Bolg Printable version

Bolg was the son of Azog and a leader of the Arcs during the latter part of the Third Age.

Biography

Bolg became the king of the Orcs in TA 2799, succeeding his father Azog after he died in the Battle of Azunulbizar, which was the final battle in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. Azog had died as he was killed by Dain II Ironfoot. Bolg reverted to Mount Gundabad and settled down in that original sanctuary, after abandoning the Kingdom of Angmar. Choosing Mount Gundabad as his place of residence, he ruled over the goblins of the Misty Mountains from this chosen seat. He allowed a period of about 150 years to pass before leading an army that included goblins, wargs, and bats, during the Battle of the Five Armies, taking his bodyguards along with him. He faced a crushing defeat in this battle at the hands of his powerful enemy Beorn, who thus avenged the recent death of his father Thorin II Oakensfield from a wound inflicted by Bolg.

Etymology

There is some ambiguity regarding the meaning of the word Bolg. According to the book History of The Hobbit, the word means “strong”. This is mentioned in the vocabulary list for Magol, a language [1] that Tolkien had constructed. Tolkien had apparently spent time studying this language, which appears to be based on Hungarian when he was engaged in writing The Hobbit, or before that. Another source citing this word is the History of the Hobbits, according to which this is a word belonging to the Iverni (Iverni) language of the early Irish people. This language finds mention in Ptolemy’s Second Century Geography [2] However, according to this source, the meaning of the word Bolg is not known. This view finds support in the Celtic legends concerning the Fir Bolg, who was an enemy of Tuatha de Danan.

Portrayals in Adaptations

The Hobbit Film Trilogy

Lawrence Makoare has played the part of Bolg in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which was part of the film trilogy The Hobbit by Peter Jackson. The part was played by John Tui in the film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, in which he appears as a gigantic and light-colored Orc, clothed in armor and bones. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of the trilogy, had assigned a vastly expanded role for Azog, Bolg’s father.

Bolg himself is an important character in The Hobbit: The Desolation of the Smaug, in which he plays an extended role, and strongly resembles Azog the Defiler, his father, who lives through the War of the Dwarves and Orcs in these films. When Azog is called upon by Dol Guldur to lead the Orc armies of Sauron, he assigns to his son the job of hunting down Thorin and his companions, which he was personally undertaking up till then. Bolg is able to pursue Thorin and Company across Mirkwood. Bolg and his pack of Orcs strike the Wood-elves here, while the dwarves got away in barrels.

Pursuing the dwarves further, Bolg and his pack of Orcs ultimately reach Lake-Town When Bolg arrives at Lake-Town it is already nightfall. He and his pack mount an offensive on Bard’s family in their quest for the dwarves. However, their efforts were not very fruitful as they could find only four dwarves. Moreover, their attack is returned by Legolas and Tauriel, who had been pursuing the Orcs. Bolg takes on Legolas and a duel ensues between the two. Legolas uses Orcrist, which had been employed by Thorin while on his mission to Erebor, as his weapon in the duel, Bolg takes advantage of the distraction caused by the other Orcs to Legolas and escapes on his Warg down a waterway. Legolas pursues him subsequently riding a horse.

When Bolg reports the incident to his father, Azog is terribly upset and shouts at him, fearing that the surviving Elf prince would come after the Orcs by sending an army. Later, calming down, he instructs Bolg to gather another army of the Orcs by traveling to Mount Gundabad, where he should be prepared for war along with swarms of Bats. Legolas and Tauriel then pursue Bolg and after reaching Gundabad return to warn the others. Bolg along with his second army subsequently emerges at Ravenhill, where He goes to help Azog. At this time, he strikes Bilbo down with his mace and then finds Tauriel, whom he seriously injures in a fight. However, he is unable to kill her as Kili arrives on the scene and engages in a duel with Bolg.

Although Kili is able to contain Bolg for some time, the latter proves too strong for him and strikes him down with his mace and killing the dwarf. Angered at this, Tauriel hurls Bolg over the mountain but is also pulled down along with him in the process. After this, Legolas finds Bolg and a duel between the two follows, in which Legolas pierces a dagger through the head of the giant, killing him. Bolg drops down to a rock that lies beneath and is mangled by a gigantic boulder.

Personality

The personality of Bolg is very similar to that of Azog. He is a brutal, bloodthirsty, ruthless, and uncaring fighter, who is sadistic in the extreme. He exhibited no reservations or hesitation about slaughtering the Men of the Lake Town. In fact, he even enjoyed the death of Kili. He also seems to suffer from a deranged mind with a heartless disposition, which is demonstrated by the remorseless manner in which he orders the swoop on Laketown. To his credit, it must be admitted, however, that he also possesses a high level of intelligence and excellent leadership qualities. He is also a great tactician, who is difficult to understand, and has great inner strength and will power. We find him to be as merciless as his father with an unimaginable level of determination and ferocity. With a fierce loyalty towards his father and a craving to please him, Bolg has no difficulty in maintaining an excellent relationship with Azog, in spite of his ferocious and strong-willed nature.

Abilities

Bolg’s main strengths lie in his superior leadership qualities and highly developed fighting skills. This is probably the reason why he was chosen as next-in-command to Azog. In combat, his hand-to-hand fighting abilities and skills in swordsmanship stand out. He employs a strategy of lightning speed and high agility in fights, as opposed to Azog’s style of heavy blows with great momentum delivered from the Warg-riding position. Bolg is also skilled in martial arts and is an expert in leveraging the environment to counter his opponents. His fighting skills come to the fore when he takes charge of the Orc packs in the absence of Azog, who is detained by his fight at Gandalf. Bolg’s threshold for pain is extraordinary. An instance of this is seen when Legolas pierces Bolg in his hand towards the end of their fight. Bolg desists from showing any pain and even controls bleeding. Although he prefers not to use Warg-riding, his skills in this type of combat are also of a high order.

References

1. ^Languages in the Lord of the Rings.
2. ^Ptolemy: The Geography.