the hobbit

The Hobbit

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN

As a child, Tolkien was an excellent student, and enjoyedreading imaginative fiction like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlandand Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. He alsodeveloped a passion for languages, even inventing a languagecalled Nevbosh with his cousins. Tolkien studied Englishliterature at Oxford University, and married a woman namedEdith Bratt shortly after his graduation. He fought in WorldWar One, including in the infamous Battle of the Somme, wherehe lost many of his closest friends. After the war, Tolkien begana brilliant career as a scholar of Old and Middle English. Histranslation of the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is stillwidely taught, and his celebrated lecture on the poem Beowulfis often credited with sparking a renewed interest in earlyEnglish poetry. With the publication of The Hobbit in 1937 andThe Lord of the Rings in the mid-1950s, Tolkien became world-famous. Though he had more than enough money retire fromacademic life, he continued to teach at Oxford University untilhis death in 1977.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Tolkien fought in World War One, and though The Hobbit is awork of fantasy, his experiences as a soldier in France clearlyinformed his writing. When Yugoslavian nationalistsassassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, and the two nations’military alliances with other countries eventually drew all ofEurope into a military conflict. Italy formed an uneasy alliancewith Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whileEngland formed an alliance with France and Russia. Thecomplicated five-way battle at the end of The Hobbit, whichleads to a series of hastily-established alliances and treaties,might be Tolkien’s version of World War One.

RELATED LITERARY WORKS

The success of The Hobbit inspired Tolkien to write the threelonger novels about Middle Earth collectively known as TheLord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The TwoTowers (1954), and The Return of the King (1955). At the time ofhis death, Tolkien left behind a huge collection of stories,poems, and fragments of stories and mythology set in MiddleEarth and its surrounding universe that his son, ChristopherTolkien, later published. The best known of these posthumousworks is The Silmarillion (1977), a prequel of sorts to the eventsin The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s success mayhave inspired his friend, C.S. Lewis, to publish his own series ofrichly detailed fantasy novels, The Chronicles of Narnia. The

Hobbit also has a lot in common with early epic poems.Like Beowulf, it features a dragon; like The Odyssey, its herogrows into something of a trickster who enjoys reinventinghimself.

KEY FACTS

Full Title: The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

Where Written: Pembroke College, Oxford

When Published: September 21, 1937

Genre: Fantasy; Epic

Setting: Middle Earth

Climax: The Battle of the Five Armies

Antagonist: Smaug the dragon

Point of View: Third person omniscient

EXTRA CREDIT

The greatest teacher you never had: Tolkien’s academicresearch at Oxford put him in touch with some of the greatestBritish writers of the time, including C.S. Lewis, with whomTolkien was close friends for many years. At the end of Tolkien’slife, he received a letter from the poet W.H. Auden, who hadattended a lecture Tolkien delivered on the poem Beowulf.Tolkien’s knowledge and passion inspired Auden to continuewriting poetry!

Development Hell: As soon as Tolkien published his MiddleEarth novels, people tried to adapt them as films. One of thefunniest ideas for a Tolkien movie came from the Beatles in the1960s — George Harrison wanted to play Gandalf, Ringowanted to play Sam, and John Lennon wanted to play Gollum!Wisely, Tolkien refused to let the Fab Four play hobbits andwizards, and at the time of his death, there were no live-actionMiddle Earth films. A quarter century later, New Line Cinemaacquired the rights to Tolkien’s work, and Peter Jacksondirected three Lord of the Rings films and another three basedon the Hobbit.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who lives in a large, comfortableunderground house in the Shire and has no interest inadventures. One day, he encounters Gandalf, a wizard whoknew Bilbo’s scandalously adventurous grandfather. Thoughhe's uncomfortable that Gandalf talks about Bilbo joining anadventure, Bilbo invites Gandalf to tea the next day. At tea,Gandalf brings with him thirteen dwarves, lead by ThorinOakenshield, who are trying to reclaim their ancestral homeand treasure under the Lonely Mountain from the dragon

INTRINTROO

PLPLOOT SUMMARYT SUMMARY

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Smaug. Gandalf and the dwarves offer Bilbo one-fourteenth oftheir treasure in return for his serving as their burglar. Bilbodoesn't explicitly consent to this agreement, but he's excited bythe dwarves' stories of treasure.

The next day, Gandalf tells Bilbo that he must meet the dwarvesat the local tavern; Bilbo rushes there, and finds himselftraveling with Gandalf and the dwarves on their quest to theLonely Mountain. Shortly thereafter, Gandalf goes missing, itstarts to rain, and the dwarves see a light in the distance. Bilbogoes to investigate the light, and finds three trolls eating theirsupper. The trolls catch Bilbo, but he slips free; then, the trollscapture the thirteen dwarves. Gandalf imitates the sounds ofthe trolls' voices, leading them to fight for so long that the sunrises and turns them to stone. The dwarves free themselvesand find two swords. Bilbo finds a large knife that will work as asword for him, too.

The group rests in the Elven city of Rivendell under the care ofthe elf-lord Elrond. While there they learn that they will be ableto enter a secret passageway in the side of the LonelyMountain on the first day of the dwarf New Year. They travelthrough the Misty Mountains, where they are all imprisoned bygoblins, except for Gandalf who escapes. Bilbo and the dwarvesare taken before the Great Goblin, but Gandalf reappears,slays the Great Goblin, and frees Bilbo and the dwarves. In theensuing flight from the goblins, Bilbo falls down a cavern andloses consciousness.

Bilbo reawakens in a dark cavern and finds a ring lying on theground. Not long after he encounters a treacherous creature,Gollum, with whom he holds a riddle-telling competition: ifGollum wins, he eats Bilbo; if Bilbo wins, Gollum shows him theway out. Bilbo wins the competition, but Gollum goes to find hisring, which makes the wearer invisible, so that he can kill Bilbo.When Gollum discovers the ring is missing he is enraged andplans to kill Bilbo. But Bilbo accidentally puts on the ring andrealizes that the ring makes him invisible when Gollum,searching for him, ends up rushing right past him. Bilbo followsGollum out of the cave and eludes goblins to escape from theMisty Mountains.

Bilbo reunites with Gandalf and the dwarves, who areimpressed with his talent for deception and concealment. Asthey travel down from the mountains, they're forced to hide insome trees from some wargs (talking wolves); when a firebreaks out, Gandalf summons the giant eagles, who agree totake the group to the Carrock, where they stay with the shape-shifter Beorn.

Gandalf reveals that he must leave Bilbo and the dwarves asthey begin the next stage of their quest through the dangerousMirkwood forest. Despite Gandalf and Beorn's advice to stayon the path at all costs, Bilbo and the dwarves are lured off thepath by the sight of wood-elves eating a feast. When the groupis then captured by giant spiders, Bilbo uses his ring to free

himself, kill many spiders, and free the dwarves; unfortunately,angry wood-elves capture and imprison them all, except forBilbo who is still invisible, shortly thereafter. Bilbo uses his ringto free his friends from their cells and transports them out ofthe forest via barrels, which the elves use to send wine in tradedown the river to the human town of Lake-town.

Bilbo and the dwarves arrive in Lake-town, where they'rewelcomed as heroes who will vanquish the dragon, Smaug, andbring prosperity to the cities of men once again. They travel tothe Lonely Mountain, where the last ray of sunshine on thedwarf New Year reveals the keyhole to a secret passageway.Bilbo alone is brave enough to enter the mountain, andmanages to sneak into Smaug’s lair and steal a cup from the pileof treasure. Smaug is enraged. Later Bilbo sneaks again intoSmaug’s lair, but this time Smaug is only pretending to sleep:Bilbo speaks to Smaug in riddles, saying that he is a barrel-riderand learning in the process that Smaug has a weak point on hisbelly. Bilbo later gives this information to the dwarves, and to atalking thrush who overhears them. Smaug, during that sameconversation, poisons Bilbo’s mind with suspicion that thedwarves will not uphold their promise to give him one-fourteenof the treasure; when he raises his doubts to Thorin, Thorininsists that Bilbo can take whatever fourteenth of the treasurehe wants. Bilbo secretly takes the Arkenstone, the mostbeautiful jewel in the dwarves’ treasure.

Interpreting Bilbo’s self-given name of “barrel-rider” to meanthat he has been sent by men, Smaug flies to Lake-town anddevastates it. But as he does so, an archer named Bard, adescendant of the Lord of Dale (a city that used to thrive as ahub of trade of dwarven gold and crafts before Smaug arrived),learns from the thrush about Smaug’s weak point, and uses theinformation to shoot and kill him with a black arrow that hadlong been in Bard’s family line. News of Smaug’s death spreadsacross Middle Earth, and the men led by Bard ally with thewood-elves and march to the Lonely Mountain to claim some ofthe treasure, as repayment for the destruction Smaug leveledagainst them. Thorin refuses these requests, and it seemsfighting between men, elves, and dwarves is imminent. Eager toend this conflict, Bilbo secretly gives the Arkenstone to Bardand the elves; when Bilbo admits what he’s done, Thorin expelshim from the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo reunites with Gandalf,who has returned from his other business.

Thorin summons his cousin, Dain, to help him defend theirregained city and treasure. At the same time, goblins andwolves ride to the Lonely Mountain, eager to avenge the GreatGoblin’s death. Gandalf encourages men, dwarves, and elves tofrom an alliance, and at the Battle of the Five Armies, they uniteagainst the goblins and wolves, defeating them with the help ofBeorn and the Eagles. Bilbo uses his ring to hide during thefight. When he meets up with the survivors of the battle, hefinds that Thorin has been fatally wounded. Thorin tells Bilbo



that he regrets expelling him. Bilbo returns to hobbit-town withtwo chests of treasure (having given up the claim to the evenlarger one-fourteenth that had originally been promised tohim), enough to make him a wealthy man. A year later, he’svisited by Gandalf and one of the dwarves, Balin, who tell himthat Bard is now the master of Lake-town, goblins have beenlargely killed off, and dwarves, elves, and men now coexistpeacefully.

Bilbo BagginsBilbo Baggins – The protagonist of The Hobbit, Bilbo initiallyseems content with his peaceful life in hobbit-town, but Tolkienhints that he secretly desires adventure and excitement (as ishis birthright from his notoriously adventurous grandfatherOld Took). Over the course of the novel, Bilbo journeys to theLonely Mountain with the dwarves, and discovers his talentsfor riddling, fighting, and burgling, and even finds a magical ringof invisibility, even as he continues to wish for his home. In theend, he learns to balance his love for peace and tranquility withheroism and adventurousness.

GandalfGandalf – The old wizard who recruits Bilbo for a quest,Gandalf is enormously wise, resourceful, and helpful to thedwarves during their journey to the Lonely Mountain,frequently saving their lives. At the same time, he can beneglectful, leaving the group outside Mirkwood forest whenthey most need him. It’s possible that Gandalf deliberatelyplaces Bilbo and the dwarves in danger, in order to encouragethem to fight for themselves and develop their skills andindependence.

Thorin OakThorin Oakenshieldenshield – The leader of the thirteen dwarvesjourneying to the Lonely Mountain. Thorin is the descendant ofthe King Under the Mountain who lost his throne when Smaugcame and ousted the dwarves from their home. He has greatbravery and integrity, but his love for the treasure that wasstolen from him and his people leads him behave stubbornlyand selfishly even after he has won it back.

DainDain – Thorin’s cousin, who leads an army of dwarves andeventually succeeds Thorin.

The MasterThe Master – The corrupt, manipulative leader of Lake-town,who seeks only to prolong his own power for as long aspossible.

GollumGollum – A disgusting, treacherous, and yet pitiful and lonelycreature who is obsessed with the ring, and trades riddles withBilbo.

The Great GoblinThe Great Goblin – Leader of the goblins who capture thedwarves in the Misty Mountains. He is killed by Gandalf.

The ElvThe Elvenkingenking – The leader of the wood-elves, who imprisonsThorin and the dwarves and later marches to the Lonely

Mountain to claim a part of the treasure after Smaug’s death(the elves have long believed that the dwarves stole some ofthat treasure form the elves, though the dwarves believe theelves stole treasure form the dwarves).

ElrondElrond – The elf-lord of the elves at Rivendell, and an ally toGandalf and the dwarves. He reveals the history of the swordsthat Gandalf and Thorin take from the troll’s treasure-hole, andalso reads the moon-writing on the map to the LonelyMountain.

William, Bert, and TWilliam, Bert, and Tomom – Three dim-witted trolls who capturethe dwarves.

BeornBeorn – A friend of Gandalf’s, capable of turning into a bear,and a hater of goblins.

OinOin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain. Good at making fire.

GloinGloin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain, also good at making fire.

FiliFili – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain. The younger brother of Thorin.

KiliKili – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain. The younger brother of Thorin.

DwalinDwalin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain.

BalinBalin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain. One of Thorin’s companions on the day Smaugclaimed the Lonely Mountain, and a good friend to Bilbo.

BifurBifur – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain.

BofurBofur – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain.

BomburBombur – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain, very fat and lazy.

DoriDori – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain. Holds Bilbo on his back.

OriOri – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the LonelyMountain.

LLord of the Eaglesord of the Eagles – The leader of a flock of giant eagles, he andhis fellow eagles save Bilbo and the dwarves from the goblins,and later join the side of the men, elves, and dwarves againstthe goblins and wargs at the end of the Battle of the FiveArmies.

ThrushThrush – A magical bird that indicates the entrance to Smaug’slair to the dwarves, and later, after overhearing Bilbo revealSmaug’s weak spot, tells Bard about how to kill Smaug.

RacRac – An old raven who communicates messages from Thorinto Dain.

CHARACHARACTERSCTERS



RadagastRadagast – Gandalf’s cousin, a wizard and an acquaintance ofBeorn.

BolgBolg – The goblin who leads an army to the Battle of the FiveArmies after the Great Goblin’s death.

SmaugSmaug – A dragon who heard of the treasure amassed by thedwarves of The Kingdom Under the Mountain and thenproceeded to attack and expel the dwarves from their formerhome, desolating the nearby city of men, Dale, in the process.Smaug is clever and exceedingly greedy. Like all the othergreedy characters in the novel, Smaug is also solitary, andspends much of his time sleeping on his treasure. The loss ofeven a single item of treasure sends him into a rage. He is adeptat spreading distrust among others, and his sly words do causeBilbo to lose some trust in Thorin and the dwarves promises.Smaug is also vain, and it is his vanity that allows Bilbo todiscover his weak point.

BardBard – The archer who kills Smaug, and a descendant of therulers of the Dale. After Smaug’s death Bard becomes a leaderonce more, and eventually becomes the new Lord of Dale.

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1 COMING OF AGE

Although Bilbo Baggins is “fully grown” at the beginning of TheHobbit, his adventures teach him to be brave, to takeresponsibility for himself and for others, and to develop skillshe didn’t know he had: in effect, to grow up. When Gandalf andthe dwarves approach Bilbo with an offer to be their burglar,Bilbo is so satisfied with his life and his home that the merethought of adventure is enough to irritate and even frightenhim. Yet Tolkien gives clues that Bilbo, deep down, wants to goon quests after all: he’s a descendant of the famouslyadventurous Took family, and seems to have inherited some ofthe Tooks’ love for maps and quests. While Bilbo neverexplicitly says that he wants to go with the dwarves to theLonely Mountain (he merely rushes after them, prodded byGandalf), it’s likely that he secretly, even subconsciously, wantsto join them, realizing his inner potential for adventure.

Along the way to the Lonely Mountains, Bilbo is placed incountless situations where he cannot rely on anyone else, andmust learn to take care of himself. A particularly illuminatingexample of this phenomenon occurs when Bilbo falls off ofDori’s shoulders, and must out-riddle Gollum and out-maneuver the goblins to escape from the Misty Mountains. Thecontrast between the way Bilbo enters the mountains (on

someone’s shoulders) and the way he leaves them (on his own,with a ring of invisibility to help him) couldn’t be clearer: hisexperiences force him to become stronger, more independent,more powerful—to grow up. Later, when giant spiders captureBilbo in Mirkwood forest, he adds other skills to his resume,using his sword to kill spiders and skillfully springing thedwarves from prison. By the time Bilbo reaches the LonelyMountain, he’s brave enough to sneak in Smaug’s lair while theother dwarves hang back. Travel and danger have encouragedhim to develop his bravery and cunning—skills of which heshows dim signs when Gandalf approaches him at thebeginning of the novel.

Yet, while Bilbo matures throughout The Hobbit, he doesn’tentirely reject the life he made for himself before he metGandalf. Late in the novel, he’s still regretting leaving hishobbit-hole in the first place, and when the dwarves succeed inwinning their treasure and defeating Smaug, he wants to returnto hobbit-town. Bilbo grows up, but he doesn’t forget where hecomes from—a fitting message coming from The Hobbit, achildren’s book that people read long after they’ve grown up.

2 THE POWER OF LANGUAGE

During The Hobbit, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves confrontcountless dangers: spiders, goblins, wood-elves, wolves, adragon, etc. To defend themselves, they use an equally vastnumber of weapons: knives, daggers, spells, fire, rocks, sticks.Yet one of the most important weapons that they use—and oneof the most important skills Bilbo develops on his travels—islanguage. In the early chapters of the book, Bilbo exhibitsalmost no sophisticated command of language, staying largelysilent while the dwarves and Gandalf discuss their plans tojourney to the Lonely Mountain and reclaim their treasure.When he gets lost under the Misty Mountains, he’s forced touse words to compete with Gollum, telling increasinglycomplicated riddles. While this episode is important in Bilbo’sgrowth as a manipulator of language, it’s important torecognize that he’s still a novice—he only defeats Gollum byasking a “cheap” question, “What have I got in my pocket?”, notby exhibiting any real creativity or skill with words.

When giant spiders capture Bilbo and the dwarves inMirkwood forest, Bilbo finally begins to use language withmore skill, improvising elaborate songs to confuse the spidersand lure them away from the dwarves so that Bilbo can freethem. After his exploits, Bilbo uses language to dub his swordSting, a name that strikes fear into the hearts of the spiders.Bilbo uses language in a similar fashion when he confrontsSmaug—instead of introducing himself as Bilbo Baggins, hecalls himself a barrel-rider, a clue-finder, etc. Where beforeBilbo renames his sword, here he renames himself.

In The Hobbit, language is a weapon, capable of intimidating,confusing, and otherwise disarming one’s enemies. But perhaps

THEMESTHEMES



even more importantly, language is a tool for changing andunderstanding oneself. It’s no coincidence that Bilbo renameshimself as he becomes braver and more confident: with thepower of naming, he makes his experiences a part of hispersonality—he doesn’t just describe himself, he changeshimself.

3 GREED, TRUST, FELLOWSHIP

Virtually every one of The Hobbit’s primarycharacters—including both the heroes and the villains—is atleast partially motivated by a desire for unnecessary materialthings. Smaug, the primary antagonist of the novel, is so greedythat he notices when Bilbo steals a single cup from his vastcollection of treasure. (Tolkien notes that his anger is that of arich man who’s lost something he never uses.) The dwarves arestruggling to reclaim what is rightfully theirs from Smaug, butwhen they succeed in their quest, it becomes clear that theirlove for treasure is almost as obsessive as Smaug’s—notably,they refuse to use their riches to repair the town Smaugdestroys, even though it is during its destruction that Bard killsSmaug, guaranteeing the dwarves their wealth. Similarly, thewood-elves who imprison Thorin and the other dwarvesbelieve that they have a claim to some of the dwarves’ treasure.Tolkien doesn’t bother to clarify whether the dwarves or theelves are correct in this dispute—the point is that both sides areflawed by their greedy, irrational desire for things they don’tneed. Even Bilbo, who is largely indifferent to the dwarves’ talkof glory and riches, shows occasional flashes of greed. Underthe Misty Mountains, he pockets Gollum’s ring withoutthinking twice about it, and later takes the Arkenstone forhimself because he’s afraid that the dwarves won’t honor theirpromise to give him one-fourteen of their treasure. (It’s alsoworth keeping in mind that Bilbo and dwarves are constantly inwant of food, and when they eat, they eat huge feasts—whilethis isn’t greed per se, it does suggest that it’s natural to wantthings, and perhaps to want more than one needs.)

If everyone is at least a little greedy, Tolkien seems to say, thenthe best they can do is try to limit their nature with reason andself-control. Bilbo may be the best example of how to overcomegreed—though Thorin offers him one-fourteenth of thedwarves’ treasure in return for his services, he’s satisfied totake back a smaller portion, reasoning that it’s enough to keephim satisfied for the rest of his life. Similarly, the dwarves, elves,and men ultimately overcome their greed by uniting togetherto defeat the wolves and goblins. On his deathbed, Thorinseems to renounce his former greed, saying that he’s nowtraveling to a place (presumably, the afterlife) where this is nogold or treasure. Greed, then, is ultimately futile—compromiseand personal sacrifice are more important for maintainingpeace and building mutual prosperity (as is evident in the factthat back before Smaug the communities of Dale, the Kingdom

under the Mountain, and the elves of Mirkwood tradedtogether and developed prosperity and mutual connection bydoing so). In fact, the novel seems to place greed in directcontrast to trust and cooperation, and every overwhelminglygreedy character lives in almost complete isolation: Smaug,Gollum, and, for a time near the end of the novel, Thorin.Looked at on a larger scale, the races of dwarves, men, andelves are also separated by greed and the mistrust sown bygreed. It is only after the attacking armies of the dwarves forcethe dwarves, elves, and men to band together in fellowshipagainst this common enemy that they are able to rebuild theircommunities and attain their former prosperity.

4 HEROISM

The Hobbit is a fantasy novel, and it contains many of thegenre’s traditional tropes: a quest, treasure, a dark forest, andeven a dragon. With this in mind, it’s worth asking who thehero—arguably the most important fantasy trope — of TheHobbit is, and how Tolkien defines heroism. Bilbo Baggins is theprotagonist of The Hobbit, meaning that he’s the default hero. Inthe early chapters of the book, Bilbo is cowardly and reluctantto participate in the dwarves’ quest. Ironically, this makes Bilboseem more heroic than ever—the “reluctant hero” is an oldliterary archetype (Moses and King Arthur are classicexamples.). Also in these early chapters, Tolkien submits onepossible definition of a hero: a larger-than-life person whoexcels at combat. Bilbo’s memories of his ancient ancestor, ahobbit who slew a goblin, suggest that this is how Bilbo, if notTolkien, thinks of heroism.

Tolkien complicates this definition of heroism, however, as thestory goes on. Heroism requires skill in combat, but alsobravery, cleverness, and a talent for words. Characters whoexcel at only one of these things—Gollum, who excels atwordplay, the dwarves, who excel at combat, etc.—tend to fail intheir aims; for instance, the dwarves are captured by spiders,their skill with swords useless. Although Bilbo is hardly a heroat the start of the book, he finds that he has many of the skillsrequired for heroism as he and the dwarves travel to the LonelyMountain. Ultimately, Bilbo develops a talent for bothwordplay—he trades riddles with Gollum—and bravery—healone is courageous enough to sneak into the Lonely Mountainwhile Smaug lives there. While he also shows some talent forcombat, killing the spiders in Mirkwood forest, it’s clear thatBilbo is not a great warrior—indeed, he largely hides during theBattle of the Five Armies.

There seems to be no single character in The Hobbit who excelsat every skill required to complete a quest. Bard, the archerwho kills Smaug and goes on to lead the people of Esgaroth,excels at bravery and combat, but while he also shows sometalent for words during his negotiations with Thorin, it’sdifficult to imagine him riddling his way out of the Misty



Mountains, tricking Smaug into revealing his weak point, talkinghis way into Beorn’s house, etc. Ultimately, the question ofwhat makes a hero, or who best exemplifies heroism is lessimportant to Tolkien than describing how characters cooperatewith each other to fight evil and accomplish their goals. Thus,both Bilbo and Bard kill Smaug: Bilbo determines how to killSmaug, and Bard uses the information to do the deed. It may betrue that no single person is heroic in every sense of the word;thus, only when characters work together (as dwarves, elves,and men do in the Battle of the Five Armies) do theirachievements become truly heroic.

5 HOME AND BIRTHRIGHT

The desire and love for a home motivates most of the maincharacters in The Hobbit. Sometimes, the characters’ desires forhome contradict each other. For instance, Bilbo Baggins says atmany points throughout his journey that he regrets everleaving his home in hobbit-town, while the dwarves with whomhe’s embarking on his adventure seek to return to (and reclaimfrom Smaug) their home under the Lonely Mountain. In manycases, having home means having a claim to some position ormaterial wealth. Thus, Thorin, the descendant of many dwarfkings, has a claim to his ancestors’ treasure, which lies underthe Lonely Mountain; similarly, Bard, the descendant of thelords of Dale, can claim lordship of Dale as his birthright.

But having a birthright isn’t only a privilege—it’s a duty. To havea home, one must also be a fair and generous “host,” treatingone’s guests, subjects, and property with respect. Most of theantagonists in The Hobbit —the three trolls, the goblins,Gollum—are ungracious hosts who refuse to entertain Bilboand the dwarves during their long quest. Some of the otherantagonists, such as the Master and Smaug, play the part of agood hosts but are actually doing so for the wrong reasons, likethe Master (who’s trying to stay in power by manipulating thecrowd), or trying to lure travelers into a false sense of security,like Smaug (who tells Bilbo to take what he wants of thetreasure). Yet even the dwarves become ungracious hosts oncethey regain their treasure and their home under the LonelyMountain, refusing to help the wood-elves or the men whosetown Smaug has destroyed. Thorin even becomes ungraciousto his own subjects, condemning Bilbo and the twelve otherdwarves to starve during a siege. As a result, Bilbo leaves thedwarves, and a war breaks out between men, elves, anddwarves. The desire for a home is a universal human feeling, sowe sympathize with Bilbo and the dwarves because they feelthis desire particularly strongly. But sometimes, this desirebecomes too powerful, and leads the characters, such as thedwarves, to be ungracious hosts and overprotective of theirhome—to make of their home something to be owned ratherthan shared.

In the end, Tolkien implies, having a home means loving it, butnot too much. Bilbo is a good model for how to regard one’shome—he loves his hobbit-hole, but he’s willing to invite othersinto it and to travel far away from it, too. Bard provides a goodexample of how to treat one’s birthright. Unlike the Master, hedoesn’t exploit his position as the lord of Dale; on the contrary,he fights to feed and shelter his people, eventually bringinggreat prosperity the town.

Symbols appear in red text throughout the Summary & Analysissections of this LitChart.

THE RINGWithout a doubt, the most famous symbol in Tolkien’s Lord ofthe Rings books is the ring itself, which first appears in TheHobbit when Bilbo finds it under the Misty Mountains, justbefore he meets Gollum. There are rings in earlier epic storiesthat Tolkien would have been aware of, the most famous beingthe ring in Richard Wagner’s four-part opera, the Ring Cycle —itself based on the Medieval epic poem the Nibelungenlied, inwhich two of the characters find a ring and fight to the deathfor it. In The Hobbit, as in these earlier works, the ringsymbolizes the corruption of wealth and power. Gollum lives amiserable existence under the mountains; though he once livedabove ground in the sun, it seems as if he has journeyedunderground to be alone with his “precious” ring. (There’s lotsof other evidence for the corrupting influence of wealth andpower in The Hobbit, such as Thorin’s jealous obsession withthe Arkenstone.) Bilbo, by contrast, seems relativelyuninterested in treasure or power of any kind; perhaps becausehe is “innocent” in this sense, he can wear the ring withoutbeing consumed by jealousy or vanity.

THE MISTY MOUNTAINSThere is an old rule in adventure stories, from The Odyssey toStar Wars, that the hero’s personal growth must beaccompanied by a journey underground. After Bilbo falls offDori’s shoulders while fleeing from the goblins, he’s forced tofend for himself as he tries to find his way out of the MistyMountains. In doing so, he has to confront Gollum and goblins,and discovers talents he didn’t know he had — deception, path-finding, riddle-telling, etc. Thus, the Misty Mountains representBilbo’s maturation as a character and an adventurer: when heenters them, he’s still immature (literally being carried onsomeone else’s back!), but when he leaves, he’s confidentenough to navigate his own way around.

SYMBOLSSYMBOLS



http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-odyssey

STINGBilbo finds a dagger in the trolls’ lair, which is small for thetrolls, but large enough to serve as a sword for him. Later, whenBilbo is rescuing his friends from the spiders in Mirkwoodforest, he renames this sword Sting. It’s no coincidence thatBilbo gives his weapon a name at the same time that he’sdiscovering his own aptitude for adventure, deception, andfighting. In effect, Bilbo “renames” himself in the second half ofThe Hobbit — he goes from thinking of himself as a well-to-do,adventure-phobic hobbit to a bold, daring adventurer (when hetalks to Smaug, he even gives himself new names). Thus, Stingsymbolizes Bilbo’s changing nature, and proves that ordinarythings —a dagger or a hobbit — are full of surprises.

The color-coded boxes under each quote below make it easy totrack the themes related to each quote. Each color correspondsto one of the themes explained in the Themes section of thisLitChart.

CHAPTER 1This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, foundhimself doing and saying things altogether unexpected.

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bilbo Baggins

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, Greed, Trust, Fellowship,Heroism

••Theme TTheme Trrackacker codeer code:

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As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made byhands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, afierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves.Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished togo and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees andthe waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword insteadof a walkingstick.He looked out of the window. The stars were out in a dark skyabove the trees. He thought of the jewels of the dwarvesshining in dark caverns.Suddenly in the wood beyond TheWater a flame leapt up--probably somebody lighting a wood-fire-and he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quietHill and kindling it all to flames. He shuddered; and very quicklyhe was plain Mr. Baggins of Bag-End, Under-Hill, again.

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bilbo Baggins, Smaug

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, Greed, Trust, Fellowship,Heroism


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CHAPTER 3The master of the house was an elf-friend-one of those peoplewhose fathers came into the strange stories before thebeginning of History, the wars of the evil goblins and the elvesand the first men in the North. In those days of our tale therewere still some people who had both elves and heroes of theNorth for ancestors, and Elrond the master of the house wastheir chief. He was as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, asstrong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king ofdwarves, and as kind as summer. He comes into. many tales, buthis part in the story of Bilbo's great adventure is only a smallone, though important, as you will see, if we ever get to the endof it.

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bilbo Baggins, Elrond

•Related themes•Related themes: Home and Birthright


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CHAPTER 4The goblins were very rough, and pinched unmercifully, andchuckled and laughed in their horrible stony voices; and Bilbowas more unhappy even than when the troll had picked him upby his toes. He wished again and again for his nice brighthobbit-hole. Not for the last time.


•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, Home and Birthright


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"Now I am a burglar indeed!" thought he. "But I suppose I musttell the dwarves about it sometime. They did say I could pickand choose my own share; and I think I would choose this, ifthey took all the rest!" All the same he had an uncomfortablefeeling that the picking and choosing had not really been meantto include this marvelous gem, and that trouble would yet comeof it.

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Thorin Oakenshield

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, Greed, Trust, Fellowship


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QUOQUOTESTES



CHAPTER 5"Both wrong," cried Bilbo very much relieved; and he jumped atonce to his feet, put his back to the nearest wall, and held outhis little sword. He knew, of course, that the riddlegame wassacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatureswere afraid to cheat when they played at it. But he felt he couldnot trust this slimy thing to keep any promise at a pinch. Anyexcuse would do for him to slide out of it. And after all that lastquestion had not been a genuine riddle according to theancient laws.

•Speak•Speakerer: Bilbo Baggins

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Gollum

•Related themes•Related themes: The Power of Language


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Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself. He wasdesperate.He must get away, out of this horrible darkness,while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab thefoul thing, put its eyes out, kill it.It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now.Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened tokill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. Asudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up inBilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without lightor hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking andwhispering.

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bilbo Baggins, Gollum

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, Heroism


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CHAPTER 6He crept still nearer, and suddenly he saw peering between twobig boulders a head with a red hood on: it was Balin doing look-out. He could have clapped and shouted for joy, but he did not.He had still got the ring on, for fear of meeting somethingunexpected and unpleasant, and he saw that Balin was lookingstraight at him without noticing him. "I will give them all asurprise," he thought, as he crawled into the bushes at the edgeof the dell.

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bilbo Baggins, Balin

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age


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CHAPTER 7Mr. Baggins saw then how clever Gandalf had been. Theinterruptions had really made Beorn more interested in thestory, and the story had kept him from sending the dwarves offat once like suspicious beggars. He never invited people into hishouse, if he could help it. He had very few friends and they liveda good way away; and he never invited more than a couple ofthese to his house at a time. Now he had got fifteen strangerssitting in his porch!

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf,Beorn

•Related themes•Related themes: The Power of Language, Home andBirthright


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CHAPTER 8He looked at the 'black emperors' for a long time, and enjoyedthe feel of the breeze in his hair and on his face; but at lengththe cries of the dwarves, who were now simply stamping withimpatience down below, reminded him of his real business. Itwas no good. Gaze as much as he might, he could see no end tothe trees and the leaves in any direction. His heart, that hadbeen lightened by the sight of the sun and the feel of the wind,sank back into his toes: there was no food to go back to downbelow.


•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age


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Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself inthe dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or ofanyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins.He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spiteof an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass andput it back into its sheath."I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call you Sting."


•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, The Power of Language,Heroism




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CHAPTER 10He had never thought that the dwarves would actually dare toapproach Smaug, but believed they were frauds who wouldsooner or later be discovered and be turned out.He was wrong. Thorin, of course, was really the grandson of theKing under the Mountain, and there is no knowing what adwarf will not dare and do for revenge or the recovery of hisown. But the Master was not sorry at all to let them go. Theywere expensive to keep, and their arrival had turned things intoa long holiday in which business was at a standstill."Let them go and bother Smaug, and see how he welcomesthem!" he thought."Certainly, O Thorin Thrain's son Thror'sson!" was what he said. "You must claim your own. The hour isat hand, spoken of old. What help we can offer shall be yours,and we trust to your gratitude when your kingdom is regained."

•Speak•Speakerer: The Master

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Thorin Oakenshield, Smaug

•Related themes•Related themes: The Power of Language, Greed, Trust,Fellowship, Heroism


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CHAPTER 12"If you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passagefirst, O Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, may your beard growever longer," he said crossly, "say so at once and have done! Imight refuse. I have got you out of two messes already, whichwere hardly in the original bargain, so that I am, I think, alreadyowed some reward. But 'third time pays for all' as my fatherused to say, and somehow I don't think I shall refuse. Perhaps Ihave begun to trust my luck more than I used to in the old days"- he meant last spring before he left his own house, but itseemed centuries ago -"but anyway I think I will go and have apeep at once and get it over. Now who is coming with me?" Hedid not expect a chorus of volunteers, so he was notdisappointed.




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There it is: dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with agreat idea of the value of money; some are tricky andtreacherous and pretty bad lots; some are not, but are decentenough people like Thorin and Company, if you don't expect toomuch.


•Related themes•Related themes: Greed, Trust, Fellowship


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"I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I aschosen for the lucky number.""Lovely titles!" sneered the dragon. "But lucky numbers don'talways come off.""I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them anddraws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of abag, but no bag went over me.""These don't sound socreditable," scoffed Smaug."I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I amRingwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider," went onBilbo beginning to be pleased with his riddling.


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Smaug

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, The Power of Language,Heroism


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CHAPTER 14As you see, the Master had not got his position for nothing. Theresult of his words was that for the moment the people quiteforgot their idea of a new king, and turned their angry thoughtstowards Thorin and his company. Wild and bitter words wereshouted from many sides; and some of those who had beforesung the old songs loudest, were now heard as loudly cryingthat the dwarves had stirred the dragon up against themdeliberately!

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: The Master, Smaug

•Related themes•Related themes: The Power of Language


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CHAPTER 15Bilbo thought that Thorin would at once admit what justice wasin them. He did not, of course, expect that any one wouldremember that it was he who discovered all by himself thedragon's weak spot; and that was just as well, for no one everdid. But also he did not reckon with the power that gold hasupon which a dragon has long brooded, nor with dwarvishhearts. Long hours in the past days Thorin had spent in thetreasury, and the lust of it was heavy on him. Though he hadhunted chiefly for the Arkenstone, yet he had an eye for manyanother wonderful thing that was lying there, about whichwere wound old memories of the labors and the sorrows of hisrace.

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bilbo Baggins, ThorinOakenshield, Smaug

•Related themes•Related themes: Greed, Trust, Fellowship


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CHAPTER 17“Misery me! I have heard songs of many battles, and I havealways understood that defeat may be glorious. It seems veryuncomfortable, not to say distressing. I wish I was well out of it."




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CHAPTER 18From that treasure Bard sent much gold to the Master of Lake-town; and he rewarded his followers and friends freely. To theElvenking he gave the emeralds of Girion, such jewels as hemost loved, which Dain had restored to him. To Bilbo he said:"This treasure is as much yours as it is mine; though oldagreements cannot stand, since so many have a claim in itswinning and defense. Yet even though you were willing to layaside all your claim, I should wish that the words of Thorin, ofwhich he repented, should not prove true: that we should giveyou little. I would reward you most richly of all.""Very kind of you," said Bilbo. "But really it is a relief to me. Howon earth should I have got all that treasure home without warand murder all along the way, I don't know. And I don't knowwhat I should have done with it when I got home. I am sure it isbetter in your hands."

•Speak•Speakerer: Bilbo Baggins, Bard

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Dain, The Elvenking

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, The Power of Language,Greed, Trust, Fellowship, Heroism, Home and Birthright


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CHAPTER 19"Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to betrue, after a fashion!" said Bilbo."Of course!" said Gandalf. "And why should not they provetrue? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because youhad a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't reallysuppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes weremanaged by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a veryfine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you areonly quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!""Thank goodness!" said Bilbo laughing, and handed him thetobacco-jar.

•Speak•Speakerer: Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf

•Related themes•Related themes: Coming of Age, The Power of Language,Heroism, Home and Birthright


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The color-coded boxes under "Analysis & Themes" below makeit easy to track the themes throughout the work. Each colorcorresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themessection of this LitChart.

SUMMARY & ANALSUMMARY & ANALYSISYSIS



CHAPTER 1: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEYThe narrator begins bydescribing the hole in theground beneath a hill, in whicha particular hobbit lives. Thehole is highly comfortable: ithas bedrooms, bathrooms,kitchens, and dining rooms forentertaining the hobbit’s manyvisitors. The best rooms in thehouse have a view of thegarden outside the hobbit’shome. Locals refer to the areaas The Hill, located in hobbit-town.

The first paragraph of TheHobbit is a surprise to read,because Tolkien doesn’t begin bydescribing what a hobbit is—hebegins by describing the hole.This is a clever strategy forimmersing readers in the fictionalworld of the book: the holeTolkien describes is actually afairly ordinary-sounding home,comfortable and clean. In thisway, we see the world of TheHobbit as both fantastical(populated with strangecreatures we’ve never heard of)and familiar (full of cozy homes).It’s also important to note thatthe best rooms in this hobbit’shome—presumably the ones thehobbit itself prefers—havewindows. The hobbit enjoyscomfort and security, but it alsolongs for the exterior world, and,perhaps, for travel andadventure.

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The hobbit’s name is Baggins,and he belongs to a well-to-dofamily of hobbits that nevergets involved in adventure.The narrator notes that TheHobbit is the story of howBaggins became involved in anadventure and lost some of hisneighbors’ respect. Thenarrator will leave it up to thereader to decide whetherBaggins gained anything fromhis adventure.

Tolkien narrates The Hobbit in athird-person omniscient voice;this creates a tone of reassurancethat Bilbo will survive hisdangerous adventures.Nevertheless, the narratordoesn’t explain whether or notBilbo has “gained” anything—thisfocuses the reader on mostimportant part of the story,Bilbo’s personal transformation.

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The narrator turns todescribing hobbits. Hobbitsare small creatures thatresemble dwarves, exceptwithout beards. They have nomagical powers except fortheir ability to hide, especiallyfrom humans, who are loudand clumsy. Hobbits love tolaugh and eat, and they wearbright clothing.

Tolkien simultaneouslydistinguishes hobbits frompeople, who he playfully criticizesfor being big and loud, andcompares hobbits with people,noting their love for food, theirsense of humor, etc. Again,Hobbits are established as bothfantastic and “normal”, in thesense of being like the normal,non-heroic, non-adventurous,everyday people likely to bereading the book.

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Bilbo Baggins, the Bagginsabout whom The Hobbit iswritten, is the child of thehobbit Belladonna Took, whowas herself the daughter ofthe famous Old Took. TheTooks were rumored to bedistantly related to fairies, andthey were said to go onadventures occasionally.Belladonna Took never wenton adventures; instead, shemarried Bungo Baggins, whoused Belladonna’s mother’smoney to build the hobbit-holewhere Bilbo lives. At the timewhen the story begins, Bilbo isfully grown—about fifty yearsold—and looks and behavesexactly like his father, thoughhe seems to have inheritedsome qualities from his Tookancestors.

Tolkien’s suggestion that, despiteBilbo’s apparent comfort, he hassome yearning for adventure isconnected to his ancestors.Tolkien makes similarconnections for other characterslater in the book, and often seescharacter traits and evendestinies as a kind of “birthright”that can be passed down withoutthe person receiving them evenreally knowing it. It’s importantto note that Bilbo is supposed tobe “fully grown” when the storybegins—in fact, he will changegreatly during the story, and, ineffect, grow up. Perhaps thepoint is that it’s never too late tobecome a different person, andthat adventure is a means ofdiscovering things about yourselfyou didn’t know.

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One morning, Bilbo is sittingoutside his home smoking,when Gandalf passes by.Gandalf, an old man who wearsa grey cloak and carries a staff,is famous among hobbits. Hewas friends with Old Took, buthasn’t been by The Hill sinceTook’s death. Bilbo, doesn’trecognize Gandalf, but greetshim; Gandalf tells Bilbo that heis looking for someone toaccompany him on anadventure. Bilbo refuses,saying that hobbits don’t takepart in adventures, andpretends to ignore Gandalf.Gandalf then introduceshimself to Bilbo, who isimpressed, having heardstories about how Gandalfwould bring quiet youngpeople on adventures.

Bilbo, revealing his dual nature, isboth attracted to and repelled byGandalf’s promises of adventure.He knows that Gandalf bringsinnocent people like himself onquests and tries to avoid him,and yet he doesn’t simply turnGandalf away. This suggests that,deep down, Bilbo wants to go onprecisely this kind of quest, evenif he’s too peaceful and satisfiedwith his life to admit it (to othersor to himself).

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Gandalf tells Bilbo that he willgive him what he has asked for;when Bilbo says that he hasn’tasked for anything, Gandalfsays that, in fact, he’s asked forit twice. Bilbo, rattled and alittle afraid, invites Gandalf totea tomorrow, andimmediately goes inside hishome, thinking that Gandalf isa powerful wizard, and thathe’ll have to be careful.Gandalf is amused by Bilbo’sbehavior, and marks Bilbo’sdoor with a strange signbefore he leaves.

Gandalf seems to sense (andperhaps knew before evenmeeting Bilbo) that Bilbo secretlywants to go on an adventure, butcan’t admit it. Bilbo’s invitationto Gandalf further suggests thathe’s at least a little attracted tohis offers of adventure. Gandalfalso proves himself to be adept atmanipulating language andsigns—drawing a complex figureon Bilbo’s door—while Bilbostumbles over his words.

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The next day, Bilbo has almostforgotten about tea. So he’ssurprised to hear a knock at hisdoor and find a dwarf, whointroduces himself as Dwalin,standing outside his home.Bilbo is flustered, but invitesDwalin inside for tea. A littlelater, he hears another knockon the door, and finds antherdwarf, Balin—Dwalin’s brother.Again, he invites Balin in. Inthis manner, he lets a total ofthirteen dwarves into hishouse: Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili,Dori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur,Bofur, Bombur, who’s very fat,and Thorin Oakenshield, whois haughty. Gandalf arrivesalong with the last fourdwarves. All thirteen dwarves,except for Thorin, who’s tooimportant to join in, ask forfood and sing songs aboutruining Bilbo’s home, thoughthey actually treat it with greatcare.

There is very littlecharacterization of the twelvedwarves other than Thorin. Thissets the tone for The Hobbit, inwhich the group often acts as asingle entity. Thorin’s sense ofhonor verging on haughtiness isestablished here and remainsimportant through the book. Thedwarves’ boisterous singing andplay along with the actualrespect they pay to Bilbo’s homeestablishes them as fun-lovingand disorderly but also as havinga deep sense of honor andrespect. The scene also portrayshow to be both a good host and agood guest. The host trusts and isgenerous with his guests; theguests enjoy themselves but arealso careful with the host and hishome.

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The dwarves play music andsing of the dwarves of the past,who lived in a great hallbeneath a mountain, wherethey mined gold and jewels. Adragon attacked the dwarvesand drove them from theirhome, and now they mustquest to reclaim their homeand their treasure. As Bilbohears this song, he’smomentarily filled with adesire to go on adventures, butthis desire disappears soonafter the music ends.

Song is an important means ofcommunication in Tolkien’sbook—it allows a group of peopleto share the same stories andkeep memories of the past alive.Bilbo’s reaction to the songimplies again his secret yearningfor adventure. The dwarves’ talemarks them as a group that hashad their home, and wealth,stolen from them. Now thestakes begin to be set: Bilbo has ahome with which he is content(both his hole and his life amongHobbits), but the dwarves arewithout a home, without theirbirthright, and must go on anadventurous quest to get it backand the implication is that Bilbocould choose to leave his ownhome to go on the quest.

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Thorin rises from his seat andpraises Bilbo, who he calls thedwarves’ co-conspirator, forhis hospitality. He alludes to agreat adventure on whichBilbo is to accompany thedwarves, and comments thatBilbo may never return. Bilbois so shocked by this that hescreams and faints. WhenBilbo is revived, he overhearsthe dwarves wonderingwhether Bilbo, who they call a“little fellow” is capable ofadventures. Bilbo indignantlysays that he is capable ofanything, an outburst that he islater to regret. The dwarvesinform him that there was asign on his door claiming thathe is a burglar looking foremployment; Gandalf revealsthat it was he who wrote thissign, but that the dwarvesshould accept Bilbo as their co-conspirator.

At this point in the narrative,Bilbo is shy and timid, hardly theadventurer he will eventuallybecome. Instead of activelychoosing to participate in thequest, he’s forced to so byGandalf, who manipulateslanguage to fool the dwarves intotreating Bilbo as their burglar.Nevertheless, Bilbo shows somesigns that he wants to be part ofthe adventure—he angrily insiststhat he isn’t afraid. For the timebeing, though, Gandalf controlsBilbo’s fate, not Bilbo himself.

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Gandalf produces a map,which he tells Thorin belongedto Thror, Thorin’s grandfather.The map shows a hall beneatha mountain, marked with thesymbol of a red dragon.Gandalf explains that there is asecret passageway into themountain, which is too smallfor a dragon to use itself. Hehad attempted to recruitwarriors for the dwarves’expedition, but found thatwarriors were too busyfighting, and for this reasonchose a burglar, Bilbo. He alsogives Thorin the key to thesecret passageway.

Gandalf acts as a source ofhistory and useful informationfor the dwarves during theirquest. His discussion of therelative merits of warriors andburglars is a clue to the kind ofheroism he believes in. Whereothers favor violence andstrength, Gandalf seems to havemore respect for cunning andcleverness. Gandalf’s motives inThe Hobbit are never entirelyclear—why is he helping thedwarves? Why does he seem sointerested to includeBilbo?—though they are revealedmore in Tolkien’s later Lord of theRings trilogy.

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Bilbo, who loves maps, asks foran explanation of the dwarves’quest. Thorin explains that thefourteen dwarves in Bilbo’shouse were the dwarves intheir song. His grandfather,Thror, was King under theMountain—King of a vastDwarf city under the LonelyMountain—and his subjects’skill as miners and craftsmenbrought trade, wealth, andprosperity to the surroundingarea, and led also to theestablishment of a large townfor men, the Dale, whichserved as a hub of trade. Adragon, Smaug, heard aboutthe dwarves’ wealth, and drovethem from their home, keepingthe treasure for itself.

Bilbo’s love of maps againsuggests his yearning foradventure (though it alsodisplays at this point a love ofadventure contained within avery domestic world: Bilbo likesto imagine faraway lands fromthe safe comfort of his home).Thorin’s description of hisfamily’s history sheds light on theinteraction between the differentpeoples of Middle Earth, animportant theme later in thenovel: the homes of the dwarvesand of men are interdependent.

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Bilbo suggests that thedwarves go to the Mountainand try to reclaim theirtreasure, and offers to fix thembreakfast before they leave.Thorin implies that Bilbo willbe going with them, and,without waiting for an answer,asks Bilbo to fix him eggs forbreakfast. The other dwarvesask for similar food and go tobed. As Bilbo falls asleep, hehears Thorin humming thedwarves’ song. He has vivid,unusual dreams that night, andwakes up late.

Bilbo falls short of personallyvolunteering for the dwarves’quest to the Lonely Mountain,but he continues to show signsthat he’s secretly attracted tothis quest. It’s as if Bilbo’s comingof age—from a passivehomeowner to an activeadventurer—can only beachieved if someone else—in thiscase, Gandalf—gives him a strongnudge.

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CHAPTER 2: ROAST MUTTONBilbo jumps out of bed in themorning and goes into hiskitchen, where he sees thehuge number of plates andglasses the dwarves used lastnight. This sight depresses him,since he can’t easily forget thatthe dwarves were in his home.Gandalf greets him, and pointsto a note the dwarves have lefthim. The note says that Bilbowill act as a burglar for thedwarves, that in return he willreceive one-fourteenth of thetreasure, and that he mustmeet them at the GreenDragon Tavern at eleveno’clock sharp, which Bilborealizes is in only ten minutes.Bilbo protests, but Gandalfurges him to hurry there, andhe leaves his home without ahat, coat, or walking stick.

Bilbo’s dual nature – his love ofcomfort alongside his yearningfor adventure – are again ondisplay here. It is interesting thatwhat he initially wishes is notdislike of the dwarves oradventure but a wish to forget allabout it. It is as if his “domesticside” is seeking to repress his“adventurous side. Yet all it takesis a little push from Gandalf andhe is off and running. The factthat he forgets his hat and cloaksymbolizes the other, lesstangible baggage he’s leavingbehind—his comfort, hispeacefulness, his safety, etc.

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At the Green Dragon, thedwarves greet Bilbo, and tellhim that they must be goingand that he can borrow a hatand coat. The group, whichincludes Gandalf riding on awhite horse, leaves the hobbit-lands in which Bilbo lives, andsoon ventures into areaswhere the people speakstrange languages, and thebuildings look sinister. Bilbowishes, for not the last time,that he were at home.

The physical changes in thelandscape that accompany thegroup’s traveling reflect Bilbo’sstate of mind: a gloomylandscape signals a gloomy mind.This establishes a pattern thatwill continue throughout TheHobbit, whereby the externalenvironment matches thecharacters’ internal thoughts andfeelings.

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While the group is travelingthrough the wilderness, itbegins to rain, and the groupnotices that Gandalf is missing.The dwarves are unable tomake fire, and a horse runsaway, leaving them with littlefood for the evening. They seea faint light in the distance, anddecide to send Bilbo toinvestigate what it is, givinghim a complicated signalingsystem if he’s in danger. Bilbofinds that the source of thelight is a campfire, aroundwhich sit three huge trolls,Tom, Bert, and William,complaining about eating thesame meal, mutton, night afternight. Bilbo, who knows fromreading various books that thetrolls are probably carryingvaluable things in theirpockets, picks Williams’spocket, thinking excitedly thatthis is the beginning of hiscareer as a burglar.Unfortunately, William’senchanted purse lets out a yellwhen Bilbo holds it, andWilliam captures Bilbo.

Gandalf disappears for the first,but not the last time in the novel.It’s never explicitly clear ifGandalf vanishes accidentally, ordeliberately. In either event, theencounter with the trolls isimportant because during it,Bilbo shows his first signs ofenjoying burglary, and enjoyinghis adventures. He depends uponknowledge he’s learned inbooks—trolls have lots oftreasure. This suggests that Bilbois better prepared for his journeythan he lets on, though it alsosignals that his knowledge isentirely of the book-learning kindand not at all from experience.And, indeed, inexperienced as heis, Bilbo makes a mistake andgets captured.

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The trolls ask Bilbo if there areothers near their fire; Bilbosays yes at first, then no.William, who’s already eatensupper, wants to let Bilbo go,but the other two trolls wantto eat him. The trolls begin tofight, and Bilbo is able to slipaway in the confusion.Meanwhile, the dwarves havebegun to approach the fire.When the trolls see thedwarves, they capture all ofthem and put them in sacks,while Bilbo hides nearby, afraidto move.

Bilbo continues to stumble overhis words, changing hisstatement about whether he isalone in a painfully obvious way.For now, the dangers of the questare relatively small—one of thetrolls even wants to let Bilbo go.Even at this early point, though,Bilbo shows signs of being anadept burglar and adventurer: hissmall size allows him to escapefrom the trolls in their confusion.Yet Bilbo then does nothing tohelp the captured dwarves,instead he is so scared that hejust hides.

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While the three trolls aredeciding how to kill and eat thedwarves, a mysteriousstranger’s voice is heard. Thestranger mimics the voices ofthe three trolls, causing anargument that goes on for solong that the sun rises, turningthe trolls to stone instantly.The stranger, who turns out tobe Gandalf, frees the dwarvesfrom their sacks, and Bilbocomes out of his hiding place.Gandalf suggests that theyexplore the trolls’underground treasure room,and Bilbo produces a key he’sfound on the ground while hewas hiding. Gandalf uses thekey to open the treasure room,where Gandalf and Thorin findtwo excellent swords, andBilbo finds a knife that, whilesmall for a troll, is large enoughto serve as his sword.

No small part of Gandalf’s poweris verbal —- without using anyforce, he defeats the trolls, simplyby saying the right things at theright time in the right way. Bilboproves himself to be a decentburglar and a lucky finder-of-things, finding the key to thetrolls’ treasure, which proves tobe very valuable. Bilbo also takesan important step in establishinghis identity when he chooses aweapon for himself: thissymbolizes the physical mighthe’ll have to learn later on, andthe increased freedom andmaturity he’s enjoying.

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Thorin asks Gandalf how hebecame separated from therest of the group. Gandalf saysthat he had ridden ahead toRivendell to inquire aboutprovisions and lodgings for thedwarves, but when he lookedbehind him he noticed that thedwarves weren’t there. Hetells Thorin that he must bemore careful in the future.

Gandalf’s explanation isn’tentirely convincing—though heclaims he lost sight of thedwarves, it’s entirely possiblethat he deliberately left them andBilbo. If this is the case, it’s likelythat Gandalf left Bilbo on hisown to encourage him to developskills as a burglar—it’s as if hethrew Bilbo in the deep end ofthe pool to teach him to swim.

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CHAPTER 3: A SHORT RESTThe weather improves, but thedwarves don’t sing or laugh;they’ve begun to feel theincreasing danger and weightof their quest. Bilbo sees agreat mountain in the distance,which belongs to the chaincalled the Misty Mountains.The group will have to crossthe Misty Mountains beforethey arrive at their destination.He feels tired, and wishes, fornot the last time, that he wasback in his home.

Bilbo continues to long for home,even after he begins to improveas a burglar and an adventurer.Yet his melancholy has theunintended effect of uniting himwith the rest of his group—theother dwarves are feeling sadand tired, too, and they are evenfurther from having a home.Bilbo wants to leave the group,but ironically, this feeling makeshim a part of the group.

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The group travels to Rivendell,a city of elves located near ariver valley, where Elrond theelf-lord will give them food andlodgings. The way to Rivendellis difficult, but when the grouparrives, they’re greeted by thesound of elves singing. Gandalfeagerly greets the elves, withwhom he’s friendly.

Rivendell represents the last safeplace on the group’s journey for along time. That Rivendell is a safeplace is made obvious by theelves’ joyous singing. Note theelves hospitality toward theirguests.

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The group stays in Rivendellfor two largely uneventfulweeks—Bilbo would havestayed much longer. Elrond,the elf-lord, examines the mapthat Gandalf gave to Thorin,and on it finds moon letters,which can only be read by thelight of the moon: the messagesays that on Durin’s Day, thefirst day of the dwarves’ NewYear, taking place betweenautumn and winter, the light ofthe setting sun will shine uponthe keyhole to the secretpassageway to Smaug’s lair.Elrond also reads the runes onthe two swords Gandalf andThorin found in the troll’spossession and reveals thatthey are famous goblin-killingweapons: Orcrist, the “goblin-cleaver” and Glamdring, the“Foe-hammer.”

While the dwarves stay inRivendell for a long time, theyaccomplish relatively little,besides obtaining importantinformation about how to enterthe secret passageway. Thissuggests that peace, for all itsintrinsic pleasures, isn’t terriblyinteresting, and suggests thatadventures may be more fun,both for the people whoparticipate in them and thereaders who experience themindirectly. Meanwhile, Elrond’smastery of language allows himto decipher the map. Also notehow the fact that the swordshave names give them a historyand power they didn’t have asanonymous weapons. Theswords, too, have a kind ofbirthright through their “heroic”actions. The history of theswords also establishes goblinsas the “bad guys” of The Hobbit.

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In midsummer, the groupleaves Rivendell and headstoward the Misty Mountains.The elves sing them songs asthey depart.

The elves sang their guests intoRivendell, and sing for theirdeparture. The elves are goodhosts, but their kindness againmakes the comforts of the“home” of Rivendell stand incontrast to discomforts (even ifexciting discomforts) ofadventure, and also emphasizeshow the elves have a home andthe dwarves do not.

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CHAPTER 4: OVER HILL AND UNDER HILLThe group walks through theMisty Mountains, and theirpath is difficult and dangerous.As they climb high up, they cansee back to the West, back inthe direction of Bilbo’s home,the Shire. Bilbo thinkslongingly of the harveststaking place in the hobbit-lands.

Bilbo continues to think of hishome. He’s connected to the landitself—to the rituals ofharvesting—as much as he’sconnected to specific people andplaces. But he has also traveledfar, and can see his former homein a new way.

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Gandalf knows that the MistyMountains have become full ofdanger in recent times, andthat underneath them, in theMines of Moria, there aregoblins. One night, athunderstorm breaks out, andthe Mountain Giants throwrocks to each other for fun. Filiand Kili, the two youngestdwarves, find a cave that canprovide shelter from thestorm—Gandalf asks them ifthey’re sure the cave is empty,and though Fili and Kili havecome back too quickly to be atall sure of this, they insist thatit is. The group goes into thecave; Gandalf forbids themfrom lighting a fire. They rest.

Gandalf’s questions about theemptiness of the caveforeshadow danger to come.That Fili and Kili insist the cave isempty attests to their owninexperience as adventurers butalso for the urgent need offinding shelter—a temporaryhome—from the brutal force ofnature embodied in the storm.Also, as readers, the story givesus enough detail to know thatgoing into the cave is a baddecision and will lead to danger,but at the same time, we wantthem to get into trouble—wedon’t want another series ofuneventful weeks, as the dwarvesjust experiences in Rivendell. Asreaders, we have some of thesame “dual nature” as Bilbo:longing for the characters safety,while also longing for them tohave adventures.

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In the middle of the night,Bilbo wakes up to a creakingsound, and sees a crackgrowing in the side of the cave,from which goblins emerge.Bilbo gives a cry, waking upGandalf and allowing him tovanish in a flash of light thatkills several goblins. Thegoblins seize the group’sponies, which they will latereat, and take everyone butGandalf prisoner. Goblins, thenarrator notes, are clever, evilcreatures who bear Thorin’speople a special grudgebecause of the wars they’vefought with each other.

Bilbo isn’t powerful orresourceful enough to fight thegoblins, but he does demonstratehis value to the group bynoticing them—Bilbo may not bea warrior, but he is alert andclever. The narrator establishes along-running conflict betweendwarves and goblins—a historyor “birthright” of war—which willcontinue to be important in therest of the book.

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The goblins lead Bilbo and thedwarves to their leader, theGreat Goblin. The GreatGoblin asks Thorin to identifyhimself and explain why he’shere; Thorin identifies himself,but lies and says that he andhis group are visiting hisrelatives on the other side ofthe mountain. The goblinshowl that Thorin is lying, andthat he hasn’t explained thebright flash of light that killedsome of them. They alsoproduce the sword Thorinfound in the troll’s treasurehole, which the Great Goblinimmediately recognizes asOrcrist, or Biter, a famoussword that has killed hundredsof goblins.

Thorin doesn’t lie and give a falsename to the Goblin King—it’s asif he’s too proud to conceal hisidentity, even as he refuses toreveal the purpose of his travels.Thorin is a warrior, and he actsaccording to a warrior’s code ofhonor, but without all that muchcleverness. In this section, Bilbobegins to get a sense for battleand violence—not only thepeople who participate in them,but the trophies and relics ofbattle, such as Orcrist.

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The Great Goblin gives a howlof rage at the sight of Orcrist,but at this exact moment, thelights go out. A bright swordappears to float through theroom, and kills the GreatGoblin. A voice tells thedwarves to quickly follow itaway from the goblins. As thedwarves run away, Gandalflights his wand, revealinghimself to be the bearer of thesword, which is calledGlamdring the Foe-Hammer.

At this point, Gandalf’s powersare more obviously magical—hecan extinguish light, see in thedark, etc. He also excels at old-fashioned sword-fighting, andkills the Great Goblin withapparent ease. In this way, webegin to see the full extent ofGandalf’s abilities: he useswords, weapons, and magic withequal skill.

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The dwarves run, but thegoblins are faster, and Gandalftells Thorin to turn and fight.Using Glamdring and Orcrist,Gandalf and Thorin kill manygoblins, then turn back andcontinue running away. Bilbothinks to himself that he waswrong to ever leave his hobbit-hole. Dori is carrying Bilbo onhis back as they run from thegoblins, but when a goblin triesto grab Dori, Bilbo rolls off hisback and falls deep into acavern, hits his head on a rock,and loses consciousness.

In the midst of the first bigdanger the group faces, Bilbo istoo inexperienced to be of muchuse—in fact, he’s so useless thatDori carries him on his back likea child. In moments such as this,Bilbo wishes he were back athome, demonstrating howunprepared he is for thechallenges of adventure.

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CHAPTER 5: RIDDLES IN THE DARKBilbo wakes up and findshimself alone in a cold, darkcave. He finds a small ring onthe ground, and puts it in hispocket almost withoutthinking. Though he doesn’tknow it at the time, this is aturning point in his life. Helooks in his pockets for a pipeor tobacco, but finds nothing,though under his coat he findsthe knife he took from thetrolls. He realizes that it’s beenmade by elves, since it glowswhen goblins are nearby.Thinking that it’s a great thingto own an old, beautifulweapon, he resolves to goforward, though he’s afraid.

Events have caused Bilbo to bealone, forcing him to begin totake control of his life: he resolvesto move forward with his weaponinstead of cowering in the dark.That his weapon has an elven-made history and he, as holder ofthe sword, inherits that history,also gives him a sense of security.The ring he finds, apparently byaccident, will indeed beimportant to his success—inretrospect, this suggests thatsuccessful adventuring isn’talways due to the individual’sabilities. Sometimes luck—orfate—is equally, if not moreimportant. Yet the way he findsthe ring mirrors the way he findsthe keys to the Troll treasure.Bilbo seems to be someone whohappens to find things. And, ofcourse, it being treasure, hepockets it: Bilbo is not immune togreed for beautiful things likerings and beautiful swords.

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Bilbo is in a “tight place,” thenarrator notes, but he has theadvantage of being used toliving underground in holes.Bilbo walks for a long time,until he’s very tired. Eventually,when his sword is barelyglowing at all, he comes to acold, slimy pool.

Bilbo’s experiences in his homeprepare him well for hisadventures here underground(which also functions as a way toconnect him to establish thesoon-to-be-introduced Gollum asa kind of double to Bilbo). Hecourageously continues to walkinto the darkness.

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A small, slimy creature calledGollum lives by the pool.Gollum hides from the goblins,though he eats goblin when hecan get it, and also eats fish. Hepaddles through the water in asmall boat, and notices Bilbobefore Bilbo notices him.Gollum thinks that Bilbo, who’sclearly not a goblin, wouldmake a good meal.

The narrator makes it clearalmost immediately that Gollumis a threat to Bilbo; and Gollum isclearly a very bad host, who isnot at all generous with his“guest,” Bilbo. Tolkien also morefirmly establishes the doublingbetween Bilbo and Gollum bypointing out some similaritiesbetween them: both are obsessedwith eating. It’s as if Bilbo isconfronting a darker version ofhimself.

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Bilbo becomes aware ofGollum and, frightened, pointshis sword at him. Gollum, whoalways talks to himself, askswhat Bilbo is; Bilbo replies thathe’s a hobbit. Gollum shifts hisplan when he realizes thatBilbo is armed. Rather thanattack, he asks Bilbo to stay awhile and tell riddles, as heremembers doing years ago,when he lived in the sun andhad friends. Gollum tells Bilboan easy riddle, and when Bilboanswers it, Gollum suggeststhat they have a competition: ifGollum can stump Bilbo, heeats Bilbo; if Bilbo can stumpGollum, Gollum will show Bilbothe way out of the cave. Bilbois too afraid to disagree withthese terms.

Gollum lives in utter solitude—he lives on the exaggerated edgeof the spectrum of someone whois so homebound that he neverinteracts with the world he neverleaves his home, exemplified inthe fact that he talks only tohimself.. Bilbo, in contrast, hasleft his home and interacted withthe world. Note Bilbo’s improveduse of language as he engages ina high-stakes game of riddling.Once again, the immediatedanger of the situation forceshim to grow into something of adifferent person (or hobbit) thanhe was before.

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Bilbo and Gollum tell eachother a series of riddles. Bilbo’sriddles have answers thatreflect his life in hobbit-town:the sun, flowers, eggs, etc.Gollum tells riddles about thethings he’s most familiar with:the dark, fish, the wind, etc.Though Gollum and Bilbo havetrouble guessing each other’sriddles, they trade correctanswers for four roundswithout a winner. Finally, afterBilbo correctly answersGollum’s fifth question, theonly question Bilbo can comeup with is to ask Gollum whathe, Bilbo, has in his pocket (thering); Gollum asks for threeguesses, but can’t come upwith the right answer, and thusloses the game. Bilbo knowsthat riddle-telling is an ancient,sacred art, and even Gollumwon’t break the rules they’veagreed upon. Still, he’s nervousaround Gollum, since he wonon a question that wasn’t aproper riddle.

Language is a powerfulweapon—Gollum is literally usingit to try to kill Bilbo, while Bilbo isusing it to save his life. Languageis also a reflection of a speaker’sinnermost thoughts andexperiences: Bilbo’s and Gollum’sriddles reflect the kind of personeach is and the experiences eachhas had. Language is also asacred art, and both Bilbo andGollum seem to abide by therules of the riddle-telling game.It’s worth bearing in mind,however, that Bilbo isn’t yet amaster of language—he quicklyruns out of riddles to tell, andends up asking Gollum such acasual question that it doesn’tfollow the sacred code of riddling,and thus puts Bilbo’s life indanger.

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Gollum says that he’ll showBilbo the way out, but first hemust paddle back to his lairand retrieve some things.Gollum actually intends toretrieve his ring, which makeshim invisible, and use it to turninvisible and then kill Bilbo.The narrator says that no oneknows how Gollum first foundthe ring, long ago, but that hewears it frequently, and uses itto catch his prey. But whenGollum goes back to his lair, hediscovers that the ring ismissing. He paddles back toBilbo, and demands to knowwhat Bilbo had in his pocket.Bilbo refuses to answer thequestion, and asks Gollumwhat he has lost, having heardhim wailing earlier. Gollumrefuses to answer Bilbo’squestion.

Tolkien shows us that Gollum isevil because he breaks a verbalpromise to show Bilbo the wayout—though he claims he’ll helpBilbo, he secretly wants to eathim. In a sense, Gollum is evilbecause he is a host so bad hewants to eat his guest. Yet thedoubling between Bilbo andGollum also intensifies here as itbecomes clear to the reader(though not entirely to Bilbo)that Bilbo has actuallyinadvertently stolen Gollum’sring. Gollum’s demand to knowwhat’s in Bilbo’s pocket andBilbo’s refusal to reveal it is akind of standoff of greed (whichmirrors in a way the much largerstandoff based on greed near theend of the book). It is importantto recognize that Bilbo is notportrayed as totally good, here:he and Gollum share similarities.

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Gollum slips away, and Bilbo isafraid that he will attack andeat him. He slips on the ringwithout thinking, and thenruns as he hears Gollumcoming. He trips and falls whiletrying to run away fromGollum, but to his surprise,Gollum doesn’t attack him, butruns past him. Bilbo hearsGollum talking to himself,saying that “the hobbit” musthave Gollum’s ring, and hemust not escape with it, or thegoblins will capture him, takethe ring, and use it to killGollum. Gollum decides tohead for the way out, in theevent that Bilbo has gone thatway, and ambush Bilbo there.Bilbo follows Gollum, realizingthat the ring he wears mustmake him invisible.

Bilbo’s survival in this section isalmost completely accidental,not the product of his own abilityor heroism. Even when Bilbofinds his way out, he doesn’t doso because of his excellent senseof direction; he simply followsGollum. In a way, Tolkiensuggests, heroism is something ofa myth—skill is necessary, but sois good fortune. Note how thering—and each’s need and desirefor it—has become the center ofthe conflict between Bilbo andGollum.

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Gollum continues toward theway out, with Bilbo secretlyfollowing behind him. ThoughGollum can’t see Bilbo, hesmells him in the dark. Bilbo istempted to use his sword tokill Gollum, but he feels pity forhim, and thinks to himself thatGollum is lonely, and, after all,hasn’t actually threatened tokill him. So, instead, he jumpsover Gollum, and rushes intothe goblins’ territory. Gollumtries to catch Bilbo, but is tooslow, and stays back, cursingBilbo’s name.

Bilbo could easily kill Gollum, buthe doesn’t. In part, this is becausehe doesn’t have all theinformation about Gollum—hedoesn’t know that Gollum wasgoing to kill him—but just asmuch he spares Gollum’s lifebecause he’s kind andsympathizes with the weak andpitiable. Bilbo is hardly perfect,and in fact, he’s a thief who hasstolen the ring, but at momentslike this, it becomes clear thathe’s also a moral character. Andthis morality and kindness is asmuch of what establishes Bilboas a hero in the story as any ofhis cunning exploits to come.

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In the goblins’ lair, the goblinssee Bilbo—he has taken off hisring. Bilbo slips it back on justin time, and hides behind abarrel while the goblins try tofind him. He sees an open door,and moves toward it, dodginggoblins. He squeezes througha crack in the door, but hisbuttons get stuck. A goblinpoints out that there’s ashadow near the door, as theynear the door, Bilbo pullshimself through the door andout of the mountains, losing hisbuttons in the process—he hasescaped.

The difference between Bilbo’sinteraction with the goblins hereand in the last chapter isobvious—though Bilbo stilldoesn’t fight them directly, henow has a powerful weapon foravoiding them and thewillingness to take action on hisown. Symbolically, Bilbo loses hisbuttons at the end of thischapter, in which he’s changed sogreatly. It’s as if he’s casting asidea final remnant of his old life, andturning to his adventure instead.

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CHAPTER 6: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN ANDINTO THE FIREBilbo finds himself on theother side of the MistyMountains without a pony,buttons, or his companions. Hewalks along the mountains forsome time, and eventuallyhears voices that don’t soundlike goblins’. He is happy to findthat they belong to thedwarves and Gandalf, butrather than greet them rightaway, he decides to have somefun, and puts on his ring andwalks among them, invisible.

Here, Bilbo begins to enjoyhimself for the first time on hisjourney. Instead of immediatelyrejoining the group, he asserts hisindependence by walking amongthem unnoticed. Bilbo’s ring haschanged his personality—he’sbraver and more adventurousthan he was only a day before.And yet, his actions here are alsosomewhat unkind—his newpower has made him at leastslightly less sympathetic.

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Gandalf is arguing with thedwarves; the dwarves areannoyed that Bilbo couldn’tstay with them, and had to gethimself lost, while Gandalfinsists that they find Bilboinstead of going on. Bilboremoves his ring and seems toappear out of thin air, startlingeveryone, including Gandalf.The dwarves are highlyimpressed, and Bilbo’sreputation as a burglar goes upconsiderably in their eyes.Bilbo doesn’t show his ring toanyone, but simply says that hesnuck past Balin, the sentry,very quietly. When askedabout where he has been,Bilbo only says that he fell offof Dori’s back and snuck pastthe goblins—Gandalf givesBilbo a look as if he senseswhat Bilbo has left out.Gandalf explains that Bilbo’scry woke him up, and he wasable to escape from the goblinshimself by using hisenchantments.

It becomes clear that thedwarves aren’t at all loyal to theirfriend; indeed, this is an earlyclue that they’re not particularlymoral people, especiallycompared to Bilbo. Even so, thedwarves begin to respect Bilbomuch more after he appearsbefore them, seemingly out ofthin air. This suggests that thedwarves are somewhatshallow—they respect Bilbobecause he’s a good burglar, notbecause he’s a good person—butit also shows how greatly Bilbohas changed in a short time. It’salso significant that Bilbo doesn’ttell the dwarves everything abouthis journey—he begins to developa private life: a sure sign of hisgrowing maturity. Gandalf sensesthis growing private life, thesesecrets that Bilbo is keeping, butalso perhaps the greed that isalso a part of Bilbo not revealingeverything that has happened tohim.

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The dwarves have lost theirsupplies and ponies to thegoblins, but the companyproceeds on their route. Bilbois enormously hungry, and thepath is difficult. After a longtime, the group hears thesound of wolves, which Bilborecognizes from a relative whoused to imitate wolf howls toscare him. Bilbo, the dwarves,and Gandalf climb into trees toavoid the wolves. Bilbo isunable to climb up, but Doriclimbs down and pulls him upjust as a wolf is about to bitehim.

Again, Bilbo makes connectionsbetween the lessons he’s learnedat home and his experiences onthe road. Even after acquiring thering, he’s unable to evade thewolves by himself –- he stilldepends in no small part on hiscompanions for help.

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The wolves are actuallyWargs—wolves that cantalk—and Gandalf overhearstheir conversation as they talkamong themselves. They weresupposed to meet the goblinsthere that night to raid anearby town of men. TheWargs are “annoyed” to findthat the goblins are late(Gandalf knows this isprobably because of the deathof the Great Goblin) andthey’re equally angry to seethat there are people in thetrees, who they assume mustbe in cahoots with the men inthe town. Gandalf, who’sscared despite being a wizard,takes the large pineconesgrowing in the trees, usesmagic to set them on fire, andthrows them down at theWargs, who yelp and run away.

Since we’ve seen the extent ofGandalf’s abilities by this point inthe novel, that fact that he isscared adds tension to thismoment. But even so, Tolkienlightens the moods byanthropomorphizing the wolvesand describing their feelings indry, understated language—itwould be terrifying to read thatthe wolves are angry, but not thatthey’re “annoyed.”

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The Lord of the Eagles noticesthe commotion in his forestand summons other eagles tocome with him and investigate.As they circle lower, they see agreat crowd of wolves andgoblins jeering at Gandalf andthe dwarves in the trees.Gandalf, who’s now afraid thatthe fire he started will burndown the trees and kill theentire group, mocks thegoblins, but also prepares tojump. Just as he is about tojump, the eagles arrive,snatching Gandalf and thedwarves out of the treesbefore they’re burned down.As an eagle carries Dori, Bilbohangs on to Dori’s ankles, andlets go just as the eagles dropthem in a nest.

The appearance of the Eagles isan example of deus exmachina—a sudden, unexpectedresolution to a problem, whichrelies heavily on magic or thesuspension of disbelief. Usually,this is frowned upon in fiction,because it takes readers out ofthe story and reminds them thatthey’re reading a work of fiction.Yet Tolkien counteracts theseeffects with lots of concretedetails about Bilbo’s flight, suchas the way he grips on to Dori’slegs. In this way, the scenebecomes more satisfying as awork of fantasy.

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The eagles are no friends ofdwarves, but let them gobecause Gandalf is friendlywith the Lord of the Eagles,having healed a wound theeagle had suffered many yearsago. The eagles refuse to takethe group anywhere near a cityof men, since they’re afraidthat men will shoot them witharrows, but Gandalf convincesthem to take him and hisfriends much closer to theirdestination. Bilbo says that heis hungry, and the eagles bringthe group hares, rabbits, andsheep to eat. Bilbo is too tiredto help the dwarves preparethe food, but he eats it, andfalls asleep. In his dreams, hewalks through his homelooking for something whoseappearance or identity he can’tremember.

Gandalf’s experience continuesto prove valuable, since withouthis friendship with the Eagles,the group would never have beensaved. Bilbo ends the chapter inan almost childlike state, tooweak to help make dinner. Hisdream might symbolize the rapidchanges he’s experiencedrecently. Though he continues tooccasionally and almostreflexively miss his home, he’sgradually forgetting what hemisses about it as he becomesmore familiar with travel.

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CHAPTER 7: QUEER LODGINGSThe eagles take Gandalf, Bilbo,and the dwarves to a far-awayplace with woods and a river.Bilbo is afraid to fly, butloosens his grip around hiseagle’s talons when the eagletells him to do so. Bilbo willnever see the eagles again, thenarrator notes, except forduring the Battle of the FiveArmies, which will come muchlater in the story.

The way Bilbo overcomes hisinitial fears demonstrates that heis beginning to grow morecomfortable with his quest. Thisisn’t to say that he isn’t stillterrified of the goblins and trollshe encounters; rather, it suggeststhat he’s getting better at copingwith fear.

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Gandalf now announces thathe has other business toattend to, and must leave thedwarves in the near few days.The dwarves are sad to hearthis, and offer Gandalf goldand jewels to stay, but Gandalfis insistent; he also commentsthat he believes he has alreadyearned some of the dwarves’treasure already. He tells thegroup that he will take them toa place called the Carrock,where there lives a strange“Somebody,” of whom theymust not ask too manyquestions. This person,Gandalf tells Bilbo, is a shape-shifter, and sometimesassumes the shape of a bear.He adds that he will have tointroduce this person to thegroup very gradually.

Gandalf’s sudden need to departis a surprise, especially since he’sproved himself to be extremelyuseful to the group, having savedthem twice in the last few days.It’s not entirely clear whyGandalf needs to leave sosoon—it’s possible that he hasbusiness to attend to, as he says,but it’s also possible that hewants to test the dwarves andmake Bilbo a better adventurerby exposing him to danger.

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The group comes to theCarrock, and Gandalf leadsBilbo to the home of a man sohuge that Bilbo can walkbetween his legs without hishead touching the man’s tunic.Gandalf introduces himselfand Bilbo to the man, andmentions that the man mightknow Gandalf’s cousin,Radagast. The man, Beorn,comments that Radagast isn’t abad sort, as wizards go, andasks Gandalf to explain how hehas come to be here.

Gandalf is a master of words,spells, and fighting, but one of hismost important skills is hisexperience, in and of itself.Gandalf knows a huge number ofpeople, who he can ask to hosthim and his friends. Beorn proveshimself to be a decent, if not anexcellent, person insofar as heagrees to be a host.

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Gandalf tells Beorn that hehas been traveling with afriend or two; Beorn askswhere the other friend is, andGandalf calls for Thorin andDori. Beorn says that hedoesn’t like dwarves much, butsince these dwarves have beenfighting goblins, they’rewelcome to stay with him.Gandalf goes on describing histravels through Rivendell, theMisty Mountains, and thewoods, each time mentioning afew more of the dwarves; eachtime, Beorn questionsGandalf’s story, and Gandalfcalls for a few more of thedwarves to come, until finally,Beorn has agreed toaccommodate Bilbo and all ofthe dwarves. Bilbo isimpressed that Gandalf hasmanaged to convince Beorn toaccommodate such a largegroup, especially since Beornusually turns away visitors.Gandalf doesn’t tell Beorn thatthe dwarves are looking fortreasure.

Gandalf manipulates language totrick Beorn into housing allfourteen of them at the sametime. In many ways, this is thesame trick that he used toconvince Bilbo to invite all of thedwarves into his house when hewas expecting Gandalf. This isimportant in and of itself—Bilbois no longer the object of trickery,but an observer of it: he’smaturing. Gandalf continues tokeep the goal of the dwarves’quest a secret, knowing that ifthe information were to becomewidely available, many otherswould try to take the dwarves’treasure. Greed abounds in theworld.

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Beorn leads the group into hishall, where he feeds them foodand tells them tales of the darkforest, Mirkwood, throughwhich Bilbo and the dwarvesmust soon travel. Beorn’s storymakes everyone feel nervousfor the journey that lies ahead.That night, as Bilbo is fallingasleep, he wonders if Beornhas transformed into a bearand intends to kill his guests,but he puts this thought out ofhis head and falls asleep.

Bilbo doesn’t sleep well becausehe doesn’t entirely trust Beorn.But this is onlyappropriate—Gandalf haswithheld information fromBeorn, meaning that Beorn hasno particular reason to trust thegroup he’s hosting. Hosting, then,is a two-way affair: the host mustbe accommodating to his guests,while the guests must give thehosts some kind of truthfulinformation about what they’redoing. In the absence of thisequal exchange, neither host norguests feels entirely comfortable.

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The next morning, Bilbo findsGandalf, who explains that hefound bear tracks outside,leading toward the woodsfrom which the eagles savedthem. Beorn, in the shape of abear, may have led other bearsto this location. Bilbo is afraidthat Beorn will lead the Wargsand goblins to them, butGandalf urges Bilbo to calmhimself; the next day, Beornhas returned, and says that hewent to the woods to confirmGandalf’s story, and that helikes it better now that heknows it’s true.

Beorn confirms that Gandalf istelling the truth about thegroup’s adventures in the MistyMountains, and this confirms theimportance of the host-guestexchange. Beorn become moretrustworthy to the group—he’snot leading the goblins to killthem—at the same instance thatthe group becomes moretrustworthy to him.

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Beorn gives the dwarvesprovisions, including bows andarrows, and sends them off toMirkwood with the advice thatthey mustn’t leave the path forany reason, or wet their bodieswith water from an enchantedstream. The dwarves aregrateful to Beorn for his adviceand hospitality, and set offtoward Mirkwood. As theytravel that night, Bilbo thinksthat he sees the figure of ahuge bear that might be Beorn,but Gandalf tells him not topay attention to it.

Beorn proves himself to be agenerous host after confirmingthat Gandalf is trustworthy.Again, truth is a kind of currencyhere, one that the group uses to“buy” important supplies fromtheir host: weapons, food, advice,etc. It even seems as if Beorn—inthe shape of a bear—is guardingthem on their way.

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The group reaches Mirkwoodforest, and they let theirponies go as the ponies will notbe able to travel through theforest. Gandalf announcesthat he is leaving them toattend to other business. Bilbois especially sad to see Gandalfgo, and wishes that he weregoing with him. Gandalfreminds Bilbo that there is noother way to reach thedestination without travelingthrough Mirkwood; the onlyalternative would involvetraveling near goblins or theNecromancer. Gandalf leavesBilbo and the dwarves,reminding them not to go offthe path. The group entersMirkwood forest, and beginsthe most dangerous part of itsjourney.

Bilbo feels a special connectionto Gandalf; it’s clear that he’scloser to Gandalf, who wanted towait and find Bilbo in the MistyMountains, than he is to thedwarves, who wanted to moveon without him. Gandalf’sallusion to the Necromancer,who’s never fully explained inThe Hobbit, suggests what his“other business” might be—buteven so, it seems as if Gandalf isdeliberately abandoning thegroup at the time when theyneed him most.

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CHAPTER 8: FLIES AND SPIDERSBilbo and the dwarves marchin single-file through the forestalong the path. They quicklycome to hate the constantsight of cobwebs, and thealmost total darkness in whichthey sleep every night. Atnight, Bilbo sees bright,glowing eyes looking at him,and thinks that these eyesmust belong to insects, notanimals.

There’s a noticeable contrastbetween the accommodatingway Beorn treats Bilbo and thedwarves and the group’s uneasyexperiences in the forest. Theforest, with its darkness andlurking giant insects, is like theopposite of a home.

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Eventually, the group comes toa stream, and sees a boat onthe opposite side.Remembering Beorn’s advice,they don’t swim in the stream,but throw a rope across to pullthe boat over. Bilbo and thedwarves go across two orthree at a time, with Bombur,the fattest, going last, despitehis protestations. As theycross the river, they see anenchanted deer jump over theriver. Though Thorin tells themto hold their fire, the dwarveswaste all of their arrows tryingto shoot the deer, making theirbows useless. When it isBombur’s turn to cross, he fallsin the water, and immediatelyfalls asleep; the dwarves mustnow carry him. The groupbegins to hear mysteriouslaughter; it doesn’t sound likeit comes from goblins.

The enchanted hunt of deer is afamiliar motif from early Englishand Celtic poetry, one with whichTolkien was extremely familiarfrom his academic studies. Here,the dwarves’ failure to use theirweaponry effectively signals thatthey’re inadequately prepared fortheir quest, and that, for all hisweaknesses, Bilbo might be abetter adventurer than any ofthem. Where the dwarves rely ongut instinct and weaponry, Bilbouses his ring, his trickery, and hiswords to survive on the openroad.

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The dwarves send Bilbo toclimb a tree in the hope thathe’ll be able to see the end ofthe forest. Bilbo climbs a tree,and at the top, he seessunshine and beautifulbutterflies, but no end to thetrees. By the time he’s climbedback down, he is tired andmiserable at having to returnto the forest; when he tells thedwarves what he saw, they’remiserable, too.

There is something melancholyand deeply moving about thefact that the group is only a fewfeet away from sunshine andwarmth—it’s just that thesethings are high above them, notaround them. This situation is ametaphor for the dwarves’ largersituation: they know what theirhome is (the Lonely Mountain),but it is beyond their reach.

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Bombur wakes up, saying thathe’s been having lovely dreamsof feasts and food. Thorin isirritated with this news, sincethe group’s supplies havealmost ran out. Bilbo and thedwarves see lights, and whatappears to be the king of thewoodland holding a grandfeast. Thorin is reluctant tostep off the path, buteventually he and the otherswander toward the food. Assoon as they arrive, it becomescompletely dark, and Bilbobecomes separated from therest of his group.

Bombur is almost a parody ofBilbo at his weakest—he dreamsof food, he has to be carried, hecontributes nothing to the group.This signals that Bilbo is nolonger the “weak link” in thegroup; he’s beginning to prove hisworth and earn his fourteenth ofthe treasure. Even so, he’s nomore responsible than thedwarves when they run off thepath.

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Bilbo falls asleep, and when hewakes up from dreams of foodand home, he finds himselfhalf-covered in spiderthread—a giant spider hascaptured him and is about topoison him. Bilbo manages tofree his sword and kill thespider. He names his swordSting, and suddenly feelspowerful and excited.

Here, Bilbo participates in acrucial act of renaming. By givinga simple knife an impressive,evocative name, he makeshimself more imposing andheroic—no common person couldwield Sting. (It’s interesting thatthis moment comes on the heelsof Tolkien’s descriptions ofOrcrist and Glamdring, swordsthat do have an impressivehistory and legacy.) Language,then, is Bilbo’s most importanttool: when he uses words to makehimself appear more impressive,his statement becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and he doesbecome more impressive. Innaming his sword he gives it, andhimself as its wielder, a legacy,and that legacy is connected toall other named swords.

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Bilbo puts on his ring andfollows the sounds of yelling,and, with a little luck, he comesto a web where a group ofgiant spiders is discussing thebig group it has just captured.Bilbo recognizes the shapes ofthe dwarves, covered inthread. He finds a small stoneand throws it at a spider, killingit. Confident that the spiderscan’t see him, he begins singinga song, mocking the remainingspiders and luring them awayfrom their web. Bilbo doublesback and hastily uses his swordto cut the dwarves free. Theyare tired and sick from thespiders’ poison, and Bombur isso exhausted that he falls outof the web. The spiders closein around Bombur, but Bilbojumps down and kills half adozen with his sword, whilethe dwarves use sticks andstones to help him scare awaythe rest.

Bilbo continues to use words tofight his enemies—his songaccomplishes its intendedpurpose, confusing andmaddening the spiders. Bilbo, it’sclear, has begun to enjoy hisquest, and relish the battles withmonsters instead of fearingthem. It’s clear how quickly Bilbohas grown into a goodadventurer by the way he savesthe lives of the thirteendwarves—who have much moreexperience than he does withadventures, after all. Bilbo alsogains a new skill—old-fashionedsword fighting.

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Bilbo realizes that he’ll have toexplain his ring to the dwarves;he tells them that he can use itto disappear, and that theymust run away from thespiders while he uses his ringand sword to fight them. Forwhat seems a long time, Bilbodefends the dwarves, buteventually, the spiders give upand return to their lair.

Bilbo no longer hides his secretsfrom the dwarves, and perhapsthis is because he’s confidentenough in his own abilities thathe doesn’t think he needs to hidethem any longer.

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The dwarves run away fromthe spiders, and eventuallyarrive at a place that theydetermine to be the home ofthe wood-elves, who are oftenhostile to visitors but are notevil like goblins. They arecurious about Bilbo’s story,and ask him many questions. Itis at this time that they beginto take Bilbo more seriously, asGandalf hinted would happen.Suddenly, the dwarves noticethat Thorin is missing.

Bilbo’s reputation goes upenormously after he saves thedwarves’ lives: they pester himwith questions, much the waythey’ve pestered Gandalf forinformation in the past. Yet thedwarves aren’t exactly brilliantadventurers themselves—theylose Thorin without noticing.

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The narrator reveals whathappened to Thorin: when thedwarves wandered off thepath to find food, the wood-elves find and capture Thorinfor supposedly attacking themat their feast. Thorin is takenbefore the king of the Wood-Elves; he tells him that he wastraveling with his companions,but refuses to say what theywere doing in the woods. Theking accuses Thorin of lying,and, as a wood-elf, is hostile todwarves in general, since thedwarves supposedly stole theelves’ treasure long ago (thedwarves say exactly the samething about the elves). Theking sends Thorin to prison,where Thorin is given onlybread and water, and wonderswhat became of his friends.

Thorin’s behavior before the kingis perfectly indicative of hispersonal strengths andweaknesses. Thorin has enoughloyalty in his quest to the LonelyMountain that he doesn’t revealit to the king, and enoughheroism to withstand anypunishment. At the same time,he keeps his mouth shut when hecould, presumably, apologize orbe honest with the king and get alighter sentence (or none at all).Yet Thorin wants his kingdomand all of its treasure for himself,and his refusal to divulge his goalis also a sign of his greed, and ofhis fear of the greed of others(which is itself a symptom ofgreed). At the same time, it is thelong-standing conflict betweendwarves and elves, not anyindividual conflict betweenThorin and the Elvenking, thatresults in Thorin’s imprisonment.Separated from his companions,Thorin begins to lose some of hishope.

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CHAPTER 9: BARRELS OUT OF BONDBilbo and the dwarves wander

through the woods, desperatefor food. Just then a party ofwood-elves emerges frombehind the trees, and capturesthem all, except for Bilbo, whomanages to put on his ring andthen follow behind unnoticedas the elves march thedwarves into their city. Thedwarves are presented to theElvenking, who questionsthem and reprimands them forusing his roads and attackingthe spiders, thereby disturbinghis people. The dwarves areangry with the Elvenking, andthey’re imprisoned in separatecells, unaware that Thorin isthere as well.

Once again, Bilbo demonstrateshis value to the group, evadingcapture while his companionsare marched off toimprisonment. It’s importantthat Tolkien doesn’t entirely takethe dwarves’ side in this passage:the Elvenking is right, after all, tobe angry that the dwarves havedisturbed the spiders, since hehas a responsibility to keep hispeople safe. Bilbo and thedwarves are hardlyperfect—they’re not exactly goodguests—and this is largely whatmakes them such interestingcharacters.

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Bilbo walks, invisible, thoughthe elves’ prison, not wantingto abandon the dwarves. He iscautious, for fear of the guardsbumping into him. He wishesthat he were back in hishobbit-hole, or that he couldsend a message to Gandalf,but eventually he realizes thathe will have to save thedwarves himself.

Bilbo demonstrates how muchhe has learned about taking careof himself—though hemomentarily wishes he could relyon someone else for help, thedireness of his situationencourages him to work alone tofree his friends.

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After a week or two ofsearching, Bilbo finds Thorinin a special prison cell; Thorinhas been so miserable that hewas considering telling theelves about his quest fortreasure. Bilbo tells Thorinthat the other dwarves arethere; and he tells the otherdwarves that Thorin is nearby,too. Thorin’s opinion of Bilbogrows quickly. Bilbo alsodiscovers that there is a wayout of the prison besides thefront gates: there is a canalunderneath the building thatthe elves use to transportbarrels of wine.

Thorin gains new respect forBilbo, just as the other dwarvesdo. Indeed, Bilbo’s intelligenceand resourcefulness seem muchmore impressive than Thorin’sintegrity—he was consideringgiving up information about thetreasure when Bilbo found him.

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One night, Bilbo overhears theelves talking about anupcoming great feast, full ofwine and revelry. Bilbo seizesthe opportunity, and when theguards are drinking upstairs,he steals the keys to the prisoncells and frees every dwarf. Hetells the dwarves to hurry andbe silent as he loads them intobarrels; normally the barrelstransport wine down the riverto trade with the men of Lake-town (which is also calledEsgaroth). Now they will carrythe dwarves to freedom. Bilbolowers the barrels into thecanal and they float down theriver. Bilbo himself is forced toswim in the water, at least untilhe is able to swim to a barreland use it as a raft.

There is a childish quality to thedwarves' escape, since they makeuse of the elves’ drunkenness—anunmistakably adult vice—whenthey escape. In this chapter, Bilbohas become responsible for theother members of his group, andthe end is no exception—he’sforced to swim alongside thebarrels.

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The barrels run aground at anearby town, where they’restored overnight. Bilbo swimsashore and uses his ring tosteal some food and wine; thenext day, the barrels are sentback along the river, and theyfloat to Lake-town.

Tolkien doesn’t give details abouthow Bilbo steals food thatnight—it’s as if Bilbo has grownso competent as this kind ofburglary that it’s almost notworth mentioning.

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CHAPTER 10: A WARM WELCOMEBilbo, who has developed acold in the water, floats alongwith the dwarves, still in theirbarrels. In the distance beyondLake-town, he sees the LonelyMountain, the mountain heand the dwarves have beentrying to reach, and thinks thathe isn’t at all glad to see it. Thenarrator notes that Bilbo hasfound the only good path fromMirkwood to the dwarves’destination—the river—sincethe roads of Mirkwood havebecome too dangerous, orfallen into disrepair. Gandalf,having learned thisinformation, makes haste torejoin the dwarves, thoughBilbo doesn’t know this at thetime.

The narrator offers his own takeon Bilbo’s adventures, andexplains that Bilbo was luckierthan he could have imagined.This suggests that Bilbo’s successas an adventurer—and, perhaps,all adventurers’ success—isn’tentirely up to them; there’s anelement of chance or fate at play.Gandalf will return to thedwarves to help them, but it’sclear by now that Bilbo can oftenfigure out how to get by withoutGandalf.

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The narrator notes that Lake-town is a town of men, which,like much of the areasurrounding the LonelyMountain, has fallen intodisrepair following the arrivalof Smaug. Though men inLake-town are relatively faraway from Smaug, and surviveby trading with the elves alongthe river, they can still see theruin Smaug caused—there areno trees or elaborate buildings.Some say that one day thedwarves will return to theirhome, and the men of Lake-town will return to and rebuildDale, a large town that wasprosperous when it tradedwith the dwarves and thatSmaug later destroyed.

Tolkien here portrays theimportance of hope to thetownspeople; they get throughtheir difficult lives by thinkingahead to a brighter future. Thisreinforces the importance ofmusic and poetry—the songs thedwarves sing at the beginning ofThe Hobbit, for instance, help tomaintain this spirit of hope. Theconnection of the relativepoverty of Lake-town to thedisappearance of the dwarvesfrom the Lonely Mountain againsuggests the power when elves,men, and dwarves cooperaterather than fight, when they worktogether rather than split apartbased on greed.

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Long after the sun sets, Bilboswims to the shore and lets thedwarves out of their barrels;they are extremely tired andhungry. Because he is so wetand exhausted, the narratornotes, it would be some timebefore Thorin was polite toBilbo again; nevertheless, hethanks Bilbo for saving themfrom the elves. The groupmakes its way into Lake-town,and Thorin announces himselfas the King Under theMountain and demands to betaken to the Master of thetown.

Thorin is a stubborn,occasionally ungrateful dwarf;this foreshadows the events ofthe final third of the book. Yethe’s also a noble, impressivefigure, who quickly switches frombeing cold and wet tocommanding the respect of theentire town.

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Men take the dwarves andBilbo to see the Master ofLake-town, who is at a feast.He is astounded to hear thatthe King Under the Mountainhas returned, and thoughthere is an elf at the feast whosays that Thorin and hiscomrades are escapedprisoners, the generalexcitement over Thorin’sreturn is so great that theMaster has no choice but toallow the group to remain free.

The Master is immediatelyshown to be a callous, greedyleader, who feasts even when hispeople are poor and hungry.Despite his greed, he’s not aparticularly powerful leader; hehas to give in to the crowdbecause he isn’t strong enough todisagree with them. This suggeststhat the Master stays in hisposition by manipulating popularopinion, rather ignoring italtogether. He comes to serve asa contract to other, more heroiccharacters.

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For the next two weeks, Bilboand the dwarves enjoy thetown’s hospitality, and regaintheir strength. After this time,Thorin announces to theMaster that he is ready to goto the Mountain. The Master issurprised, because he hadassumed that Thorin was afraud and merely pretendingto be the King Under theMountain in order to get freefood and lodgings.Nevertheless, the Masterconceals his surprise andwishes Thorin good luck on hisquest. He is happy to be rid ofthe dwarves, since they areexpensive to take care of. Bilbois the only one who’s unhappyto be leaving the town.

The Master is such a fraudhimself that he’s amazed whenhis guest turns out to be sincerein his aims. Bilbo, despite theaptitude for adventure he’sdeveloped so far, isn’t at all eagerto go to the Lonely Mountain.This raises the question of what,exactly, Bilbo wants to get out ofhis quest. It may be that Bilbowants a “healthy balance” ofadventure and peace—too muchof either one makes him anxious.

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CHAPTER 11: ON THE DOORSTEPBilbo and the dwarves makeuse of the supplies and poniesthe men of the town give them,and take two days to ride toSmaug’s Desolation, the areaaround the Mountain thatSmaug has claimed for himself.They are not cheery as theyride, since they know that theyare nearing the end of theirjourney, and it might be anunpleasant end.

The climactic scenes of TheHobbit are about to begin, andeveryone, including the dwarves,Bilbo, and Tolkien himself, knowsit.

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The group reaches the remainsof Dale, which is in ruins.Thorin and Balin note sadlythat the Dale was green andbeautiful before Smaugdestroyed it. Bilbo sees smokerising from the Mountain, andassumes that Smaug must stillbe there. Balin says that he’sprobably right, but that Smaugcould be gone for a time, withthe underground halls still fullof his smell.

Part of Smaug’s danger to thedwarves is that he’sunpredictable—surprisingly forsuch a large, visible animal. Thus,it’s not even clear that he’s reallyunder the mountain.

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The dwarves are afraid of whatthey’ll encounter in themountain, and have little spiritfor their quest. Bilbo,surprisingly, is eager to use themap to find the secretpassageway. However, aftermany days of looking, they donot succeed in finding it.Autumn is almost over, andwinter is about to begin: at thispoint in the quest, the entiregroup, even Bilbo, begins todespair. Bilbo looks to theWest and thinks fondly of hishome. The dwarves suggestthat he try to enter theKingdom under the Mountainthrough the Main Gate; Bilboturns down this suggestionimmediately, since he’d likely torun into Smaug, and thedwarves reluctantly accept hisdecision.

Though Bilbo was initiallyreluctant to go to the mountain,the sight of the map—he’s lovedmaps since long before he beganthe quest—reinvigorates hisspirits. This, and the otherconversations Bilbo has with thedwarves in this section, suggeststhat defeating Smaug is as mucha practical problem as one ofbravery—they have to figure outhow to enter the mountain first.

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Several days after they arriveat the Lonely Mountain, thereis a new moon in the sky andthe sun is setting. Bilbo sees athrush knocking a snail againstthe rock, and this sightreminds him of the messageElrond read on the map: herealizes that he has found thesecret entrance, and it isDurin’s Day, the dwarf NewYear. This means that thegroup can open thepassageway. As the sun setsthat evening, a single red ray oflight shines on the side of themountain; a rock falls,illuminating a keyhole, just asElrond predicted. Quickly,Thorin produces his key, turnsit in the keyhole, and opens adoor into the side of the LonelyMountain.

Bilbo continues to prove himselfvaluable to the quest, but hisheroism here is based on traitsnot always connected to heroism(but which Tolkien seems toindicate should be). He isobservant, and has a bettermemory than the otherdwarves—he remembers thatElrond told them that on Durin’sDay, the light of the sun wouldshine on the door to the secretpassageway. The thrush proves avaluable ally to the dwarves, forreasons that Tolkien will makeclear later on.

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CHAPTER 12: INSIDE INFORMATIONThorin announces that it istime for Bilbo to earn his payby investigating the interior ofthe Mountain and acting as aburglar. Bilbo replies,impatiently, that he hasalready saved the dwarvestwice, but that he’ll go into theMountain anyway, since hetrusts his luck more than heused to at home. He asks forsomeone to accompany himinto the Mountain; only Balin,who’s fond of Bilbo,volunteers. The narrator notesthat dwarves are tricky, andnot always very honorable.These dwarves, the narratorcontinues, intend to keep theirpromise and pay Bilbohandsomely for his services,but at the same time, they’renot necessarily willing risktheir own lives to help him.Balin walks Bilbo into theMountain, but eventually hehangs back and lets Bilboproceed alone. Bilbo is afraid,but determined to go on—hehas changed greatly since heleft his home.

Bilbo is clearly enjoying himselfwhen he notes how useful he’sbeen to the dwarves so far: he’sbragging. At the same time, thenarrator paints a complicatedportrait of dwarves. Some, suchas Balin, are kind, and genuinelylike Bilbo. Nevertheless, thedwarves as a group don’t valueBilbo’s life remotely as much asthey value their gold and jewels.This foreshadows the conflicts ofthe final chapters of The Hobbit,and suggests that Bilbo, for all hisflaws, is the real moral center ofthe book.

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Bilbo climbs down into themountain, where he notices ared light. As he gets closer tothe source of the light, herealizes that he is looking atSmaug the dragon, lying on histreasure, asleep. The sighttakes Bilbo’s breath away—hehas no words that can describeit. He takes a cup from the pileof treasure, proud of himselffor his bravery, and runs backto the door, where he showsBalin and the other dwarvesthe cup. Everyone is elatedwith this find, until they hear ahuge noise, the sound ofSmaug’s rage—the rage of arich person who has just lostsomething he doesn’t reallyneed.

Smaug’s evil is inseparable fromhis greed—he’s dangerousbecause, much like the dwarvesthemselves (or Gollum with hisring), he loves his treasure to thepoint where he’s unwilling to partwith any of it. Tolkien lightens themood here with an amusingcomparison between Smaug anda grumpy old man, though thatcomparison also emphasizes thatSmaug is the embodiment of abad host: he shares nothing withanyone. It’s also important thatBilbo can’t describe Smaug’streasure—and nor can Tolkien.Language is a powerful tool, butit has its limits, and here it fails toaccount for the wonder of thedwarves’ gold.

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The dwarves are terrified tosee Smaug emerge from themountain, roaring with rage.The dwarves try to find shelterfrom Smaug; they are afraid tosave Bofur and Bombur, whoare stationed lower down onthe mountain, in a morevulnerable position. Thorininsists that they rescue themby pulling them up with rope.Bilbo and the dwarves thenrun through the door into themountain. They sleep there forthe night, while Smaugsearches the mountain for thethief who took his cup, andfinds the ponies on which thedwarves rode. Though theponies try to run away, Thorindespairs that they’ll be killed.

Thorin is hardly a perfectcharacter, but he’s fiercely loyalto his dwarves, who havefollowed him across the world insearch of treasure. The fact thatSmaug eats the dwarves’ poniesmakes him similar to the goblins,who did the same thing in theMisty Mountains. The goodcharacters in The Hobbit arehugely different from each other,but the evil ones are largely thesame: greedy, bloodthirsty, etc.

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Hidden just inside themountain, the dwarves try todecide what to do. They haveno way of killing Smaug, whichwas the flaw in their plan allalong, and Bilbo points outthat he can hardly be expectedto steal the huge amount oftreasure under the mountainpiece by piece. Bilboimpatiently offers to go downto Smaug and see if he has anyweaknesses. The dwarvesaccept his offer.

Bilbo’s cleverness becomesincreasingly important as itbecomes clear that the dwarvesaren’t strong enough to kill thedragon. There’s something cockyand arrogant about the way thatBilbo volunteers to talk toSmaug—he knows how valuablehe is to the dwarves.

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Bilbo again travels down toSmaug’s lair, to which Smaughas returned. Smaug looksasleep to Bilbo, but Bilbodoesn’t know about dragons’keen sense of smell. Smaugsmells Bilbo, and opens his eyeslightly—he has only beenpretending to sleep. Headdresses Bilbo as “thief,” andtells him to enter and takewhat he wants of the treasure,since there is plenty of it tospare. Bilbo is too clever to fallfor this ploy, and puts on hisring, telling Smaug that he hasonly come to see if Smaug is asimpressive as the tales say.

Here, Bilbo’s smallness andinconspicuousness —thequalities that made the dwarvesinitially doubt him—becomeassets, allowing him to enterSmaug’s lair and talk to him.Smaug pretends to be a “goodhost” and offers Bilbo some of hisgold, but Bilbo, who’s dealt withplenty of bad hosts by this point,isn’t fooled.

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Smaug asks Bilbo for his name,and Bilbo replies that he isclue-finder, web-cutter, barrel-rider, and various other titlesrelating to his adventures.This, the narrator notes, is theproper way to talk to dragons,who can’t resist riddles.Smaug, says he doesn’tunderstand Bilbo but atefourteen ponies that smelledof dwarf, and warns Bilbo notto associate with dwarves,since they’ll surely kill himafter Bilbo does their dirtywork for them. He adds thatBilbo, who has probably beenpromised one-fourteenth ofthe treasure, won’t receive anyof it, since it’s impossible for itto be transported back to hishome. Bilbo, falling under thedragon’s spell, is genuinelysurprised to hear this, andwonders if the dwarves meanto cheat him. Nevertheless, hereplies that he is confident inhis friends, and turns theconversation to Smaug’sarmor.

Bilbo’s listing of his names is aglorious feat of language, provinghow far he’s come as a speakerand as a person. His experiencesin the quest have become a partof his identity; he’s not just ahobbit who happens to haveridden a barrel—he’s a “barrelrider.” Yet these manipulations oflanguage go both ways. Smauguses words and cunning tomanipulate Bilbo into doubtingthe dwarves’ honesty—Bilbo willbe unable to get these thoughtsout of his head for some time.Smaug is not just greedy; he sowsdoubt among others and as aresult makes them greedy, too.Nevertheless, Bilbo is loyalenough to his friends that hedoesn’t give in to his doubts, atleast not right away.

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Smaug, eager to show off hisimpregnability, rolls onto hisside so that Bilbo can see hisdiamond armor. Bilbo notices,however, that there is a largehole in the waistcoat onSmaug’s left breast. With thisinformation, Bilbo runs awayfrom Smaug, who in ragebellows fire after him. Thedwarves treat Bilbo’s burns,while Bilbo explains hisconversation with Smaug.Bilbo, irritated with hiswounds, throws a rock at athrush, but Thorin tells him tostop, since thrushes are noble,talking birds who the dwarveshave long used tocommunicate messages acrossgreat distances. Bilbo,meanwhile, regrets callinghimself “barrel-rider,” since thiswill cause Smaug to think ofLake-town and to attack it. Asthe thrush listens, Bilbo tellsthe dwarves what Smaug saidabout being cheated out of hisshare; Thorin assures Bilbothat he was telling the truth,and tells him that he canchoose his own fourteenthshare.

Smaug’s weakness is his vanity(which might be described as akind of greed relating to one’sown qualities)—if he hadn’t givenin to Bilbo’s flattery, Bilbo wouldnever have known that it waspossible to kill him. Yet note, also,that it was Bilbo’s own vanitythat made him incautious withhis self-naming as “barrel-rider”and put the people of Lake-townin danger. Bilbo shares Smaug’sfaults, just not to the samedegree. When Thorin tells Bilbonot to hurt the thrush, he showsthe alliance between dwarvesand thrushes, and moregenerally, the importance ofcooperating with nature. Smaugeats animals—in other words,attacks nature—and this is anessential part of how we knowhe’s evil. Bilbo and the dwarves,on the other hand, cooperatewith animals; ultimately, thisbecomes a key part of how theydefeat the dragon.

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The dwarves turn to talkingabout the treasures they willown once Smaug is defeated.The most important treasurethat the dwarves mention isthe Arkenstone, an incrediblybeautiful gem that shines likethe moon. The group thenhears a roar in the middle ofthe night, and Bilbo urgesThorin to shut the door in theside of the mountain. Just asThorin shuts the door, theyhear a loud crash. Smaug hademerged quietly from his lairand attempted to attack them,and now has caused anavalanche, trapping them inthe passageway. They listenthrough the door and hearSmaug fly to the river to attackthe men of Lake-town, who,thanks to Bilbo’s remarksabout being a “barrel rider,”Smaug thinks played some partin the theft of his cup.

The dwarves display their lovefor their treasure, a love thatborders on greed, particularly inthe case of the Arkenstone.Bilbo’s remarks about being a“barrel-rider” do cause Smaug toattack the men. As Bilbobecomes more competent as anadventurer, his mistakes becomeproportionally greater, too.Heroism involves responsibility.Further, the fact that one’sactions can affect others inunforeseen ways becomes a kindof moral underpinning for therules behind being good hostsand good guests, towardcooperation and trust ratherthan greed – in essence, if one’sown actions and successesimpact and are supported byothers, then one should begenerous with those others as away of acknowledging thatinterconnectedness.

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CHAPTER 13: NOT AT HOMEThe dwarves begin to despair,since they have no way out ofthe mountain. Strangely, Bilbofeels more hopeful than he hadbefore—he urges the dwarvesto follow him down theSmaug’s lair. The group travelsdown through the mountain,cautious even though theythink Smaug is outside.

Bilbo’s hope is an importantweapon in the group’s conflictwith Smaug. He first developsthis sense of optimism when he’strapped under the MistyMountains, and it serves him wellwhen he’s trapped under theLonely Mountain.

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Bilbo explores Smaug’s pile oftreasure, and urges Oin andGloin to make fire; while theydo so, he finds the Arkenstone,the gem Thorin had previouslymentioned. Bilbo keeps thestone for himself, reasoningthat Thorin told him he couldkeep any fourteenth share ofthe treasure he desired,though he still feels guiltyabout taking what is surely themost beautiful part of thetreasure.

The fact that Bilbo takes theArkenstone reveals severalthings. First, it shows that he’staken Smaug’s words to heart,and is worried that he’ll beunable to collect his fourteenthshare of the treasure later.Second, it shows his nimblenesswith words, since he’sinterpreting Thorin’s promisethat he can choose hisfourteenth of the treasure givennear the end of Chapter 12 tomean that he can take any partof the treasure he wants. Finally,it shows that even Bilbo isn’timmune to the hypnotic effectsof treasure. Overall, he seemsuninterested in material wealth,but here, he changes his tune.

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The dwarves are glad to seetheir treasure, and fill theirpockets with whatever theycan carry. Thorin wears regalarmor and gives Bilbo a mailcoat, which he accepts despitethinking that he must lookridiculous.

Bilbo rejects the pomp andpageantry of heroism—he’slargely happy to be a humblehobbit, without any fancy armor.

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Thorin guides Bilbo and thedwarves along the RunningRiver, which leads from theinside of the Lonely Mountainsto the Front Gate, overlookingthe ruined town of Dale. Bilbosuggests that they move faraway from the Gate, sinceSmaug will pass through itwhen he returns, and thedwarves move toward a look-out post in the mountain fivehours away. Thorin insists thathis hall under the mountainwill be beautiful once it’s beencleaned and restored to itsformer glory. The groupwonders where Smaug couldbe.

Thorin’s optimism in this sceneindicates his greatest strengthsand his greatest weaknesses.He’s loyal to his inheritance—thetreasure itself—and this makeshim an effective leader, guidinghis twelve followers across theworld. At the same time, Thorin’soverwhelming love for his homeand his gold is a weakness, sinceit makes him selfish anduninterested in compromise ofany kind – in these ways heactually resembles Gollum andSmaug.

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CHAPTER 14: FIRE AND WATERThe dwarves are unaware, thenarrator says, what happenedto Smaug after he flew awayfrom the mountain. The men inEsgaroth (i.e. Lake-town) see alight in the distance, whichthey think might be thedwarves returning to forginggold. But soon, they realizethat Smaug is rapidlyapproaching their town. TheMaster tries to row away fromthe dragon in a boat, while therest of the town blows warningtrumpets and tries to defenditself. Smaug hopes that thetownspeople will flee in boats,since it will be easy for him totrap them on the water andstarve them out. He wreakshavoc on the town.

The Master reveals himself to bea coward, but the people ofEsgaroth themselves are loyalenough to their own home thatthey stay and fight. Smaugmeanwhile, reveals himself to bea sadistic villain, longing for theeasy targets of boats in thewater. It’s possible that Tolkien’sexperiences as a soldier in WorldWar I, the first war in whichairplanes were used in largequantities, influenced hisdescription of Smaug flyingthrough the air, wreaking havocon everything below him.

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In the town lives a man namedBard. He is a descendant ofGirion, who long ago was theLord of Dale, before Smaugdestroyed it. Bard commands agroup of archers to shoot atSmaug. In the middle ofSmaug’s destruction, the samethrush that was listening toBilbo when he told thedwarves about Smaug’s weakpoint, flies to Esgaroth andtells Bard how to kill thedragon. Bard then takes hisblack arrow, which had beenpassed down to him from hisfather, and uses it to shootSmaug in the weak point on hisbreast and kill him. Smaug dies,having already destroyedmuch of the city of Esgaroth.

Bard’s legitimacy as a warriorseems deeply rooted in hisfamily—his ancestors were greatlords. At the same time, hissuccess in killing Smaug stemsfrom the dwarves’ cooperationwith the thrushes—without thisalliance, Bard would never haveknown where to shoot. Even thegreatest and most impressiveheroes in The Hobbit depend onother people and animals, andfeel a deep sense of loyalty toothers. (Bard, for instance, isfiercely loyal to his people.)Villains, on the other hand, areoften portrayed as being on theirown; Smaug is the perfectexample.

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The townspeople, includingthe Master, who has hastilyrowed back to the town, praiseBard for his bravery, but thinkthat he’s died in thedestruction. They say that theywould have made him king hadhe survived. Bard appearssuddenly, and the people chantthat they want Bard for theirking. The Master insists thatBard’s ancestors were kings inDale, not Esgaroth; when thisdoesn’t work, he cleverlyencourages the people todemand reparations from thedwarves for the damageSmaug has done to their home.This suggestion distracts thepeople from their proposalthat Bard become king, andkeeps the Master in power.Bard at first insists that it’sfoolish to be thinking of thedwarves, since surely Smaughas killed them too, buteventually he gives in to theMaster, reasoning that thedwarves’ treasure can be usedto rebuild the city of Dale. Hetells the Master that he’ll obeyhim for the time being, but maybreak away to found his owncommunity later on.

The Master is a clever ruler (inthe sense of keeping himself inpower), even if he’s a coward. InMachiavellian fashion, he turnsthe people against an externalenemy, thereby distracting theattention from himself. Bard, incontrast, proves that he’s anhonest, sensible person when hesays that the people shouldn’t bethinking about the dwarves atall—but in the end, even he isn’timmune to the force of thecrowd. Though it is worth notingthat the Master uses the idea ofthe treasure to keep himself inpower, while Bard seeks torebuild a city for the people ofEsgaroth. Just as a good hosttrusts his guests, who in turntrust and respect him, a goodruler seeks to help his people whoin turn grant him rule over them.

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While Bard organizes thepeople of Esgaroth andmarches them toward theLonely Mountain, Beorn, thegoblins, and the wood-elvesalso learn that Smaug has died.The Elvenking of Mirkwoodmarches to Esgaroth, where heoffers aid to the sick andinjured men in return for areward of treasure later on.The Master hangs back,building a new townimmediately north of Esgarothwith the resources the wood-elves lend the men, while theElvenking and Bard thenmarch their people furthernorth to the dwarves’ homeunder the mountain.

The stage is set for the final partof The Hobbit: Smaug is dead,but various other enemies,including goblins, remain alive.The book is becoming moreobviously political—in large part,the conflicts in the next fewchapters won’t be physical, butverbal, hinging on complicatednegotiations that involve variousparties’ sense, based on bothlegitimate right and greed, ofwhat should be theirs.

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CHAPTER 15: THE GATHERING STORMBack on the Lonely Mountain,Bilbo and the dwarves aretrying to determine whereSmaug is. They notice thethrush that told Bard aboutSmaug’s weak point. Thedwarves complain howeverthat they can’t understandwhat the thrush is saying; as aresult, the thrush flies awayand brings back an old raven,Rac, who Bilbo and thedwarves can understand, sincethey have a historic friendshipwith the birds. Rac tells thegroup that Smaug is dead,having been shot by Bard, andthey are overjoyed with thisnews. Rac adds that the men ofthe lake, along with the wood-elves, are marching to theLonely Mountain seeking someof Thorin’s treasure, and thatThorin should trust Bard, notthe Master.

Tolkien quickly gets the plotexposition out of the way—now,both sides (men and dwarves)know that Smaug is dead, andthus that the dwarves’ treasure isup for grabs. Even though aconflict seems to be brewingbetween Thorin and Bard, it’sworth noting that the thrush tellsThorin to trust Bard—but hereThorin refuses, marking a breakfrom his cooperation with natureand the emergence of his greedabove all. In many ways, Bard islike Thorin: they’re both highlyloyal to the people they lead. Thedifference is that Bard hasalready proven that he is willingto fight and negotiate on behalfof his people; it’s not yet clear ifThorin is as devoted to his fellowdwarves, or if he’s loyal, first andforemost, to his precioustreasure.

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Thorin is furious to learn thatothers will try to take part ofhis treasure, and vows not togive away any of it. He tells Racto fly to Dain, Thorin’s cousinwho lives in the Iron Hills, tosummon him to come with anarmy, and orders his owngroup of dwarves to fortify theLonely Mountain. Bilbo pointsout that they have only a littlefood, and thinks to himself thattheir adventure is over, andthat he’d like to go home now.

Bilbo is no longer sure of his role,since the task he was hiredfor—burglary—he’s alreadyaccomplished. Thus, he wants toreturn to his home as soon aspossible. It’s as if Bilbo alone isunaffected by the huge amountsof treasure around him (though,of course, it’s worth rememberingthat Bilbo has already taken theArkenstone for himself).

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CHAPTER 16: A THIEF IN THE NIGHTNow under siege from the menand elves, Thorin orders thedwarves to search for theArkenstone, the most beautifulof the dwarves’ jewels. Ractells Thorin that Dain is onlytwo days away and ready tofight, but adds that the ensuingbattle will be long and bloody,and that Thorin’s treasure maybe the death of him. Thorinangrily refuses to listen to Rac.

Thorin refuses to listen to hispeople’s historical allies, thebirds. This suggests that Thorin isbetraying his family’s legacy withhis selfish refusal to share histreasure—indeed, he’sendangering the lives of hisfellow dwarves by refusing toallow them to get food fromoutside their home. In somesense, Thorin’s desire for hishome and his treasure has madehim forget, now that he hasthem, that a true home isfounded on sharing it, on being agood host. Thorin’s willingness tofight is here presented as un-heroic.

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Bilbo offers to take Bombur’sposition as night watchman.While the other dwarves sleep,he puts on his armor and useshis ring to sneak out of theLonely Mountain through theGate. While he’s crawlingthrough a stream on the sideof the mountain, he slips, andthe elves notice him. Heintroduces himself as BilboBaggins, and asks to be takento see Bard. The elves take himto Bard’s tent, where he tellsBard that Thorin will gladlystarve to death before he givesup his treasure, and that Dainis bringing an army to fightalongside Thorin. When Bardasks Bilbo whether he’sthreatening him or negotiating,Bilbo offers Bard theArkenstone as a way ofbargaining with Thorin andending the siege. Bard issurprised at the sight of ahobbit wearing armor, butrecognizes the Arkenstone isof enormous value, andaccepts it from Bilbo, addingthat Bilbo is more worthy ofhis armor than many otherswho have worn it.

Again, Bilbo is productive whilethe other characters sleep.Though it seemed (and may havebeen true) that he originally tookthe Arkenstone out of personalgreed and mistrust of thedwarves, it becomes clear herethat whatever greed he felt isoutweighed by his desire forpeace, and his desire to return tohis home alive. Again, it’s unclearhow moral a decision this reallyis (in a way, it’s a selfish decision,since Bilbo is valuing his owncomfort above his friends’possessions), though it is anadmirable triumph over his ownpersonal greed. Bard and theelves show themselves to bereasonable, even likable people,because they respect Bilbo for hisabilities as a burglar and anegotiator, and recognize hisheroism.

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Bilbo travels back to theLonely Mountain, escorted upto the Gate by the elves. Hereturns to his watch and wakesBombur up at midnight,pretending that he’s beenkeeping watch the entire time.He falls asleep, and dreams offood.

Bilbo does not give away theArkenstone and then leave. Hereturns to the dwarves, revealingthat he both feels a connectionto them and that it was thisconnection that drove him togive up the Arkenstone: he seeshis actions as something thatcould save the dwarves fromgreedily marching to their owndestruction. The fact that Bilbodreams of food harkens back tohis love of domesticity, but alsoconnects that domesticity to hisheroism here: he wants to be ableto return to that domesticityafter his adventure, and he wantsthe dwarves to able to do thesame.

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CHAPTER 17: THE CLOUDS BURSTThe day after Bilbo gives himthe Arkenstone, Bard, theelves, and an old, cloaked manmarch to the Gate of theLonely Mountain to greetThorin. They ask him if he willbargain with them for some ofthe treasure. When Thorinrefuses, Bard produces theArkenstone, and insists thatwhile he is not a thief, he’lltrade it back to the dwarves inreturn for what his peoplerightfully deserve: food andshelter. Thorin is furious, anddemands to know how Bardgot the Arkenstone – Bilbotimidly admits that he was theone who gave it away. Thorinseizes Bilbo, insults him, andwishes aloud that Gandalfwere with him; at this moment,Gandalf reveals himself to bethe old, cloaked man, anddemands that Thorin releaseBilbo.

Bilbo, in admitting that he wasthe one who gave up theArkenstone, faces theconsequences of his actionsrather than simply trying tomanipulate events. Put anotherway, Bilbo (with somenervousness) trusts that the goodintentions of his actions will beunderstood. Gandalf’s suddenappearance—perfectly timed forthe moment when Bilbo needshim most—suggests that he’smore involved in the dwarves’quest than he seems, and in fact,might have been secretlywatching them all along.

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Bilbo tries to justify himself toThorin. He explains thatThorin told him he couldchoose any part of thetreasure for himself as hisshare, and so he chose theArkenstone. Thorin doesn’tdisagree with Bilbo, but hecalls Bilbo a traitor anddismisses him from the LonelyMountain, saying that hehopes he’ll never see Bilboagain. Bilbo departs from themountain and joins Gandalf,the men, and the elves. WhileBilbo is saying goodbye to theother dwarves, Thorinthreatens to shoot him.

While Thorin recognizes thatBilbo’s interpretation of Thorin’swords is accurate, Thorinnonetheless refuses to accept thespirit behind Bilbo’s actions: totry to avoid a war fueled bygreed. Rather than see Bilbo astrying to save the dwarves fromthemselves, Thorin’s greed for histreasure is such that he can onlysee giving it away as treacheryand as a basis to sever hisfriendship with Bilbo. Note thatThorin and the dwarves, now, areisolated and alone in the sameway that evil characters likeSmaug and Gollum wereportrayed as being.

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Thorin tells Bard that inexchange for the Arkenstonehe will trade him one-fourteenth of the treasure,which he will take from Bilbo’sshare. Meanwhile, Thorinthinks to himself that he mightbe able to regain theArkenstone with Dain’s help,and thus avoid having tosurrender any of the treasureto Bard. Bard tells Thorin thathe has until noon of the nextday to deliver him thetreasure.

Despite Thorin’s loyalty to hisword, he’s so greedy that healways thinks about ways to keephis wealth, even if it involves war.This is ultimately whatdistinguishes him from Bard:although both leaders regardtreasure as extremely important,Bard does so because he sees itas a way to promote peace andhappiness in his people, whereasThorin sees treasure as an end initself.

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Shortly after Thorin agrees tosurrender some of histreasure, Dain arrives, leadingan army of strong, toughdwarves carrying manysupplies. Bard refuses to lethim through to the LonelyMountain and give supplies tothe other dwarves. Dain plansto wait out Bard, while in themeantime many other dwarvesrelated to Thorin arrive fromaround Middle-Earth, havingbeen alerted by ravens andthrushes that they are needed.Bard sends messengers to theGates in the hope ofnegotiating, but the dwarvesshoot arrows at thesemessengers instead of givingup their treasure. Dain and hisarmy advance toward the men,and Bard is ready to open fireon them, starting a huge battle.The Elvenking urges Bard towait a little longer, in the eventthat a last-minute event mightprevent war.

War seems inevitable: thedwarves’ armies are ready tofight, and Bard’s last-minuteefforts for a compromise are metwith arrows. Yet the Elvenkingremains hopeful, telling hissoldiers, and the men, to wait, inthe event that peace could bereached. This moment partiallyjustifies Bilbo’s feeling that theelves are the best of the threepeoples at the mountain—theyseem the least willing to resort toviolence, the most wise andpatient. Here the Elvenking’swords pause the march to war, atleast for a while.

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Just as a battle is about tobreak out between the elvesand men and the dwarves, theskies darken, and Gandalfcomes, bringing news that anew goblin leader, Bolg, andhis army of goblins and wargsis about to arrive – the skiesare black because an army ofbats accompanies the goblins.The narrator explains that thegoblins, incensed by the deathof the Great Goblin, have beenpursuing the dwarves insearch of revenge. WithGandalf’s encouragement, themen and elves ally with thedwarves and fight against thegoblins and wargs: this iseventually called The Battle ofthe Five Armies. In order todefeat the goblins, the elves,men, and dwarves lure theminto the wide valley betweentwo arms of the LonelyMountain, and then surroundthem. In this manner, a long,bloody battle begins.

Gandalf is a powerful warrior,but he’s an equally brilliantorganizer and negotiator. Here,he organizes three opposingforces, men, dwarves, and elves,together in the interest of peace.This loose confederacy, unitedagainst a common enemy butstill somewhat at odds with itself,might reflect Tolkien’sexperiences during World War I,when the “Triple Entente” ofFrance, England, and Russia,three historical enemies, alliedtogether to defeat Germany.

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Bilbo is unimportant duringthe Battle of the Five Armies;he wears his invisibility ringthe whole time. Nevertheless,for a long time afterwards, it isthis portion of his journey thathe’s most fond of relating toothers. Bilbo, standing close toGandalf, sees the men,dwarves, and elves fighttogether to defeat the goblins.The elves are the first to attackthe goblins, and at first, itseems as if the goblins will bedefeated. Then, the men,dwarves, and elves realize thatthey have only defeated thefirst wave of enemies—manymore goblins are coming.

Here, at the climax of TheHobbit, Bilbo doesn’t play acrucial role at all—on thecontrary, he hides away. It’s as ifTolkien has been preparing Bilbofor the role of a hero throughoutthe story, and then doesn’t fulfill.But Bilbo’s distaste for fightingisn’t purely cowardly—he haslegitimate moral reasons forhesitating to fight. He doesn’tvalue treasure, as the peoplesaround him do, and indeed, hisrole in the quest has been overfor some time. Further, the novelhas emphasized different typesof heroism, and Bilbo’s heroism isnot the sort to turn the tide of apitched battle.

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Goblins quickly overwhelm themountain. But just as theybegin to climb the walls of theMain Gate, Thorin and theother twelve dwarves burstout and bravely fight back.Many die throughout thebattle; the elves, in particular,suffer great losses, since theydidn’t bring enough troops tobegin with. Bilbo stands withthe elves, since he wouldprefer to ally with them. Hethinks that battle is a dirtybusiness, and that all thestories that say that battle isglorious are lies. The battlegoes on for many hours,without a clear victor. Thegoblins seem like they areabout to take the Gate whenBilbo sees the Eagles arrivingfrom the skies, but a stone hitshim in the head, and he losesconsciousness.

There’s nothing glorious aboutthe Battle of the FiveArmies—Tolkien doesn’t throw inany jokes or funny asides, as hedid in early scenes that involvedviolence. With the exception ofleaders like Bard, who seemgenuinely committed to helpingothers, most of the differentpeoples participating in battleare greedy, short-sighted, andselfish (not unlike the Westerncountries who fought in WorldWar I)—by this logic, battle is adirty business indeed, and Bilboisn’t wrong to avoid it. Tolkienmight be remembering his ownexperiences in the trenchesduring the Battle of the Somme,when he was almost killed.

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CHAPTER 18: THE RETURN JOURNEYWhen Bilbo regainsconsciousness, he is alone. Hestumbles around, and sees thatthe goblins have beendefeated. He thinks that if thisis victory, it’s verydisappointing. He meets a manwho takes him to the Dale,where Gandalf, his arm in asling, is standing besideThorin, who has been fatallywounded.

Bilbo not only avoids the battle,he’s actually unconscious formost of it. Yet even waking hecontinues to express his doubtswith battle, and with thesupposed heroism of fighting.The fact that even Gandalf, themost powerful and seeminglyimmortal person in The Hobbit,is wounded suggests the brutalityof the Battle of the Five Armies.Thorin’s fatal wounds suggestthat he has been punished for hisgreed, yet the fact that he is nextto Gandalf indicates thatsomehow he has found somekind of redemption: he didultimately give up the security ofthe Lonely Mountain to join withthe elves and men in their battleagainst the goblins.

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On his deathbed, Thorin tellsBilbo that he regrets callinghim a traitor and expelling him.He promises Bilbo his one-fourteenth of the treasure,noting that he is now travelingto the land where gold andsilver can’t be carried. Bilbo,greatly moved, bids farewell toThorin, and tells him that hefeels lucky to have questedalongside him. Bilbo feelspersonally responsible for thebattle, since it was he whostole the Arkenstone, but atthe same time reasons that hecan’t be blamed, since he stolethe stone to bring about peace.

Tolkien, who was raised aChristian, alludes throughThorin’s words to an afterlife thatthe characters of The Hobbitcan all access. This helps usunderstand why Thorin’sobsession with treasure is sosmall-minded: he can’t take itwith him when he dies. It is ameasure of Thorin’s ultimategoodness that he recognizes hisown former greed and small-mindedness. In the midst of thisChristian-influenced morality,Bilbo makes an unusual moraljudgment of his own. He knowsthat he was responsible for thebattle, insofar as he stole theArkenstone, but he doesn’t feelthat he’s done anything wrong,since his intentions were good.And, in fact, in a novel thatregularly makes clear that bothgood and bad characters sharetraits like greed, one can arguethat in fact the goodness orbadness of character’s intentionsare what separate the good frombad characters.

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Bilbo learns what happened atthe end of the Battle of theFive Armies. The Eagles hadnoticed the goblins marchingtoward the Lonely Mountain,so they flew to intervene,arriving at the last minute.Even with the eagles, the men,dwarves, and elves wereoutnumbered – only with thearrival of Beorn, taking theshape of a giant bear, were thegoblins defeated. Upon seeingthat Thorin was wounded,Beorn became so angry that hedestroyed a huge chunk of thegoblin army – so many of themthat for years afterward thearea around the MistyMountains was safe andsecure.

Beorn and the Eagles provethemselves to be invaluable,winning the battle for the men,dwarves, and elves. In this way,Gandalf proves himself to be themost important person in theBattle of the FiveArmies—without his influence,his friends Beorn and the Lord ofthe Eagles would never havetraveled to provide help.

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The Eagles depart afterintervening in battle, and Dainreplaces Thorin as King Underthe Mountain. All of Thorin’soriginal dwarves except for Filiand Kili survive. Dain is moregenerous with his birthrightthan Thorin was; he sendsBard one-fourteenth of thetreasure, which Bard uses tohelp his people rebuild. Bardtells Bilbo that he would havegiven him a huge amount ofgold, except that Bilbo’s shareof the treasure, it had alreadybeen agreed, was to be givento the men. Bilbo says that heis relieved that he doesn’t havemuch treasure to take backwith him, since it’s difficult tocarry. He departs for his home,accompanied by Gandalf andcarrying two chests oftreasure with him. Before heleaves, he says goodbye to thedwarves, reminding them thatthey’re always welcome in hishome. He also gives theElvenking a necklace. Whenthe Elvenking is confused,Bilbo explains that thenecklace is a gift in return forhis hospitality.

The Battle of the Five Armiesresults in peace and new trustbetween the dwarves, men, andelves, where before there hadbeen huge tension. It’s as if thedeath and violence on thebattlefield reminded everyonethat there are more importantthings in life than wealth. Thus,Dain generously gives the peopleof Lake-town money to helpthem rebuild their town, andBilbo gives the Elvenking anecklace—he even expresses hisgladness that he doesn’t havemuch treasure to carry, wherebefore he had worried that hewould be given less than hedeserved. In spite of Bilbo’sarguments and quarrels with thedwarves, he parts ways withthem on excellent terms.

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Over the course of the nextyear, Gandalf and Bilbo travelback to hobbit-town. Whilethey have many adventures onthe way back, the way is fareasier than it was whentraveling toward the LonelyMountain, since most of thegoblins are dead, having beenkilled at the Battle of the FiveArmies. Beorn, who hasbecome an important chief, isalso responsible for protectingthem during their travelshome. As Bilbo and Gandalfclimb the Misty Mountains,Bilbo looks behind him, andsees snow on the LonelyMountain. Amused that whereonce there was fire there isnow only snow, he thinks tohimself that even dragonsmeet their end. He is feelingtired, and is eager to return tohis home and armchair.

At the beginning of The Hobbit,Bilbo felt a vague, evensubconscious desire to leave hishome and travel elsewhere. Now,he is eager to return, and wesense that he’s quenched hisdesire for adventure, at least forsome time. Bilbo’s quest forcedhim to grow, to discover thingsabout himself he never knew, andat the same time to make himvalue what he had before: hishome. Bilbo also shows signs ofmaturity when he muses on thesudden changes that the LonelyMountain has undergonerecently. The philosophicalobservations about theinevitability of change and deathwould be inconceivable comingfrom Bilbo at the beginning of thenovel—his experiences withdeath and sudden change haveclearly affected the way hethinks.

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CHAPTER 19: THE LAST STAGEOn May 1st, Bilbo and Gandalfpass through Rivendell, wherethe elves sing songs ofSmaug’s defeat and thedwarves’ victory. Gandalf tellsElrond of the group’sadventures – Bilbo is largelytoo tired to explain. Bilbolearns that while Gandalf wasaway from his quest with thedwarves, the wizard wasdriving the mysteriousNecromancer from his homenear Mirkwood; thus, theforest and much of thesurrounding area will be saferin the future.

At every stage of The Hobbit,song and poetry marks the majorevents of the dwarves’ quest.Bilbo has participated in animportant adventure, and thismeans that he will beremembered long after his death,in the songs of the dwarves andthe elves—he too has beenwritten into history. Anothermark of the importance of thegroup’s quest is that the journeyhome is relatively safe andeasy—many evil foes have beendefeated. It’s a mark of Tolkien’simagination that he doesn’tfully—or even partially—explainwho the Necromancer is: MiddleEarth is a vast world, only afraction of which is explained inThe Hobbit (this world,including the Necromancer, ismuch further developed inTolkien’s subsequent Lord of theRings trilogy).

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As Gandalf and Bilbo getcloser to hobbit-town, Bilboremembers his adventures,which seem to have occurred adecade ago, though it’s beenonly a year since he left hishome. He and Gandalf comeupon the treasure thatbelonged to the three trolls.Though at first he offers thetreasure to Gandalf, heeventually takes some of it forhimself when Gandalf remindshim that he may need itsomeday.

Bilbo remembers his adventureshaving begun long ago becausehe has changed enormously inthe last year—he’s become moreresourceful, braver, etc. At thesame time, Bilbo doesn’t seemmuch more interested in treasureor gold than he was at thebeginning of the book. Thissuggests that the real value of hisquest wasn’t in the treasurechests he brought back with him,but rather in the personal changehe experienced as a result ofparticipating in it.

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When Bilbo arrives in hobbit-town, he is surprised to learnthat he has been presumeddead, and the other hobbitshave been raiding his houseand taking his possessions.Even after Bilbo returns, someof his possessions remainmissing, and some people, suchas his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses, say that he is animposter. Among the hobbits,Bilbo has gained a damagingreputation for beingadventurous and a friend tothe elves, but he does notmind. He enjoys his life in hishobbit-hole even more than hedid before he met Gandalf. Herarely uses his sword or ring,and donates his mail coat to amuseum.

With Bilbo’s return to hobbit-town, he “rises from the dead,”since his neighbors had thoughthe was deceased. This isstrangely appropriate, since Bilbohas indeed been “reborn” in thelast year—his personality andcharacter has changed. Thegreed of Bilbo’s neighbors showsthat greed is prevalent even inthe “safety” of domestic life, andthat Bilbo truly is a rare breed—abrave, daring adventurer who,unlike almost everyone aroundhim, has no real interest inmaterial possessions. Similarly,Bilbo recognizes that neither hisadventures nor the things he gotfrom it are to be hoarded: hegives up the implements of hisheroism, such as his sword, withlittle fanfare.

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Years later, Bilbo is working ona memoir about his journey tothe Lonely Mountain, called“There and Back Again, aHobbit’s Holiday,” when hehears a ring and finds thatBalin and Gandalf are visiting.Bilbo learns that Bard hasrebuilt the town of Dale, now athriving city. Lake-town is alsoprosperous once again, due tothe friendly relationshipsbetween men, elves, anddwarves, which lead to tradeand travel. The old Master hasdied, having succumbed to“dragon-sickness” and beenabandoned by his friends. Thenew Master, Bard, is wiser andmore honest, and is loyal to hispeople’s interests.

In the same way that Bilboreinvented himself by renaminghis sword Sting, Bilbo takescontrol over his own life, literally“writing his own story.”Meanwhile, the information thatBard has brought peace andprosperity to his people ends TheHobbit on an optimistic note.The dwarves may have soughttheir treasure for selfish reasons,but ultimately, their questresulted in greater happiness foreveryone as the cooperationinspired by the Battle of the FiveArmies has held. The Master, likeall the bad characters of thenovel, ends up alone. It’s notclear if Bilbo’s memoir issupposed to be the book TheHobbit (half of the title is thesame), but if this is the case, itshows a new stage in Bilbo’smaturity: his writing is no clumsydiary, but a sophisticated, well-written adventure story.

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Bilbo says that the propheciesthat the rivers would one dayrun with gold have come true,and Gandalf replies that theyhave. He adds that Bilbo didn’tsucceed in his quest by himself,since he’s only a little fellow.Bilbo responds that he’s gladhe’s only a little fellow.

Bilbo brings the book “full circle,”noting that the prophecymentioned in the first chapterhas come true. At the same time,Tolkien closes The Hobbit byquestioning how much of a heroBilbo really is. He’s accomplisheda great deal, to be sure, but asGandalf points out, he hasn’tdone it by himself. Bilbo, for hispart, seems glad to be only aminor player in the world—he’sfound happiness in being ahumble man of simple tastes—aposition that, having adventured,he has now earned and chosenas the right one for him—and thisis the model of happiness withwhich the book ends.

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HOW THOW TO CITEO CITEIt's easy to cite LitCharts for use in academic papersand reports.

MLA CITMLA CITAATIONTIONBen Florman and Justin Kestler, LitCharts Editors."LitChart on The Hobbit." LitCharts.com. 18 Mar 2016.

CHICACHICAGO MANUGO MANUAL CITAL CITAATIONTIONBen Florman and Justin Kestler, LitCharts Editors."LitChart on The Hobbit." LitCharts.com. 2016.http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-hobbit.

APAPA CITA CITAATIONTIONBen Florman and Justin Kestler, LitCharts Editors2016. LitChart on The Hobbit. Retrieved March 18,2016 from http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-hobbit.



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