LOTR: Where Were The Other Dwarves During The War Of The Ring?

Apart from Gimli, dwarves were largely absent from the events of The Lord Of The Rings, but they still had a huge impact on the outcome of the War of the Ring. How did they contribute?

The Lord Of The Rings is an epic piece of literature adapted into a beloved movie trilogy that follows the journey of Frodo, a hobbit from The Shire, on his quest to destroy the One Ring. During the events of the movies, viewers get to follow Frodo and Sam’s journey, along with the stories of Gandalf the Gray, Pippin and Merry, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.

Besides following the stories of these characters, The Lord Of The Rings shows viewers many groups of species that live in Middle Earth and what they’re doing during the War of the Ring.

Hobbits are primarily enjoying life in The Shire, away from the worries of war. Elves are preparing to leave for the Undying Lands, otherwise known as Valinor. Men are wrapped up in the war and fighting for their kingdoms. And wizards, like Gandalf the Gray, are seen fighting alongside men. But what about the dwarves?

Where Were The Dwarves During The War Of The Ring?

Throughout The Lord Of The Rings, the only dwarf whose story is shown is Gimli, who is traveling alongside Aragorn and Legolas. This begs the question, where were the other dwarves during the War of the Ring?

Contrary to what some may believe, Gimli was not the last dwarf to exist. Although many dwarven kingdoms had fallen by this point, there were other dwarves in Middle Earth during this time, even entire kingdoms of dwarves. And that’s exactly where the dwarves were. They were in the dwarven kingdoms primarily located in mountain ranges, such as the Blue Mountain, the Lonely Mountain, the Iron Hills, and the White Mountains.

The time of the Elves is over. My people are leaving these shores. Who will you look to when we’ve gone? The dwarves? They hide in their mountains seeking riches. They care nothing for the troubles of others.

However, unlike what Elrond says in The Fellowship Of The Ring, the dwarves weren’t simply hiding in their mountains, avoiding conflict. Instead, they were defending their kingdoms against an imminent threat.

Who Were The Dwarves Defending Their Kingdoms Against?

During the War of the Ring, the dwarves were busy fighting one of the biggest battles of the war against Sauron’s allies. They were defending their kingdoms, including the city of Erebor, against the Easterlings.

The Easterlings are a group of men from Rhun, located in the East of Middle Earth, who have long been allied with Sauron in The Lord Of The Rings. Their alliance goes all the way back to Morgoth. With such a long alliance, it’s no surprise that when Sauron originally gifted the nine rings to men, one was given to the Easterlings’ king, Khamul, who would later become one of the most powerful Nazgûl.

Originally, Sauron had offered an alliance to the dwarven kingdoms. When the dwarves refused to cooperate, they immediately became an enemy of Sauron. This led to Sauron sending one of his largest armies, composed mostly of Easterlings, to defeat the dwarves during The Lord Of The Rings. Up until this point, the dwarves had not seen any conflict since the Battle of the Five Armies during The Hobbit.

Although this battle was meant to weaken the dwarves, it ended up having the opposite effect. At first, it looked like the battle would end in Sauron’s favor, with the first few days of it being extremely brutal and bloody. However, if there’s one defining characteristic of dwarves, it’s that they’re stubborn and will put up a fight to defend their homes. And that’s exactly what they did.

How Did This Battle Unexpectedly Impact The War Of The Ring?

This battle, which seemed like a good idea at the time, turned out to be an extremely costly mistake for Sauron. Instead of keeping his army of Easterlings in the south, he sent them to Erebor and the Lonely Mountain in the north, far away from Mordor. This kept them distracted while the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, right outside Minas Tirith, played out.

During both battles, Frodo and Sam were in Mordor trying to destroy the One Ring. But this battle against the dwarves unexpectedly impacted the War of the Ring by allowing Aragorn and his army to distract Sauron at the Black Gate.

Without the Easterlings there to defend the gate, nothing stopped Aragorn from attacking Mordor, pulling Sauron’s attention off Frodo, which allowed him to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom.

While all this happened, the dwarves were busy facing an army of 200,000 men, yet they held their kingdoms. By the end of the War of the Ring, the dwarves were triumphant in defending their kingdoms against the Easterlings. At this point, the Easterlings had heard news of Sauron’s defeat and retreated. After The Lord Of The Rings, some Easterlings stayed in the area, causing problems for the dwarves. But ultimately after the War of the Ring, dwarves were free from the worries of war and rekindled their friendship with men to help rebuild Middle Earth.