GREATEST TV BATTLES

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about 

Battle of Five Armies

The Battle of Five Armies was a battle waged between the Orcs and the Wargs of the Misty Mountains and the Grey Mountains against the Lake-men, Elves, Dwarves, on and near the Lonely Mountain.

After Bard killed the dragon Smaug, the Men of the Lake and the Wood-elves both laid siege to the Dwarves in the Lonely Mountain, the thirteen Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain under Thorin II Oakenshield having refused to share any of the treasure that they had recaptured from Smaug.

Thorin and Company were then trapped in a bloodless siege, with Thranduil and Bard hoping to wait them out. However, Thorin had sent messages of his plight to his relatives using talking messenger Ravens, such as Röac the Raven, that lived on the Lonely Mountain. These reached Dáin Ironfoot of the nearby Iron Hills, and he marched to the Lonely Mountain with 500 heavily armed Dwarves, mostly skilled veterans of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. 

When Dáin's forces arrived, a battle was almost joined between the two sides (now three armies were on the field) but at the last moment, Gandalf intervened between the two and revealed that while they were bickering amongst themselves, the Goblins of the Misty Mountains and Grey Mountains under Bolg were using the opportunity to march against them. They had been incited by Gandalf's earlier slaying of the Great Goblin, but had now mobilized for a full-scale attack after hearing news of the death of the Dragon and the now relatively unguarded treasure hoard.

The three commanders agreed that the Orcs, Wargs, and Bats were the enemies of all, and previous grievances between them were put on hold in face of the greater threat. They arranged their forces on the two spurs of the Mountain that lined the valley leading to the now-sealed off great gate; the only entrance to the Mountain. The 500 Dwarves and 200 Lake-men formed up on one spur and over 1000 Elves on the other, while a light rear-guard lined across the mouth of the valley to lure the Orcs between the two, and thus destroy them. Bilbo Baggins, while invisible due to the Ring, tried to sit out the battle on the spur held by the Elves, the Ravenhill, where Gandalf also had withdrawn to.

Soon the Orcs, Wargs, and a cloud of Bats "like a sea of locusts" arrived, and at first the plan worked: they were lured into the choke point and took heavy losses. However, due to the Orcs' superior numbers, the allied Free Folk did not hold the advantage long. The second wave was even worse than the first, and now many Orcs scaled the mountain from the opposite side, and began to attack the arrayed forces from above and behind, as the main wave pressed forward. 

The battle raged across the Mountain, and then a great noise was heard: Thorin and his twelve Dwarf companions inside the mountain had thrown down the stone wall they had erected across the mouth of the gates, killing many Orcs. Thorin and Company then charged out to join the battle, covered from head to toe in the finest armour and weapons contained in the treasure hoard of the Lonely Mountain. Thorin advanced through the Orcs ranks all the way up to the gigantic Orcs that formed the Bodyguard of Bolg, whom he could not get past. The battle degenerated into a chaotic close quarters melee, no quarter asked or given.

As the battle was turning fully against the Free Folk, a number of Giant Eagles of the Misty Mountains arrived, led by Gwaihir. Bilbo was the first to spot their entrance on the scene and began shouting that "the Eagles are coming!", a shout that was then continued among the other troops of the Free Folk. At this point, Bilbo was knocked in the head by a large stone thrown by Orcs from above on the Mountain, and he passed out. With the support of the Giant Eagles, the battle turned back against the Orcs. Then Beorn himself arrived at the battle, apparently having heard the news that a large army of Orcs was on the move. 

This time he did not appear in his former shape of a giant Man but had changed his skin to that of a gigantic bear. Beorn drove through the Orc lines but paused to carry the wounded Thorin out of the battle. Beorn then returned to the battle with even greater wrath and smashed the ranks of the Bodyguard of Bolg, ultimately killing Bolg himself. The Orcs eventually panicked and scattered, to be picked off by hunting forces from the victors later; many of the Orc survivors died in the forest of Mirkwood

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking