for the next escape from the war. The Dwarves were left to fend for themselves. Intoxicated with the anticipation of winning, Azog gathered his troops on the battlefield for an ultimate offensive attack versus the surviving Dwarvish forces. The Dwarvish forces were no more than four thousand in number. Impeded from the mountains and stripped of no other alternatives.

The Dwarvish squad prepared to make their last stand. They faced the Orcs, arranged into a half-moon formation with Dain at its top. Azog was bidding for his time until a unit of ironclad trolls proceeded to the head of the Orcs lines, and that's when he commanded the onslaught. As Azog did, a different sound blasted from the mountains. It resulted in them to pause in their paths. The entrance to the hill finally cleared off. The Mountain King and his comrades ran through it. The Dwarvish warriors shouted and cheered for the hope they felt at the appearance of their King. Shouting a defiant Dwarven battle cry, Thorin, encouraged by his fearlessness, attacked the Orcs' lines. Dáin's units attacked alongside him.

Piercing through headfirst into Azog's many troops and took out a big group of the Orcs ranks with him. Up to a point in the plain and inside Dale, the surviving Lake-town men and the Elven troops found a different resolution to their problem. They bravely stormed back into the battlefield. The fight exploded even worse than ever. The only difference is that the united troops can now equal their opponents blow after blow, and they were doing it steadily. The sight of the King sent energy to his allies and army. Hope was restored. It was palpable in the air. Throughout the raging combat, Thorin decided to murder Azog once and for all in Ravenhill. Fili, Kili, and Dwalin followed his pursuit. Balin first assisted them in a chariot for war.

On their journey towards the top, they faced many obstacles that they did not know if they could survive: the wards, ogres, and vast ironclad battle trolls. The anarchy around them was no match for them. Even those could not stop them from advancing towards their final mark. When they finally arrived at the top, Azog was not there at all. Thorin ordered his nephews, Kili and Fili, to spy the higher places. But, before they could discover Azog. Fili was no match to him; he was captured instantly, impaled, and forced off from a random tower. Bilbo comes to say a warning to them of the approaching army headed by Bolg in their direction. But before he could do that, he was defeated by Bolg himself in Ravenhill.

Later on, Bolg spots Tauriel and instantly wounds her, but right before he can kill her off, Kili comes to rescue her just in time. Kili ends up being killed by the weapon of Bolg and dies on the spot. Driven by her anger, Tauriel thrusts Bolg off the top, but he holds onto her tightly and drags her with him. Legolas, later on, found Bolg, and they fought each other in a duel. The Gundabad Orcs giant was impaled when Legolas plunged his weapon through his head. It eventually led to his death. Following Bolg's passing, the great eagles finally came to their rescue.

They needed all the help they could get. Beorn and Radagast led them, and they swiftly obliterated the Orcs army. It was an onslaught. To take retribution on Fili's death, Thorin confronted Azog in a match. He got the top hand by driving Azog off the hill. But Orcs soldiers were sent by the Defiler when he saw that Thorin was attacking Azog. But they were not successful. Azog came back with a weapon in hand. But, Thorin reacted first and broke the ice on the frozen river. Azog resulted in falling into the frozen river. The sway of his weaponry aided in his quick descent to the water. Thorin went after Azog's falling body, but his foot was wounded in the process. While he was weakened, Azog took his chance to stab him directly in the torso.

It was a fatal blow to him, but Thorin defended him. He vigorously plunged Orcrist into Azog's chest in retaliation. The Orc died instantly. Later on, Thorin died just after making peace with Bilbo. He apologized for nearly killing Bilbo. Despite Bilbo's help to help him to breathe. Thorin submits to his injuries and dies. He died just before the remaining of his allies came.

The Armies' Depth of Force

The trolls, ogres, and were-worms were only included in the movie adaptation. They appeared together with the intimidating regiment of Gundabad Orcs, and Bats. The number of Elves, Lake-men, and dwarves, in the movie, was more than what's stated in the writings. Tauriel, Radagast, Percy, Feren, and Legolas, were considered the added warriors in the battle. The measured force of the allied forces was powerful. The Elves, Dwarves, and Men had an army of ten thousand Silvan Elves from Mirkwood, seven thousand Iron Hills Dwarves, and three thousand Lake-town commandos, including almost two thousand civilians from Lake-Town and up to five hundred guards of Lake-town. They also had ten great eagles, two wizards, one Beorning, and one Hobbit. The force of Azog's troops, on the other hand, is also formidable. He had thirty thousand Orcs of Guldur, ten thousand Orcs of Gundabad, forty Orcs, one hundred Wargs, and nine hundred Gundabad Bats. He also had in his armada forty Orc Berserkers, four hundred fifty, Goblin Mercenaries, up to thirty Olog-hai and trolls. He had the strength of sixty Ogres and three were-worms.

The Aftereffects of the War

The Gundabad and Guldur forces were now confined in the plain of Erebor, facing three sets of armies with no option of a way out. They have no commanders to rely on. They were all dead. No reinforcements troops are coming to rescue them. The united armies were closing in too. The allied forces took their position and pressed even harder than before. They initiated a gruesome killing towards the troops led by Sauron. It lasted for many hours, and only a few of his forces succeeded in escaping the onslaught through the use of tunnels.

Thousands of bodies were left behind—the wounded but triumphant allied troops were in full control of Dales and Erebor. With nothing to spare him, Sauron deserted his ambition to siege Erebor and fled immediately inside Mordor to regroup. The victory was not a victory at all. It was bittersweet. It came with an unfortunate cost they could not face; they lost Thorin II Oakenshield, the Dwarven King. The Allied armies were no better. They had incurred huge fatalities. In the middle of the fight, the mountains were protected by Iron hills Dwarves. [2] The Lake Men people ended up setting their permanent residency in the city of Dale. They named Bard to be the current Lord. They were able to do this because the Dwarves of the Iron Hills distributed their portions of wealth to men like them. Before coming home to their forest, the Mirkwood Elves stayed only to accept their portion of the wealth.

Dáin was next in line to succeed as the Mountain King. His succession was imminent. Bilbo Baggins separated paths with his companions and came back safely to the Shire, his hometown, together with the wizard. He was always carrying his magical ring so carefully. Erebor was shortly rebuilt to its previous grandeur and continued to thrive once more. Its population grew little by little with Dwarvish settlers coming from the seven Dwarf kingdoms. The neighboring city, Dale, was also recovering from a massive loss of its brave people. Erebor took its former glory as the topmost potent of all the Dwarf kingdoms in Middle earth in time.

Additional Monikers of the Battle

The battle among the Five Armies coincidentally also the title of a war game. [3] Games Workshop made the game where you can role-play and experience the struggle. It uses ten-millimeter small-scale versions.​