![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This has been noodling around my head for a while, and I just wanted to examine it a little bit. There are ... quite a lot of things you can learn by examining the weapons of choice in the movieverse Company. In fact, and all credit to the costuming team for the movies, I think the weapons used by the dwarves essentially give a portrait of class and clan divides in the Company, and also a degree of the history of the line of Durin post-Smaug. Ah. Allow me to demonstrate?
(WARNINGS: Firstly, I'm not by any means an expert on weapons. This is just going on what impressions I've cobbled together from some study of history and some knowledge of the background of the Company. Bear in mind, I only barely know the major classes of weapons apart, that's the level of knowledge you're dealing with here).
(WARNINGS: Firstly, I'm not by any means an expert on weapons. This is just going on what impressions I've cobbled together from some study of history and some knowledge of the background of the Company. Bear in mind, I only barely know the major classes of weapons apart, that's the level of knowledge you're dealing with here).
Dwarves & Weapons: The Company
Twelve Dwarves Plus Weapons (Promo image, I think).
Weapon-wise, there are a couple of ways you can group the Company: by class of weapon, or by class of wielder. For this, I'm going to take the latter, since I think it lends some interesting observations to the group. In that, looking at the dwarves, I think there is a very visible class divide, represented in their choice of weapons, and I'm just going to take a few minutes to examine it, yes?
To do this, I'm going to divide the Company into two (or possibly two and a half) groups. First, the main branch of the line of Durin, so Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Oin and Gloin. Then the more working class dwarves of the Broadbeams (fanon only, but I'll roll with it) and the lesser Durins, so Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori. I say two and a half, because possibly you can put the lesser Durins as a half-way point between the main line and the Broadbeams.
And it does, essentially, shake out into nobles and working class, and I think that distinction shows in firstly the choice of weapons, and secondly the degree of comfort with weapons even as an idea. Ah. Bear with me?
Main Durin Line:
We'll take the nobles first, because they're easiest, weapons-wise. Primarily because they all bear ... ah, shall we say, intentional weapons. Pretty much everyone in this group, with the possible exception of Oin, bears weapons as a right and a duty, weapons that don't double as anything else, weapons whose only function is to be weapons. Weapons I'd lay odds they've all been trained in since they were kiddies. For a quick look:
Thorin: Sword and Shield.
Fili: Swords and Knives (and, apparently, throwing axes).
Kili: Sword and Bow.
Balin: Sword/Mace thing (what is that?)
Dwalin: *deep breath* Hammer. Axes. Knives. Knuckle-Dusters. Anything and everything with an edge that he can use in a fight, basically.
Gloin: Ancestral Axes.
Oin: Steel Staff (swingable)
There are a couple of interesting patterns in there.
Firstly, swords are a royal thing, apparently. Presumably because a sword is the weapon which basically cannot be used for anything else. Even an axe can cut wood. A sword is a sword is a sword, and it's primary use is war. Balin is a bit weird, there, since his sword is also a mace, but it's still basically a sword, and I think Balin tends to prefer words as a weapon, where possible.
Secondly, axes are the second royal weapon, it seems, and likely to be ancestral weapons, going by Dwalin and Gloin (and Gimli). Also, Dwalin and Gloin seem to be quite close in style, too, though Gloin is more archaic and traditional, whereas Dwalin augmented the twin-axe tradition with as many other weapons as possible, to be wielded however seemed more efficient at the time.
Thirdly, I'd lay odds Fili was Dwalin's protege. Kili went off and did his weird archery thing, probably, given that he grew up in Ered Luin and the cities of Men, with influence from the Rangers. But Fili favours dual weapons backed up by lots and lots of knives, and I would bet you anything that's Dwalin's influence. Since Dwalin's philosophy of weaponry seems to be: have lots of backup, and have an edge in (or on) both hands as much as dwarvishly possible.
Fourthly, despite the fact that both his nephews bears swords as melee weapons, Thorin seems weirdly isolated. He's the only dwarf we really see using a shield (most others using both hands are dual wielding or have two-hander weapons). Neither of his nephews really seem to follow him in style or choice of weapons, though both wield swords. Possibly the closest in style to Thorin is actually Balin, which is interesting.
Fifthly, Oin is very strange, in this group. Staves are not exclusively weapons, and he's about the only one not using a bladed weapon (Dwalin's hammer is the exception, but given that Dwalin carries three other blades plus whatever else he's hidden in his armour, I'm not sure he counts). This could partly be explained by Oin's career, though. He's primarily a healer, and I suspect he wanted something with range to keep people back. There's also the fact that his staff is steel, which implies it's more a weapon than a walking aide.
Lesser Nobles and Working Class Dwarves:
I'll deal with these six as a single group first, then the two subgroups. The first thing to notice about this group is that they tend much more strongly towards found weapons, rather than ancestral weapons that you're trained into over time. The Broadbeams are much, much more obvious about this, since with the exception of Bifur (who I'll get to, because I think he breaks my heart), they use pretty much just weaponised version of their respective tools of trade. The lesser Durins are slightly more complicated, but Dori's really the only one who looks like he might have some formal training behind him in the same way the nobles have. And even he's complicated. For a look:
Dori: Sword and Chain Bolas
Nori: Two-handed Mace, backed up with Axe and Knives
Ori: Slingshot (and borrows Dwalin's hammer later)
Bifur: Polearm with Hunting Knife
Bofur: Mattock
Bombur: Cleaver, Ladle, His Beard
Taking the Lesser Durins, first. They bear intentional weapons, yes, but much less deliberately than the main Durin line.
Dori bears a sword, possibly because he's the patriarch of the sub-branch, augmented with bolas and fists. But Dori doesn't really wield the sword the way, say, Thorin does, like it's a weapon he was born to. Dori wields like it's a blade to stick on the end of his fist. He's a brawler, basically. The bolas are a projectile weapon, linked more closely to Ori's sling than anything. Nori bears a mace, but unlike even Oin's staff, it's wooden, with a metal head. It's basically a big, spiky stick to hit people with, because that's what you want in a fight. None of this warrior malarky, the aim is to hit people over the head as fast as possible before they can stick you. And Ori, of course, doesn't appear to want a weapon at all, going more the hobbit route and chosing a sling. Which has the advantage of providing free ammunition anywhere there's rocks, and allowing him to stay back from the melee a bit.
The lesser Durins just generally appear to be a more slapdash version of the main line, with training in weapons more by necessity than ancestry, and a lot more ... ah, pragmatic? ... approach to the idea. Dori and Nori both bear versions of higher class weapons (Dori straight-up has a higher class weapon), but neither of them appear to have the same reverence or respect for them that the higher Durins do. They're warriors purely by necessity, not by Right of Arms or by ancestry.
The one person in the main Durin line they all bear some resemblence to, though, is oddly Dwalin (and possibly Oin). All of the lesser Durins seem to have Dwalin's backups-to-the-backups, hit-'em-with-anything-handy philosophy of fighting. Dori has a main weapon, but backed up with bolas and brawling. Nori, like Dwalin and Fili, backs his staff up with knives and axes. And Ori, when push came to shove, grabbed Dwalin's own hammer. There are links up into the rest of the line. They're just ... a much more working class version. (I think Dwalin is basically a military style ordinary Joe at heart. He just happens to be related to royalty and upper council, is all).
Then the true working class heroes of the Company, the Broadbeams. And I'm going to take Bofur and Bombur first, because Bifur is a special case.
Bofur and Bombur are easy. They wield, as I said, weaponised tools. Bofur bears a slightly tricked out mattock, hammer and adze (which is slightly odd, really, for a miner, you'd think he'd have gone for a pick mattock instead), which seems to be sort of a working-class variation on the upper class axes-and-hammer combo. Bombur, being a total hobbit at heart, wields basically the weaponised contents of a kitchen, plus his own beard and bodyweight. Found weapons, where they're going to be as lethal as possible with anything they have to hand.
Bifur, though, is something else. Bifur bears a polearm and knife. He also bears what is possibly the single most alarming-looking weapon in the entire Company. There is nothing noble-looking about that polearm, nothing ancestral, nothing even potentially harmless like his cousins' weapons. It is something designed for cutting flesh. That's all it is. A violent tool, rather than a weapon.
The polearm is traditionally the weapon of choice for peasants who need to be armed fast. It's the weapon of revolutions, it's the weapon of uprisings. It's for the poor bastard stuck on the ground when the knights are riding against him. Polearms, historically speaking, could be made from any farm or hunting tool that could be tied to a stick, and you could get really alarming combinations (hooks on a stick, axes on a stick, knives on a stick, cleavers on a stick, scythes on a stick, combinations of the above). Bifur's looks most like a cleaver on a stick, really.
And the thing about Bifur's polearm that kinda breaks my heart ... We know Bifur was an ordinary toymaker, before his injury. He was probably like his cousins, with few enough military ambitions. But after the injury, Bifur was prone to berserker violence, especially in combat with things like orcs. And I think ... I think after his injury, Bifur basically had to arm himself to match. So he went the traditional route taken by peasants/working class who don't have the budget or training to do what the nobles do (swords, axes), and took up a polearm. Not as a weapon, but as a tool for the more violent part of his personality post-injury.
Look. Bifur breaks my heart, okay? He really, really does.
The other thing I'm noticing about the working class weapons in the group is that ... they've all be visibly weaponised. As in, augmented in metal or crafted to be more weapon-like. And I think there are two possible explanation for this.
The first (and I think less likely) is that they're sort of the working-class version of Dwalin or Gloin's ancestral axes. Tools that were augmented for when the working classes go to war, and handed down in their weapon forms.
The second, and the one I think actually happened, was that as part of the expedition outlay for the quest, Thorin arranged for the lower Company to have their tools augmented as weaponry. He basically asked them to show up with the things they were most used to using as weapons, and arranged to have them upgraded for the quest. I suspect this happened with Bofur's mattock at least, possibly Bifur's polearm (it's a lot more unified-looking than many polearms, and the fluff describes it as a boar-spear, which I suspect was the closest analogue Thorin knew). Dori's sword I think is his own. Nori's mace could go either way, though I think the knives are his own (and I suspect he stole the axe). Bombur I've no idea, but I think it would be really funny and slightly tragic to imagine him walking up to Thorin, smith and king in exile, and asking him to make a War Ladle.
Overall Impressions and Other Interesting Tidbits:
There's just, I think, a strong class divide evident among the dwarves of the Company. Showing in two ways: firstly in the type of weapons involved (shown primarily by the Broadbeams, Intentional Weapons vs Weaponised Tools), and secondly in the approach to weaponry (the main Durin line's Right To Arms vs the lesser Durins' Only If We Have To).
There also seems to be a clustering of styles, depending partially on class and partially on role. Dwarven royalty apparently use swords (Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin. And Dori, though I suspect that was complicated by class and bloodline, right enough). Axes either dual wielded or in combination with other weapons appear to be the traditional dwarven combination (Dwalin, Gloin, possibly Bofur for a working class version), which means they seem to be the other popular choice for nobles.
Polearm and staff weapons are interesting, since the three main ones in the Company (Oin, Nori, Bifur) show an interesting range of origins and uses. They do seem to be weapons for people who aren't primarily warriors, though, weapons of opportunity more than anything. Bifur and Nori's seem to be the standard need-arming-fast-on-a-budget for non-nobles who find themselves having to go to war (I know Nori's is technically a mace, but it's a longer weapon than most, and the only other mace is Balin's sword-mace-thing). Oin's seems to be more, well, if I have to have a weapon, let it be something that lets me clobber people from a distance and keep them out of my way. Oin gives the impression that he just couldn't be bothered to learn swords or axes, and a staff has a handy bonus of being useful for holding yourself up.
Ranged weapons (Kili, Dori, Ori) appear to be primarily for people who either don't fight often or don't like melees. Dwarves as a whole seem to prefer diving into the thick of things, so ranged weapons seem to be either for non-combatants or weirdos like Kili who hung around Men for too long.
For backup weapons, pretty much everyone favours extra axes or knives or both (see Dwalin, Nori, Fili, Bifur). Dori has possibly the oddest combination, with Sword and Bolas.
Thorin is weird again in that he doesn't really have a backup weapon, and instead carries a shield. It could be a personal thing (he earned the name Oakenshield in battle when he took up the log out of necessity, and then stuck with the combo as a personal signature sort of thing), or possibly the king is trained partially ceremonially, with a pure sword for ideological reasons (in which case the whole oakenshield thing was his small, personal rebellion and/or nod to practicality from a dwarf probably trained with Dwalin). I'd actually favour the latter, since the other dwarves with only one weapon (Balin, Oin, Bofur, Ori) are either working class (Bofur), not fond of weapons at all (Ori, possibly Oin), or nobles of the line of Durin (Balin and Oin). Gloin wields more than one weapon, but they're all the same type (axes), so I think he adds to the 'purity' argument as well. (ETA: Apparently Thorin is also seen with an axe for back-up, so never mind on this part).
The final thing I'm noticing, which again echoes the class divide and fundamental difference in philosophy across the company, is that in general the lesser Durins and the Broadbeams are more ... ah. Ignoble? Pragmatic? Bombur being a prime example of a dwarf who will strangle you with his beard, crush you to death beneath his weight, or stab you with a fork. None of which are exactly noble deaths. Dori, again, is a bit of brawler. Nori seems to be of the clobber-them-before-they-clobber-you school, with added knives. Ori would rather snipe you from a distance. Bifur is slightly different in that he's essentially a berserker, which still doesn't echo the formal training of any of the nobles. Bofur wields a mattock, which is essentially a mining tool (sort of, generally I would have thought a pick mattock would have been his tool of choice (pick and adze), though the hammer mattock might just be the standard war version).
The main exceptions in the Durin line being, well, Dwalin, possibly Oin, and oddly the two princes, which is probably explained by a) being trained by Dwalin, and b) by being raised away from Erebor and meeting a lot of non-dwarven examples of fighters in their upbringing. The older members of the main Durin line seem to be very traditional and straight-laced weaponwise and in battle (Balin, Thorin, Gloin, Oin to an extent). Dwalin doesn't really have an excuse, I think he just basically decided that war wasn't ceremonial, it was his business, his craft, and therefore needed to be taken as thoroughly and pragmatically as possible.
And I think ... I think that sort of breaks Thorin's heart. Possibly Balin's and Gloin's, too. They've lost even that part of their heritage. Kili took up archery, probably due to contact with Rangers and possibly as a necessity since they had to hunt for food growing up, having lost the city and links with Dale that would have made it unnecessary for the older dwarves. Fili as a fighter bears most resemblence to Dwalin and to Nori (pragmatic and with enough backups to do a decent porcupine impression if need be). The majority of their Company no longer holds to the old schools of war, but to whatever turns out to be the most efficient with the money and the piecemeal training they have. One of their most deadly warriors is a Broadbeam berserker with an axe in his head, wielding a polearm.
And that's not knocking the rest of the company, I don't think any of the older Durins would ever do that. I just think it saddens them, somewhere in the back of their hearts, that the old ways have been so eroded. I think this is probably a large portion of the reason Gloin, once Erebor is retaken, appears to have raised Gimli to be as traditionally dwarvish in combat as it was possible to make him (this, and just the fact that Gloin appears to be the most traditional fighter anyway, so it's a personal thing as well).
Conclusions:
Uh. In conclusion, I've just attempted to analyse the socio-political implications of the weaponry used by the Company in the Hobbit films. Possibly badly, given my complete and utter lack of expertise in the areas of sociology, politics or weaponry. *grins sheepishly* So, ah. Take from that what you will.
But I do think there is a story behind the weapons. I think the production team intended there to be one (given LOTR and the insane amount of detail they put into this sort of thing). I think they've probably written it out themselves somewhere, but I haven't seen it, so this was me attempting to longhand it from first principles. And if the intended story was anything close to the one I've just inferred ... I think they did a really, really good job -_-;
Also? Bifur breaks my heart. So much, you have no idea. That entire family. And Thorin, Balin, Gloin, the fading of the house of Durin. All of them, actually, the whole interlayered story of families at war and families in exile and class struggles and alliances in spite of class and the kind of backgrounds that lead thirteen people to march off against a dragon to try and win back a home or a better life.
When I read the Hobbit as a kid, it was all about Bilbo being the smallest, tricksiest, bravest little BAMF ever (and I'll be honest, it's still a lot about that, really), but with the movies ... Generally, the politics and race and class struggles of fantasy peoples are not why I'm watching a movie. But it is now.
And whatever else you think about the movies, for that alone, I'll stand right behind them.
Twelve Dwarves Plus Weapons (Promo image, I think).
Weapon-wise, there are a couple of ways you can group the Company: by class of weapon, or by class of wielder. For this, I'm going to take the latter, since I think it lends some interesting observations to the group. In that, looking at the dwarves, I think there is a very visible class divide, represented in their choice of weapons, and I'm just going to take a few minutes to examine it, yes?
To do this, I'm going to divide the Company into two (or possibly two and a half) groups. First, the main branch of the line of Durin, so Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Oin and Gloin. Then the more working class dwarves of the Broadbeams (fanon only, but I'll roll with it) and the lesser Durins, so Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori. I say two and a half, because possibly you can put the lesser Durins as a half-way point between the main line and the Broadbeams.
And it does, essentially, shake out into nobles and working class, and I think that distinction shows in firstly the choice of weapons, and secondly the degree of comfort with weapons even as an idea. Ah. Bear with me?
Main Durin Line:
We'll take the nobles first, because they're easiest, weapons-wise. Primarily because they all bear ... ah, shall we say, intentional weapons. Pretty much everyone in this group, with the possible exception of Oin, bears weapons as a right and a duty, weapons that don't double as anything else, weapons whose only function is to be weapons. Weapons I'd lay odds they've all been trained in since they were kiddies. For a quick look:
Thorin: Sword and Shield.
Fili: Swords and Knives (and, apparently, throwing axes).
Kili: Sword and Bow.
Balin: Sword/Mace thing (what is that?)
Dwalin: *deep breath* Hammer. Axes. Knives. Knuckle-Dusters. Anything and everything with an edge that he can use in a fight, basically.
Gloin: Ancestral Axes.
Oin: Steel Staff (swingable)
There are a couple of interesting patterns in there.
Firstly, swords are a royal thing, apparently. Presumably because a sword is the weapon which basically cannot be used for anything else. Even an axe can cut wood. A sword is a sword is a sword, and it's primary use is war. Balin is a bit weird, there, since his sword is also a mace, but it's still basically a sword, and I think Balin tends to prefer words as a weapon, where possible.
Secondly, axes are the second royal weapon, it seems, and likely to be ancestral weapons, going by Dwalin and Gloin (and Gimli). Also, Dwalin and Gloin seem to be quite close in style, too, though Gloin is more archaic and traditional, whereas Dwalin augmented the twin-axe tradition with as many other weapons as possible, to be wielded however seemed more efficient at the time.
Thirdly, I'd lay odds Fili was Dwalin's protege. Kili went off and did his weird archery thing, probably, given that he grew up in Ered Luin and the cities of Men, with influence from the Rangers. But Fili favours dual weapons backed up by lots and lots of knives, and I would bet you anything that's Dwalin's influence. Since Dwalin's philosophy of weaponry seems to be: have lots of backup, and have an edge in (or on) both hands as much as dwarvishly possible.
Fourthly, despite the fact that both his nephews bears swords as melee weapons, Thorin seems weirdly isolated. He's the only dwarf we really see using a shield (most others using both hands are dual wielding or have two-hander weapons). Neither of his nephews really seem to follow him in style or choice of weapons, though both wield swords. Possibly the closest in style to Thorin is actually Balin, which is interesting.
Fifthly, Oin is very strange, in this group. Staves are not exclusively weapons, and he's about the only one not using a bladed weapon (Dwalin's hammer is the exception, but given that Dwalin carries three other blades plus whatever else he's hidden in his armour, I'm not sure he counts). This could partly be explained by Oin's career, though. He's primarily a healer, and I suspect he wanted something with range to keep people back. There's also the fact that his staff is steel, which implies it's more a weapon than a walking aide.
Lesser Nobles and Working Class Dwarves:
I'll deal with these six as a single group first, then the two subgroups. The first thing to notice about this group is that they tend much more strongly towards found weapons, rather than ancestral weapons that you're trained into over time. The Broadbeams are much, much more obvious about this, since with the exception of Bifur (who I'll get to, because I think he breaks my heart), they use pretty much just weaponised version of their respective tools of trade. The lesser Durins are slightly more complicated, but Dori's really the only one who looks like he might have some formal training behind him in the same way the nobles have. And even he's complicated. For a look:
Dori: Sword and Chain Bolas
Nori: Two-handed Mace, backed up with Axe and Knives
Ori: Slingshot (and borrows Dwalin's hammer later)
Bifur: Polearm with Hunting Knife
Bofur: Mattock
Bombur: Cleaver, Ladle, His Beard
Taking the Lesser Durins, first. They bear intentional weapons, yes, but much less deliberately than the main Durin line.
Dori bears a sword, possibly because he's the patriarch of the sub-branch, augmented with bolas and fists. But Dori doesn't really wield the sword the way, say, Thorin does, like it's a weapon he was born to. Dori wields like it's a blade to stick on the end of his fist. He's a brawler, basically. The bolas are a projectile weapon, linked more closely to Ori's sling than anything. Nori bears a mace, but unlike even Oin's staff, it's wooden, with a metal head. It's basically a big, spiky stick to hit people with, because that's what you want in a fight. None of this warrior malarky, the aim is to hit people over the head as fast as possible before they can stick you. And Ori, of course, doesn't appear to want a weapon at all, going more the hobbit route and chosing a sling. Which has the advantage of providing free ammunition anywhere there's rocks, and allowing him to stay back from the melee a bit.
The lesser Durins just generally appear to be a more slapdash version of the main line, with training in weapons more by necessity than ancestry, and a lot more ... ah, pragmatic? ... approach to the idea. Dori and Nori both bear versions of higher class weapons (Dori straight-up has a higher class weapon), but neither of them appear to have the same reverence or respect for them that the higher Durins do. They're warriors purely by necessity, not by Right of Arms or by ancestry.
The one person in the main Durin line they all bear some resemblence to, though, is oddly Dwalin (and possibly Oin). All of the lesser Durins seem to have Dwalin's backups-to-the-backups, hit-'em-with-anything-handy philosophy of fighting. Dori has a main weapon, but backed up with bolas and brawling. Nori, like Dwalin and Fili, backs his staff up with knives and axes. And Ori, when push came to shove, grabbed Dwalin's own hammer. There are links up into the rest of the line. They're just ... a much more working class version. (I think Dwalin is basically a military style ordinary Joe at heart. He just happens to be related to royalty and upper council, is all).
Then the true working class heroes of the Company, the Broadbeams. And I'm going to take Bofur and Bombur first, because Bifur is a special case.
Bofur and Bombur are easy. They wield, as I said, weaponised tools. Bofur bears a slightly tricked out mattock, hammer and adze (which is slightly odd, really, for a miner, you'd think he'd have gone for a pick mattock instead), which seems to be sort of a working-class variation on the upper class axes-and-hammer combo. Bombur, being a total hobbit at heart, wields basically the weaponised contents of a kitchen, plus his own beard and bodyweight. Found weapons, where they're going to be as lethal as possible with anything they have to hand.
Bifur, though, is something else. Bifur bears a polearm and knife. He also bears what is possibly the single most alarming-looking weapon in the entire Company. There is nothing noble-looking about that polearm, nothing ancestral, nothing even potentially harmless like his cousins' weapons. It is something designed for cutting flesh. That's all it is. A violent tool, rather than a weapon.
The polearm is traditionally the weapon of choice for peasants who need to be armed fast. It's the weapon of revolutions, it's the weapon of uprisings. It's for the poor bastard stuck on the ground when the knights are riding against him. Polearms, historically speaking, could be made from any farm or hunting tool that could be tied to a stick, and you could get really alarming combinations (hooks on a stick, axes on a stick, knives on a stick, cleavers on a stick, scythes on a stick, combinations of the above). Bifur's looks most like a cleaver on a stick, really.
And the thing about Bifur's polearm that kinda breaks my heart ... We know Bifur was an ordinary toymaker, before his injury. He was probably like his cousins, with few enough military ambitions. But after the injury, Bifur was prone to berserker violence, especially in combat with things like orcs. And I think ... I think after his injury, Bifur basically had to arm himself to match. So he went the traditional route taken by peasants/working class who don't have the budget or training to do what the nobles do (swords, axes), and took up a polearm. Not as a weapon, but as a tool for the more violent part of his personality post-injury.
Look. Bifur breaks my heart, okay? He really, really does.
The other thing I'm noticing about the working class weapons in the group is that ... they've all be visibly weaponised. As in, augmented in metal or crafted to be more weapon-like. And I think there are two possible explanation for this.
The first (and I think less likely) is that they're sort of the working-class version of Dwalin or Gloin's ancestral axes. Tools that were augmented for when the working classes go to war, and handed down in their weapon forms.
The second, and the one I think actually happened, was that as part of the expedition outlay for the quest, Thorin arranged for the lower Company to have their tools augmented as weaponry. He basically asked them to show up with the things they were most used to using as weapons, and arranged to have them upgraded for the quest. I suspect this happened with Bofur's mattock at least, possibly Bifur's polearm (it's a lot more unified-looking than many polearms, and the fluff describes it as a boar-spear, which I suspect was the closest analogue Thorin knew). Dori's sword I think is his own. Nori's mace could go either way, though I think the knives are his own (and I suspect he stole the axe). Bombur I've no idea, but I think it would be really funny and slightly tragic to imagine him walking up to Thorin, smith and king in exile, and asking him to make a War Ladle.
Overall Impressions and Other Interesting Tidbits:
There's just, I think, a strong class divide evident among the dwarves of the Company. Showing in two ways: firstly in the type of weapons involved (shown primarily by the Broadbeams, Intentional Weapons vs Weaponised Tools), and secondly in the approach to weaponry (the main Durin line's Right To Arms vs the lesser Durins' Only If We Have To).
There also seems to be a clustering of styles, depending partially on class and partially on role. Dwarven royalty apparently use swords (Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin. And Dori, though I suspect that was complicated by class and bloodline, right enough). Axes either dual wielded or in combination with other weapons appear to be the traditional dwarven combination (Dwalin, Gloin, possibly Bofur for a working class version), which means they seem to be the other popular choice for nobles.
Polearm and staff weapons are interesting, since the three main ones in the Company (Oin, Nori, Bifur) show an interesting range of origins and uses. They do seem to be weapons for people who aren't primarily warriors, though, weapons of opportunity more than anything. Bifur and Nori's seem to be the standard need-arming-fast-on-a-budget for non-nobles who find themselves having to go to war (I know Nori's is technically a mace, but it's a longer weapon than most, and the only other mace is Balin's sword-mace-thing). Oin's seems to be more, well, if I have to have a weapon, let it be something that lets me clobber people from a distance and keep them out of my way. Oin gives the impression that he just couldn't be bothered to learn swords or axes, and a staff has a handy bonus of being useful for holding yourself up.
Ranged weapons (Kili, Dori, Ori) appear to be primarily for people who either don't fight often or don't like melees. Dwarves as a whole seem to prefer diving into the thick of things, so ranged weapons seem to be either for non-combatants or weirdos like Kili who hung around Men for too long.
For backup weapons, pretty much everyone favours extra axes or knives or both (see Dwalin, Nori, Fili, Bifur). Dori has possibly the oddest combination, with Sword and Bolas.
Thorin is weird again in that he doesn't really have a backup weapon, and instead carries a shield. It could be a personal thing (he earned the name Oakenshield in battle when he took up the log out of necessity, and then stuck with the combo as a personal signature sort of thing), or possibly the king is trained partially ceremonially, with a pure sword for ideological reasons (in which case the whole oakenshield thing was his small, personal rebellion and/or nod to practicality from a dwarf probably trained with Dwalin). I'd actually favour the latter, since the other dwarves with only one weapon (Balin, Oin, Bofur, Ori) are either working class (Bofur), not fond of weapons at all (Ori, possibly Oin), or nobles of the line of Durin (Balin and Oin). Gloin wields more than one weapon, but they're all the same type (axes), so I think he adds to the 'purity' argument as well. (ETA: Apparently Thorin is also seen with an axe for back-up, so never mind on this part).
The final thing I'm noticing, which again echoes the class divide and fundamental difference in philosophy across the company, is that in general the lesser Durins and the Broadbeams are more ... ah. Ignoble? Pragmatic? Bombur being a prime example of a dwarf who will strangle you with his beard, crush you to death beneath his weight, or stab you with a fork. None of which are exactly noble deaths. Dori, again, is a bit of brawler. Nori seems to be of the clobber-them-before-they-clobber-you school, with added knives. Ori would rather snipe you from a distance. Bifur is slightly different in that he's essentially a berserker, which still doesn't echo the formal training of any of the nobles. Bofur wields a mattock, which is essentially a mining tool (sort of, generally I would have thought a pick mattock would have been his tool of choice (pick and adze), though the hammer mattock might just be the standard war version).
The main exceptions in the Durin line being, well, Dwalin, possibly Oin, and oddly the two princes, which is probably explained by a) being trained by Dwalin, and b) by being raised away from Erebor and meeting a lot of non-dwarven examples of fighters in their upbringing. The older members of the main Durin line seem to be very traditional and straight-laced weaponwise and in battle (Balin, Thorin, Gloin, Oin to an extent). Dwalin doesn't really have an excuse, I think he just basically decided that war wasn't ceremonial, it was his business, his craft, and therefore needed to be taken as thoroughly and pragmatically as possible.
And I think ... I think that sort of breaks Thorin's heart. Possibly Balin's and Gloin's, too. They've lost even that part of their heritage. Kili took up archery, probably due to contact with Rangers and possibly as a necessity since they had to hunt for food growing up, having lost the city and links with Dale that would have made it unnecessary for the older dwarves. Fili as a fighter bears most resemblence to Dwalin and to Nori (pragmatic and with enough backups to do a decent porcupine impression if need be). The majority of their Company no longer holds to the old schools of war, but to whatever turns out to be the most efficient with the money and the piecemeal training they have. One of their most deadly warriors is a Broadbeam berserker with an axe in his head, wielding a polearm.
And that's not knocking the rest of the company, I don't think any of the older Durins would ever do that. I just think it saddens them, somewhere in the back of their hearts, that the old ways have been so eroded. I think this is probably a large portion of the reason Gloin, once Erebor is retaken, appears to have raised Gimli to be as traditionally dwarvish in combat as it was possible to make him (this, and just the fact that Gloin appears to be the most traditional fighter anyway, so it's a personal thing as well).
Conclusions:
Uh. In conclusion, I've just attempted to analyse the socio-political implications of the weaponry used by the Company in the Hobbit films. Possibly badly, given my complete and utter lack of expertise in the areas of sociology, politics or weaponry. *grins sheepishly* So, ah. Take from that what you will.
But I do think there is a story behind the weapons. I think the production team intended there to be one (given LOTR and the insane amount of detail they put into this sort of thing). I think they've probably written it out themselves somewhere, but I haven't seen it, so this was me attempting to longhand it from first principles. And if the intended story was anything close to the one I've just inferred ... I think they did a really, really good job -_-;
Also? Bifur breaks my heart. So much, you have no idea. That entire family. And Thorin, Balin, Gloin, the fading of the house of Durin. All of them, actually, the whole interlayered story of families at war and families in exile and class struggles and alliances in spite of class and the kind of backgrounds that lead thirteen people to march off against a dragon to try and win back a home or a better life.
When I read the Hobbit as a kid, it was all about Bilbo being the smallest, tricksiest, bravest little BAMF ever (and I'll be honest, it's still a lot about that, really), but with the movies ... Generally, the politics and race and class struggles of fantasy peoples are not why I'm watching a movie. But it is now.
And whatever else you think about the movies, for that alone, I'll stand right behind them.
