The image of Dain Ironfoot standing over the body of King Brand "...defending
him until night fell..." is heartbreaking. At the age of 252 (apparantly
old for a Dwarf) he could still fight as well as ever. Dain seems to
possess unusual strength, as he was very young (32) when he chased Azog down
and killed him. I wonder if the phrase "...until the darkness fell..."
means that as it grew too dark to see, Dain was eventually overpowered and
killed over King Brand, as he obviously refused to leave his body and
retreat. King Brand was apparantly quite young, as his grandfather had
only become king of Dale 75 years earlier. Truly a sad story of loyalty
and friendship regardless of
age.
"Generous deed should not be checked by cold counsel."
