Hero Orcs ~ The Great Goblin ~ Adar ~ Azog ~ Bolg ~ Fimbul ~ Gorbag ~ Gothmog ~ Guritz ~ Grishnákh ~ Lurtz ~ Shagrat ~ Snaga ~ Ufthak ~ Uglúk ~ Yazneg

 

Bolg the Spawn of Azog

“They are gathering in Dol Guldur. The Master has summoned you.”

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

 

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Bolg was an Orc-chieftain of the Misty Mountains, who ruled over the northern Orcs in Mount Gundabad. After the fall of his father Azog during the Battle of Azanulbizar in the year 2799 of the Third Age, Bolg took command in the North. The great battle before the of East Gate of Moria brought to an end the war between the Dwarves and the Orcs, but most of the Goblins, and Orcs of the North were destroyed in the battle. Those that survived hid in the mountains until the rise of Sauron, who first came in the guise of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. As their numbers grew once more, Bolg took command of the Orcs in Gundabad, which came to the aid of the Goblins, when they attacked Erebor in vengeance after the death of the Great Goblin.

The death of his father at the hands of Dwarves was the source of Bolg’s hatred towards the line of Durin. After the murder of the Great Goblin his wrath was rekindled into a rage, that launched the Orc attack on the Lonely Mountain. Bolg gathered his army of Orcs from the Misty Mountains to their capital in Mount Gundabad and with the Goblins, they marched eastward through the Grey Mountains with a host of Wargs and a cloud of War Bats overhead.

Once they reached the Lonely Mountain, Bolg drove the Orcs and Wargs along the western spur of the Mountains feet, the dark host filling the Valley of Dale. The Warg Riders were the vanguard of the attacking host and they were followed by a vast army whose banners of red and black were countless. They engaged the Dwarves, Wood-elves, and Lake-men at the entrance to the Valley. The bats overhead turned the lands dark and the Orcs cheered, assured of their triumph. However, the armies of the Elves, Dwarves and Men returned the attack with great ferocity, driving into the Goblin ranks and pushing them back down through the valley. It looked as though the tide had turned against the Orcs, but Bolg was no fool.

The great Orc Chieftian had send a third of his armies around the backside of the Mountain, and they had quietly scaled the heights above Erebor. Suddenly, they burst forth streaming down like a black flood into the valley from behind and the Goblins in the valley heartened by the surprise onslaught, gathered their forces and renewed the attack. The armies of the Elves, Men and Dwarves were caught between the Hammer and the Anvil.

Bolg now came forth with a body guard of tall evil looking Goblins of huge size, wielding crooked scimitars of black steel. They came into the Valley of Dale as the fortunes of war turned against the Elves and Dwarves. Suddenly from out the Gate of Erebor drove Thorin Oakenshield right into the center of the valley, calling all sides to join him and as he and the company of dwarves cut a path through the battle. The Orcs gave way before their fury, but the company of dwarves was too few in number and their flank was left unguarded. They were soon cut off from help or escape. Thorin drove the Dwarves forward trying to pierce the bodyguard of Bolg, but was unable to cut through to the Orc Chieftain.

This last stand by Thorin and the Dwarves was not enough to stem the tide of war and it seemed certain the Goblins and Orcs of Gundabad would win the day. But then upon the heights of Ravenhill, a small voice was heard above the din. “The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!” Bolg paused, even in his moment of triumph a shadow of fear fell upon him and looking to the West he saw the great Eagles descending on the Mountain. This unlooked for help, would turn the tide of battle as the Dwarves, Wood-elves, and Lake-men rallied to the call of Thorin. Beorn in bear form, grown giant in his rage, descended on the Goblin bodyguard, tossing them like rag dolls. Then he fell upon Bolg and crushed him beneath his mighty bulk.

So ended the reign of Bolg, son of Azog in the North of Middle-earth. For nearly half a century after the Battle of the Five Armies, the Misty Mountains were clear of the Orcs of the North, until the rise of Sauron and the War of the Ring.

Others tell a different tale about Bolg. The account above comes directly from the Red Book of Westmarch, which made its way into the archives of Gondor to the south, taken there by one Peregrine Took, where many additional chapters where added over the years. Some with varying accounts that tell a different version of the events surrounding the death of Smaug and the Battle of the Five Armies.

One such tale says that Azog was not killed during the Battle of Azanulbizar. Some believe that Azog lived, that it was there that the Pale Orc of Gundabad took the head of King Thrór right in front Thráin and Thorin, before the East Gate of Moria. In his wrath, Thorin engaged in battle with the defiler and severed the arm of Azog, who never forgave Oakenshield and swore to destroy the line of Durin forever. He retreated back into the darkness of Moria and gathered his strength. Over many years, he grew in strength, gathering the Orcs of the Misty Mountains and Mount Gundabad into a large fighting force to take vengeance on the Dwarves.

In the Black Pit of Moria, Azog the Defiler bided his time, waiting for the moment to arise again. With his son Bolg at his side, they raised armies in Mount Gundabad and Dol Guldur.

They say that Azog and Bolg, during this time were in the service of Sauron, who under the guise of the Necromancer was preparing to assault Middle-earth. Sauron became aware that Thorin was gathering a group of dwarves intent on taking back Erebor from the Dragon Smaug, and so he sent Azog over the Misty Mountains to waylay the company and kill Thorin Oakenshield.

Failing to find the dwarves, who somehow slipped out of his grasp by means of an Elvish trick, Azog sent scouts into the Misty Mountains to find them. Word came from Goblin Town that the Great Goblin had been slain at the hands of the Dwarves. Azog mounted his White Warg and drove the Warg Riders relentlessly, until they reached the Goblin Tunnels. Once there, Azog sent scouts into the Tunnels and they reported that the Dwarves had escaped! Azog rushed down the Mountain Pass to waylay the dwarves at the eastern entrance to the tunnels, but they escaped by way of the Eagles.

Azog sent out his scouts once more and they picked up their trail across the Great River upon the eves of Mirkwood, but they did not dare attack them because of the mighty bear-creature that hunted those lands and took no mercy upon orcs. Bolg was sent from Dol Guldur to take his place and Azog was summoned before his Master in Dol Guldur. Bolg picked up the trail of Thorin and the dwarves at the falls outside of the Elven Kingdom and failing to kill them tracked them to Lake-town.

Azog had been sent to the Lonely Mountain leading a vast army of Uruks from Dol Guldur. Bolg was sent north to lead a second army from Mount Gundabad. When he reached Erebor, the Battle was already underway and Bolg’s army of Gundabad Orcs were expected to finish off the Elves, Dwarves and Men in Battle. However, the Eagles having spotted the legions of Orcs converging on the Mountain entered the fray and turned the tide of battle. It is said that Bolg died at the hands of Legolas Greenleaf, son of the Elven King Thranduil.

Of course these accounts are mere rumors that can never be known, because none now live who remember it.

 

“The Goblins are upon you! Bolg of the North is coming! Oh Dain!
Whose father you slew in Moria. Behold! The bats are above his army like a sea of locust.
They ride upon wolves and Wargs are in their train!”

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