Beorn, Skinchanger
Beorn started to establish his position as a great chief after the Battle of Five Armies, when he began uniting many men under his rule. Nobody knows why he did so, and nobody seems able to divine his plans for the future: Beorn seems content today as a leader of a folk as he seemed once to enjoy his previous isolation. His followers obey his loose rules out of respect for their leader, and a council of elder chieftains comes to his house regularly to interpret his will and let it be known to the rest of the population. Beorn maintains good relations with both Gandalf the Grey and Radagast the Brown, and the two Wizards have been seen arriving at the house of Beorn together on occasion.
Beorn appears as a huge man of indeterminate age with a thick black beard and hair. Powerfully built with strong arms and muscular legs, he speaks with a growling voice when angered and laughs a great rolling laugh when amused.
One thing that hasn’t changed since his solitary days is that Beorn still doesn’t like Dwarves and ‘beggars’ — his contemptuous name for all strangers other than Woodmen — and rarely invites foreigners into his house. Requests to see Beorn are usually immediately turned down by whoever met the applicants, unless they are persuaded of the importance of the matter with clear evidence. And even if the heroes succeed in getting to meet Beorn, it won’t be easy to get anything out of him: the skin-changer rarely concerns himself with the dealings of other folks, so he won’t be interested in things that do not directly involve either his lands or his followers.
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