Given that they were the heroes of The Hobbit movies, many fans wonder where the dwarves were during The Lord of the Rings. The prequel trilogy of Hobbit movies followed Bilbo Baggins on his first adventure out of The Shire as he joined a band of dwarves looking to reclaim their lost fortune. Given their history with the previous ring-bearer Bilbo Baggins, it may seem odd that none of The Hobbit dwarves lend Frodo a hand in The Lord of the Rings.

The dwarves are shown to be one of the prominent races in Middle-earth as they receive the Rings of Power alongside the elves and the race of man. However, Gimli is the only representation of the dwarves in the Lord of the Rings movies. Some of the heroes die during the journey in The Hobbit, but there are a lot of questions about what becomes to the ones who are still left alive at the end of The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.

All Dwarves In The Hobbit

Dwarf
Actor
Known Fate After The Hobbit

Bifur
William Kircher

Unconfirmed

Dori
Mark Hadlow
Unconfirmed

Bombur
Stephen Hunter
Unconfirmed

Glóin
Peter Hambleton
Appears in LotR at the Council of Elrond

Nori
Jed Brophy

Unconfirmed

Óin
John Callen
Died in the Mines of Moria

Kíli
Aiden Turner
Died in the Battle of Five Armies

Fíli
Dean O’Gorman
Died in the Battle of Five Armies

Dwalin
Graham McTavish
Unconfirmed

Bofur
James Nesbitt
Unconfirmed

Balin
Ken Stott
Died in the Mines of Moria

Ori
Adam Brown
Died in the Mines of Moria

Thorin
Richard Armitage
Died in the Battle of Five Armies

Several Of The Dwarves Died In Moria, Or At The End of The Hobbit Trilogy

The Aftermath Of The Tragedy Is Seen In Lord Of The Rings

Not all of The Hobbit dwarves are alive by the end as Thorin Oakenshield, Fíli and Kíli all perish during the climactic Battle of Five Armies. In addition, Óin, Balin and Ori all die prior to The Lord of the Rings, when a colony is sent from Erebor to reclaim the Mines of Moria. Óin is killed by the Watcher in the Water, Balin is shot by an orc, and Ori dies in Balin’s Tomb, his corpse featuring briefly in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Ori left the written account of these events, which is read aloud by Gandalf before the orcs arrive to trouble the fellowship and rouse awake the Balrog, Durin’s Bane, in the Mines of Moria. While six have perished, seven dwarves from The Hobbit are still alive when The Lord of the Rings begins, only one of which appears in the movies.

Gimli’s father, Glóin, accompanies Thorin in The Hobbit and is later present at the Council of Elrond, where it’s decided that Gimli will travel with Frodo as the dwarves’ representative. While Peter Hambleton plays Glóin in The Hobbit, John Rhys-Davies (Gimli’s actor) stands in for the character in The Fellowship of the Ring.

The remaining six living The Hobbit dwarves (Bifur, Bofur, Nori, Dori, Bombur and Dwalin) are mostly unaccounted for by Tolkien, but fans can speculate on their movements during The Lord of the Rings. The dwarves don’t join any major The Lord of the Rings battles, but they fight Sauron elsewhere, most notably at the Battle of Dale.

Indeed, though the movies focused on the fellowship, Sauron’s rise and defeat in the Second Age was fought throughout Middle-Earth. Taking place simultaneously with Mordor’s assault on Gondor, Sauron sends his allies to attack the dwarves of Erebor, and both sides suffer grievous casualties. The battle keeps both Sauron’s Easterling forces and the Lone Mountain’s dwarves busy while the more decisive clashes happen elsewhere. The seven surviving dwarves from Thorin’s company likely fought during the Battle of Dale or remained behind to defend the Lonely Mountain.

The relative absence of dwarves in The Lord of the Rings can be attributed to Tolkien’s focus on men as the future of Middle-earth. When the Third Age ends and Sauron is defeated, the elves leave for the Undying Lands, and the dwarves are dwindling in number, but the realm of men grows under Aragorn’s leadership. Overcoming their ancient feud, Middle-Earth’s elves and dwarves were both more active against Sauron than The Lord of the Rings suggests, but the story’s focus on “lesser” races such as men and hobbits means those tales are told elsewhere.

The Rings Of Power Makes The Dwarves’ LOTR Absence More Noticeable

The Series Explores The Culture Of Dwarves In A Deeper Way

The vast number of dwarves in The Rings of Power, Amazon’s Tolkien prequel series, has made their absence in the original Lord of the Rings movies that much stranger in hindsight. Dwarves clearly had a massive impact on Middle-earth’s history, so no dwarves at all showing up during the entirety of Sauron’s Third Age War is suspicious. Gimli was perhaps the best possible individual to represent dwarven honor, stubbornness, and strength — but as Rings of Power reveals, there are entire cultures and civilizations missing from the franchise’s flagship trilogy.

While the Amazon series has ignored canonical Tolkien lore in telling the history of the Second Age, Rings of Power does justice to dwarves better than Peter Jackson’s movies (despite the fact the latter was more faithful to the books). This includes explaining the dwarves’ origin — that they were not created by Eru Iluvatar (God), but by a Valar’s sacrilegious but successful attempt at creating new life. Because of this, they’re essentially considered a lesser species in Middle-Earth, according to King Durin III in Rings of Power.

This animosity and prejudice might be why the dwarves didn’t feel the need to aid the men and elves during The Lord of the Rings, even though they were also fighting Sauron. Regardless, there would still more than likely be dwarves like Gimli who spent time outside dwarven lands, and the fact that no dwarves at all were spied in bustling locations like Minas Tirith is much more suspicious in The Lord of the Rings thanks to The Rings of Power fleshing out the Middle-earth dwarf legacy.

Other Questions Between The Hobbit & Lord Of The Rings

Where Were Legolas, Tauriel, And Gollum In Between The Two Trilogies?

The Hobbit movies provided some interesting context for elements of the Lord of the Rings story, but the movies also left a lot of questions about what happens between the two movies. As with the dwarves, there are a number of characters in The Hobbit movies whose journeys after the prequel movies would have been interesting to delve into. At the very least, their absence in the Lord of the Rings movies brings up some questions.

Tauriel is a rare character in the movie franchise who is an original character. The elf warrior is at the center of a love triangle with Legolas having feelings for her, but her heart being drawn to the dwarf Kíli. It is known that Tauriel was banished from Mirkwood during the events of The Hobbit, suggesting that she cut ties with the elf community. However, with the fate of Middle-earth at stake, it is surprising such a seasoned warrior does not get involved in the events of Lord of the Rings.

Legolas is obviously a Tolkien character, but he was not featured in The Hobbit novel. Peter Jackson chose to include him in the prequel movies with Orlando Bloom reprising his role. While there are some differences between Legolas in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, the tease at the end of The Battle of the Five Armies suggests he is setting off to meet Aragorn for the first time which is an intriguing idea.

There is also some question about what happens to Gollum in between the two movies. Gollum is one of the most fascinating characters in The Lord of the Rings franchise. While Return of the King provides some backstory for the character, there is a gap in between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies that provides some more intrigue for the character.

After Bilbo takes the One Ring from him, Gollum goes in search of his “precious”, remaining obsessed with it leading up to the events of Lord of the Rings. It is a story that is likely to be covered in the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum.