The Front Gate was the main gate of the Lonely Mountain, the Dwarven realm of Erebor. Close to this entrance was the Dwarven King Thrór's vast chamber.[1]
The entrance was at the head of the valley shaped by the two southern rock ridges that protruded from the Lonely Mountain's southern slopes.[2] The stream that formed into the River Running sprung forth from the gateway.
A stone path led through the Gate, spacious enough for many Dwarves to walk abreast. The Gate itself was a tall arch, originally with detailed craftsmanship upon it, but later battered, weakened, and darkened during Smaug's residency in the mountain. A view of Dale (a city of Northmen located directly outside Erebor) was seen from the Gate.[2]
History[]
Inside of the Front Gate, shortly before Smaug's arrival, as seen in The Hobbit films
Smaug, blinded by his love of gold, descended upon the Lonely Mountain in the year TA 2770 and penetrated the Front Gate, destroying it due to his sheer size.[3] The greedy dragon had destroyed and blocked all of the mountain's other gates (except the hidden Side-door), leaving only the massive hole (where the Front Gate once stood) solely for himself to use.[4]
Thorin and company entered the mountain through the Side-door and exited through the Front Gate, unaware of Smaug's fate. When the Dwarves were informed of the slaying of Smaug by Bard of Lake-town in TA 2941, they returned to the mountain and constructed a high, thick wall of squared stones to act as the new Front Gate.[3][4] While Thorin waited for the arrival of his cousin, Dáin Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills, this newly formed barrier allowed Thorin and his company to fend off the Elves of the Woodland Realm as well as the Lake-men. However, the goblins of Bolg appeared shortly after Dáin's arrival, and thus the Battle of Five Armies began. Thorin and his fellow Dwarves charged into the battle amid the fighting of the armies, pushing the Front Gate wall to collapse outwards.[5] After the battle, Bilbo Baggins said his goodbyes to the remaining Dwarves at the Front Gate before leaving homeward.[6]
Seventy eight years later, Dáin II was slain in the Battle of Dale at the Front Gate during the War of the Ring while guarding the body of the fallen King of Dale, Brand. His courage, however, saved countless lives, as mentioned by Gandalf later on.[7]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Voorste hek |
| Albanian | Porta e përparme |
| Amharic | የፊት በር |
| Arabic | البوابة الأمامية |
| Armenian | Առջեւի դարպասը |
| Azerbaijani | Ön qapılar |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Пярэднія вароты |
| Bengali | সামনের দরজা |
| Bosnian | Prednja vrata |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Предна врата |
| Cambodian | ច្រកខាងមុខ |
| Catalan | Porta davantera |
| Cebuano | Atubangan nga ganghaan |
| Chinese | 前门 |
| Cornish | Yet A-rag |
| Croatian | Prednja vrata |
| Czech | Hlavní vchod |
| Danish | Hovedporten |
| Dutch | Voorstepoort |
| Esperanto | Antaŭa pordego |
| Estonian | Eesmine värav |
| Faroese | Forsíðaportur |
| Fijian | E liu na matamata |
| Finnish | Pääportti |
| French | Porte d'entrée |
| Galician | Porta da fronte |
| Georgian | წინა კარიბჭე |
| German | Eingangstor |
| Greek | Μπροστινή Πύλη |
| Gujarati | આગળનો દરવાજો |
| Haitian Creole | Devan pòtay |
| Hausa | Gaban ƙofar |
| Hebrew | שער קדמי |
| Hindi | फ्रंट गेट |
| Hmong | Pem hauv ntej rooj vag |
| Hungarian | Bejárati kapu |
| Icelandic | Framhliðið |
| Indonesian | Pintu depan |
| Irish Gaelic | Geata Tosaigh |
| Japanese | フロントゲート |
| Kannada | ಮುಂಭಾಗದ ಗೇಟ್ |
| Kazakh | Алғы қақпа (Cyrillic) Alğı qaqpa (Latin) |
| Korean | 정문 |
| Kurdish | Deriyê pêşiyê (Kurmanji) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Алдыңкы дарбаза |
| Laotian | ປະຕູທາງຫນ້າ |
| Latin | Ante Portam |
| Latvian | Priekšējie vartų |
| Lithuanian | Priekiniai vartai |
| Luxembourgish | Virportal |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Предна порта |
| Malagasy | Varavarana Fidirana |
| Malayalam | ഫ്രണ്ട് ഗേറ്റ് |
| Malaysian | Pintu hadapan |
| Maltese | Bieb ta 'quddiem |
| Manx | Giat Toshee |
| Maori | Ko te kuwaha mua |
| Marathi | समोर गेट |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Урд хаалга |
| Nepalese | अगाडिको फाटक |
| Norwegian | Hovedinngang |
| Old English | Foran Dor |
| Pashto | مخکې دروازه |
| Persian | درب جلویی |
| Portuguese | Portão da frente |
| Punjabi | ਫਰੰਟ ਗੇਟ |
| Romanian | Poarta din fata |
| Russian | Передние ворота |
| Serbian | Предњи улаз (Cyrillic) Prednji ulaz (Latin) |
| Sindhi | سامهون واري دروازي |
| Sinhalese | ඉදිරිපස ගේට්ටුව |
| Slovak | Hlavný vchod |
| Slovenian | Sprednja vrata |
| Somalian | Albaabka hore |
| Spanish | Puerta de delantera |
| Sundanese | Gerbang hareup |
| Swahili | Mlango wa mbele |
| Swedish | Främreport |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Дарвоза пеш |
| Tamil | முன் வாயில் |
| Telugu | ఫ్రంట్ గేట్ |
| Thai | ประตูหน้า |
| Turkish | Ön kapı |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | фронту ворота |
| Urdu | فرنٹ گیٹ |
| Uzbek | Олдинги эшик (Cyrillic) Oldingi eshik (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Cổng trước |
| Welsh | Giât flaen |
| Yiddish | פאָרנט טויער |
| Yucatec Maya | Joolnajo' delantera |
References[]
- ↑ The Hobbit, "Thrór's Map"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Hobbit, Chapter XIII: "Not At Home"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, The Tale of Years, "The Third Age"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Hobbit, Chapter XV: "The Gathering of the Clouds"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter XVII: "The Clouds Burst"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter XVIII: "The Return Journey"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, The Tale of Years, "The Great Years"