Background

Smaug descended upon the Dwarf realm breathing fire and destruction. He burned and flattened the town that lay about the mountain and battered his way into the stone halls beneath. Dwarves are dour folk who will not easily abandon gold or home, but the flames and smoke drove them away. Many died as they fled. The Dwarf King was one of those who escaped, together with his son Thráin and young grandson Thorin. Afterwards, Smaug gathered up all of Thrór’s treasure into the largest of the underground halls at the root of the mountain. Here he sat upon a bed of gold and slept the long sleep of Dragons. The stench and fumes of his fire filled the Dwarf-hewn chambers and spilled into the valley of Dale at the foot of the Lonely Mountain. All about, the land lay blackened and burned and became known as the Desolation of Smaug.

So things remained for a long time until Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, came back to the Lonely Mountain to recover his grandfather’s treasure. With him were twelve Dwarf companions and kinsmen. These were accompanied by the wizard Gandalf and the thief Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit from the distant land of the Shire. It was Bilbo who discovered a secret passage into the Dragon’s lair. By this means he stole a golden cup from the hoard and inadvertently aroused Smaug from his slumbers. Enraged to discover that his lair had been violated whilst he slept, Smaug issued forth from under the mountain and scoured its slopes for the impudent thief. After finding and eating the ponies and provisions belonging to Thorin and his companions, Smaug flew to nearby Laketown. The cunning Dragon had rightly surmised that his tormentors had obtained aid and supplies from the men that dwelt there. Whilst he had little notion exactly how the men of Laketown were involved, he did not feel inclined to remain idle whilst thieves conspired to steal his treasure (or worse).

So Smaug the Golden met his end. At Laketown he was slain by Bard, son of Brand, whose keen arrow found the only bare and vulnerable spot in the Dragon’s scaled and gem encrusted breast. With his heart pieced, Smaug’s huge corpse fell from the sky into the lake, but not before he had burned and destroyed Laketown and slain many of its people as they ran before his wrath.

Thus was set the scene for one of the greatest battles ever fought in the north of Middle-earth, The news of Smaug’s death soon reached the ears of the Elfking of Mirkwood and spread far and wide throughout the lands thereabouts. Warriors were quickly mustered and began the march upon the Lonely Mountain. It was supposed that the treasure lay unclaimed and unguarded – no one knew about Thorin and the Dwarves. The Elfking led his warriors east from Mirkwood. Bolg, greatest of the Goblin warlords of the north, drove his army south. Bard led men from Laketown to the north. Meanwhile the Dwarf Lord Dáin marched his armoured warriors westward from their home in the Iron Hills. Only Dáin knew that Thorin had taken possession of the treasure, and as Thorin’s cousin he was honour bound to come to his assistance.

Meanwhile Thorin and his band of treasure hunters had established themselves in the mountain and fortified its gate – for they had no intention of sharing what they regarded as their treasure. The sight of all the gold and the prospect of reclaiming his grandfather’s lost realm had hardened Thorin’s heart.

When the Elfking’s warriors and Bard’s men met they made common cause and petitioned Thorin for a share of the treasure. Thorin stubbornly refused to treat with them. He would not even listen to the pleas of Bard who had in fact slain the Dragon, whose town had been destroyed, and whose people were now homeless and starving as a result. As Thorin saw it, he had only to await the arrival of Dáin to avoid all claims upon his hoard. He reasoned that once his kinsfolk were beside him he would be able to hold out against even the most determined enemy. When Dáin did arrive, the Elves quickly deployed to prevent the Dwarf army joining forces with Thorin. At first it appeared a battle was inevitable, with Men and Elves on one side and Dwarves on the other. However, just then something happened to completely change things.

Whilst Dáin had marched steadily westwards, a huge army of Goblins and Wargs (ferocious and evilly intelligent wolves) had been marching from the north. As Dáin arrived at the Lonely Mountain he was not to know that an entire Goblin army was already hard upon his heels. It was therefore fortunate that just as Elves and Dwarves raised spears and axes, the outriders of the Goblin army burst upon them. Whilst Dwarves and Elves bear little love for each other this is, of course, nothing compared to their loathing of the foul Goblin race. A council of war was immediately called between the leaders of Men. Elves and Dwarves. The three now allied armies quickly deployed upon opposing spurs of the Lonely Mountain to await the onslaught of the forces of Bolg the Goblin Chieftain. The battle that followed was known ever afterwards as the Battle of Five Armies – Dwarves, Elves and Men on one side and Goblins and Wargs on the other.

This is, of course, but a bald summary of the events which can be read in their entirety in the concluding chapters of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and with which, I’m sure, most readers are already familiar.