Battle of Five Armies Review

Review

Bilbo's little betrayal shows the uniqueness of the story compare to other mythological and legend literature. In most epic literature, loyalty to the leader are one of the paramount virtues, but Bilbo is different. Bilbo makes a independent moral choice because he believes of a greater outcome rather than Thorin's ideals.

A lot of things happen during the Battle of Five Armies. A couple major characters from the company died against the forces of evil. In this case, the evil forces are the goblins and the Wargs. I think that Tolkien created this major battle to reflect World War I. World War I was a war between six major European powers who separate into 2 alliances. The Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) and The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). For Tolkien, he uses the dragons, goblins, and other creatures from European mythology to reflect how many people sees them as the evil creatures in stories. He shows that the humans, elves, and dwarves have to unite together to protect each other which also recalls how the three were peaceful neighbors who worked together and helped each other.

During the Battle of Five Armies, the eagles enter the battlefield. The eagle could also reflect the US entering the Great War because in The Hobbit, the eagles arrived into the battlefield when the forces of good were struggling against the forces of evil. The eagles also represent the one great and pure race who wouldn't fight for gold, but the goblin's involvement brings out their cry for good. They came down the mountaintops in large numbers and helped change the tide of the battle. The Battle of Five Armies also shows the power of nature. Even though evil can be powerful, the essential nature of the world is good.

Thorin's dying breath was to show his regrets for greed corrupting him and that he now recognizes the value of race like the hobbits (more particularly towards Bilbo) which he had contempt in the beginning of the book.

 "If more of us values food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." 

This quote from Thorin talks about that there should be more people like Bilbo who had these qualities in the beginning of the book. The Battle of Five Armies was a huge and epic battle that helped reunite the neighboring forces of good. This battle also showed some understanding of the importance of other races which Thorin was able to recognize and respect before he died. Overall, I really thought that The Battle of Five Armies was an epic battle that allowed races to coexist with one another.