Durin VII Controversy

                 

       Hello again my fellow fantasy followers. Today I am focusing on Durin VII who I feel could have been alive during the events of the War of the Ring. I have read numerous comments and ideas about this unique concept, and it is not entirely discarded as non-canon. For example, “let us examine what we know,” to quote Saruman—Dwarfs live for a long time. Dain II lived for 242 years and probably would have lived longer if he hadn’t been killed. Thorin III was born in 2866, going by Gimli’s birth in 2879 TA, which would put his father Gloin at 96 (Gloin was born in 2783 TA). So if we add this number to Thorin III this would make Durin VII born in 2962 and would put him in his 50’s during the time of Lord of the Rings—War of the Ring.

                  

      Now we have already established that Dwarfs live a really long time, Durins are considered to be deathless—we see that Durin the deathless lives into the 2^nd Age, Durin VI lives for 249 years but is then slain by the Balrog of Moria. So given the longevity of this elite line—this alone would suggest that Durin VII could have played a pivotal role in the Battle of Dale/Erebor during the events of the War of the Ring. Also, given that he is a descendent of Thorin III from the books—it makes sense to incorporate Durin VII as the son of Thorin III. Remember Durin VII proclaims himself Durin reborn in the 4^th Age.

                 

      Many do not like the idea that Durin VII could be classified as Thorin III’s son. Remember, he would not be known as Durin yet, most likely he would have another name—an example of it could be Thror II. If this still doesn’t settle well, then perhaps Durin VII was another child of Dis. But this is unlikely, given the canon of Tolkien that states that he is a descendent of Thorin III.

                  

      Given the amount of information that we know about Dwarfs and their longevity, and how the Fourth Age quickly became the age of man—it is safe to assume that Durin VII was around during the Third Age and fought in the most critical battles. He probably eventually inherited all of Durin’s items, but for the battles, I could see him taken up Orcrist. I sincerely doubt the Dwarfs would have left the blade on Thorin’s tomb for the enemy to steal, I could really see Durin VII taken up this sword and fighting in the major battles—becoming a hero and after achieving great feats from the Third Age—Fourth Age, proclaims himself Durin VII.

                  

Special thanks to all who have read this, I plan on uploading some pics of my army collection soon 

--Gene