- "It was a dwarf with a blue beard tucked into a golden belt, very bright eyes under his dark-green hood."
- —The Hobbit: An Unexpected Party
Dwalin was one of the Dwarves who traveled with Bilbo and Gandalf on the quest to regain the Lonely Mountain from Smaug. He was the brother of Balin and the youngest son of Fundin.
Biography[]
Born in TA 2772, two years after the dragon Smaug had desolated Erebor, Dwalin was the son of Fundin and younger brother of Balin. After fighting in the Battle of Azanulbizar at the age of 27, Dwalin accompanied Thrain the Second and Thorin Oakenshield to settle peacefully in the northern Ered Luin.
Later in TA 2841, Dwalin, along with his brother Balin, and a few others accompanied Thráin when he left the Ered Luin to visit Erebor. The small party was dogged by the emissaries of Sauron. In TA 2845, Thráin was captured one night when he and his companions sheltered under the eaves of Mirkwood from a black rain. After a fruitless search for their leader, the Dwarves gave up and returned to Thorin to inform him the news.
Dwalin was the first Dwarf to arrive, alone, at Bag End when the unexpected party planned by Thorin and Gandalf began at Bilbo Baggins' hobbit hole. He was wearing a dark-green hood and walked in as if expected, which greatly surprised Bilbo. Soon Balin arrived and he and Dwalin sat talking while Bilbo kept answering the door for the arrival of more and more Dwarves. Later, when Bilbo griped aloud in his kitchen about the lack of help in setting out refreshments, Dwalin and Balin were the first (followed by Fíli and Kíli) to lend a hand. Later still, when the Dwarves filled Bag End with music, Dwalin played on a viol as big as himself. Dwalin lent a green hood and cloak to Bilbo when they set out on their journey.
After Thorin's Company reclaimed the mountain from Smaug, Dwalin fought alongside his companions in the Battle of Five Armies. He survived the battle, and later received his fourteenth share of Smaug's hoard. He chose to live afterwards in Erebor under the rule of Dáin II Ironfoot, Thorin's cousin.
Dwalin appears not to have joined his brother Balin's expedition to resettle Moria in TA 2989, meaning he was not among those who lost their lives there when the colony was overrun by orcs five years later. He was one of seven of the ten Dwarves of Thorin's company who were still living in Erebor when Frodo came to Rivendell in TA 3018, as reported by Glóin. After the War of the Ring was over, resulting in the defeat of Sauron and the destruction of the One Ring, Dwalin lived there throughout his life in the Fourth Age in Middle-earth and passed away in FO 91 at the great age of 340, considered later than any other known date of death for a member of Thorin and Company.