Bifur was a Dwarf of the late-Third Age. He is best known for being a companion to Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield on the quest to regain the Lonely Mountain, along with his cousins Bofur and Bombur.

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Biography

Whilst he was a descendant of the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, Bifur was not of Durin's Folk. Most of his familial relations are unclear, and what is known of his parentage is very little. He and his family were driven out of their home in the Lonely Mountain by the Dragon Smaug, and were forced to live in exile, where the Dwarf warrior worked as a toy maker. Following Thorin II Oakenshield to a new life in the Blue Mountains, he continued his life as a toy maker.

Quest of Erebor

Answering Thorin Oakenshield's Quest of Erebor, he went to the meeting at Bag End with his cousins Bofur and Bombur, where he played the clarinet. On the quest, he was nearly cooked on a spit by trolls and nearly killed by Goblins, Wargs, Stone giants, Great Spiders, and the dragon Smaug himself. A valiant and brave warrior, Bifur never gave up, and fought in the Battle of Five Armies with all his strength, killing numerous enemies. In the fallout of the great battle, Dain II Ironfoot gave him his share of the treasure, and he retired to live at the Lonely Mountain.[1]

Portrayal in adaptations

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy

Bifur is played by William Kircher in Peter Jackson's Hobbit films. The studio released the following statement about Bifur:

"Born in the West, Bifur has the rusting remains of an Orc axe embedded in his forehead, which has rendered him inarticulate and occasionally feisty! He communicates only​ with Khuzdul and hand gestures. Unlike most of the others in The Company of Dwarves, Bifur is not related to Thorin, nor is he of noble lineage, but rather is descended from miners and smithies – simple folk with simple tastes."

In the extended edition of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Bifur loses the axe in his head when he strikes an attacking Orc with a head-butt and knocks his foe off a cliff, although Bofur and Bombur manage to haul him back to safety. Bombur retrieves the axe-head, but Bifur informs Bombur, "You know where you can stick that?" and throws the axe-head away, confirming that he gained the ability to speak in the Common Tongue.

The Lord of the Rings Online

In The Lord of the Rings Online Bifur lives in Erebor during and after the War of the Ring, holding the position of the Keeper of the Hammers. His son Bósi and grandson Bori play a major part in the Mines of Moria expansion in which they lead an expedition to reclaim Khazad-dûm on the orders of King Dain Ironfoot. Along with his cousin Bofur he appears in the "The Fires of Smaug" instance, which takes place during the Siege of Erebor. After the battle Bifur and the other surviving dwarves of the Company join Dís in paying respect to tomb of Thorin Oakenshield. When Nori goes on an unauthorized expedition to the Grey Mountains, his brother Dori recruits his old companions Bofur and Gloin to go after him, but Bifur declines, saying that his adventuring days are behind him.

Voice dubbing actors

Foreign Language Voice dubbing artist Czech Republic Vladimír Kudla French (France) Olivier Bouana Hungarian Vilmos Papucsek Italian (Italy) Francesco Sechi Portuguese (Brazil) Paulo Bernardo Spanish (Spain) Francesc Pojol

Radio

Bifur was played by Brian Haines in The Hobbit 1968 radio series.

Behind the scenes

In the earliest partial manuscript of The Hobbit, much of the dialog later assigned to a few of the Dwarves is more evenly distributed. In the opinion of John Rateliff (author of The History of The Hobbit), this streamlining strengthened the story through simplification, but at the cost of relegating some of the Dwarves to obscurity since they barely speak at all. Bifur is one of these "silenced" members of the company. The films expanded on the fact he was "silenced" by saying that an Orc axe embedded in his skull left him inarticulate and only able to communicate in dwarfish and hand gestures, this was used to explain why he did not speak throughout the film. At the Battle of the Five Armies he headbutts an Orc, which results in the axe in his head being ripped out. This allows his speech to return.

According to The History of The Hobbit by John Rateliff, in the never completed third revision of The Hobbit, Bifur, along with Bofur and Bombur were to become something like an Honour-guard to Thorin. Such a change is already supported in several places of the book, including the fact that Bifur, Bofur and Bombur all arrive at Bag End at the same time as Thorin, and that they climb into the same tree as him when the company is attacked by Wargs and Orcs.

Gallery

Translations

Foreign Language Translated name Amharic ቢፉር Arabic بيفور Armenian Բիֆուր Belarusian Cyrillic Біфур Bengali বিফুর Bulgarian Cyrillic Бифур Chinese (Hong Kong) 畢佛 Georgian ბიფური Greek Βιφυρ Gujarati બિફુર Hebrew ביפור Hindi बिफ़ुर Japanese ビフール Kannada ಬೈಫೂರ್ Kazakh Біфұр (Cyrillic) Bifur (Latin) Korean 빕우ᄅ ? Kyrgyz Cyrillic Бифур Pashto بیفور Persian بیفور Punjabi ਬਾਇਪੁਰ Macedonian Cyrillic Бифур Marathi बिफ़ुर Mongolian Cyrillic Бифур Nepalese बिफ़ुर Russian Бифур Sanskrit बिfउर् Serbian Бифур (Cyrillic) Bifur (Latin) Sinhalese බිෆුර් Tajik Cyrillic Бифур Tamil பிபியூர் Telugu బిపుర Ukrainian Cyrillic Біфур Urdu بافور Uzbek Бифур (Cyrillic) Bifur (Latin) Yiddish ביפור



