Thunder Tales

The only thing cuter than Fili and Kili? BABY FILI AND KILI.

Fili and Kili are Thorin's nephews (sons of Thorin's sister Dis - to my knowledge their father is never named/identified in the books, and movie tie-in info says he's dead by Hobbit-movie-time but not when), and his heirs if anything happens to him. I believe they were born after the Dwarves settled in Ered Luin, but either way it was after Smaug took Erebor. (They are the youngest members of the company, at 77 and 82, Fili being five years older than Kili. The Great Goblin points to Ori when mentioning the youngest in the film, but I think that was the Great Goblin's mistake, since obviously he wouldn't know who really is the youngest. Plus Ori is definitely the most naive and sheltered, so he looks like one of the youngest for sure anyway.).

Anyway, this was inspired by reading up on the stuff mentioned above and some NPC dialogue in LotRO - in Thorin's Hall Inn (appropriate, no?) an NPC Dwarf says that during thunderstorms you can hear Thrain hammering for gold or some variation thereof. It got me thinking, what do the different peoples of Middle-earth tell their children about these sorts of things? My dad always told me it was the angels bowling. Maybe the Dwarves talk about some ancestor hammering for precious metals; it would make sense given their culture. I chose Durin the Deathless because he is one of, if not the most important Dwarf - and probably the most easily recognized as well. Even at a young age, surely Fili and Kili have heard about him.

In any case, reading about Dwarvish history and the desire for cute baby Dwarves combined into this.

I imagine Thorin was enjoying a nice late-night smoke before bed when his nephews came out to bother him, having already been put to bed but woken by the thunder. Dis (and possibly her husband) are away on Dwarf-business, some important meeting or other perhaps (Dwarf-women are rarely spoken about, but since Dis is a princess I imagine she has duties to attend to), so Fili and Kili come to Uncle Thorin instead. Kili is supposed to be about a year and a half old or so, able to walk, which would make Fili six. I went along the same lines as the art department for the movie, where their concept art for Dwarf-children had them with wispy beginnings of beards. I tried to make their hair the beginnings of their movie hairstyles, so Fili has a few braids and Kili's is unadorned, and both are shorter. Thorin of course is based on the looks of young Thorin in the film. Hopefully he looks somewhat like Richard Armitage. I think I did reasonably well, compared to past efforts at drawing film characters that look like they do in the film.

I had a lot of fun attempting Dwarvish decoration with the chair and fireplace and embroidery. I think this was the first attempt at it, so not too bad, I don't think.

I offer this description as living proof I should never be allowed to ramble about Middle-earth history and/or cultures.

The Hobbit film belongs to Peter Jackson, the books to J.R.R. Tolkien.