Chapter XVII
The Battle of Five Armies

Next day the trumpets rang early in the camp. Soon a single runner was seen hurrying along the narrow path. At a distance he stood and hailed them, asking whether Thorin would hearken [added: now] to [an embassy as new tiding had occurred, which >] another embassy since new [things >] tiding had occurred & matters were changed.

‘That will be Dain’ said Thorin when he heard. ‘They will have got wind of his coming. I thought that would soften their mood. Bid them come few in number and weaponless and I will hear.’

About mid morning the banners of the Wood and Lake were seen to be borne forth again. [Behold > As they drew > <As the entire> >] A company of twenty was approaching. At the beginning of the narrow path they laid aside sword & spear, and [behold among them >] drew near. <Wondering> the Dwarves saw that among them was [added: both] Bard & the Elvenking, and before them one carried a strong casket of iron bound wood.

‘Hail Thorin’ said [> cried] Bard. ‘Are you still of the same mind?’

‘[A>] My mind changes not with the rising & setting of a few suns’ said Thorin ‘And [<did> > see >] not yet has the elfhost departed as I [sai[d] >] bade. Till then no bargaining will you have of me.’

‘Is there nothing for which you would yield any of your gold?’

‘Nothing that you or your friends have to offer?’

‘What of the Arkenstone of Thrain’ said he and he bade open [> opened] the box and held aloft the jewel in his opened hand. The light leapt from his palm bright even in the morning.^TN1

Then Thorin was stricken dumb with amazement & confusion. No one spoke for a long while.

[That stone >] At length Thorin spoke and his voice was thick with wrath. ‘That stone was my father’s and is mine’^TN2 he said. ‘Why should I purchase mine own? [cancelled: Yet I knew you were thieves.]’ But wonder got the better of his anger [> him] and he added. ‘And how came you by the heirloom of my house – if there is need to ask such a question of robbers.’

‘We are not robbers’ Bard said. ‘Your own we will yield in return for our own.’

‘How came you by it’ shouted Thorin in gathering rage.

‘I gave it them!’ squeaked Bilbo, who was peeping over the wall, by now in a dreadful fright.

‘You, you’ cried Thorin turning upon him and grasping him with both hands. ‘You miserable hobbit, you you burglar’ he shouted at a loss for words, and he shook poor B. like a rabbit.^TN3 ‘By the beard of Durinn^TN4 I wish I had Gandalf here. But I will wring your neck first’ he said.^TN5

‘Your wish is granted’ said a voice and Thorin paused. From the company a man stood forth, and cast aside his hood & cloak.^TN6 ‘Here is Gandalf – and not too soon it seems! If you don’t like my burglar please don’t damage him.^TN7 Put him down and listen first to what he has to say.’

‘You all seem in league’ said Thorin putting Bilbo down. ‘Never again will I have dealing with a wizard or his friends. What have you to say you descendant of rats.’

‘Dear me dear me!’ said Bilbo. ‘I am sure this is all very [unfor[tunate] >] uncomfortable: [If>] You may remember saying that I might choose my own fourteenth [added in pencil: share]. Perhaps I took it too literally though the time was when you seemed to think I was of some service. Descendant of rats indeed. Is this all the service of you and your family that I was promised, Thorin. Take it that I have disposed of my share as I wished, and let it go at that.’

‘I will’ said Thorin grimly. ‘And I will let you go.’^TN8 Then he turned and spoke over the wall. ‘I am betrayed’ he said. ‘It was rightly guessed that I could not forbear to redeem the Arkenstone the treasure of my house. For it I will render one fourteenth of the hoard in silver and gold, but that shall be for the share of this cre[ature] – hobbit, and with that reward he shall depart. [But to you I will >] I will give him to you and [> but] no friendship of mine goes with him.’^TN9

‘Get down now to your friends’ he said [added in pencil: to B.] ‘or I will throw you down.’

‘What about the gold’ said Bilbo.

‘That shall follow after’ said he. [added in different ink: as can be arranged.]

‘Until it does [> then] we keep the stone’ said Bard.

‘You are not making a very splendid figure as King under the Mountain’ said Gandalf. ‘Still matters may change yet.’

‘They may indeed’ said Thorin – and already so strong was the bewilderment of the treasure upon him, that he was pondering whether by the help of Dain he could not recapture the Arkenstone and withhold the share of the hoard.

And so Bilbo was swung down from the wall and departed without any reward for all his trouble, except for the armour which [he >] Thorin had given him before. [Many of the hearts of the dwarves felt >] More than one of the dwarves in the[ir] hearts felt shame and pity at his going.

‘Farewell’ he cried to them. ‘We may [meet] again, as friends’

‘Be off’ cried Thorin. ‘[If you had not mail upon you. >] You have mail on you which was made by my folk and is not to be pierced with arrows. But if you do not hasten I will sting your miserable feet. So be swift.’

With that they departed to the camp, but Thorin sent messages by Roäc^TN11 telling Dain of what had passed, and bidding him come [with > warily and >] with wary speed.

That day passed, and the night. The next day [came a bitter >] the wind shifted west and it was a dark morning [> and the air was dark and gloomy]. The morning was still early when a cry was heard in the camp. Messengers ran in to tell that a host of dwarves [were marching >] had suddenly appeared round the east spur of the Mountain, and were hastening into Dale!

Dain was come. [The > At dusk he had reached the first >] He had hurried through the night and came thus suddenly upon them. His five hundred were [armed >] clad in steel-mail and wielded heavy mattocks [with >] two-handed in battle; yet each had also a short sword at his side and a round shield slung at his back. Their beards were [plaited >] forked and plaited and thrust into their belts. Their caps were of steel and their shoes were of iron,^TN12 and their faces were grim.

Trumpets called men and elves to arms, and before long the dwarves could be seen from the camp coming [down >] up the valley till they halted about a mile to the East. Some [> A few] still went on their way until they drew near the camp, and there they laid down their arms [> weapons] and lifted up their hands, in sign of peace.

Bard went out to meet them and with him went Bilbo. ‘We are sent from Dain son of Nain’^TN13 they said when questioned. ‘We are hastening to our kinsmen in the Mountain, since we learn that the kingdom of old is renewed. But who are ye that sit in the plain as foes before defended walls?’

By now you will know well enough the sort of things that are said at such parleyings; and I will not recount all that was said on either side.^TN14

On Bard’s side the dwarves were refused passage to the Mountain until Thorin had paid for the Arkenstone; but the dwarves muttered angrily and retired. Later they moved their camp yet nearer.^TN15

But when messengers were sent to the Gate they found no gold or payment; and arrows came forth as soon as they drew within shot. Returning they found all astir, as if for battle; for the dwarves of Dain had advanced almost to within hail of their camp.

‘Fools!’ said Bard ‘ – to come thus within the mountain’s arms. They do not understand war above ground! There are many of our archers [added: & spearmen hid] now in the rocks upon both their flanks. Dwarf-mail may be good, yet they will [> <?would>] soon be in [<illegible> >] hard put to it. Let us at them now from the front, ere they be fully rested.’

But the Elvenking said: ‘Long will I tarry [even though the advantage slip from us, save what we have in numbers which is very > and that is sufficient >] ere I begin this war for gold. The dwarves cannot pass us unless we will, and our advantage of numbers will be sufficient [> enough] if it must come to unhappy blows.’

But he reckoned without the dwarves. The knowledge that the Arkenstone was in the hands of the besiegers burned in their minds; and they guessed the hesitation of Bard and his allies.

Suddenly without a signal they began to advance and sprang silently forward to attack. [Arrows >] Bows twanged and arrows whistled, and well-nigh battle had begun.

Suddenly a darkness came on with dreadful swiftness. A dark cloud hurried over the sky. Thunder rolled in the mountain and lightning lit its peaks. Beneath it another cloud could be seen whirling forward; but like a cloud of birds so dense that [it could >] light cd. not be seen [beneath their >] between their wings.^TN16

‘Halt!’ cried Gandalf and he ran and stood suddenly [before >] between the advancing dwarves and the ranks awaiting them. ‘Halt!’ he cried and his staff blazed with a sudden flash. ‘[The dread >] Dread has come upon you all more swiftly than I guessed. The Goblins are upon you. Bolg of the North is coming, whose father you slew in Moria.^TN17 Behold the bats are above his army like a sea of locusts^TN18 [and the wargs & wolves of >] They ride upon wargs [> wolves] and wolves [> wargs] are in their train.’

Amazement and confusion fell upon them all; and even as [they >] he spoke the darkness grew. ‘Come’ shouted Gandalf ‘there is yet time for counsel. Let Dain son of Nain come swiftly to us.’

So began the battle in a fashion none had expected. And it was called after the Battle of Five Armies, and it was very terrible. For upon one side were the Goblins and the Wolves and upon the other were men elves and dwarves.^TN19

This is how it fell out. [The Goblins <had> >] ever since the fall of the Great goblin of the M. Mountains the hatred of their race for the dwarves had been aroused [> rekindled] to fury. Tidings in secret ways they had gathered; and in all the Northern Mountains there was forging and an arming. [When they learned of the fall of Smaug their plan was soon made. >] They marched and gathered by hill and mountain [and till in the great >] going ever by tunnel or under dark until [<under> >] around and beneath the great mountain Gondobad of the North^TN20 a vast host was assembled, ready to sweep down upon the South. Then they learned of the death of Smaug and joy was in their hearts; and they hastened night after night through the mountains, and came thus at last on a sudden from the North East, and not even the Ravens knew of their coming until [the broken >] they issued in the broken lands which divided the Lonely M. from the [lands >] hills behind.^TN21

This was the plan of Gandalf and of Bard and the Elvenking and of Dain who now joined them, for the Goblins were the foes of all and at their coming all other quarrels were forgotten.^TN22 Their only hope was to lure the goblins into the valley between the mountain’s arms; and themselves to man the great spurs that stuck [> struck] S. and East. Yet this would be perilous if the goblins were in sufficient numbers to overrun the mountain itself and so attack them also from above. But there was no time to devise anything else. Soon the thunder passed rolling away to the SE, but the bats cloud came [down >] flying over the mountain and whirled above them. ‘To the mountain’ said Bard ‘Let us take our places while there is time.’

On the Southern spur [were arranged the Elves >] in its lower slopes and in the rocks at its feet the Elves [took >] were set, on the Eastern were men and dwarves (since there was less <cover>). But Bard and some of the nimblest of men and elves climbed [higher >] to the height of the E. shoulder to look out [> forward] to the North.

Soon they could see all the lands to the north and the M. foot black with the hurrying hosts. Ere long they swirled round <illegible> and came into Dale – the swifter wolfriders and their howls rent the air. A few brave men were there to make feint of resistance, [but >] and many there fell ere the rest drew off to either side. As G. had hoped the goblins’ army [enraged >] had gathered behind the resisted vanguard, and poured now in rage into the valley, seeking for the foe. Their banners were countless black and red and <they> came on like a tide, but their order was wild.

This was a terrible battle: the most dreadful of all B’s experiences & the one he hated most (& which is also to say the one he was after most proud of, & most fond of recalling).^TN23 Yet actually I may say he put on his ring early in the business and vanished from sight if not from danger. A magic ring of that sort is no complete protection in a goblin charge, nor does it stop flying arrows and wild spears; but it does help in getting out of the way, and prevents your head from being chosen [by a goblin swordsman for >] for a sweep stroke by a goblin swordsman.

The Elves were the first to charge. As soon as the g. host was dense in the valley they sent into it a shower of arrows [added in pencil: set afire by magic]. And behind [added: five hundred > a thousand spearmen] they leapt down and charged the enemy. The yells were deafening, and the rocks [were] stained black with goblin blood. But just as the goblins were recovering and the elf-charge halted; there rose from across the valley a deep throated roar. With a cry [> cries] of ‘Moria’ [and] ‘Dain Dain’ the dwarves of the Iron Hills plunged in wielding great Mattocks upon the other side. And beside them came the lake men with long swords.

Panic came on the goblins and even as they turned to meet this new foe the elves charged again. Already some of the goblins were turning back down the river to escape from the valley, and victory seemed at hand, when a cry was raised above.

The Goblins had scaled the mountain and were on the heights above the Gate and many were streaming down to attack the spurs from above. They had only stemmed the first attack. [Now the bats flew down >] Now darkness was coming early in a stormy sky, and the bats wheeled darkly over the field [&] heedless of arrows they swirled about the heads and ears of elves and men. Behind in the valley a host of wargs came running [> ravening] and with them a new host of goblins of huge size. Already [their >] Bard was fighting on the Eastern slopes and the Elves were withdrawing to stand about the king upon the <southern> arm near the watch-place of Ravenhill. Suddenly there was a shout and from the Gate came a trumpet call. Part of the wall moved by levers from within fell outward with a crash into the pool. Down leapt Thorin and his companions no longer in hood and cloak but all in royal armour, and in the gloom Thorin shone like gold in a dying fire. Rocks were hurled down from on high by the goblins above, but they held on, leapt down the fall’s foot and rushed forward against their foes. Wolf and rider fell before them. Thorin wielded an axe with <huge> strokes and nothing seemed to harm him. ‘To me to me elves and men to me O my kinsfolk’ he cried and his voice shook like a horn [between the >] in the valley.

Down rushed all the dwarves of Dain heedless to his help and down came such men as Bard would spare with him; down upon the other side came elvish spearmen. Once again the goblins were stricken in the valley and they were slaughtered in heaps till Dale was dark with them; but among them lay many men, many men and dwarves, and many a fair elf that should have lived yet many an age merrily in the <borders> of the woods.

But as the valley widened they made slower progress and soon the attackers were attacked, and slowly they were forced into [a ring >] a mighty ring all hemmed about with goblins and with wolves. But their friends could not succour them for they were fighting bitterly on the hillsides and slowly they were being beaten down.

‘It will not be long’ thought Bilbo ‘before they win the gate; and then goodness knows what will happen. I would rather old Smaug had all the [gold >] treasure tha[n] these <hateful> Goblins. I have heard songs of many battles, and I have always understood defeat may be glorious. It seems very very uncomfortable. I wish I was well out of it.’

[cancelled: Suddenly high and far off he saw]

The clouds were torn by the wind and a red sunset slashed the west. Suddenly high and far off B saw a sight that made his heart leap: dark shapes small yet majestic against the distant glow.^TN24 ‘The Eagles the Eagles’ he cried – he was among elves up Ravenhill ‘ – the Eagles the Eagles are coming.’ And happily his eyes were seldom wrong. The Eagles were coming.

The Very rumour of them changed the day. The Goblins on the mountain wavered and hesitated.^TN25

‘The Eagles are coming’ he cried again [> shouted] and the elves took up the cry and it echoed across the valley. [Even the Goblins looked up, but it >] and <many> eyes [were >] looked up. [But only >] ‘The Eagles’ cried Bilbo once more, but at that moment a rock [> stone] hurled from above smote heavily on his helm and he fell with a crash & knew no more.^TN26

TEXT NOTES

1 That is, the Arkenstone casts enough light that even in the full daylight it can be seen to shine brightly. This passage was emended to read ‘bright & white in the morning’.

2 The apostrophe indicating singular possessive (father’s rather than fathers’) is clear here (Third Phase manuscript page 21; Marq. 1/1/18:2), and also in both typescripts (1/1/67:1 and 1/1/48:1). See the discussion of Thrain and Thror following Chapter X.

3 See Text Note I following Chapter VII (page 245) for Shippey’s claim that this line and others like it show that Tolkien associated hobbits with rabbits. While Shippey’s argument is intriguing, it does not take into account the fact that the majority of references to rabbits in the final book (eleven out of sixteen) do not refer to Bilbo, or that Bilbo is also compared to other animals (e.g., ‘descendant of rats!’).

4 The alternative spelling here of Durinn rather than the more usual Durin is perhaps in order to more closely reproduce the Old Norse original. Dronke, for example, gives Durinn in her edition of Völuspá (The Poetic Edda, Vol II: Mythological Poems [1997], page 9), while Young gives Durin in her edition of Snorri’s The Prose Edda (page 41), for reasons given in her foreword (ibid., page 19). The typescript (1/1/67:1) reverts to the familiar Durin.

5 This sentence was cancelled and replaced by the following:

The idea that Thorin might actually attempt to murder Bilbo in a fit of rage, which would have been unthinkable in the Second Phase text, has been carefully prepared for over the last two chapters; cf. Text Notes 1 & 3 for Chapter XVI and Text Notes 23, 25, 28, 32, & 33 for Chapter XVb, as well as Text Notes 14 & 18 for the fair copy and typescript revisions to Chapter XIV.

6 Added in pencil: ‘. . . his tall hood & long cloak’.

7 Tolkien initially wrote ‘please don’t h[arm] . . .’; shifting the word choice to damage casts Bilbo in the role of Gandalf’s property (‘my burglar’), thus subtly enhancing his value in the treasure-smitten dwarf’s eyes. Perhaps the implication is that Thorin might have killed a traitor, but in the grip of the dragon-sickness he would be unable to destroy anything of (monetary) value.

8 This sentence was altered slightly so that Thorin’s words became parallel with Bilbo’s: ‘And I will let you go at that.’ The added clause ‘ – and may we never meet again!’ first appears in the extended typescript (1/1/67:2).

9 The last two sentences of this paragraph were cancelled and the words ‘What will you have for it > What price will you have for it? > What price will you set upon for it?’ written below them. This was then cancelled in turn and the word ‘stet.’ written next to the paragraph to indicate that the cancellation of those sentences was rescinded. Later, in pencil, Tolkien added ‘. . . he shall depart; and you can divide it as you wish. I will give him to you . . .’

10 An earlier draft of both this paragraph and the first paragraph on the following page (Third Phase ms. page 24; Marq. 1/1/18:6) can also be found on this page’s unnumbered verso (1/1/18:5):

11 This is the last mention of Roäc in the book, but we can assume that he survived the upcoming battle, since Tolkien would have told us otherwise.

12 Changed to ‘Their caps and their shoes were of iron’. Hence, no doubt, Dain’s later encomium or epithet ‘Dain Ironfoot’. This name does not however arise within The Hobbit and is never used in the earlier book (or indeed until Tolkien was at work on the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings – cf. HME XII.281 where it first occurs, in a passage apparently not written until 1948–9 or shortly thereafter).

13 Dain’s ancestry, unlike Thorin’s (with the two competing Thror-Thrain-Thorin and Thrain-Thror-Thorin genealogies) or later Balin’s (who briefly went from ‘son of Fundin’ to ‘son of Burin’ and then back again; cf. HME VI.443–4 & 460), never varied: he remained ‘Dain son of Nain’ from this first mention through to the final references in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings. As with Dain, Thorin, and all the other dwarf-names in The Hobbit except Fimbulfambi (and possibly Balin), Nain comes from the Dvergatal or dwarven name-list in the Voluspá, although it does not appear in all manuscripts (cf. Dronke page 90); Snorri also includes it in the Prose Edda (page 41). The pattern of giving brothers rhyming names (Fili/Kili, Balin/Dwalin, Oin/Gloin) is also evident here; since Dain is Thorin’s cousin (page 644), then Thror’s sons were Thrain and Nain. Like ‘Dain’, ‘Nain’ is unusual in that it has a wider meaning and circulation beyond the Dvergatal; see the commentary on ‘Dain son of Nain’ beginning on page 702.

14 This simple statement is replaced in the typescript (1/1/67:3) by a greatly expanded account of what was said at the parley and also of the dwarves’ plans; cf. DAA.337–8.

15 Tolkien originally followed the semicolon with ‘on’ (i.e., on [the dwarves’ side] . . .). This paragraph was recast to read:

16 This paragraph was revised, in several layers, to eventually read:

17 This is the first appearance of Bolg, whose name remained unchanged thereafter; see the commentary starting on page 708.

18 For bats as yet another of the ‘Children of Morgoth’, see commentary on pp. 716–18.

19 See Plot Notes F for Tolkien’s earlier hesitation about just who did and did not count as one of the ‘five armies’.

20 The spelling was later changed to Gundobad in pencil (Third Phase manuscript page 27; 1/1/18:9) and this form appears in both typescripts (1/1/67:4 & 1/1/48:5); the published book has Gundabad. This is the only mention of Gondobad in The Hobbit, although ‘Gundobad’ does appear on the draft Mirkwood map [Plate I (bottom)] and ‘Gundabad’ on the final Wilderland map (DAA.[399]), in both cases at the juncture of the north-south Misty Mountains and the east-west Grey Mountains. The name is Gnomish-Noldorin (i.e., early Sindarin); cf. Gondobar (‘City of Stone’), one of the alternate names for Gondolin in The Book of Lost Tales ([1917–20]; BLT II.158), the unfinished ‘Lay of the Fall of Gondolin’ ([early 1920s]; HME III.145), and the poem ‘The Nameless Land’ ([written 1924, published 1927]; HME V.100 & 104). I can find no place where Tolkien defines Gondobad, but GON-/GOND-/GONDO- means ‘stone’ or ‘of stone’ (Gondo-lin, ‘Song of Stone’; Gon-dor, ‘Stone-land’) and the -BAD element may relate to the Gnomish word bad meaning ‘way, path’ (Gnomish Lexicon, Parma Eldalamberon vol.XI.21; ‘Noldorin Dictionary’ and ‘Noldorin Word-lists’, Parma Eldalamberon vol.XIII.160 & 137). If so, ‘Gondobad’ might mean something like ‘the crossroads of stone’, which would suit its position at the meeting of these two great mountain ranges riddled with dwarven and goblin mines and tunnels, but this is only a guess. Much later [1969 or after] Tolkien decided that Gundabad was a dwarven (Khuzdul) name (HME XII.301), but this clearly could not have been the case at the time The Hobbit was written, since the idea of a dwarven language and nomenclature distinct from Old Norse seems to have first arisen several years after The Hobbit was finished, in the 1937 Quenta Silmarillion (HME V.273–4) and the Lhammas, which dates from about the same period (HME V.178–9). Tolkien also in this late essay created a new backstory for Mount Gundabad, deciding that this was the spot where Durin had woken from sleep and that it was thus, like Moria, originally a revered dwarven stronghold now fallen into orcish hands (HME XII.301). Of all this later development there is of course no trace in The Hobbit, unless its seeds lie in Gandalf/Thorin’s remark that his ancestors first came to the Lonely Mountain when they were ‘driven out of the far north’ (page 71); The Lord of the Rings suggests that Khazad-dûm (Moria), if anywhere, was the stronghold revered for its associations with Durin the Deathless.

21 Fimbulfambi’s Map [see Frontispiece of Part One], the original Mirkwood map (Plate I [bottom]), and the pictorial view of the Lonely Mountain on the Long Lake map (Plate II [top]) – the latter two of which accompanied the ‘home manuscript’ (i.e., the composite First Typescript/Third Phase manuscript) when it was loaned out to Tolkien’s friends – all agree in showing the foothills to the northeast as coming within a short distance of the mountain; these hills can also be seen in the background to the right of the drawing ‘The Lonely Mountain’ (H-S#136).

The typescript alters the account of their approach slightly:

This account made it into the published book (cf. DAA.340) but unfortunately does not match the final version of the Wilderland Map (DAA.[399]), where the line of hills is to the east, not north-east as in the earlier map. Here the goblins would have been entirely in the open from the time they left the Grey Mountains, a distance much too far to have marched in a single night (it is some four times the distance between the Lonely Mountain and the Long Lake), and their north-to-south march would not have overlapped Dain’s east-to-west march from the Iron Hills.

22 This idea of enemies uniting when faced with a threat from true evil resurfaced a decade later when Tolkien was drafting the early parts of what became Book V of The Lord of the Rings; when King Théoden arrives at Dunharrow to muster his troops for the ride to Minas Tirith, he finds among the forces gathered some of the Dunlendings he has just defeated at Helm’s Deep a few days earlier, men willing to set aside a five-hundred-year feud in the face of the threat of Sauron (HME VIII.249 & 247).

23 The closing parenthesis is lacking in the manuscript; I have supplied it editorially in what seems the appropriate place.

24 For Tolkien’s own depiction of this scene from Bilbo’s point of view, see the unfinished drawing labelled ‘The Coming of the Eagles’ in tengwar (Plate XII [bottom]).

25 This sentence was left unfinished, ending in a semicolon, and the paragraph cancelled.

26 It will be seen that this earliest account of the Battle of Five Armies, while following the same lines as the published version, leaves out many details, especially as relate to the role that Bolg of the North and his bodyguard play in the fight – indeed, there is no indication that Bolg’s forces differ from any other goblins. A few such details are added in pencil to this Third Phase manuscript, but most appear for the first time in the typescript (1/1/67:4–7) with no intermediate drafting (or at least none which survives), and except in typographical details and the spelling of the name ‘Gundobad’ the typescript exactly achieves the text of the published book in its description of the actual battle (although some of the preliminary scenes, such as that describing the parley with Dain’s dwarves, were revised considerably in the page proofs). Of particular note is the fact that Thorin’s charge, which is ambiguously depicted as glorious but perhaps unwise in the published text (cf. DAA.343, where Bard is unable to restrain his men from abandoning their positions to join it), is here unambiguously heroic. For more on this climactic scene, see my commentary beginning on page 713.