Fíli

Lineage

Fíli was born in T.A. 2859 in the halls of the exiles in the Blue Mountains, the elder son of Dís, daughter of Thráin II and sister of Thorin Oakenshield. His father is not named. His younger brother was Kíli, born five years later. Since Thorin had no children, Fíli stood next in the succession of Durin's line after his uncle, and Thorin brought both nephews on the quest of Erebor as the young hope of his house. At eighty-two Fíli was the second youngest of the company, some fifty years younger than most of the others.

The quest of Erebor

Fíli and Kíli arrived at Bag End together, blue-hooded, with yellow beards and silver belts, and throughout the journey they were given the tasks that called for sharp eyes and quick limbs. They spotted the trolls' fire in the Trollshaws and were sent to scout it. In Mirkwood, when the company had to cross the enchanted stream, Fíli threw the hook that caught the boat on the far bank, and he was among the first to cross. He was wrapped in spider-silk with the others when the spiders took them, and Bilbo cut him free. In the dungeons of Thranduil and the barrels on the Forest River he shared the fortunes of the rest, and at Erebor he and Kíli were the ones sent up and down the mountainside as messengers and look-outs, and together they found the path to the secret door.

Death

In the Battle of Five Armies Thorin led his company out of the gate in the armour of the hoard and charged the goblin ranks. When the charge was surrounded, Fíli and Kíli stayed by Thorin and were killed defending him with their shields and their bodies, as he lay wounded. Fíli was eighty-two. He was buried in the Mountain with honour, and with him died the elder line of Thráin, so that the kingship passed to Dáin Ironfoot of the Iron Hills.

Legacy

Fíli's story is brief and the histories record almost nothing of him apart from the quest. His name survives on the family tree of Durin's Folk, where he and his brother close the branch of Thráin II, and in the memory of Bilbo, who counted their deaths among the griefs of a victory he never wanted.

Slain in the Battle of Five Armies in T.A. 2941, shielding the wounded Thorin, and buried under the Mountain.