Mustering of the Dwarves

Thrór, holder of one of the Seven Rings, was the Dwarf-lord who led the Longbeard Dwarves and refounded the Kingdom under the Mountain in Erebor. There he ruled as King, and his people grew wealthy, until they were driven out of their home by the Dragon Smaug, and left wandering in the wilderness. As he grew old, Thrór pondered the old glories of his House, and passing his Ring to his son Thráin he set out on a journey. His goal was to revisit Khazad-dûm, the magnificent former home of his people, now long abandoned and commonly called Moria.

Accompanied by a single companion, Nár, Thrór succeeded in making his way to the East-gate of Moria and entered the old mansions. There he encountered Orcs that had taken up their dwelling in Khazad-dûm. The Orcs' leader Azog beheaded the hapless Thrór, casting his branded head out of the gate to his waiting companion. Nár brought the news of Thrór's death back to Thráin in Dunland, and Thráin vowed revenge on the Orcs. This was in the year III 2790, and over the next three years Thráin mustered Dwarf warriors from across Middle-earth, building up a formidable fighting force from among the seven¹ scattered clans of his people.

Once the Mustering of the Dwarves was completed, there followed six years of War between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Fought for the most part in the dark places beneath the Misty Mountains, this War culminated in the Battle of Azanulbizar, fought before the very East-gate where Thrór had met his end. The battle was hard-fought, but the Dwarves were victorious, and Azog was himself beheaded by a young Dwarf named Dáin (later known as Dáin Ironfoot). The surviving Orcs fled the field, and the great Mustering of the clans of the Dwarves also dissolved, with its people returning to their far-flung homelands across Middle-earth.