MEC Day 6: Best of Thorin's Company

"Think furnace... with wings. Flash of light, searing pain and poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash!"

Thorin

Balin

Dwalin

Kili

Fili

Bifur

Bombur

Bofur

Oin

Gloin

Dori

Ori

Nori

Gandalf

or

Bilbo

Who is the best in Thorin's company? This was a hard choice for me because I like each one, but for different reasons. But I have to pick someone... and just one someone, so I'm going with...

Bofur

Okay, I'll admit it. Bofur was probably my favorite of the dwarves on the first viewing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey mostly because he was one of the ones I could pick out of a crowd and give a name. His hat singled him out, you might say, and I was very proud that I recognized and could name at least one dwarf (Thorin really doesn't count, I'd say, as everyone knows what he looks like).

But on second and third viewings (and fourth and fifth) Bofur remained a favorite, even after I could recognize and name each dwarf (and give the actor's name as well) because he was a great character. Not only does he have that identifying hat, he's the one that everyone loves on the quest. He's always ready to lend a helping hand or an encouraging word. Let me give you a few examples.

When Bilbo panics and stops their journey with the news that he's forgotten his pocket handkerchief, it's Bofur who rips his own shirt for Bilbo to use as a handkerchief. 

When Kili and Fili are tending to the ponies (during which time they seem to misplace a few), it's Bofur who remembers them and sends Bilbo with stew for them to eat.

When Bilbo falls off the cliff after the thunder battle, it's Bofur who first misses him.

When Bilbo later confronts Bofur while trying to sneak out, he insults the dwarves by saying they don't belong anywhere, yet Bofur still gives him a smile and wishes him all the luck in the world.

And those are just a few examples. 

Bofur also has some really quotable lines:

Bofur: (after falling down a chasm) Well, that could have been worse.

(Goblin King falls on top of them)

Dwalin: You've got to be joking!

~*~*~*~*~

Dori: (about the trolls) You can't reason with them; they're half-wits!

Bofur: Half-wits? What does that make us?

~*~*~*~*~

Bofur: Oh, you hear that, lads? He says we'll blunt the knives.

~*~*~*~*~

Bofur: (hearing the table creak beneath Bombur's weight) Bombur! Catch! (throws him a sausage)

(Bombur catches the sausage; the table creaks and collapses under Bombur)

I won't make this post as long as yesterday's but I'd like to add one last thing in before I sign off. There's a mysterious rumor going around that sounds like this...

And let me tell you, folks, that ain't true! Bofur does indeed lose his hat, and only once in AUJ, yet he keeps it on during all that is mentioned in the above picture. Bofur loses his hat when he first enters Bilbo's house in the beginning of the film. After Kili and Fili's big entrance upsets Bilbo, the other dwarves pile up on the doorstep and they all fall into the hobbit's front hall when Bilbo yanks the door open. Please watch that scene closely. Bofur's near the bottom of the pile, and kerplunk his hat falls right off. Ironic, isn't it, that he can keep his hat in all the epic and dangerous action of the film, yet he can't keep it on stumbling over the doorjam. Ah, well, such is life, I suppose.

For more details about the 30 Day Middle-Earth Challenge, please visit here!

Namarie!