Battle of Azanulbizar

2010-01-02T19:46:10Z

96.52.247.219:

{{rewrite}}
{{battle|
image=[[Image:Mikel Janin - Battle of Azanulbizar.jpeg|300px]]|
name=Battle of Azanulbizar|
conflict=War of the Dwarves and Orcs|
date=2799 TA|
place=The Dimrill Dale and the steps of the East-gate of Moria|
result=Pyrrhic victory for the Dwarves|
side1=[[Image:Dwarven Device.jpg|45px|left]] Dwarves|
side2=[[Image:ME-Orcs.png|45px|left]]Orcs|
commanders1=*[[Thráin II]]
*[[Thorin Oakenshield]]
*[[Náin son of Grór|Náin]] †
*[[Dáin II Ironfoot]]
*Commanders of other Houses|
commanders2=*[[Azog]] †|
forces1=[[Longbeards]], [[Broadbeams]], [[Firebeards]], and Houses of the far East numbering at possibly 6-10,000, plus 500-1,000 (est.) Dwarves from the [[Iron Hills]]|
forces2=Goblins of Moria, and the remnants of other Orc-dwellings throughout the [[Misty Mountains]], (est.) at 11-20,000|
casual1=
Half of the host; 4-5,000|
casual2=
10,000, except for maybe 5-10,000 that escaped to the White Mountains|
}}
The '''Battle of Azanulbizar''' ([[Third Age 2799]]) was the penultimate battle in the [[War of the Dwarves and Orcs]]. It was fought beneath the [[East-gate of Moria]] in the valley of Azanulbizar, called ''[[Nanduhirion]]'' in [[Sindarin]] or ''[[Dimrill Dale]]'' in [[Westron]]. Therefore the event is also known as the '''Battle of Nanduhirion''' and the '''Battle of Dimrill Dale'''.

== Prior to the Battle ==

The War of the Dwarves and Orcs was started when [[Azog]] the [[Orc]]-chieftain of [[Moria]] captured and mutilated [[Thrór]], King of [[Durin's folk]]. Azog carved his own name in runes onto Thrór's severed head, and then let his companion [[Nár]] escape so that all [[Dwarves]] would know that an Orc now ruled Moria. Full of righteous fury, Thrór's son [[Thráin II]] gathered a great army of Dwarves, including those not of Durin's folk ([[Firebeards]] and [[Broadbeams]] from the [[Blue Mountains]] and those from the far East of Middle-earth). For six years they systematically destroyed the Orc-holds of the [[Misty Mountains]], until only Moria was left where those Goblins that survived the destruction fled.

== Opposing Forces ==

The exact number for the Dwarves was not specified, but it can be estimated at being somewhere between six to ten thousand Longbeards, Firebeards, Broadbeams, Ironfists, Stonefoots, Blacklocks, and Stiffbeards.
The Orcs, as stated above, came from Moria, and from as far north of the Misty Mountains as [[Mount Gundabad]]. So their numbers can be estimated at fifteen to twenty thousand Orcs.

== The Battle ==

The battle started on a dark day of cold winter with no sun. The Dwarves had marched into the Dimrill Dale where they found the great East-gate and sent up a great noise. They soon discovered that on the western slopes above thousands of Orcs had gathered and more were coming out of the East-gate, outnumbering them and holding the higher ground.

The first Vanguard led by King Thraín, assaulted the slopes but were driven back with loss, into a wood near the Mirrormere, where [[Frerin]] youngest son of Thraín was slain along with [[Fundin]], father of [[Balin]], along with many others. Thraín himself was wounded, as well as his eldest son [[Thorin II Oakenshield]]. Who's shield was broken during the battle and had to use an oak branch that he hewed off a tree to defend himself.

Elsewhere, the battle swayed to and fro until [[Náin son of Grór|Náin]] from the [[Iron Hills]], arrived with a host of fresh troops with him. Naín, and his Dwarves hewed through the Orc lines with their mattocks shouting AZOG! AZOG! AZOG! until they got to the very steps of the gate, in-which Naín called upon Azog to come out and fight. When Azog emerged from the inner gate with his guards, Naín was very tired and half blind with rage and tried to swing as hard as he could at Azog but the orc darted aside, and he missed, which splintered his mattocks on the ground. The orc kicked him in the leg when he dodged the Dwarf's blow, making him stumble, at which Azog tried to decapitate him but Azog only broke Naín's neck because of the strong mail he was wearing, Naín died instantly.
Azog laughed at this, but when he looked out into the valley he found that his entire army was routed. Those that could were fleeing southwards, and all his guards were killed as well. With that he fled back to the gate. But Náin's son, [[Dáin II Ironfoot|Dáin]], leaped up the steps after him with his red axe and just before the gate he hewed off Azog's head, thus ending the war.
He was just 32-years old at the time, very young for a Dwarf, and it was remarked an amazing feat. Dáin would later become [[King under the Mountain]] as [[Dáin II Ironfoot]].

== Aftermath ==

The Dwarves were victorious, but with heavy casualties. Half of their forces dead or mortally wounded. But the Orcs casualties were ten thousand.
After the battle, King Thráin wanted to enter and reclaim Moria, the ancestral home of Durin's folk. However, since the Dwarves had taken heavy losses and the Dwarves of the other Houses did not see any benefit in it for them unless they got some treasure from Moria. More significantly, Dáin had peered beyond the East-gate after slaying Azog, and saw that [[Durin's Bane]] still lingered within and advised Thráin not to enter.
They then stripped the dead, so the orcs couldn't plunder them, and felled all the trees in the valley which they made many pyres with, and put there dead on them to burn. For they could not bury them all in fashioned tombs of stone, as was their custom for it would take many years. So those that fell in that battle were known proudly as ''Burned Dwarves''.
The Houses then parted ways, returning to their homes to the North, East, and West.

Thráin, with what was left of Durin's folks' forces, went back to [[Dunland]], and shortly afterwards wandered in [[Eriador]] till they settled in the Northern Blue Mountains. There Durin's folk regrew slowly in population and waited till the days they could take back the halls of [[Erebor]], and Khazad-dum.

== Repercussions ==

Although the Dwarves suffered heavy casualties, the battle would have lasting repercussions for the [[Orcs of the Misty Mountains]]. Their numbers had been severally shrunk after the battle and never fully recovered. If it hadn't been for the battle, [[Bilbo Baggins]] and his thirteen Dwarf companions may have never made it to Erebor. The [[Battle of Five Armies]] wouldn't have been won by the army of Elves, Men, and Dwarves. And [[The Fellowship of the Ring | The Fellowship]] may have never got through Moria alive.

== References ==

*[[The Return of the King]], [[Appendix A]]
*[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]

[[Category:Conflicts of the Third Age]]
[[de:Schlacht von Azanulbizar]]
[[fr:encyclo:evenements:3a:guerres:bataille_d_azanulbizar]]
[[fi:Azanulbizarin taistelu]]

Durin's Bane

2009-12-15T06:41:06Z

96.52.247.219:

[[Image:Danny Staten - Durin's Bane.jpg|thumb|300px|''Durin's Bane'' by [[Danny Staten]]]]
'''Durin's Bane''' refers to a specific [[Balrog]] who was not otherwise named. It would surely have served its master [[Morgoth]] during the [[First Age]]. It apparently survived the defeat of Morgoth in the [[War of Wrath]] and escaped to hide beneath the [[Misty Mountains]].

== History ==

For more than five millennia, the Balrog hibernated in its deep hiding place at the roots of the mountains in [[Khazad-dûm]]. It remained undisturbed throughout the [[Second Age]] and most of the [[Third Age|Third]], before the [[mithril]]-miners of [[Dwarf]]-King [[Durin VI]] awoke it. Durin was slain by the creature, at which point it became known as ''Durin's [[Bane]]''.

The [[Dwarves]] attempted to fight the Balrog, but its power was far too great. Despite their efforts to hold Khazad-dûm against it, King Náin and many of the Dwarves were killed and the survivors were forced to flee. This disaster appears to have also reached the [[Silvan Elves]] of [[Lothlórien]], many of whom also fled the "'''Nameless Terror'''" (it was not recognized as a Balrog at the time). The elves began to call the place ''Moria'', "The Black Pit".

For five hundred years, Moria was left to the Balrog.

[[Sauron]] began to put his plans for war into effect around the year 2480 of the [[Third Age]]. As part of these, he sent [[Orcs]] and [[Trolls]] to the Misty Mountains to bar all of the passes. Some of these creatures came to Moria. It is unclear as to whether Sauron could have controlled the Balrog (they were both [[Maiar]]) but it is probable that they would have been allied against the "common good". The Balrog did allow the Orcs and trolls to remain in Moria while it dwelt there. We do not know whether Sauron was aware of the Balrog's presence prior to this time.

The [[Battle of Azanulbizar]] was the climactic battle in the [[War of the Dwarves and Orcs]]. It took place before the eastern gate of Moria in 2799 and was a victory for the Dwarves. However, the victors did not conquer Moria because [[Dáin II Ironfoot|Dáin Ironfoot]], having slain the Orc [[Azog]], felt the terror of the Balrog at the gate. Despite a failed attempt to recolonise Moria by [[Balin]] in 2989, Durin's Bane remained a menace in the ancient kingdom of the Dwarves whose nature was hidden to the outside world.

[[Image:Ted Nasmith - The Balrog.jpg|thumb|left|''The Balrog'' by [[Ted Nasmith]]]]

== During the War of the Ring ==

In January of 3019, the [[Fellowship of the Ring]] travelled through Moria on the way to [[Mount Doom]]. There they encountered Durin's Bane at the [[Bridge of Khazad-dûm]]. The Elf [[Legolas of Mirkwood|Legolas]] instantly recognised the Balrog despite having never seen one before. More importantly, the [[Wizards|Wizard]] [[Gandalf]] was there (perhaps for this very purpose); knowing that it was far more powerful than even the greatest of his companions, he challenged it.

Since Gandalf and the Balrog were both Maiar, they were beings of the same order. As they faced each other, Gandalf broke the Bridge in front of him, but as the Balrog fell it wrapped its whip around Gandalf's ankle, which dragged him down to hanging onto the edge. As the Company looked in horror, Gandalf said, "Fly, you fools!" and let go. Neither he nor the Balrog was killed by the fall, and Gandalf pursued the creature for eight days until they climbed to the peak of [[Zirakzigil]]. Here they fought for two days and nights. In the end, the Balrog was cast down and it broke the mountain-side as it fell. Gandalf himself died following this ordeal, but was later sent back to Middle-earth with even greater powers as Gandalf the White.

== See Also ==
*[[:Category:Images of Balrogs|Images of Balrogs]]

{{maiar}}

[[Category:Maiar]]
[[Category:Balrogs]]
[[de:Durins Fluch]]
[[fr:encyclo:personnages:ainur:maiar:balrogs:fleau_de_durin]]
[[fi:Durinin Turma]]

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Battle of Azanulbizar

Durin's Bane