Sixth War of the Dwarves and Orcs

The Sixth War of the Dwarves and Orcs, commonly known as the Sixth War or the Great Orc War, was a six-year conflict between the Dwarves and the Orcs of the northern mountains during the late Third Age. It was fought in retribution for the murder and corpse defilement of King Thrór by the Orc-chieftain Azog at the doors of Moria in T.A. 2790, an act that so upset all Seven Houses of the Dwarves that it ignited a war unmatched in scale among the Dwarves since the elder days.

As its name suggests, the Sixth War was the sixth great struggle between Dwarves and Orcs recorded in their long history, yet it became the most remembered of these conflicts due to its recency, its ferocity, the number of Houses involved, and the lasting scars it left upon the dwarves.

Origins

The immediate cause of the war was Thrór’s death and the mutilation of his body, which was beheaded and branded with Azog’s name and cast out of Moria as a token of contempt yet without allowing the body to be reclaimed. This insult was taken not merely as regicide, but as a challenge to the honor of all Dwarves. For three years after Thrór’s death, his son Thráin gathered strength, sent messengers throughout Middle-earth, and prepared for a reckoning that would not end until Azog and his kind were destroyed.

In T.A. 2793, Thráin proclaimed the mustering of the Haban'akkâ, the Reckoning-host, and called upon the Dwarves of all Seven Houses to take part in the war. Dwarves came from the Ered Mithrin, the Iron Hills, the Blue Mountains, and as far as from Rhûn and Harad, as well as from lesser delvings scattered across the North, answering a summons rooted in blood-oath and ancient law.

The War

The Sixth War was fought primarily across the Misty Mountains and the Vales of Anduin, wherever Orcs had taken root in tunnels, strongholds, and deep delvings. Rather than a single campaign, it consisted of a relentless series of assaults, sieges, and tunnel-fights as the Dwarves advanced from stronghold to stronghold, purging Orc-holds with fire, axe, and mattock.

Among the earliest and most decisive blows was the sacking of Mount Gundabad, long held by Orcs and revered by the Dwarves as a place of ancient significance. Unlike in the Fifth War of Dwarves and Orcs, the Haban'akkâ actually entered the Mountain-home in this war. Though the war-host reclaimed Máttugard and established a garrison there, it was lost again as Orcs reclaimed their grip on the Mountain-home while the Reckoning-host traveled south to Azanulbizar.

The war reached its climax in T.A. 2799 at the Battle of Azanulbizar in Dimrill Dale before the East-gate of Moria. There, the combined hosts of the Dwarves met the Orcs in a battle of unmatched savagery. Reinforcements from the Iron Hills arrived late but turned the tide, and Azog himself was slain by Dáin upon the very steps of the gate, earning him the name "Ironfoot" after running after Azog and catching up with him before he could slip inside Moria. With his death, organized Orc resistance in the Misty Mountains collapsed, bringing the war to an end. The remaining orcs retreated into Moria, behind the immense threat of Durin's Bane.

Aftermath

Though victorious, the Dwarves paid a terrible price. Many of their noblest warriors fell, including Náin Orcsfoe, son of Grór, Frerin, brother of Thorin Oakenshield, and Fundin, father of Balin and Dwalin. Their bodies, along with many others, were burned upon pyres after the battle, and they became remembered collectively as the Marasrân, the Burned Dwarves of Azanulbizar.

Despite Thráin's original intent, Moria could not be reclaimed. The presence of the great balrog still haunted the deep halls, and none save Dáin dared enter the gate. At last Thráin ordered the host to withdraw, and the Dwarves departed Dimrill Dale in silence, carrying their wounded and their dead.

In the generations that followed, veterans of the war and the descendants of the Marasrân were honored as the Kharum-ubnar, the Brethren of Survivors, a title of deep respect among Dwarves. The Sixth War reshaped Dwarven memory and policy: though the Orcs were broken, the cost of vengeance tempered Dwarven ambitions, and never again would such a host be gathered lightly.

The Great Orc War thus ended in a victory shadowed by loss, leaving scars upon the mountains and upon the hearts of Durin's folk that would endure until the end of the Third Age.