Battle of Azanulbizar, the climax of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs
The Battle of Azanulbizar was the final battle and the climax of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. In the novel, king Thror, the father of Thain second and the grandfather of Thorin Oakenshield was already decapitated and humiliated by Azog the Great Goblin.
The Battle of Azanulbizar and the War of the Dwarves and Orcs occurred because Thrain second called upon the houses of the dwarves to avenge Thror.
Also, Azog was killed during the Battle of Azanulbizar by Iron Dainfoot in the novel and Thrain second didn’t go missing during the Battle of Azanulbizar as well.
Azanulbizar was a valley that was located near Moria the old ruins if Khazad-dum.
In the cinematic series of The Hobbit, Thrain 2nd went missing and Thror was killed during the Battle of Azanulbizar.
However, in both the novel and the movie, Thorin 2nd would become known as Thorin Oakenshield as he lifted an oak tree as a shield during the bloody battle of Azanulbizar.
Also in the movie Azog survived and would be called Azog the Defilier while in the novel, Azog was only known as the Great Goblin and died at the Battle of Azanulbizar by Dain Ironfoot’s final blow.
Dwarves of the Legendarium
The dwarves were created by the Valar Aule while they were approved by Iluvatar the God of the Legendarium and the dwarves were called the adopted children of Iluvatar.
Dwarves would call themselves Khazad and the first dwarf that awoken on Middle Earth was Durin First or Durin the Deathless at Gundabad.
Thus, Gundabad was a sacred place for the dwarves but over time the masters of Gundabad constantly changed between the dwarves and the orcs.
Seven clans of the Dwarves
Although there were many nations and colonies or groups of dwarves, there were seven known clans of the dwarves. While Durin First or Durin the Deathless was the first Dwarf that ever awoken on Middle Earth, there was a total of seven clans that were awakened in different locations.
Durin’s descendants would be called the Longbeards or Durin’s Folks that would inhabit Gundabad and the Longbeards or Durin’s Folks would be the main dwarf clan of the history of Middle Earth during the 3rd and 2nd Ages.
The Firebeards and the Broadbeams were the dwarves that originated from the Blue Mountains and the Firebeards and the Broadbeams were the main dwarves of the 1st Ages in the dwarf kingdoms Nogrod and Belegost.
The Ironfists and Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and the Stonefoots have awoken in the east and not much is known of these clans.
Thrain 2nd’s key and the secret entrance to Erebor
In the movie The Hobbit, Thrain 2nd gave the key to Thorin Oakenshield during the Battle of the Azanulbizar where in the novel, Gandalf received the key from Thrain 2nd and gave it to Thorin Oakenshield.
Gandalf first knew of Sauron’s return at Dol Guldur and discovered Thrain 2nd at Dol Guldur before he met Thorin Oakenshield for the Quest of Erebor.
Thrain 2nd’s key would open the secret entrance of Erebor which Thrain 2nd and king Thror used to escape from Erebor during Smaug’s assault.
King Thror left a secret map in Moon lunes or Moon language that marked the location of this concealed backdoor of Erebor.
Five Wizards, Istari
Gandalf doesn’t reveal his identity a Maia that was dispatched by the lord of the valar Manwe officially. Only Elrond, Galadriel and Cirdan knew of Gandalf’s true identity and the fact that he was a messenger of the Valars.
Gandalf was one of the five wizards called the Istari that were sent to Middle Earth by the Valars to save Middle-Earth.
Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast and two other wizards known only as the blue wizards were sent to Middle Earth from Valinor, the land of the Valars.
Radagast the Brown
Radagast was a maiar named Aiwendil in Valinor that was sent by the Valar Yavanna to protect the wilderness of Middle Earth.
Radagast, among the other four wizards, was much more interested in taking care of the wildlife instead of the mission as a savior of Middle Earth.
Radagast would ride Rhosgobel rabbits that was a film adaptation and would aid Gandalf in searching the secrets of Dol Guldur and the tombs of the hills of Rhudaur that is all an adaptation of the film.
In the novel, Radagast does aid Saruman and Gandalf with his friendship with wildlife and animals. In both the movie and the novel, Radagast befriended the Great Eagle and the eagles that were nesting in the Misty Mountains and Radagast maintained a good relationship with the skinchanger Beorn.
Lonelands and the trolls
Thorin and Company with Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins would encounter the trolls called Tom, Bert and William at Trollshaws located in the Lonelands.
The west of the Misty Mountains where the Shire, Ered Luin, Lindon etc were located was called Eriador. Although Eriador was relatively safe from the dark creatures, in the north of Eriador once lied the evil kingdom Angmar.
However, Angmar perished after the Angmar Wars but there were some of the dark creatures remaining in Eriador. When darkness arose in Dol Guldur located at the east of the Misty Mountains, the activities of the dark creatures increased including the trolls.
Thus, Gandalf was surprised by the presence of trolls at the Lonelands. Thanks to the riddles of Bilbo Baggins that kept the trolls busy, Gandalf was able to turn the trolls into stone by the sunlight as Bilbo Baggins constantly stalled the trolls.
During Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Rings, Frodo Baggins and the hobbits along with Aragorn also found the petrified trolls Bert, William and Tom.
Trolls of the Legendarium
The origin of the trolls is unknown. However there are explanations by Treebeard the Ent that during the First Age, Morgoth(Melkor) have created the trolls in mimic of the ents.
Trolls were much larger dark creatures than the orcs while they weren’t as intelligent as an orc. Orcs were severely weakened under the sunlight; however trolls would become petrified once placed under the sunlight.
Saruon would later develop a much advance trolls species that could resist the sunlight later on called Olog-highs.
