Bofur

**Bofur** is one of the supporting characters in *The Hobbit*

### The Eve of Battle

One evening, Bofur told Bilbo that it was best he was inside and out of the wind; however, Bilbo points out that the mountain still smells of Dragon and only came out for fresh air. Bofur heavily implied through their conversation that he knew Bilbo was leaving, but told him that it would take forever to wake up Bombur before descending down the stairs. Bilbo stopped his friend and told Bofur he would see him in the morning. However, Bofur was doubtful Bilbo would return, but said a tearful "goodbye" before turning away.

### Battle of Five Armies

#### Bilbo's "betrayal"

On the eve of battle, Bofur was present when Bard and Thranduil revealed they had the Arkenstone and that Bilbo was the one who gave it to them in the first place. Feeling betrayal from his former friend, Thorin commanded one of them to throw Bilbo from the rampart, however Bofur (like all the others) resisted. After Thorin enarly killed Bilbo and Gandalf demanded they return Bilbo to him unharmed. As soon as Thorin let go of Bilbo, Bofur and Fili immediately ran to Bilbo's side. Bofur helped the hobbit up and urged him to leave, and saw to it that Bilbo left before Thorin changed his mind.

#### Rally to the King

After Thorin came to his senses, he asked his friends if they would follow him one last time, to which Bofur agreed to.

#### Battle between an Orc and cousins

"*By Durin, you've lost your ax."
"No he hasn't" (hands Bifur the ax) "Here you go cousin."
"You know where you can stick that!"*"
—Bofur, Bombur, and Bifur
During the Battle, Bofur was nearly killed by an Orc and a blinded troll. He briefly controlled the blind troll, even helping Balin, Dwalin, Fili and Kili, however, the troll was killed. Bofur found himself on the ground, nearly killed by one of the goblins mercenaries. However, his cousin Bifur, stuck his ax in the goblin's head to protect Bofur. Later Bombur and Bofur went to pry the goblin off of Bifur's ax. While Bofur held his cousin around the waist, Bombur managed to pull both the orc and Bifur's ax out of his head. Bofur, panicked, told Bifur that he had lost his ax, which caused the dwarf to immediately put his hand on his forehead.

Bombur returned with the ax and handed it back to Bifur. However, the dwarf spoke Westron for the very first time and told Bombur that he "knew where to stick it" before throwing the ax away for good.

### Burial of Thorin, Fili and Kili

"*If any of you ever passing Bag End, tea is at four - there’s plenty of it. You are welcome anytime. And, don't bother knocking*"
—Bilbo to his friends[src]
After the Battle of the Five Armies, Bofur bowed down to the late Thorin Oakenshield as a sign of respect. He later attended Thorin's, Fili's and Kili's funeral, along with other members of the Company and paid his respects.

Shortly after the burial, Bilbo Baggins went to set out to the Shire. Bofur, along with the other dwarves came to wish Bilbo a fond farewell. The hobbit, though shocked to see the dwarves there, said farewell to his friends. He told them that if they were ever in the Shire, they were welcomed to come in any time and to "not bother knocking". Bofur was slightly crying from Bilbo's goodbye and gave a small bow to Bilbo one last time before the Hobbit left

Bofur later lived out the rest of his days in Erebor , now a rich dwarf because of his share of the treasure hoard of Thorin.

## Connections

### Family

* Bifur - Cousin and Ally; Teammate
* Bombur - Brother
* Sister-in-law
* 14 Nephews and Nieces

### Allies

* Free People of Middle-Earth
	+ Thorin and Company - Allies; Former Teammates
		- Thorin Oakenshield † - Leader and Friend
		- Bilbo Baggins - Friend and Former Teammate
		- Balin †
		- Dwalin
		- Fíli †
		- Kíli †
		- Óin †
		- Glóin
		- Dori
		- Nori
		- Ori †
	+ Dwarves of Moria
	+ Tauriel
	+ Men of Dale and Lake-town - Former Captors turned Allies; brief enemies
	+ Elves of Mirkwood - Former Captors and Enemies turned Allies
		- Thranduil - Former Captor
		- Legolas

## Relationships

### Family

Bofur's parents were miners and from poor classes. Also, Bofur is a descendant of one of the old Dwarves from Moria, along with Bombur and Bifur. He is Bombur's (presumably) older brother and paternal cousin of Bifur.

Bofur is also the uncle of Bombur's fourteen children and brother-in-law to Bombur's wife.

## Behind the scenes

* Bofur is shown to be one of the three dwarves quite close with Bilbo. The other two are Balin and Thorin Oakenshield.
* In his official biography, Bofur only came for the free ale, but managed to build a friendly relationship with his fellow dwarves.
* Bofur mentions that it is near midnight and Bombur will be there for his shift and tells Bilbo how hard it is to wake him. This is probably a reference in the novel where Bilbo "takes over" Bombur's midnight shift for him, only to go and trade the Arkenstone to the Elves.

## References

1. ↑ Based on the fact that Thorin's height is 5'3 and that Richard Armitage is 6'2, with a 9 inch difference, meaning Bofur is nine inches shorter than his average actor's height.