Girion was the last Lord of Dale, who ruled from TA 2763 to his death in TA 2770.
Biography
Girion trying to prevent Smaug from terrorizing Dale
Born in TA 2732, Girion became the Lord of Dale and ruled the city peacefully with the Dwarves of Erebor. However, in the year TA 2770,[1], he was killed when the dragon Smaug destroyed Dale and the neighboring Dwarven realm of Erebor. However, his wife (name unknown) and son escaped. One-hundred and seventy-four years later, Bard, Girion's descendant, took revenge on the dragon, slaying him by shooting an arrow into a small gap in the old dragon's scales, which was the only vulnerable spot on his body.[2]
It is also mentioned in The Hobbit that Girion had owned a necklace of five hundred emeralds, later found among the treasures hoarded by Smaug in the Lonely Mountain.[3] Bard obtained this necklace from Dain Ironfoot, and in turn he gave it to the Elvenking Thranduil.
Portrayal in adaptations
The Hobbit film trilogy
Girion during the attack of Dale
In the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Girion is portrayed by Luke Evans, who also plays his descendant Bard.
A flashback shows how Girion attempted to slay Smaug using black arrows fired from a mounted Dwarvish windlance crossbow, but all his shots bounced harmlessly off the dragon's armour, all except for one, which broke off one of the dragon's scales and exposed his soft belly beneath. Unfortunately, Girion perished before the final arrow could be fired.
The last arrow was kept by his descendant Bard, who secretly hid for the time when Smaug awake and attacked Laketown once more. Bard, with the aid of his son, managed to hit Smaug's weak spot opened up by Girion, slaying the dragon and avenging Bard's ancestors.
It should be noted that there is no mention of Girion's last moments in Tolkien's publications/drafts; they were created specifically for Jackson's films.
Video games
Girion appears as a downloadable playable character in LEGO The Hobbit: The Video Game, and wields a bow.
Appearances in the books and films
In the books
In the films
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (First appearance; Extended Edition only)
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Translations around the world
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Arabic | جيريون |
| Armenian | Գիրիոն |
| Belarusian | Гіріон |
| Bulgarian | Гирион |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 吉瑞安 |
| Georgian | გირიონ |
| Greek | Γιριον |
| Hebrew | גיריון |
| Italian | Girion |
| Japanese | ぎりおん |
| Kazakh | Гіріон |
| Kurdish | گيريۆن |
| Macedonian | Гирион |
| Mongolian | Гирион |
| Russian | Гирион |
| Serbian | Гирион (Cyrillic) Girion (Latinised) |
| Tajik | Гирион |
| Ukrainian | Ґіріон |
| Urdu | گارااون ? |
| Uyghur | گىرىون ? |
| Uzbek | Гирион (Cyrillic) Girion (Latinised) |
| Yiddish | גיריאָן |
| Lord of Dale | ||
| Preceded by Unknown |
Girion | Succeeded by Bard I (New Kingdom, 174 years later) |
| TA 2763 – TA 2770 | ||
| Girion | |
| Master of Lake-town | |
| Bard I • Bain • Brand • Bard II | |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Third Age"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter XIV: "Fire and Water"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter XII: "Inside Information"