The Dwarves of Belegost

"Last of all the eastern force to stand firm were the Dwarves of Belegosst, and thus they won renown. For the Naugrim (dwarves) withstood fire more hardily than either Elves or Men, and it was their custom moreover to wear great masks in battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons. But for them Glaurung and his brood would have withered all that was left of the Noldor. But the Naugrim made a circle about him when he assailed them, and even his mighty armour was not full proof against the blows of their great axes; and when in his rage Glaurung turned and struck down Azaghal, Lord of Belegost, and crawled over him, with his last stroke Azaghal drove a knife into his belly, and so wounded him that he fled the field, and the beasts of Angband in dismay followed after him. Then the Dwarves raised up the body of Azaghal and bore it away; and with slow steps they walked behind singing a dirge in deep voices, as it were a funeral pomp in their country, and gave no more heed to their foes; and none dared to stay them."

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First, or rather second, in my "Deeds of the Dwarves" series. I have a whole bunch of these planned, some involving Gimli, some involving Dain Ironfoot, some involving various awesome people in Silmarillion (like this one), and at least one more featuring Thorin.

This, as I said, is a selection from the Fifth Battle, also called the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. It's a part, and only a part, of the long war against Morgoth, who is Sauron's old, ancient, evil boss. Morgoth made the dragons and the balrogs, so that should give you an idea of how incredibly powerful he is. This battle happens at a time when Dwarves and Elves are still... tolerating each other, and actually fight alongside occasionally.

I'm not so happy with this picture. I wanted to do a close-up of Azaghal driving the sword into Glaurung's belly. But then I thought, "but I want to draw Glaurung!" So I zoomed out and showed the army. And then I couldn't figure out what the background should look like, so I made it all dark... the battle is at night, after all. I was a little disappointed with the dwarf masks too...Or rather, I liked the masks and I was disappointed I didn't get to show more of them. I have a whole sheet of different designs for them, in scraps. Here it is: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/D…

EDIT: This is a weird place to do it, but as this is my most popular picture, I thought I'd drop an ad here for my story, The Nephilim Protocol, available from Kindle Select for 2.99 (Paperback coming soon)

Deeds of the Dwarves:

King Under the Mountain: fav.me/d34lt60

The Fall of Azog: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/T…

Alas, My Axe is Notched: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/A…

Thorin "Oakenshield": afalstein.deviantart.com/art/T…

The Last Stand of Dain: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/T…

The Ruin of Doriath: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/T…

The Orcs are Behind the Wall!: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/T…

A Chance Meeting: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/A…

Baruk Khazad!: afalstein.deviantart.com/art/B…

I Say Neither Yea nor Nay: fav.me/d4vrcrr

The Undying Lands: fav.me/d4wnz6k