  thorin ii oakenshield, son of thrÃ¡in, son of thrÃ³r, king under the mountain is a fictional character in j. r. r. tolkien's 1937 novel the hobbit. thorin is the leader of the company of dwarves who aim to reclaim the lonely mountain from smaug the dragon. he is the son of thrÃ¡in ii, grandson of thrÃ³r, and becomes king of durin's folk during their exile from erebor. thorin's background is further elaborated in appendix a of tolkien's 1955 novel the return of the king. ==characteristics== thorin is described as haughty, stern and officious. he has a talent for singing and playing the harp, wears a gold chain, and has a very long beard. he wears a distinctive sky blue hood with a long silver tassel. he refers to his home in the blue mountains as "poor lodgings in exile". he is a capable and a cunning warrior, if not a particularly inspiring or clever leader. while shorter than elves or men, thorin is said to be quite tall for a dwarf. ==appearances== ===the hobbit=== in the hobbit, thorin and twelve other dwarves visited bilbo baggins on gandalf's advice to hire bilbo as a burglar to steal their treasure back from the dragon smaug. smaug had attacked erebor (the lonely mountain) about 150 years before, and had taken both the dwarves' mountain and their treasure. thorin was determined to get the treasure back, and especially wanted the arkenstone, the heart of the mountain, an heirloom of his house. on the journey the company encountered a band of trolls, and thorin alone of the dwarves was not taken unawares. he found the elven blade orcrist in the trolls' cache, and used the sword thereafter until it was taken when he was captured by the wood-elves. later, he and gandalf fought valiantly in the goblin tunnels in the misty mountains. when the dwarves were captured by the wood-elves of mirkwood, thorin insisted that the others not disclose their quest to their captors. he was the first to emerge from the barrels at lake-town and marched right up to the leaders of the town, declaring himself as king under the mountain. with provisions from lake-town, thorin led the company to erebor. after smaug was killed, the dwarves reclaimed the treasure, and thorin, very pleased with bilbo, gave the hobbit a chain-mai
Characters_in_The_Hobbit Fictional_characters_introduced_in_1937 Fictional_kings Fictional_swordsmen Middle-earth_Dwarves Middle-earth_rulers