Gimme everything you know about the line of Durin
(I actually hit the character limit and was unable to get into more, so I'm going to have to make a second post)
Well, well, well. Prepare for a long post lol. There may be mistakes; I am only human lol
I'm going to just put this reference here so you can know what the ages mean to dwarves in our sense. It helps to grasp some of the stuff. Green is hobbits (which is not really relevant but I wanted to include it anyway), blue is men/humans, orange is dwarves, and maroon is the milestones. I did not make this. If you want to really take a look at it, here is the link :)
With that out of the way! The line starts, obviously, with Durin the Deathless himself. He was the eldest of the seven fathers of dwarves made by the Vala Aulë, who is essentially the smith of the gods. For the first bit of his existence, Durin wasn't actually a conscious being. He was just a doll who, like his brothers, only moved when Aulë commanded him to. It wasn't until Eru Ilúvatar, who is the is THE god, confronted Aulë for creating life without the authority to do so and Aulë repented that Durin was given life by Eru. They begged Aulë not to destroy them. Durin and his siblings were placed in Middle Earth to wake after Eru's children, the elves and men.
Durin was the only dwarf to wake up alone. He slept under Mount Gundabad in the Misty Mountains until he awoke in the First Age. He wandered by his lonesome where nobody had been before. He named things nobody else had, picking up followers as he went. Eventually, he found a lake dubbed Kheled-zâram. Inside this lake, he saw stars in the formation of a crown atop his head. He took this as a divine sign to rule and made Durin's Stone to mark that spot. In the caves beyond that lake, he made the famed kingdom of Khazad-dûm, A.K.A. Moria. For a long time, it was the greatest dwarven city of Middle-Earth. In that kingdom, he founded the House of Durin, his bloodline, and his people were informally known as Durin's folk. Their clan name was the Longbeards. Now, Durin lived to a very grand age, even by dwarven standards. He was over 2,390 years old when he passed and was fated to return for seven lifetimes.
In Durin's third "lifetime" (it is only rumor that he was actually reincarnated), he was given one of the Seven Rings of Power. Beyond that, the other main significant lifetime was his sixth. That was when the Balrog was awoken. They dug too deep into Khazad-dûm, waking up what would later be known as Durin's Bane since the dwarves of the kingdom didn't know what it was. The Balrog was dubbed that, also, because it killed Durin VI in the year T.A.(Third Age) 1980. Here is where we get the names between Durin's lifetimes, and he doesn't show back up for a long while.
Náin I, Durin VI's son, was 148 when his father was killed. He only ruled for one year before he too was killed by Durin's Bane in T.A. 1981. He was the shortest-serving king in Durin's line.
Next in line is Thráin I (Not to be confused with Thráin II, Thorin Oakenshield's father; he comes in later). Thráin I was only 47 when he was crowned King of Durin's Folk. He made the wise move to leave Khazad-dûm. Eventually, he found the Lonely Mountain, Erebor. Some of his people split off to the Grey Mountains. Within Erebor, they found King Thráin I's prized possession, which caused much trouble for his later descendants, the Arkenstone. Dubbed the Heart of the Mountain. Thráin I lived a long life, dying in T.A. 2190 at 256. He was the longest-ruling King of Durin's Folk that we know of, besides Durin I, serving 209 years.
Thráin I was succeeded by his son, Thorin I (again, not to be confused with Oakenshield). Thorin I was born and raised in Erebor and became King Under the Mountain after his father in T.A. 2190. Since most of Durin's Folk had settled in the Grey Mountains, Thorin I abandoned Erebor in T.A. 2210 so that their people were in one place. He died in the year T.A. 2289 of natural causes, aged 254.
After Thorin I came his son, Glóin I (not Glóin from The Hobbit. We'll get to him.) There isn't much to his rule. He died of natural causes in T.A. 2289 after ruling for 96 years, aged 249. His son, Óin I (also not from The Hobbit), was uneventful as well. His rule was 103 years long, ending in T.A. 2488 when he died of natural causes. Óin I's son, Náin II, is the last king of Durin's folk before the bloodline is fleshed out beyond what is linear. He ruled peacefully for 97 years, dying at 247 in T.A. 2585.
Náin II had two sons, Dáin I (not Dáin Ironfoot) and Borin. Here is where things start to really branch out and may get confusing through text. Because of this, I'm going to split it into sections. I'll be working from left to right from here on out. Like, going all the way left and following that line until I can't anymore. Starting with Dáin I.
Dáin I only ruled for four years during the time when dragons called war against the dwarves of the Grey Mountains. He and his second son, Frór, were killed by a cold-drake at the gates of his hall in T.A. 2589. Dáin I was 149, and Frór was only 37. Dáin I had two other sons with names you should know. Thrór, his eldest, and Grór, his youngest.
After the cold-drake took the Grey Mountains, Thrór and Grór both led groups of their people away from them. Thrór reinstated Erebor into the Kingdom Under the Mountain in T.A. 2590, becoming King Under the Mountain. He became friends with the people who resided along the Celduin River, people who later founded Dale. The dwarves of Erebor did a lot of trade with both the men of Dale and the elves of Mirkwood. Everyone loved Thrór. In fact, he had a reputation for being Yavanna's dwarf (that nickname might be fanon; I can't remember). He had one son, Thráin II, and three grandchildren whom I will get into later.
They prospered in Erebor under Thrór's rule until the year 2770. The Dragon Smaug had learned of the vast wealth hoarded within Erebor from Ered Mithrin, taking the kingdom and killing many dwarves. Thrór and his son escaped through a hidden back door, which becomes important to his grandson in the future. He led a group of loyal followers through the wilderness until they made a settlement in Dunland. On a Midsummer's Day under a crescent moon (this is important), Thrór drew his map of the Lonely Mountain and the Desolation of Smaug. He wrote about the hidden back door in Moon Runes, which can only be read under the same moon in which they were written.
Twenty years after Smaug took Erebor, Thrór became restless. He left his people and family to scout the East Gate of Khazad-dûm/Moria, bringing only one companion named Nár. Before his departure, he gave his son, Thráin II, his Ring of Power, the map he drew, and the key to the hidden door. When he and Nár reached the East Gate, Nár begged him not to enter. He went in anyway and never returned. But Nár didn't abandon him. He waited outside for a long while until, at last, he saw Thrór's body flung down the doorstep. The name Azog was carved into the king's forehead in Dwarvish runes. Azog himself threw a purse of coins at Nár and called him a beggar. As Nár fled, orcs ripped Thrór's body to shreds and fed him to the crows.
Moving on! Now to Thráin II. He fled with his father when Smaug came and stayed in Dunland with him. After he learned of his father's fate, he was silent for seven days. When he first spoke again, it was a declaration of war. Thráin II was able to rally all seven clans of dwarves to fight against the orcs. They took out Orc holds in the Misty Mountains, Mount Gundabad, and finally at the East Gate of Khazad-dûm/Moria in the Azanulbizar Valley. The Battle of Azanulbizar was the climax of the war, resulting in a win thanks in no small part to Thráin II's eldest son, Thorin II (Oakenshield), and Dáin II (Ironfoot).
Following the war, Thráin II and his remaining son led their people to reside in the Blue Mountains, officially settling in T.A. 2802. The next forty years saw Thráin II's mind slipping further and further into greed. He desired greatly the riches lost to Smaug. It is speculated that this was caused in part by the ring his father gave him. So, in T.A. 2841, he sought to reclaim Erebor. He left his eldest in charge, bringing a company that included a very young Balin and Dwalin. The group faced many evils on their path. But four years later, camped out on the edge of Mirkwood, Thráin II disappeared forever. He had been captured by agents of Sauron to be brought into the fortress of Dol Guldur. There, he was tortured. He refused to give up the map and key, or any information regarding entrance into Erebor. The ring, however, was taken. Not until T.A. 2850, when Gandalf appeared in Dol Guldur, was Thráin II found. He was so lost he couldn't recall his own name, and gave Gandalf the map and key, dying not long after.
