War of the Dwarves and Orcs

The **War of the Dwarves and Orcs** was a great war fought between the two races from TA 2793–2799, mostly taking place in and around the Misty Mountains.

## History

### Prelude

In TA 2790, the elderly Dwarven King Thrór, the heir of Durin in exile, journeyed to Moria with a single companion, Nár. When they arrived at the East-gate, Nár begged him to take caution and refrain from entering. His words went unheeded by Thrór, who went and entered Moria proudly as a returning heir. Nár hid nearby for three days waiting for Thrór, but he did not return.

Three days after, the Orc Azog had Thrór's body flung out onto the steps of the gate for Nár to see, Azog's name carved into Thrór's face. Azog then called out to him from the gate, demanding that he deliver a message back to Thrór's people, warning that beggars who dared to enter Moria would meet a similar fate. Azog then proclaimed that he had killed Thrór and now therefore ruled Moria as king. Nár was barred from retrieving the head of Thrór, and was struck with a small pouch of coins of little worth as a final gesture of scorn. Nár took the pouch and turned and fled. When he looked back, goblins had emerged from the Gate and were hacking apart the body and flinging the pieces to the ravens.

When Nár returned to Dunland many weeks later, and told of this to Thráin II who wept in great dismay and then fell silent in his grief. After a week he stood up and declared, "This cannot be borne!", and sent out messengers in all directions to deliver the tale. From TA 2790 to TA 2793 the *Longbeards*, Durin's Folk, responded by mustering their forces, summoning the other houses of the Dwarves, for 'the dishonor to the heir of the eldest of their race filled them with wrath'.

### Conflict

In TA 2793 the Dwarves were gathered, and advanced together, conquering each of the goblin-holds in the Misty Mountains from Mount Gundabad in the north to the peak of Methedras. Most of the war was fought underground, the Dwarves bent on finding Azog. This stage of the war was said to be so grim and pitiless that few Dwarven veterans afterwards ever recounted what took place.

The war reached its climax in TA 2799, when a final battle was fought in the valley outside the eastern gates of Moria, the Battle of Azanulbizar. The Dwarves won when reinforcements arrived late on the scene from the Iron Hills. After the battle, Thráin II son of Thrór wanted to enter Moria and reclaim it, but the Dwarves not of Durin's folk refused, saying they had honored Durin's memory by fighting, and this was enough. The Dwarves feared Durin's Bane was still present and were reluctant to enter Moria while it still dwelt there.

Near the end of the battle, Azog was pursued to the East-gate of Moria and killed by Dáin Ironfoot, who had just watched his father Náin die at Azog's hands. Afterward Azog's head, its mouth stuffed with the same coin-filled purse that he had flung at Nár after he had killed Thrór nine years before, was left impaled on a spike.

### Aftermath

The war was very costly for the Dwarven race, as nearly half of their warriors had been killed. Náin son of Grór, Frerin second son of Thráin II, and Fundin son of Farin, the father of Balin, were among the more noted casualties. Thráin II himself lost an eye and was wounded in the leg, and Thorin was wounded when his shield broke and he had to use an oak branch to defend himself. For this he was given the name Oakenshield.

During and after the conflict many goblins fled south through Rohan, trying to claim a refuge in the White Mountains and they troubled the Rohirrim for two generations. Another effect of the war was the virtual disappearance of the goblins of the Misty Mountains as a threat to Eriador and Wilderland for a long while; the goblins of the High Pass near Rivendell were some of the few survivors. A century and a half later the Goblins of the North still had not fully recovered, and their population was further reduced during the Battle of Five Armies in TA 2941.

Azog survived the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, and was able to later pursue Thorin and his Company out of revenge.