Longbeards
Also calledDurin's Folk, Durin's Line, Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, Dwarves of Erebor, Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain
The Longbeards, Durin's Folk, are the eldest and most famous of the seven houses of the Dwarves. From Khazad-dûm, the greatest mansion ever delved, they carried their kingship through exile to Erebor and the Iron Hills, and every Dwarf named in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings belongs to them.
Description
Origins
The Longbeards descend from Durin, the first of the Seven Fathers to awaken. He rose alone under Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains, and journeyed south until he came to a valley on the eastern side of the range where a still lake reflected a crown of stars about his head. He took this for a sign, named the lake Kheled-zâram, and delved in the caves above it the halls that became Khazad-dûm. Durin lived so long that he was called the Deathless, and his people believed that he would return among them, so that five later kings bearing his name were thought to be Durin come again.
The heart of the house: Khazad-dûm
For the whole of the First and Second Ages and half of the Third the Longbeards were the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm. The mansion grew from Durin's first halls into a city that tunnelled beneath and through the mountains, from the Dimrill Dale in the east to the West-gate above the Sirannon. In the Second Age the fugitives of Nogrod and Belegost enriched it, and the discovery of mithril, found nowhere else in Middle-earth, made it wealthy beyond any other Dwarf-city. Its friendship with the Elven-smiths of Eregion produced the Doors of Durin, made by Narvi and Celebrimbor, and the Dwarves of the house held that their own Ring of Power was a gift from Celebrimbor to Durin III rather than a snare from Sauron.
Khazad-dûm shut its doors when Eregion fell and survived the whole of the Second Age and the fall of Sauron, though Durin's folk sent warriors to the Last Alliance. Its end came from within: the Balrog that the miners woke in T.A. 1980 slew Durin VI and then Náin I, and the people fled. From that time the Elves called the place Moria, the Black Pit.
Exile and wandering
Thráin I led the exiles north-east to Erebor and founded the Kingdom under the Mountain in 1999, where he found the Arkenstone. His son Thorin I took most of the people to the richer Grey Mountains, until the cold-drakes that bred in the Withered Heath killed Dáin I and drove them out again in 2589. The house split: Thrór returned to Erebor as King under the Mountain, and his brother Grór founded the settlement in the Iron Hills that in time held the largest force of Dwarves in the North.
When Smaug descended on Erebor in 2770 Thrór and his family escaped by a secret door and wandered as poor smiths. Thrór's death at the hands of Azog in Moria began the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, in which the Longbeards called on all seven houses and, at Azanulbizar, destroyed the Orcs of the Misty Mountains at fearful cost. Afterwards Thráin II made halls in the Blue Mountains, which remained the western home of the house.
Restoration
The quest of Thorin Oakenshield in 2941 restored the Kingdom under the Mountain. After Thorin's death in the Battle of Five Armies the crown passed to Dáin Ironfoot of the Iron Hills, who ruled with wisdom and wealth until he fell in the Battle of Dale on the same day as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Thorin Stonehelm succeeded him, and in the Fourth Age the house sent Dwarves under Gimli to the Glittering Caves and craftsmen to Minas Tirith.
Attempted return to Moria
The longing of the Longbeards for Khazad-dûm never faded. Balin led an expedition there in 2989 that lasted five years before Orcs and the Watcher in the Water ended it; Gimli's grief at his tomb was the Fellowship's first sight of that loss. In the family tree of Appendix A the last name after Thorin Stonehelm is Durin VII, called the Last, and Dwarvish hope looked to him for the final return.
Character of the house
The Longbeards are the most conservative and proud of the Dwarves, keepers of the eldest traditions, and the only house whose kings are named in detail. Their kings were treated as heirs of Durin in a near-sacred sense, and the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain, was the symbol of their kingship. Their dealings with Elves ranged from the close friendship of Eregion to the coldness that followed Thranduil's imprisonment of Thorin's company; with the Men of Dale and Esgaroth they kept a warm and profitable alliance that lasted into the Fourth Age.
Physical traits
The Longbeards share the general Dwarvish frame but are said to have been marked, as their name records, by very long beards that the eldest wore tucked into their belts or braided. Their kings were counted long-lived even for Dwarves: Durin the Deathless outlasted the memory of his people, and Dwalin lived to 340. Individuals of the house described in the texts are stocky, broad-handed and enormously strong, with hair colours ranging from the white beard of Balin to the yellow beards of Fíli and Kíli.
Culture
The house kept the traditions of Durin above all: the Book of Mazarbul that Balin's colony wrote in Moria continued a habit of written records, and the roll of kings from Durin I to Dáin II was preserved through every exile. The Arkenstone was the great heirloom, and the crown of the King under the Mountain passed by strict descent through the eldest line, with cousins of the house of Grór succeeding when Thorin's line failed. Their craft ran to war-gear and to great works of stone and metal, and they were skilled in toys, tools and instruments as well, as Dale's markets showed. They spoke Westron among strangers and kept Khuzdul, and used the cirth for inscriptions, including the moon-letters Thrór set on his map.
Origins
Durin, eldest of the Seven Fathers, was laid to sleep alone under Mount Gundabad and woke alone, a thing that gave his house its sense of precedence over the others. He wandered south, found Mirrormere and founded Khazad-dûm, and the folk that gathered to him there, his descendants and those Dwarves who sought him out, became the Longbeards. Gundabad remained a place of reverence to all Dwarves, and its later occupation by Orcs was a special grievance of the house.
Fate
By the end of the Third Age the Longbeards held Erebor under Thorin Stonehelm, the Iron Hills, halls in the Blue Mountains, and the new colony of Aglarond under Gimli. They were allies of the Reunited Kingdom and of Dale. Their hope of a return to Khazad-dûm rested on a prophesied seventh Durin.
Notable figures
Father of the Longbeards
Durin I
LongbeardsDurin the Deathless was the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, the first to awaken, and the founder of Khazad-dûm. He lived so long that his people believed he would return among them, and his name was borne by six later kings of his line.
Khazad-dûmLord of the Glittering Caves
Gimli
LongbeardsGimli son of Glóin was the Dwarf of the Fellowship of the Ring. He walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate through Moria, Lothlórien, Helm's Deep and the Paths of the Dead, became the devoted friend of the Elf Legolas and of the Lady Galadriel, and after the war founded a Dwarf-colony in the Glittering Caves. Tradition says he sailed West with Legolas, the only Dwarf ever to do so.
Erebor; later the Glittering Caves of AglarondKing of Durin's Folk
Thorin II Oakenshield
LongbeardsThorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin II and heir of Durin's line, spent most of his life as a king in exile after Smaug took Erebor. In T.A. 2941 he led twelve Dwarves and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins on the quest that ended the dragon and restored the Kingdom under the Mountain, and he died of his wounds in the Battle of Five Armies after reconciling with Bilbo.
Erebor; halls in the Blue Mountains during the exileLord of Moria
Balin
LongbeardsBalin son of Fundin was the eldest and wisest of Thorin's companions on the quest of Erebor and the Dwarf who became closest to Bilbo. In T.A. 2989 he led an expedition to refound the kingdom of Khazad-dûm, ruled there as Lord of Moria for five years, and was killed by an Orc arrow at Mirrormere; the Fellowship found his tomb in the Chamber of Mazarbul.
Erebor; Moria from T.A. 2989Lord of the Iron Hills
Dáin II Ironfoot
LongbeardsDáin Ironfoot slew the Orc Azog at the gate of Moria when he was thirty-two, ruled the Iron Hills, led five hundred Dwarves to the Battle of Five Armies, and succeeded Thorin Oakenshield as King under the Mountain. He ruled Erebor for seventy-eight years of prosperity and died in the War of the Ring defending the body of King Brand at the gate of the Mountain.
Iron Hills; Erebor from T.A. 2941King of Khazad-dûm
Durin VI
LongbeardsDurin VI was the last King of Khazad-dûm before its fall. In his reign the Dwarves, delving for mithril beneath Caradhras, released the Balrog that had hidden there since the War of Wrath, and it slew him in T.A. 1980; from that day it was called Durin's Bane.
Khazad-dûmKing of Durin's Folk
Thráin II
LongbeardsThráin II, son of Thrór and father of Thorin Oakenshield, led the Dwarves in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs and afterwards founded halls in the Blue Mountains. Lured by his Ring toward Erebor, he was captured by Sauron's servants and died in the dungeons of Dol Guldur, where Gandalf found him and received the map and key of Erebor.
Erebor in exile; halls in the Blue MountainsKing of Durin's Folk
Thrór
LongbeardsThrór, grandfather of Thorin Oakenshield, restored the Kingdom under the Mountain in T.A. 2590 and ruled it in its greatest wealth until Smaug came in 2770. Driven to wander by exile and by his Ring, he entered Moria alone and was murdered there by the Orc Azog, and his death began the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.
EreborKing of Khazad-dûm
Durin III
LongbeardsDurin III was King of Khazad-dûm in the days of Eregion and, by the tradition of the Dwarves, received the first of the Seven Rings from Celebrimbor himself. He reigned when Sauron destroyed Eregion and the gates of Moria were shut.
Khazad-dûm- Longbeards
Dwalin, younger brother of Balin, was the first Dwarf to arrive at Bag End and one of Thorin's thirteen companions on the quest of Erebor. He lived on at the Mountain into the Fourth Age and died at the age of three hundred and forty, the longest life recorded of any Dwarf after Durin the Deathless.
Erebor Heir of Thorin Oakenshield
Fíli
LongbeardsFíli, elder son of Thorin's sister Dís, was with his brother Kíli the youngest of the thirteen Dwarves on the quest of Erebor, and as Thorin's sister-son he was his uncle's heir. He fell in the Battle of Five Armies defending Thorin's body.
Blue Mountains; Erebor- Longbeards
Glóin, brother of Óin and father of Gimli, was one of Thorin's companions on the quest of Erebor. Nearly eighty years later Dáin sent him to Rivendell, where he told the Council of Elrond of Sauron's messengers to the Mountain and saw his son chosen for the Fellowship.
Erebor - Longbeards
Kíli, younger son of Dís and nephew of Thorin Oakenshield, was the youngest of the thirteen Dwarves on the quest of Erebor. Inseparable from his brother Fíli, he fell beside him in the Battle of Five Armies defending their uncle.
Blue Mountains; Erebor King of Durin's Folk
Thráin I
LongbeardsThráin I, son of Náin I, led Durin's Folk out of Moria after the Balrog slew his father and grandfather, and in T.A. 1999 founded the Kingdom under the Mountain at Erebor, where he discovered the Arkenstone.
Erebor- Longbeards
Bifur was one of the thirteen Dwarves who went with Thorin Oakenshield on the quest of Erebor. A cousin of Bofur and Bombur, he came of the Dwarves of Moria rather than of Durin's royal line, and after the quest he lived at the Mountain.
Blue Mountains; Erebor - Longbeards
Bofur, brother of Bombur and cousin of Bifur, was one of Thorin Oakenshield's thirteen companions on the quest of Erebor. He came of the Dwarves of Moria rather than of the royal line and lived at the Mountain after the dragon's fall.
Blue Mountains; Erebor - Longbeards
Bombur, the fattest of Thorin's thirteen companions, went on the quest of Erebor with his brother Bofur and cousin Bifur. He fell into the enchanted river of Mirkwood and slept for days, and in later life at the Mountain grew so heavy that six young Dwarves were needed to lift him.
Blue Mountains; Erebor - Longbeards
Dori, the strongest of Thorin's thirteen companions, was the Dwarf who carried Bilbo on his back through the goblin tunnels and hoisted him into the trees when the Wargs came. Kin of Nori and Ori, he lived at Erebor after the quest.
Blue Mountains; Erebor King of Durin's Folk
Durin VII
LongbeardsDurin VII, called the Last, was the seventh and final king to bear the name of the first of the Dwarves. A descendant of Dáin Ironfoot in the Fourth Age, he led Durin's Folk back to Khazad-dûm and refounded the kingdom there, and his people held it until the race of the Dwarves came to its end.
Khazad-dûmLord of the Iron Hills
Náin
LongbeardsNáin, son of Grór and father of Dáin Ironfoot, was Lord of the Iron Hills. He brought fresh forces to the Battle of Azanulbizar in T.A. 2799, fought his way to the gate of Moria, and was slain there by Azog before his son avenged him.
Iron HillsKing of Khazad-dûm
Náin I
LongbeardsNáin I, son of Durin VI, was King of Khazad-dûm for a single year. He was slain by the Balrog in T.A. 1981, and at his death the Dwarves abandoned Moria; his son Thráin I led them to Erebor.
Khazad-dûmMaker of the Doors of Durin
Narvi
LongbeardsNarvi was a Dwarf-craftsman of Khazad-dûm in the Second Age who made the West-gate of Moria, the Doors of Durin, in partnership with the Elven-smith Celebrimbor of Eregion. His name and Celebrimbor's are written together on the doors.
Khazad-dûm- Longbeards
Nori was one of the thirteen Dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield's company on the quest of Erebor, arriving at Bag End in a purple hood with his kinsmen Dori and Ori. He survived the Battle of Five Armies and lived at the Mountain afterward.
Blue Mountains; Erebor - Longbeards
Óin, elder brother of Glóin and uncle of Gimli, was one of Thorin's companions on the quest of Erebor. He later followed Balin to Moria and was taken by the Watcher in the Water at the West-gate when the colony fell.
Erebor; Moria - Longbeards
Ori, kinsman of Dori and Nori, was one of Thorin's thirteen companions on the quest of Erebor. He went with Balin to Moria in T.A. 2989 and wrote the final page of the Book of Mazarbul before dying with the last of the colony beside Balin's tomb.
Blue Mountains; Erebor; Moria King of Durin's Folk
Thorin I
LongbeardsThorin I, son of Thráin I, was the second King under the Mountain. In T.A. 2210 he led most of Durin's Folk from Erebor to the richer Grey Mountains in the north, where they prospered until the dragons drove them out.
Erebor, then the Grey MountainsKing under the Mountain
Thorin III Stonehelm
LongbeardsThorin III Stonehelm, son of Dáin Ironfoot, became King under the Mountain when his father fell in the Battle of Dale in T.A. 3019. He held Erebor under siege, broke it with Bard II when the news of Sauron's fall came, and ruled the Dwarves of the North into the Fourth Age.
Erebor
Relations with other peoples
- Allied withNoldor(friendship with Eregion in the Second Age)
- Allied withMen of Dale and Esgaroth(trade and alliance with Dale and Esgaroth)
- Enemy ofGoblins of the Misty Mountains(the War of the Dwarves and Orcs and the Battle of Five Armies)
- Enemy ofBalrogs(Durin's Bane)
- Enemy ofCold-drakes(driven from the Grey Mountains)
- Enemy ofSilvan Elves(coldness toward the Elves of Mirkwood after 2941, later eased)
- Allied withRavens of Erebor(friends of the Dwarves of Erebor since Thrór's day)
- Allied withThrushes of the Lonely Mountain(the thrush of the secret door)
- Allied withBlacklocks(answered the summons to the War of the Dwarves and Orcs)
- Related toBroadbeams(survivors joined Khazad-dûm)
- Related toFirebeards(many survivors joined Khazad-dûm)
- Allied withIronfists(answered the summons to the War of the Dwarves and Orcs)
- Allied withStiffbeards(answered the summons to the War of the Dwarves and Orcs)
- Allied withStonefoots(answered the summons to the War of the Dwarves and Orcs)
- Allied withNorthmen(trade of Dale with Erebor)
Places
Originated in
- Mount GundabadMountainDurin's awakening
Settled
- The Grey MountainsMountain range2210 to 2589
- The Iron HillsMountain rangefrom 2590
- Ered LuinMountain rangefrom 2802
- AglarondCaveFourth Age
Fought at
- Dimrill DaleValleyAzanulbizar
- DaleCityBattle of Dale, 3019
Timeline
- Years of the Trees
Durin founds Khazad-dûm
Durin wakes at Gundabad and settles above Mirrormere.
- c. S.A. 750
Friendship with Eregion
The Noldor settle beside the West-gate; Narvi and Celebrimbor make the Doors of Durin.
- S.A. 1697
The doors are shut
Eregion falls and Khazad-dûm withdraws behind its gates.
- T.A. 1980
The Balrog awakes
Durin VI is slain; Náin I follows in 1981 and the house abandons Moria.
- T.A. 1999
Kingdom under the Mountain
Thráin I founds Erebor and discovers the Arkenstone.
- T.A. 2210
Removal to the Grey Mountains
Thorin I leads the people north.
- T.A. 2590
The house divides
Thrór returns to Erebor; Grór founds the Iron Hills.
- T.A. 2770
Smaug takes Erebor
Thrór's family goes into exile.
- T.A. 2799
Azanulbizar
Victory over the Orcs; the dead are burned before the East-gate.
- T.A. 2802
Halls in the Blue Mountains
Thráin II settles in Ered Luin.
- T.A. 2941
Restoration of Erebor
Thorin's quest and the Battle of Five Armies; Dáin becomes king.
- T.A. 2989
Balin's expedition
Balin returns to Moria with Óin, Ori and many others; all perish by 2994.
- T.A. 3019
War of the Ring
Gimli with the Fellowship; Dáin falls at Dale; Thorin III succeeds.
- Fo.A. 120
Gimli sails West
The last of Thorin's companions leaves Middle-earth with Legolas.
Sources
- The Lord of the Rings: AppendicesAppendix A III, Durin's Folk, with the family tree
- The HobbitAn Unexpected Party; Inside Information; The Return Journey
- The Fellowship of the RingThe Council of Elrond; A Journey in the Dark; The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
- The SilmarillionOf the Rings of Power and the Third Age
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