‘The Rings of Power’: Is Durin related to Thorin Oakenshield?

Taking place in the Second Age of Arda and centering around Sauron’s return to terrorize the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, The Rings of Power features the Dwarves to a large extent, but is this Durin the same legendary figure we know as Thorin Oakenshield’s ancestor?

The Rings of Power on Prime Video nods to the past as a way to solidify its claim as the ultimate Lord of the Rings project of our time. Of course, if you’ve noticed a similarity between the ambitious television show and Peter Jackson’s two trilogies, it’s partially due to the fact that Amazon has comissioned the talented John Howe, who previously worked on Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, to draw the concept art for this outing as well.

And so, through conscious choice, the visual language of Middle-earth in The Rings of Power pays homage to what came before. But the familiarities don’t stop there. In fact, even barring certain characters like Elrond and Galadriel, it seems that the ancestors of a lot of our favorite characters are making their live-action debut in this show, even if viewers don’t necessarily get the confirmation for it yet. In the case of Thorin, though, Tolkien’s works can help us answer the question definitively.

Are Thorin Oakenshield and Durin IV related?

The Rings of Power features Prince Durin IV as the heir of Khazad-Dum, aka Moria. And as you’ll already know, the series takes place some 3,000 years before the events of The Hobbit, so strictly speaking, three millennia separate Durin IV and Thorin Oakenshield.

That being said, based on what Tolkien has revealed in the legendarium books (like The Silmarillion or even The Return of the King appendices) we know that Thorin Oakenshield and his kin, recognized by everyone as the House of Durin, are a direct descendant of the legendary Durin the Deathless, the founder of Khazad-Dum and the first of the Fathers of Dwarves.

Durin the Deathless was succeeded by Durin II, and that continued all the way to Durin VI. The sixth herald of the house then gave up the mantle to Nain I, and he to Thrain I, and he to Thorin I. After Thorin the First came Oin, Gloin, and Nain II, and after Nain II came Dain I, who was the great grandfather of Thorin Oakenshield, being survived through Thror, Thorin’s grandfather, and finally Thrain, Thorin’s father.

Feeling confused, yet? Well, don’t worry. All you need to know is that Durin IV from The Rings of Power was, indeed, the ancestor of our own Thorin Oakenshield. In fact, even Gimli from The Lord of the Rings is a descendant of the House of Durin, even if he doesn’t mention it nearly as much as the rest of his kin.