In general, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was a much smaller-scale story than its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, but there are still aspects of it that are curious, including the Five Armies. Part of The Hobbit’s smaller scale is because of its origin as a story for his young children, and so it focused much more on the trials and tribulations of Bilbo Baggins rather than the shadow of evil the One Ring represented. Additionally, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit first, and only later used it as the foundation of what became his Legendarium.
Yet, while The Hobbit may not have the epic drama and tension of LOTR, or be the summation of lore that The Silmarillion represents, it’s still a fantastic story in its own right. It even has its own epic battle – the Battle of the Five Armies. This climactic clash between Dwarves, Elves, Men, Orcs, and one very out-of-his-element Hobbit was the crux of both The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and the original book, but as with the Hobbit films in general, there are some differences between the film and book versions of events.
Who The Hobbit’s Five Armies Were In The Movie
In The Battle of the Five Armies, the siege at the gates of the Lonely Mountain teetered on the edge of a full-on battle after Thorin Oakenshield, mad with “dragon sickness,” threw diplomacy out the window while arguing with Elven-king Thranduil. The conflict next escalated with the arrival of the Dwarven reinforcements, and then devolved into all-out chaos as the two forces of Orcs arrived, intent on slaughter.
Thorin, Dain Ironfoot, And The Dwarves Of Erebor And The Iron Hills
The first of the тιтular armies was the forces of the Dwarves, which comprised of two elements. On the one hand, there were Thorin Oakenshield and the members of his Company, a dozen heavily armed and skilled fighters holding a secure position at the Gate of Erebor. The other Dwarven force was the army led by Thorin’s cousin Dain Ironfoot, and consisted of Dain himself mounted on a mᴀssive boar, a substantial unit of other Dwarves mounted on goats to serve as cavalry, several goat-driven ballistae, and a sizable contingent of heavy infantry in full plate, armed with shields and pikes.
Bard And The Lake-Men Of Lake-Town
While Bard and his men from Lake-town consтιтuted one of the nominal armies in this engagement, they were at best a small group of irregular fighters and archers. Lake-town did not have a standing army or militia, but many of its residents had some skill at hunting with bows and blades, much like Bard himself. These irregulars did little to contribute to the main engagement outside Erebor, but instead retreated to Lake-town to help defend it from rampaging Orcs.
Thranduil And The Elves Of Mirkwood
From the top of his mighty elk, Thranduil led a mᴀssive contingent of several thousand Elves from Mirkwood to Erebor, with the intent of extorting some degree of satisfaction out of Thorin. The army was predominantly a mix of archers and shielded light infantry, similar to the Elven forces seen at the Siege of Barad-dûr in The Fellowship of the Ring and at the Battle of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers.
Azog The Defiler And The Orcs Of Dol Goldur
Azog was overall commander of the Orcs and their allied forces for the ᴀssault on Erebor, having led a significant contingent out of Dol Goldur for the purposes of capturing the mountain-city and killing Thorin. Azog’s forces were primarily formed of Orcs like him, mostly armored in the heavy plate seen being used by The Lord of the Rings‘ Uruk-hai.
Bolg And The Orcs Of Gundabad
Bolg, the son of Azog, was sent by his sire before the battle began to retrieve additional forces from the northern Orc stronghold of Gundabad. Aside from the standard heavily-armored Orcs, this contingent also included several mᴀssive Trolls of various breeds, most of which were horribly maimed and converted into living wrecking balls. Their final major ᴀsset was the mighty Were-worms, mᴀssive creatures that were able to bore tunnels through the rock at an incredible speed, allowing Bolg’s forces to arrive on the battlefield unexpectedly.
How The Five Armies Were Different In The Hobbit Book
In Tolkien’s original book, the armies are defined slightly differently. Azog was long ᴅᴇᴀᴅ by Dain’s hands in the battle at the gates of Moria that also claimed Thorin’s father’s life. Instead, Bolg led an army of Goblins – not Orcs – out of Gundabad after hearing of how Thorin’s company slew the Great Goblin below the Misty Mountains. That force was also accompanied by a separate army of Wargs, which in the books were notably intelligent enough to speak. The forces of Men and Elves and Dwarves, however, remained relatively unchanged from book to film.
Were The Eagles Not One Of The Five Armies?
Although many analyses of the Battle of the Five Armies – whether the book or the film – ᴀssume the Eagles count as one of the armies, that isn’t accurate. In both formats, there are five discrete military forces on the battlefield, whereas the Eagles and Beorn show up after the battle begins, never mind the fact that eagles are not generally known for their battlefield discipline.
While the book and film portrayals of the Battle of the Five Armies may differ slightly, the outcome remained the same: Bolg was slain, the Orcs were routed, and the heroes emerged battered but triumphant (except for Thorin, Fíli, and Kíli, all of whom died on the field or shortly after from their wounds. Either way, the Battle of the Five Armies made for an epic ending to the story of The Hobbit.
The Hobbit
- Created by
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Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro
- First Film
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Latest Film
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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- Cast
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Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom
Summary
The Hobbit film series is a fantasy adventure trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit. Set 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, the films follow Bilbo Baggins’ quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. The series grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and is known for its elaborate visuals and epic storytelling.
