This may have occurred when Tolkien jotted down Plot Notes F (p. Tolkien abandoned what Rateliff refers to as the ‘Battle of Anduin Vale’ and moved the climactic battle to the Lonely Mountain. Here the Goblins and Wargs would have battled the Wood-elves, the Men of the woods and the south, and Beorn leading a host of bears. 366), the climactic battle of the story would not have involved dwarves at all, and would have taken place in – what we know as – the Anduin vale as Bilbo travels home from the Lonely Mountain after he (yes, Bilbo) killed Smaug. Under his initial plan (see Plot Notes B, p. Rateliff’s The History of The Hobbit (2007) reveal that Tolkien’s conception for the ending of the story changed dramatically in the course of writing the book. And we mustn’t forget the Bats (and the Ravens?) too. There’s Gandalf the Wizard and of course Bilbo the Hobbit. Our other belligerents play less of a role in the battle, but don’t fit into any of the five groups. And what of Beorn? Although he arrives alone at the last hour, he plays a key role in retrieving the injured Thorin and killing Bolg of the North. What about the Eagles who turn the tide? Considering their appearance represents the great eucatastrophic moment of the battle surely they deserve to be counted amongst the five? Apparently not. The five armies refer to the Goblins, Wolves, Elves, Men and Dwarves. Upon one side were the Goblins and the Wild Wolves, and upon the other were Elves and Men and Dwarves. So began a battle that none had expected and it was called the Battle of Five Armies, and it was very terrible. Tolkien, in contrast, makes it quite clear in the book ( The Annotated Hobbit, ed.
Unless the extended edition changes this when it’s released – presumably in November 2015 – viewers will have to decide for themselves which groups Peter Jackson considered one of the five armies. In his review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, David Bratman makes the astute observation that the title of the film goes unexplained.
Posted by Daniel Helen at 18:00 on 27 December 2014
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