| Lonely Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Middle-earth location | |
 Artist's depiction | |
| In-universe information | |
| Other names | Erebor; the Kingdom under the Mountain |
| Type | isolated mountain |
| Ruled by | Kings of Durin's Folk: [1]T.A. 1999–2210, [2] 2590–2770, [3] 2941–Fourth Age; Smaug: T.A. 2770–2941 |
| Locations | the Chamber of Thrór, Dale, the Front Gate, the Great Hall, the Secret Door |
| Location | Northeast ofMirkwood |
| Founder | Thráin I |
InJ. R. R. Tolkien'slegendarium, theLonely Mountain is a mountain northeast ofMirkwood. It is the location of the Dwarves'Kingdom under the Mountain and the town ofDale lies in a vale on its southern slopes.InThe Lord of the Rings, the mountain is called by theSindarin nameErebor.[T 1] The Lonely Mountain is the destination of the protagonists, including the titular HobbitBilbo Baggins inThe Hobbit, and is the scene of the novel's climax.
The mountain has been described as thegoal of Bilbo's psychological quest inThe Hobbit; scholars have noted that it andThe Lord of the Rings are bothstructured as quests to a distant mountain, but that the quests have very different motivations. Further, the mountain is a symbol of adventure inThe Hobbit, and of Bilbo's maturation as an individual, while to the Dwarves, it stands for the gain of beauty in return for loss of life.
Erebor stands hundreds of miles from the nearest mountain range. Tolkien's rendering of Thrór's map inThe Hobbit shows it with six ridges stretching out from a central peak that was snowcapped well into spring. The whole mountain is some ten miles in diameter; it contains an immense wealth of gold and jewels.[T 2]
Erebor becomes the home of the Folk ofDurin, a clan ofDwarves known as theLongbeards, after they are driven from their ancestral home ofKhazad-dûm. In the latter days of the Third Age, this Kingdom under the Mountain holds one of the largest dwarvish treasure hoards in Middle-earth.[T 3] Dale, a town ofMen built between the two southern spurs of Erebor, grew in harmony with the dwarves.[1] The Kingdom under the Mountain is founded by Thráin I the Old, who had discovered the Arkenstone there. His son, Thorin I, leaves the mountain with much of the Folk of Durin to live in theEred Mithrin (Grey Mountains) on account of the great riches to be found in that range. Afterdragons plunder their hoards, the Longbeards, led now by Thrór, a descendant of Thorin, return to Erebor to take up the title King under the Mountain. Under Thrór's reign, Erebor becomes a great stronghold where the dwarves are numerous and prosperous.[T 3][2]
In theThird Age, while the youngThorin II Oakenshield is out hunting, thedragonSmaug flies south from theGrey Mountains, kills all the dwarves he could find, and destroys the town of Dale. Smaug takes over the mountain, using the dwarves' hoard as a bed. King Thrór, his sonThráin II, and several companions escape death by asecret door. While Thrór and Thráin later perish, Thorin lives in exile in theEred Luin, far to the west. On a journey, he meets thewizardGandalf. Together theyform a plan to reclaim the mountain. Gandalf insists that burglary is the best approach and recommends thehobbitBilbo Baggins.[2]
Bilbo, Thorin, andThorin's company of twelve other Dwarves travel to the Lonely Mountain to regain the treasure. They plan to use the secret door, whose key and map Gandalf had obtained from Thráin, whom he had found at the point of death in the pits ofDol Guldur.[2][T 2] OnDurin's Day, when the setting sun and the last moon of autumn are in the sky together, the day's last sunlight falls on the door and exposes its keyhole. The Hobbit enters the mountain and steals a golden cup.[2][T 4][T 5]
Smaug, enraged by the theft, emerges from the mountain and flies south to destroyLake-town, which he suspects is the source of the "thieves". During this attack Smaug is killed byBard the Bowman; Thorin claims the mountain on learning of Smaug's demise.[T 6] However, the Men of Esgaroth, supported byThranduil and theElves ofMirkwood, march in force to the mountain to demand a part of the dragon's hoard as recompense for the destruction. Thorin, mad with greed, refuses all claims and sends word to his second cousinDáin II Ironfoot, chief of the Dwarves of theIron Hills, who bring reinforcements. Before battle can begin, an army ofOrcs andWargs descends on Erebor. Dwarves, Elves, and Men join ranks against them, leading to the Battle of Five Armies. Thorin's nephewsFíli andKíli are killed, and Thorin is mortally injured;[T 7] he dies shortly afterwards. The title of King under the Mountain passes to Dáin.[T 8]
With the restoration of the Kingdom under the Mountain, the area becomes prosperous again. Dale is rebuilt under Bard's leadership, and Dwarves and Men reforge their friendship. Some of the Dwarves, led byBalin, leave Erebor to reclaim the ancient Dwarvish Kingdom of Moria.[T 9] They established a colony there but five years later Balin is killed by an Orc, and soon afterwards Moria is overrun by Orcs and the rest of the Dwarves are killed.[T 3]Gimli, a dwarf of Erebor and the son ofGlóin, one of Thorin's twelve companions, is chosen to represent his people in theFellowship of the Ring; he helpsAragorn regain the throne ofGondor.[T 10]
In theWar of the Ring, an emissary fromSauron, the lord ofMordor, twice comes to Erebor and speaks to Dáin. The messenger asks for assistance in finding Bilbo Baggins and retrievinga stolen ring, and in return offers Moria and three of theseven Dwarf rings to Dáin, who declines to reply.[T 9] Sauron's northern army, including manyEasterlings, then attacks; Dale is overrun, and many Dwarves and Men take refuge in Erebor, which is promptly surrounded. Dáin is killed before the gates of Erebor defending the body of his fallen ally King Brand of Dale. Dáin's son Thorin III Stonehelm and King Bard II withstand the siege and rout Sauron's forces.[T 3][T 11]
TheJungian psychoanalyst Dorothy Matthews,viewingThe Hobbit as a psychological quest, writes that the Lonely Mountain is an apt symbol of Bilbo'smaturation as an individual, as the place where he takes on a leadership role and acts and makes decisions independently.[3] The Tolkien scholarJared Lobdell comments that he is "profoundly unsympathetic" to Matthews's approach, but that she "carries it off well". Lobdell explains, citingC. S. Lewis's essay "Psychoanalysis and Literary Criticism", that many different stories could, for instance, have the sameFreudian interpretation, but be quite different as literature. He remarks on the other hand that apsychoanalytic approach is at least richer than a purelymaterialistic one.[4]
The scholar of children's literature William H. Green calls the Lonely Mountain the fourth and final stage of Bilbo's education. He identifies multiple parallels and repetitions of structure between the stages, each one involving a journey, privation, and "unlikely escape". The Lonely Mountain stage, too, symbolically echoes the first stage inthe Shire: before setting out, Bilbo was peacefully smoking a pipe of tobacco at his own front door; at the mountain, the smoke is the dragon's, and its meaning is anything but peaceful.[5] The Christian writerJoseph Pearce views the journey to the Lonely Mountain as a "pilgrimage of grace", a Christianbildungsroman, at its deepest level. Pearce states further thatBilbo's quest to the mountain parallelsFrodo's quest to a different mountain,Mount Doom, which he calls "a mirror of Everyman's journey through life".[6]
Two scholars of literature,Paul Kocher andRandel Helms analyse Bilbo's journey to the lonely mountain, describing it as the goal of his quest and the point at which it is achieved. Both compare the quest inThe Hobbit with that ofThe Lord of the Rings, noting that the two novels, for all their differences including the reason for the quests, are structurally similar.[7][8]
| Event | The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings |
|---|---|---|
| Start | FromBag End inthe Shire | |
| End of 1st phase | Trip down River Running, nearingErebor | Trip downRiver Anduin, nearingMordor |
| Approaching the goal | Cross the dragon's withered hearth | Cross the evil polluted plain ofGorgoroth |
| Achieving the quest | Enter hole in side of the Lonely Mountain | Enter hole in side ofMount Doom |
| Success marked by | Arrival ofGreat Eagles | |
| Returning home | Have to stop auction of Bag End | Have toscour the Shire ofSharkey's evil |
The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey notes that inThe Hobbit, the lonely mountain is a symbol of adventure, and the "true end" of the story is the moment when Bilbo looks back from a high pass and sees "There far away was the Lonely Mountain on the edge of eyesight. On its highest peak snow yet unmelted was gleaming pale. 'So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!' said Bilbo, and he turned his back on his adventure."[T 12][9]
Amelia Harper, in theJ. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, writes that the mountain's history, as usual for the Dwarves, was a tale of "beauty gained and lives lost".[2]
.JPG)
The Lonely Mountain: Lair of Smaug the Dragon is a board game produced in 1985 byIron Crown Enterprises, designed by Coleman Charlton, which features groups of adventurers, eitherDwarves,Elves,Orcs orMen entering Smaug's Lair to capture his treasure before he awakens.[11]
"Erebor", specifically the southern spurs of the Mountain and Dale, is a playable map inThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II. It has three gates, including the one Tolkien described and two which cannot be closed, to allow those playing as invading forces to easily enter the stronghold.[12]
The Lonely Mountain appears inPeter Jackson's film adaptations ofThe Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey,The Desolation of Smaug, andThe Battle of the Five Armies. The actual setting wasMount Ruapehu in New Zealand.[10]
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