Also known as: The Skin-Changer
A great man who could change his shape into that of a huge black bear. Beorn lived in a wooden hall between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood, where he kept horses, dogs, and great bees. He was fierce, distrustful of strangers, and hated Orcs and Goblins above all things. Gandalf brought Thorin's company to him for aid, and Beorn grudgingly gave them ponies and provisions for the journey through Mirkwood. At the Battle of Five Armies, Beorn arrived at the crisis of the fight in bear-form and turned the tide, crushing Bolg and scattering the Orc army. He later became a great chief among the Men of the region, and his descendants, the Beornings, guarded the passages of the Anduin.