Thrór

Thrór was the ruler of Durin's folk, the dwarven clan. His father was Dain I, and his grandfather was Nain II. He had two brothers, Frór and Grór. His son was Thrain II, and Thorin II Oakenshield, Dis, and Frerin were his grandchildren. He had two great-grandsons, Fili and Kili.

Thrór lived his initial stages in the beast-beset Grey mountains with his family. The hall in which they dwelled was assaulted in the year of TA 2589 by the great dragons, cold-drakes. In this strike, his father, Dain I, and his brother Frór were killed at the gates by one of the deadly Cold-drakes. Thrór inherited the kingdom after their death. But Thrór and his brother Grór were determined to split the folks, between them. Following their resolution, Thror led a minor part of the land of Durin towards the lonely mountains, Erebor, and colonized them there. They discovered the precious stone, Arkenstone, there.

His brother, Grór, commanded the eastern part till the Iron Hills, which was more than what Thrór ruled. It is where he established his monarchy. Thrór led his folks in Erebor efficiently and made it a flourishing kingdom for nearly a century. But the richness always attracts the evil, so was the dragon, Smaug. He flew to the southern side of the land and wrecked it. It also killed numerous dwarves of the kingdom. It also drove away from the king, Thrór, and his kin, with thousands of survivors from their homeland. A large part of the people who survived went as refugees to the Iron Hills, ruled by Grór.

But Thrór, Thrain II, his son, and Thorin Oakenshield, his grandson with a few followers, went to the west, ending in wandering days. After long homeless days, finally, they colonized in the hills of Dunland. They established a cozy home, as well as possible. Thrór gave away the remaining one of seven rings and the map leading to Lonely Mountain to Thrain II, his son, as he faced aging, poverty, and desperation. Twenty years from when he reached the hills of Dunland, Thror left his folks to undergo a voyage to the north, accompanied by his only companion, Nar. By crossing the Redhorn Pass, they went across the 'Misty Mountain' and reached the south again. They crossed the Silverlode and reached the dale of Azanulbizar below Moria's eastern gate.

To the excitation of Thrór, the gateway was open when he arrived. Nar tried his best and even begged Thrór to be careful, but he was too prideful to listen to him. Hence, he entered Moria, assuming it as a home-coming. But he never returned from the gate. Thrór's escort, Nar, waited for him for several days by hiding himself in a place nearby. After a few days, he perceived the sound of a loud blowing up of horn, following which a body fell out on the steps.

Thror's body was lying there. Nar, thus, faced what he feared the most. Nar heeded to a voice that talked him from inside. They didn't intend to kill Nar, as they chose to use him as an envoy. The voice asked him to convey his message to the people. It said the beggars should stay at the gate, if they dared to enter the gate as thieves, they would face the same fate as Thrór. It added, if they wanted to see who rules the gate now, they could know it from the face of the beggar. The head of Thrór laid away, severed from his body. Nar went near it and turned it to see the name.

It was in the forehead carved in the Dwarven runes, the name that will haunt the heart of all the dwarves, Azog. They restrained him from taking Thrór's head back with him. He received a pouch of coins, which was a fee as per Azog. It was more of a gesture of insult to the Durin. Taking the coins with him, Nar left the place in haste down to the Silverlode. He saw the Orcs outside the gate, tearing apart the body of Thrór, and feeding them to the crows. Nar was finally back to the hills of Dunland and his people. He conveyed the message of Azog and the story of what happened to Thrór in Moria.

Thrain II was mourning with pain for seven days, and he stood up determined. He promised to his folks that he would make them payback for this act of cruelty. The Dwarves brought together their forces to fight against Azog, which took them three years. It led to the mighty battle between the Dwarves and Orcs. It ended with the conclusion of the Battle of Azanulbizar. The latter cost them lives, but it leads to the victory of Dain Ironfoot, son of Nain, and Dwarves. He severed the head of Azog and stuffed the small bag of coins offered to Nar into his mouth. He also put the head of dead Orcs on a stick as revenge for Thrór.

Thrór before his death prepared a map, which was inherited by, Thorin II Oakenshield, his grandson. It reached him through his father, Thrain, who got it from Gandalf during his imprisonment in Dol Guldur. Thorin used the map and shared it with the company during TA 2941, which Elrond deciphered. They used the map to regain their power to Erebor, snatched by Smaug.

• The Hobbit.
• The Lord of the Rings (Appendix A).

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

In the movie, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [1] Jeffrey Thomas, by the Welsh actor, in 2012, portrayed the character of Thrór. He performed the role without any dialogues. The film's plot widely deviates from the original version of Tolkien. Balin narrates the story in which Thrór led the battalion of Dwarves in the Battle of Azanulbizar. They tried to regain the power of the Moria with the forces from the lonely Mountain. They fought against the Orcs and Azog. In the face to face fight with Azug, Thrór's head was severed and killed by Azog. His son mourned and grieved for his death and vanished after that.

Thorin sought revenge for both his grandfather and father, and he won the fight with Azog by cutting his higher left arm. The death of Azog turned the things around in the battle. In the movie, Thrór the reason for the attack of Smaug. His greed for gold lured the dragons to conquer lonely Mountain. Elrond explained that gold-lust is an inherited disease among the Durin, and Thorin was worried whether he would be affected by the same sickness.

This scene was deleted, which was the actual part of the first movie, The mighty Tharundil was a king who stood with bravery against the terrible serpents, which belonged to the north. He declared that he has already warned about his mounting of gold and its allied dangers to Thrór, in the second movie. Thrór disregarded his words, and the dwarves also denied to believe him. In the same second movie, [2] Balin alerts Thorin on this sickness. He expressed his concern about the influence on the same greediness, in him. The third part illustrates that Thorin remembers these words, which haunts him. Later he realized he was already a prey to the lust of gold as his grandfather. Hence, he discarded the crown and joined the group to fight Azog's army. [3]

Thorin was a mighty, praiseworthy, and pompous king of his land and the true heir of Durin. But in the end, his greed, and lust for gold drove him crazy that he started squandering timeless hours in groveling the heaps of treasure. His fascination for the riches gained the attention of the supreme fire-drake, Smaug, who was interested in it. Thrór is presumed to possess a body that is strong like his spirit, added with greed. Thror's ring had powers that attributed to his greediness for gold, which existed among the Dwarven bearers. His greediness even ruined his relationship with King Tharundil as he despised the mighty king.

1. ^The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).
2. ^The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013).
3. ^The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).