Tag: the hobbit

evil-bones-mccoy:

tonight on all your faves are Jewish:

surprise! all of the dwarves of Middle-earth! especially the Longbeards!

because believe it or not Tolkien constructed Khuzdul as a Semitic language! and maybe we might not have been reading the same story but i definitely picked up a whole ‘covenant with the Maker’ thing and a ‘communities in diaspora’ thing especially with the Durin’s Folk narrative like come on

Dain gets all sorts of unusual piercings and Thira is just like ??? when she finds a new one. The bellybutton one was particularly funny – it works with the pattern of Dain’s tattoos and has a little charm on it – he switches between a pig one and one that goes with the tattoos.

oh god i have the best mental image rn 

imagine @hattedhedgehog‘s “Iron Hills Frills” Dain – but with a cute little pink heart-shaped jewel hanging from his bellybutton

help

Goin off of your post about Dain having flashbacks of Nain’s death – how hard was it for all of Thror’s relatives who saw him die deal with that in the Halls? I don’t know if Frerin saw, but he and Thror probably got their issues over comparatively quickly since they died at almost the same time. But Thrain and Thorin … a whole other kettle of fish.

Ah! Well, this is actually another point of difference between the books and the films!

Book: Thror is not killed in battle. He and his good friend Nar had been trying to sneak into Khazad-dum. Azog caught him, decapitated him, and threw his head out of the Doors of Durin, with the name ‘AZOG’ carved into the forehead.

Nar brings the news of Thror’s death back to Thrain, who musters the Dwarven armies to avenge Thror’s death. This begins the 9-year War of the Orcs and Dwarves, which culminates in the Battle of Azanulbizar in which Dain Ironfoot saw his father killed and then slew Azog in turn.

Movie: Thror tries to retake Moria with an army, but dies and is decapitated at the Battle of Azanulbizar. Thorin chops off Azog’s arm, but Azog survives. Dain is presumably running late? In other words, Dain’s part in the battle of Azanulbizar was handed over to Thorin in the films.

As I have said before, I am quite meticulously sticking to the book timeline. All proposed workarounds tend to make my head hurt, to be frank (it’s enough work as it is without having to re-jig all the dates to fit) ! And so, I like being able to reference the year of an event or the age of a character. 

I do incorporate a hell of a lot of the movie characterisation etc, but when it comes to the big events stuff like this, I am very grateful for the incredible wealth of information in the book universe! So, to the question, though: Thrain and Thorin never saw Thror killed, because I am following the book timeline with this one. This is not to say that it would not have been devastating. Thror was the “father of their people”, their leader and father and grandfather and King. To know he died in such a cruel and vicious way, his body desecrated, would have been a massive and debilitating and painful blow. I mean, they began a war because of it, and fully half the Dwarves that took part died. But they would have been spared that sight, at least.

(Nar, on the other hand…)

HAHAHAHAHA CAUGHT YOU, @kailthia! You know what this means? 

YES, THAT’s RIGHT! This is now officially Headcanonpalooza part 6!

The first 5 installments are here:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. 

If you are having a crummy day, then may I suggest browsing through them? They are a gorgeous little shot of sunshine and will bring a smile to your face, bc K is a gem and a genius at cute headcanons ❤

So angsty moment … Dain is now in the Halls … does he have flashbacks for the first little while spending time with his dad about how his dad died?

It takes him by surprise on occasion.

It’s an awkward and slow process, relearning how to be someone’s son, someone’s child. Dain doesn’t always remember that he has that support, and he often forges ahead alone, independent and stubborn, as he has done for over two hundred years. 

It takes a whispered word in his ear from Fris, of all people, for Dain to look behind him and see the love and hesitant hope in his parents’ eyes.

Daeris loves to braid his hair, so unlike her own. She hums as she sits him down and brushes it and brushes it until it gleams like polished copper, and then she carefully braids it back into his accustomed style. When he bends to kiss her whiskery cheek in thanks, he is struck by the memory of her blood splashed across her face, pooling upon skin that already turned waxy and loose in death.

He swallows down the sudden surge of bile and squeezes her hands. “Thank you, Amad,” he says, and tries to wipe the image from his mind.

Nain walks upon winged feet these days, nearly exploding from pride for his mighty son. He often just beams at Dain, his face softening and creasing in astonishment and joy, and when Dain rolls his eyes Nain will shrug and laugh and say that it is his right to be a foolish old man. Besides, is Dain any better when it comes to his own boy?

That’s different, Dain will sniff, and Nain will chuckle. It is a little stilted, a little forced. Their affection does not come naturally, not yet – but it feels as though one day it could.

It is when Nain turns to one side to talk to someone, or when he flops down into a chair – hells, even when he stretches – that the terrible memory resurfaces. That angle of his head. It is only the angle of his head, Dain tells himself sternly, and washes his face and stares into his own eyes in the mirror. They look bruised.

His head had wrenched to the side, lolling and loose, the angle obscene and stomach-twisting to see. A grotesque parody, a broken doll. The sturdy Iron Hills mail he wore protected him from being decapitated… but it could not stop his spine from snapping beneath Azog’s powerful hands. 

The angle of his head…

Dain splashes more water onto his face and grips the edge of the water-basin tightly. You are no longer that scared and angry child, he tells himself, and tries to force his knees to cooperate. He feels light-headed. You are safe now, protected from all evil, and Mahal himself watches over us. You are safe. Nain is safe. Daeris is safe. The last scion of Azog’s line is dead, and your family is safe.

And he steps back out to smile and laugh with his father, to let his mother brush and bind his hair, and he forges ahead. Independent as always, enduring what he must. In time, the flashbacks will subside. Not yet. Not yet. There is always the angle of Nain’s head.

But Dain hopes so, nevertheless. It feels as though one day they could.