askmiddlearth:

We open on the dwarf Nar, who is sobbing as he runs away from Moria’s eastern gate. The camera then zooms in closer to said gate, and focuses on the decapitated head of Thror, former King Under the Mountain, with the name “AZOG” branded on his lifeless forehead.

Then things get a little ugly.

The War of the Dwarves and Orcs was a decidedly unpleasant war. It was fueled by rage, pride, and a desire for revenge. Tolkien says that “both sides were pitiless, and there was death and cruel deeds by dark and by light.” So, even though Tolkien never gives us a reason to sympathize with the orcs, I don’t think it’d make for a very uplifting movie. Awesome, I’m sure. But also a bit of a downer. Because, while the dwarves practically exterminate the entire orcish population of the Misty Mountains, and they do eventually get their revenge against Azog, the dwarvish casualties were devastating. Less than half of their armies survived the last battle alone (there’s no mention of how many dwarves died in the battles leading up to this one, or even exactly how many died in the last battle.)

The war itself was pretty long. The dwarves spent three years gathering their armies (representatives from all seven clans were present), and then spent six years fighting up and down the Misty Mountains. The reason why such a long war went by largely unnoticed by the rest of Middle Earth is that almost all the battles took place underground, in caverns, mines, and orc-colonies. And since, in the years leading up to the war, the orc population in the mountains had grown so dangerously large, many people were avoiding the area anyway.

Really, the only flashy part of the war is the finale, the Battle of Azanulbizar, “at the memory of which the Orcs still shudder and the Dwarves weep.” This is the part we see (not super-accurate) flashbacks of in the Hobbit movies. There really isn’t space in this post to describe that battle as Tolkien did, and point out the changes made in the movie, but here are the super-important bits:

• Thrain led the first assault, which failed. Then, Thrain and Thorin were injuried and Frerin (Thorin’s brother and Thrain’s younger son) was killed. As were many other dwarves, of course, including Balin and Dwalin’s father Fundin.
• Things were touch-and-go for the dwarves all over the battlefield, but then they were saved by the arrival of the dwarves of the Iron Hills. For reasons that are not explained at all, they had only just arrived at the war (seriously, there is no explanation for why they are 9 years late to the party.) Their leader, Nain, fights Azog and is killed.
• Then Azog gloats a bit, until he realizes that his army is actually losing. He runs back towards Moria, but Dain chases him. A quick note on Dain: he was only 32 at the time, which is very very young for a dwarf (they aren’t even considered to be full-grown until 40.) Despite this, he attacked Azog right in front of the gate to Moria, and this time Azog fell. When the battle was finished, the dwarves stuck Azog’s head on a pike, and that was about it.
• (Well, to be exact, Thain wanted to keep fighting and reclaim Moria for good, but the other dwarves said “Durin’s Heir you may be, but even with one eye” – Thrain lost an eye in the battle – “you should see clearer. We fought this war for vengeance, and vengeance we have taken. But it is not sweet. If this is victory, then our hands are too small to hold it.” Also, those from the other clans didn’t really care about Moria. And Dain absolutely refused to go near the place – it’s said that, while standing by the gate, he’d looked inside and seen the balrog.)

And, uh, so that’s how I’d like to see the War of the Dwarves and Orcs portrayed. As a long, dark, ugly fight for pride and vengeance that ends on an all-around bittersweet note. Lots of fighting, lots of tears. And more Dain, less Thorin at the Battle of Azanulbizar, please.

SOURCES: LOTR Appendix B