Hello Tolkien Talkers! Is everything okay with you? Today we will look at the biographies of the orc-chieftains Azog and his son Bolg.
As we're going to see today, it's quite possible that Azog had a very long life on Middle-earth. But before we get start please leave your thumbs up down here, If you´re new to this channel, then please subscribe by clicking in the red icon and hit the bell button to activate notifications and always be warned when a new video comes up. By doing all this, you help give TT more relevance here on YouTube.
And today's video goes to. . .
As we saw at TT #108 about Durin´s Folk, the Longbeards, in T. A. 1981, King Nain I was killed by Durin’s Bane, the Balrog of Moria.
The dwarves then fled Khazad-dûm. Notice that I said ‘anãos’ (dwarves). This word is not incorrect, it is correct and is part of the new translation standards in Brazil.
To learn more about this, watch TT #276, which is the interview with the Translation Council of HarperCollins Brazil. After 499 years has passed from the fled of the dwarves of Moria, in T. A.
2480, the orcs began to build secret strongholds in the Misty Mountains with the intention to block all passages to Eriador. Sauron began to populate Moria with his creatures. It’s probably right to think that Azog was one of those orcs that colonized Moria at that time.
Of course, that happened a few centuries before the events of The Hobbit, but as we've seen here in TT before, an orc could have a very long life. There are not many records of long-living orcs simply because the mortality of the species is very high. Whether in fights with other races or between themselves.
Also, as we saw in TT #11 and #13, about the origins of the orcs in Middle-earth it was common that the orc-chieftains and great orcs were actually maiar in orc form, and also their descendants. I'm not saying Azog was one of those, but it's possible. We’re gonna see, for example, that his son Bolg lived more than a century.
In T. A. 2770, therefore, 270 years after the orcs began to build their strongholds Smaug attacks Erebor.
Thrór escapes from the dragon with Thráin II and Thorin II. Thrór and his people wandered aimlessly south until the king left his people. He gave the last Ring of the dwarves to Thráin.
And he left with a single companion named Nar. The two did not say where they went, but they crossed the Red Horn Passage and came down into Azanulbizar. Thrór entered alone thought the east Gate of Moria, which was open.
Nar waited by the entrance for days. After a long time, Nar heard a scream and a blast of a horn and then a body was flung out on the steps. Nar approached with fear of the severed head of that body, and found that it was Thrór.
From the shadows of Moria, a orc voice said: ’If beggars will not wait at the door, but sneak in to try thieving that is what we do to them. If any of your people poke their foul beards in here again, they will fare the same. Go and tell them so!
But if his family wish to know who is now king here, the name is written on his face. I wrote it! I killed him!
I am the master! ’ - The Lord of The Rings Durin's Folk - Thrór was killed by Azog and, indeed, in his head was written the orc’s name in Dwarfrunes. Azog forbade Nar to take Thrór’s head.
He threw a small purse with coins as fee. Nar went to Thráin and told him the whole story. Thráin summoned Durin’s Folk and even dwarves from other houses.
And then began the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. To learn all about this conflict in detail, check out TT #110. Azog was a large orc with a big head, which was covered with iron when he went to war.
He was cruel and cunning, agile and strong, and had a bodyguard of orc fighters. Let´s recall, as we looked in TT #189 about the Uruk-hai, that a large orc was almost the same height as man. So even the biggest orcs weren't as big as we imagine.
Also, in regards to normal orcs, let's remember that Sam and Frodo disguised themselves as orcs and managed to pass almost unnoticed in the middle of them in Mordor. Which means they should have heights, more or less, equivalent. At the Battle of Azanulbizar in T.
A. 2779, Nain of the Iron Hills challenged Azog in front of the Gate of Moria. Azog went to fight Nain, but the dwarf was tired and dizzy from the battle, while Azog was rested, as he had not fought that day.
Nain invested with all his strength, but Azog managed to deflect. He kicked the leg of the dwarf that stumbled forward and his mattock splintered on the ground. Quickly, Azog struck Nain's neck.
The mail-collar withstood the stroke, but his neck was broken with the blow and Nain fell. Azog screamed in triumph, but when he looked around him, the orcs were fleeing and his guard lay dead. He then ran towards Moria, but Dáin Ironfoot came after him with a red axe and severed Azog's head.
This was considered a great achievement, for Dáin was very young. The full story of Dáin, the king of the Iron Hills was told in TT #225. Don't forget to check there!
The Lord of The Rings Durin's Folk “When at last the battle was won the Dwarves that were left gathered in Azanulbizar. They took the head of Azog and thrust into his mouth the purse of small money, and then they set it on a stake. But no feast nor song was there that night; for their dead were beyond the count of grief.
” Azog's name became known to the dwarves and was part of the reason of the great hatred between the two races. Even with the victory in the War, the dwarves did not return to Khazad-dûm, because Dáin saw that Durin's Bane was still lurking in the shadows. The underground domains of the North passed to Bolg, son of Azog.
Bolg reigned over the orcs for 150 years, until the day of the Battle of the Five Armies. With such a long reign, it is obvious that he had a long life. He was born, at least, at the time his father died and lived until T.
A. 2941. That's why I said at the beginning of the video that it's possible that Azog was one of those orcs sent by Sauron to colonize Moria.
His son lived for, at least, one a half century and only died because of the battle. After the Battle of Moria, the orcs spread in secret through the mountains. The danger for those who would cross the Misty Mountains increased over the years.
When Thorin and Company went there and killed the Great Goblin, their hatred for the dwarves grew even more. [Comments on the Brazilian translation till 9min20seg] The hatred of the Orcs, after the death of the Grand Orc or Great Goblin, turned into fury. Messengers had passed to and fro between all their cities, colonies and strongholds.
The orcs were determined to win the dominion of the North. Secretly, they spread news and, into the mountains, made weapons and armed their soldiers. Then, they marched and gathered again, in hills and valleys, going ever by tunnel or under dark.
A huge army gathered at Mount Gundabad, in the North, the orc capital, they heard of Smaug's death and then rejoiced and hurried. Every night, they advanced through the paths of the northern mountains and reached the Lonely Mountains just behind Dáin and the dwarves of the Iron Hills. Not even the Ravens have become aware of the orc’s movements.
Gandalf also seemed taken by surprise. To take a look at how the Battle of the Five Armies happen, including all troop movements, check out all the details in TT #86. As Mount Gundabad was the capital of the orcs, it is quite possible that there was also the stronghold of Bolg, son of Azog.
And more, he was called Bolg of the North. Gundabad, as we saw, was in the northern region. And this idea is more reasonable when we remember that: there was the passage between Eriador and Rhovanion and the orcs were ruled by the Great Goblin and not by Bolg.
That´s the reason why the fury of the orcs grew when the Great Goblin was killed. Because he was a leader, possibly, under Bolg's control. His father, on the other hand, possibly ruled in Moria, because there are the writings about him.
Bolg, like his father many years earlier, was defended by a bodyguard of large orcs with steel scimitars. Next to his personal guard, came wargs. To learn all about the big wolves, check out TT #148.
At one point in the Battle of the Five Armies, when many orcs had already fallen and the wargs were scattered, Thorin Oakenshield attacked Bolg's bodyguard, but failed to break through his ranks. Thorin's numbers were too few and soon he went from attacker to attacked. The orcs and wolves came back and surrounded him.
Bolg's bodyguards came howling against them and Thorin was left helpless. Everywhere the enemies attack was renewed. Thorin was wounded by spears and his body was rescued by the furious skin-changer Beorn.
In the form of a gigantic bear, he carried Thorin’s body out of the battle and returned to the fight with greater wrath. Nothing could stop him and it looked like he wasn't injured. Beorn dispersed Bolg’s bodyguard, knocked down and crushed Bolg himself.
Fear took over the orcs and they fled. That was the end of Bolg, the son of Azog. It is said that three quarters of the Northern Orcs died that day and the mountains had peace for many years.
There have been several attempts, by researchers, to give a meaning for the names of Azog and Bolg, but Tolkien himself left nothing written. It is possible that Azog is a word of Mordor's Black Speech. As for Bolg, some researchers believe it may be related to the word "gebolgen" of Anglo-Saxon or Ancient English.
Which means something like "make yourself angry. " So that's it, guys! As we have seen, Azog and Bolg were great orc chieftains, both of them died in conflicts involving the dwarves.
From the inheritance of leadership, passing from father to son, it is possible to notice that there was a heredity aspect about the orc chieftain position. And I want to thank our patrons who are helping the Tolkien Talk channel grow. Today who joined our patron team was our friend Estrela de Albuquerque e Silva.
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