Beorn was a skin-changer who helped Thorin and his company on their way to the Lonely Mountain in the Hobbit.1 He also played an important role in the Battle of Five Armies where he killed the Goblin leader Bolg.2
and the thirteen Dwarves have been rescued by the Eagles and left on the Carrock Beorn aids the company by providing lodging, food and horses for their journey from his home to Mirkwood.1
Beorn was a skin-changer able to take the appearance of either a great bear or a strong black-haired man. He is described as having a great beard, strong arms and legs, and being tall enough for Bilbo to walk between his legs without touching his tunic.1
Beorn lived in a wooden house, Beorn's Hall, in the region between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood. He was very fond of animals and lived together with many of them including horses, bees and sheep. Beorn did not kill animals for food and mainly ate honey, bread and fruit.
Where Beorn came from and how old he was is not known. In the Hobbit Gandalf says he believed Beorn was ascended from the first Men rather than bears and speculated that Beorn had once lived in the Misty Mountains.1
Beorn fought alongside Men, Elves and Dwarves in the Battle of Five Armies and killed the Goblin leader Bolg.2
Little is know of Beorn's fate other than that he died before the War of the Ring.3
He was succeeded as leader of his descendants, the Beornings4
, by his son Grimbeorn.5
1 - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "Queer Lodgings"
2 - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "The Return Journey"
3 - J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144
4 - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Men"
5 - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Many Meetings"