An interesting fact is that Tolkein took the names of the thirteen dwarves in The Hobbit (and most of the other dwarves in The Lord of the Rings) from the Old Norse Eddaic poem Völuspá, which has a section called the Dvergatal, which means ‘Catalogue of Dwarves’.

This list of names contains Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur. The only two of the thirteen not directly from the poem are Balin and Oin.

Gandalf is also in this list, so he was originally a Norse dwarf!

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As you may tell from this talk of dwarves, I changed my mind about who to send into Moria.

I could have continued with the Three Elves, but I can’t help feeling that the best team to venture into Khazad-Dum should be dwarves.

No one has heard from Balin and his company in a long while, since they went to reclaim the lost Mines of Moria. The White Council has decided someone should go and find out if all is well with the colony.

That ‘someone’ is going to be Dain, Bifur and Gimli.

Dain Ironfoot is King of the Iron Hills and a natural leader. Bifur is one of the wisest of the thirteen dwarves who accompanied Bilbo in The Hobbit. Gimli will later join the Fellowship of the Ring but here he is younger and even more fond of hitting Orcs with his axe.

I suppose if I’m going to go dwarf then I should go all-dwarf. So these heroes will be joined by another nine dwarves to make a total of twelve. Not quite a full thirteen, but close enough.

The other dwarves are: Fili, Kili, Gloin, Dori, Bofur, Bombur, Erebor Hammersmith, Longboard Elder, and Erebor Battlemaster.

So the new Company will be twelve dwarves. And a wizard. You always need a wizard.

Here’s my decklist:

2x Fili
1x Kili
2x Gloin
3x Longbeard Elder
2x Dori
2x Bombur
2x Bofur (Tactics)
3x Erebor Hammersmith
3x Erebor Battlemaster
3x Gandalf (Core)
3x Steward of Gondor
2x Hardy Leadership
2x King Under the Mountain
3x Dwarrowdelf Axe
3x Foe-Hammer
3x Feint
3x Healing Herbs
3x Ancestral Knowledge
3x Sneak Attack
2x Forest Snare

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The doors of the East-Gate are broken and hanging off their hinges. Dain, Bifur and Gimli stand at the entrance and peer into the darkness.

“This does not bode well,” says Bifur.

“There have always been goblins in the Misty Mountains,” agrees Dain, “but seldom this far south. If this is the work of the Goblin King then something must have drawn him here.”

Gimli hefts his axe, “Goblins, Orcs or otherwise, a skull splits just the same.”