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The Hobbit

AUTHOR BIOFull Name: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Pen Name: J.R.R. Tolkien

Date of Birth: January 3, 1892

Place of Birth: Bloemfontein, Orange Free State

Date of Death: September 2, 1973

Brief Life Story: As a child, Tolkien was an excellent student, and enjoyedreading imaginative fiction like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through theLooking Glass by Lewis Carroll. He also developed a passion for languages,even inventing a language called Nevbosh with his cousins. Tolkien studiedEnglish literature at Oxford University, and married a woman named EdithBratt shortly after his graduation. He fought in World War One, including inthe infamous Battle of the Somme, where he lost many of his closest friends.After the war, Tolkien began a brilliant career as a scholar of Old and MiddleEnglish. His translation of the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is stillwidely taught, and his celebrated lecture on the poem Beowulf is oftencredited with sparking a renewed interest in early English poetry. With thepublication of The Hobbit in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in the mid-1950s,Tolkien became world-famous. Though he had more than enough money retirefrom academic life, he continued to teach at Oxford University until his deathin 1977.

KEY FACTSFull Title: The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

Genre: Fantasy; Epic

Setting: Middle Earth

Climax: The Battle of the Five Armies

Protagonist: Bilbo Baggins

Antagonist: Smaug the dragon

Point of View: Third person omniscient

HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXTWhen Published: September 21, 1937

Where Written: Pembroke College, Oxford

Related Literary Works: The success of The Hobbit inspired Tolkien to writethe three longer novels about Middle Earth collectively known as The Lord ofthe Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), and TheReturn of the King (1955). At the time of his death, Tolkien left behind a hugecollection of stories, poems, and fragments of stories and mythology set inMiddle Earth and its surrounding universe that his son, Christopher Tolkien,later published. The best known of these posthumous works is The Silmarillion(1977), a prequel of sorts to the events in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.Tolkien’s success may have inspired his friend, C.S. Lewis, to publish his ownseries of richly detailed fantasy novels, The Chronicles of Narnia. The Hobbit alsohas a lot in common with early epic poems. Like Beowulf, it features a dragon;like The Odyssey, its hero grows into something of a trickster who enjoysreinventing himself.

Related Historical Events: Tolkien fought in World War One, and though TheHobbit is a work of fantasy, his experiences as a soldier in France clearlyinformed his writing. When Yugoslavian nationalists assassinated ArchdukeFranz Ferdinand of Austria, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war onSerbia, and the two nations’ military alliances with other countries eventuallydrew all of Europe into a military conflict. Italy formed an uneasy alliance with

Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while England formed an alliancewith France and Russia. The complicated five-way battle at the end of TheHobbit, which leads to a series of hastily-established alliances and treaties,might be Tolkien’s version of World War One.

EXTRA CREDITThe greatest teacher you never had: Tolkien’s academic research at Oxfordput him in touch with some of the greatest British writers of the time,including C.S. Lewis, with whom Tolkien was close friends for many years. Atthe end of Tolkien’s life, he received a letter from the poet W.H. Auden, whohad attended a lecture Tolkien delivered on the poem Beowulf. Tolkien’sknowledge and passion inspired Auden to continue writing poetry!

Development Hell: As soon as Tolkien published his Middle Earth novels,people tried to adapt them as films. One of the funniest ideas for a Tolkienmovie came from the Beatles in the 1960s — George Harrison wanted to playGandalf, Ringo wanted to play Sam, and John Lennon wanted to play Gollum!Wisely, Tolkien refused to let the Fab Four play hobbits and wizards, and at thetime of his death, there were no live-action Middle Earth films. A quartercentury later, New Line Cinema acquired the rights to Tolkien’s work, andPeter Jackson directed three Lord of the Rings films and another three basedon the Hobbit.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who lives in a large, comfortable underground housein the Shire and has no interest in adventures. One day, he encountersGandalf, a wizard who knew Bilbo’s scandalously adventurous grandfather.Though he's uncomfortable that Gandalf talks about Bilbo joining anadventure, Bilbo invites Gandalf to tea the next day. At tea, Gandalf bringswith him thirteen dwarves, lead by Thorin Oakenshield, who are trying toreclaim their ancestral home and treasure under the Lonely Mountain fromthe dragon Smaug. Gandalf and the dwarves offer Bilbo one-fourteenth oftheir treasure in return for his serving as their burglar. Bilbo doesn't explicitlyconsent to this agreement, but he's excited by the dwarves' stories of treasure.

The next day, Gandalf tells Bilbo that he must meet the dwarves at the localtavern; Bilbo rushes there, and finds himself traveling with Gandalf and thedwarves on their quest to the Lonely Mountain. Shortly thereafter, Gandalfgoes missing, it starts to rain, and the dwarves see a light in the distance. Bilbogoes to investigate the light, and finds three trolls eating their supper. Thetrolls catch Bilbo, but he slips free; then, the trolls capture the thirteendwarves. Gandalf imitates the sounds of the trolls' voices, leading them to fightfor so long that the sun rises and turns them to stone. The dwarves freethemselves and 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 of the elf-lordElrond. While there they learn that they will be able to enter a secretpassageway in the side of the Lonely Mountain on the first day of the dwarfNew Year. They travel through the Misty Mountains, where they are allimprisoned by goblins, except for Gandalf who escapes. Bilbo and the dwarvesare taken before the Great Goblin, but Gandalf reappears, slays the GreatGoblin, and frees Bilbo and the dwarves. In the ensuing flight from the goblins,Bilbo falls down a cavern and loses consciousness.

Bilbo reawakens in a dark cavern and finds a ring lying on the ground. Not longafter he encounters a treacherous creature, Gollum, with whom he holds ariddle-telling competition: if Gollum wins, he eats Bilbo; if Bilbo wins, Gollumshows him the way out. Bilbo wins the competition, but Gollum goes to find hisring, which makes the wearer invisible, so that he can kill Bilbo. When Gollumdiscovers the ring is missing he is enraged and plans to kill Bilbo. But Bilboaccidentally puts on the ring and realizes that the ring makes him invisiblewhen Gollum, searching for him, ends up rushing right past him. Bilbo follows

BABACKCKGRGROUND INFOOUND INFO

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Gollum out of the cave and eludes goblins to escape from the MistyMountains.

Bilbo reunites with Gandalf and the dwarves, who are impressed with histalent for deception and concealment. As they travel down from themountains, they're forced to hide in some trees from some wargs (talkingwolves); when a fire breaks out, Gandalf summons the giant eagles, who agreeto take the group to the Carrock, where they stay with the shape-shifterBeorn.

Gandalf reveals that he must leave Bilbo and the dwarves as they begin thenext stage of their quest through the dangerous Mirkwood forest. DespiteGandalf and Beorn's advice to stay on the path at all costs, Bilbo and thedwarves are lured off the path by the sight of wood-elves eating a feast. Whenthe group is then captured by giant spiders, Bilbo uses his ring to free himself,kill many spiders, and free the dwarves; unfortunately, angry wood-elvescapture and imprison them all, except for Bilbo who is still invisible, shortlythereafter. Bilbo uses his ring to free his friends from their cells and transportsthem out of the 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're welcomed as heroeswho will vanquish the dragon, Smaug, and bring prosperity to the cities of menonce again. They travel to the Lonely Mountain, where the last ray of sunshineon the dwarf New Year reveals the keyhole to a secret passageway. Bilbo aloneis brave enough to enter the mountain, and manages to sneak into Smaug’s lairand steal a cup from the pile of treasure. Smaug is enraged. Later Bilbo sneaksagain into Smaug’s lair, but this time Smaug is only pretending to sleep: Bilbospeaks to Smaug in riddles, saying that he is a barrel-rider and learning in theprocess that Smaug has a weak point on his belly. Bilbo later gives thisinformation to the dwarves, and to a talking thrush who overhears them.Smaug, during that same conversation, poisons Bilbo’s mind with suspicionthat the dwarves will not uphold their promise to give him one-fourteen of thetreasure; when he raises his doubts to Thorin, Thorin insists that Bilbo cantake whatever fourteenth of the treasure he wants. Bilbo secretly takes theArkenstone, the most beautiful jewel in the dwarves’ treasure.

Interpreting Bilbo’s self-given name of “barrel-rider” to mean that he has beensent by men, Smaug flies to Lake-town and devastates it. But as he does so, anarcher named Bard, a descendant of the Lord of Dale (a city that used to thriveas a hub of trade of dwarven gold and crafts before Smaug arrived), learnsfrom the thrush about Smaug’s weak point, and uses the information to shootand kill him with a black arrow that had long been in Bard’s family line. News ofSmaug’s death spreads across Middle Earth, and the men led by Bard ally withthe wood-elves and march to the Lonely Mountain to claim some of thetreasure, as repayment for the destruction Smaug leveled against them.Thorin refuses these requests, and it seems fighting between men, elves, anddwarves is imminent. Eager to end this conflict, Bilbo secretly gives theArkenstone to Bard and the elves; when Bilbo admits what he’s done, Thorinexpels him from the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo reunites with Gandalf, who hasreturned from his other business.

Thorin summons his cousin, Dain, to help him defend their regained city andtreasure. At the same time, goblins and wolves ride to the Lonely Mountain,eager to avenge the Great Goblin’s death. Gandalf encourages men, dwarves,and elves to from an alliance, and at the Battle of the Five Armies, they uniteagainst the goblins and wolves, defeating them with the help of Beorn and theEagles. Bilbo uses his ring to hide during the fight. When he meets up with thesurvivors of the battle, he finds that Thorin has been fatally wounded. Thorintells Bilbo that he regrets expelling him. Bilbo returns to hobbit-town with twochests of treasure (having given up the claim to the even larger one-fourteenth that had originally been promised to him), enough to make him awealthy man. A year later, he’s visited by Gandalf and one of the dwarves,Balin, who tell him that Bard is now the master of Lake-town, goblins havebeen largely killed off, and dwarves, elves, and men now coexist peacefully.

Bilbo BagginsBilbo Baggins – The protagonist of The Hobbit, Bilbo initially seems contentwith his peaceful life in hobbit-town, but Tolkien hints that he secretly desiresadventure and excitement (as is his birthright from his notoriously

adventurous grandfather Old Took). Over the course of the novel, Bilbojourneys to the Lonely Mountain with the dwarves, and discovers his talentsfor riddling, fighting, and burgling, and even finds a magical ring of invisibility,even as he continues to wish for his home. In the end, he learns to balance hislove for peace and tranquility with heroism and adventurousness.

GandalfGandalf – The old wizard who recruits Bilbo for a quest, Gandalf isenormously wise, resourceful, and helpful to the dwarves during their journeyto the Lonely Mountain, frequently saving their lives. At the same time, he canbe neglectful, leaving the group outside Mirkwood forest when they mostneed him. It’s possible that Gandalf deliberately places Bilbo and the dwarvesin danger, in order to encourage them to fight for themselves and developtheir skills and independence.

Thorin OakThorin Oakenshieldenshield – The leader of the thirteen dwarves journeying to theLonely Mountain. Thorin is the descendant of the King Under the Mountainwho lost his throne when Smaug came and ousted the dwarves from theirhome. He has great bravery and integrity, but his love for the treasure thatwas stolen from him and his people leads him behave stubbornly and selfishlyeven after he has won it back.

DainDain – Thorin’s cousin, who leads an army of dwarves and eventually succeedsThorin.

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

GollumGollum – A disgusting, treacherous, and yet pitiful and lonely creature who isobsessed with the ring, and trades riddles with Bilbo.

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

The ElvThe Elvenkingenking – The leader of the wood-elves, who imprisons Thorin and thedwarves and later marches to the Lonely Mountain to claim a part of thetreasure after Smaug’s death (the elves have long believed that the dwarvesstole some of that 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 to Gandalf and thedwarves. He reveals the history of the swords that Gandalf and Thorin takefrom the troll’s treasure-hole, and also reads the moon-writing on the map tothe Lonely Mountain.

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

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

OinOin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain. Good atmaking fire.

GloinGloin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain, alsogood at making fire.

FiliFili – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain. Theyounger brother of Thorin.

KiliKili – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain. Theyounger brother of Thorin.

DwalinDwalin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain.

BalinBalin – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain. One ofThorin’s companions on the day Smaug claimed the Lonely Mountain, and agood friend to Bilbo.

BifurBifur – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain.

BofurBofur – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain.

BomburBombur – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain, veryfat and lazy.

DoriDori – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain. HoldsBilbo on his back.

OriOri – One of the thirteen dwarves marching to the Lonely Mountain.

LLord of the Eaglesord of the Eagles – The leader of a flock of giant eagles, he and his felloweagles save Bilbo and the dwarves from the goblins, and later join the side of

CHARACHARACTERSCTERS



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the men, elves, and dwarves against the goblins and wargs at the end of theBattle of the Five Armies.

ThrushThrush – A magical bird that indicates the entrance to Smaug’s lair to thedwarves, and later, after overhearing Bilbo reveal Smaug’s weak spot, tellsBard about how to kill Smaug.

RacRac – An old raven who communicates messages from Thorin to Dain.

BardBard – The archer who kills Smaug, and a descendant of the rulers of the Dale.After Smaug’s death Bard becomes a leader once more, and eventuallybecomes the new Lord of Date.

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

BolgBolg – The goblin who leads an army to the Battle of the Five Armies after theGreat Goblin’s death.

SmaugSmaug – A dragon who heard of the treasure amassed by the dwarves of TheKingdom Under the Mountain and then proceeded to attack and expel thedwarves from their former home, desolating the nearby city of men, Dale, inthe process. Smaug is clever and exceedingly greedy. Like all the other greedycharacters in the novel, Smaug is also solitary, and spends much of his timesleeping on his treasure. The loss of even a single item of treasure sends himinto a rage. He is adept at spreading distrust among others, and his sly wordsdo cause Bilbo to lose some trust in Thorin and the dwarves promises. Smaugis also vain, and it is his vanity that allows Bilbo to discover his weak point.

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COMING OF ACOMING OF AGEGEAlthough Bilbo Baggins is “fully grown” at the beginning of The Hobbit, hisadventures teach him to be brave, to take responsibility for himself and forothers, and to develop skills he didn’t know he had: in effect, to grow up. WhenGandalf and the dwarves approach Bilbo with an offer to be their burglar,Bilbo is so satisfied with his life and his home that the mere thought ofadventure is enough to irritate and even frighten him. Yet Tolkien gives cluesthat Bilbo, deep down, wants to go on quests after all: he’s a descendant of thefamously adventurous Took family, and seems to have inherited some of theTooks’ love for maps and quests. While Bilbo never explicitly says that hewants to go with the dwarves to the Lonely Mountain (he merely rushes afterthem, prodded by Gandalf), it’s likely that he secretly, even subconsciously,wants to join them, realizing his inner potential for adventure.

Along the way to the Lonely Mountains, Bilbo is placed in countless situationswhere he cannot rely on anyone else, and must learn to take care of himself. Aparticularly illuminating example of this phenomenon occurs when Bilbo fallsoff of Dori’s shoulders, and must out-riddle Gollum and out-maneuver thegoblins to escape from the Misty Mountains. The contrast between the wayBilbo enters the mountains (on someone’s shoulders) and the way he leavesthem (on his own, with a ring of invisibility to help him) couldn’t be clearer: hisexperiences force him to become stronger, more independent, morepowerful—to grow up. Later, when giant spiders capture Bilbo in Mirkwoodforest, he adds other skills to his resume, using his sword to kill spiders andskillfully springing the dwarves from prison. By the time Bilbo reaches theLonely Mountain, he’s brave enough to sneak in Smaug’s lair while the otherdwarves hang back. Travel and danger have encouraged him to develop hisbravery and cunning—skills of which he shows dim signs when Gandalfapproaches him at the beginning of the novel.

Yet, while Bilbo matures throughout The Hobbit, he doesn’t entirely reject thelife he made for himself before he met Gandalf. Late in the novel, he’s stillregretting leaving his hobbit-hole in the first place, and when the dwarvessucceed in winning their treasure and defeating Smaug, he wants to return tohobbit-town. Bilbo grows up, but he doesn’t forget where he comes from—afitting message coming from The Hobbit, a children’s book that people readlong after they’ve grown up.

THE POWER OF LANGUTHE POWER OF LANGUAAGEGEDuring The Hobbit, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves confront countlessdangers: spiders, goblins, wood-elves, wolves, a dragon, etc. To defendthemselves, they use an equally vast number of weapons: knives, daggers,spells, fire, rocks, sticks. Yet one of the most important weapons that theyuse—and one of the most important skills Bilbo develops on his travels—islanguage. In the early chapters of the book, Bilbo exhibits almost nosophisticated command of language, staying largely silent while the dwarvesand Gandalf discuss their plans to journey to the Lonely Mountain and reclaimtheir treasure. When he gets lost under the Misty Mountains, he’s forced touse words to compete with Gollum, telling increasingly complicated riddles.While this episode is important in Bilbo’s growth as a manipulator of language,it’s important to recognize that he’s still a novice—he only defeats Gollum byasking a “cheap” question, “What have I got in my pocket?”, not by exhibitingany real creativity or skill with words.

When giant spiders capture Bilbo and the dwarves in Mirkwood forest, Bilbofinally begins to use language with more skill, improvising elaborate songs toconfuse the spiders and lure them away from the dwarves so that Bilbo canfree them. After his exploits, Bilbo uses language to dub his sword Sting, aname that strikes fear into the hearts of the spiders. Bilbo uses language in asimilar fashion when he confronts Smaug—instead of introducing himself asBilbo Baggins, he calls 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, andotherwise disarming one’s enemies. But perhaps even more importantly,language is a tool for changing and understanding oneself. It’s no coincidencethat Bilbo renames himself as he becomes braver and more confident: with thepower of naming, he makes his experiences a part of his personality—hedoesn’t just describe himself, he changes himself.

GREEDGREED, TR, TRUSTUST, FELL, FELLOWSHIPOWSHIPVirtually every one of The Hobbit’s primary characters—including both theheroes and the villains—is at least partially motivated by a desire forunnecessary material things. Smaug, the primary antagonist of the novel, is sogreedy that he notices when Bilbo steals a single cup from his vast collectionof treasure. (Tolkien notes that his anger is that of a rich man who’s lostsomething he never uses.) The dwarves are struggling to reclaim what isrightfully theirs from Smaug, but when they succeed in their quest, it becomesclear that their love for treasure is almost as obsessive as Smaug’s—notably,they refuse to use their riches to repair the town Smaug destroys, even thoughit is during its destruction that Bard kills Smaug, guaranteeing the dwarvestheir wealth. Similarly, the wood-elves who imprison Thorin and the otherdwarves believe that they have a claim to some of the dwarves’ treasure.Tolkien doesn’t bother to clarify whether the dwarves or the elves are correctin this dispute—the point is that both sides are flawed by their greedy,irrational desire for things they don’t need. Even Bilbo, who is largelyindifferent to the dwarves’ talk of glory and riches, shows occasional flashes ofgreed. Under the Misty Mountains, he pockets Gollum’s ring without thinkingtwice about it, and later takes the Arkenstone for himself because he’s afraidthat the dwarves won’t honor their promise to give him one-fourteen of theirtreasure. (It’s also worth keeping in mind that Bilbo and dwarves areconstantly in want of food, and when they eat, they eat huge feasts—while thisisn’t greed per se, it does suggest that it’s natural to want things, and perhapsto want more than one needs.)

If everyone is at least a little greedy, Tolkien seems to say, then the best theycan do is try to limit their nature with reason and self-control. Bilbo may be thebest example of how to overcome greed—though Thorin offers him one-fourteenth of the dwarves’ treasure in return for his services, he’s satisfied totake back a smaller portion, reasoning that it’s enough to keep him satisfied forthe rest of his life. Similarly, the dwarves, elves, and men ultimately overcometheir greed by uniting together to defeat the wolves and goblins. On hisdeathbed, Thorin seems to renounce his former greed, saying that he’s nowtraveling to a place (presumably, the afterlife) where this is no gold or treasure.Greed, then, is ultimately futile—compromise and personal sacrifice are moreimportant for maintaining peace and building mutual prosperity (as is evidentin the fact that back before Smaug the communities of Dale, the Kingdom

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under the Mountain, and the elves of Mirkwood traded together anddeveloped prosperity and mutual connection by doing so). In fact, the novelseems to place greed in direct contrast to trust and cooperation, and everyoverwhelmingly greedy character lives in almost complete isolation: Smaug,Gollum, and, for a time near the end of the novel, Thorin. Looked at on a largerscale, the races of dwarves, men, and elves are also separated by greed and themistrust sown by greed. It is only after the attacking armies of the dwarvesforce the dwarves, elves, and men to band together in fellowship against thiscommon enemy that they are able to rebuild their communities and attaintheir former prosperity.

HERHEROISMOISMThe Hobbit is a fantasy novel, and it contains many of the genre’s traditionaltropes: a quest, treasure, a dark forest, and even a dragon. With this in mind,it’s worth asking who the hero—arguably the most important fantasy trope —of The Hobbit is, and how Tolkien defines heroism. Bilbo Baggins is theprotagonist of The Hobbit, meaning that he’s the default hero. In the earlychapters of the book, Bilbo is cowardly and reluctant to participate in thedwarves’ quest. Ironically, this makes Bilbo seem more heroic than ever—the“reluctant hero” is an old literary archetype (Moses and King Arthur are classicexamples.). Also in these early chapters, Tolkien submits one possibledefinition of a hero: a larger-than-life person who excels at combat. Bilbo’smemories of his ancient ancestor, a hobbit who slew a goblin, suggest that thisis how Bilbo, if not Tolkien, thinks of heroism.

Tolkien complicates this definition of heroism, however, as the story goes on.Heroism requires skill in combat, but also bravery, cleverness, and a talent forwords. Characters who excel at only one of these things—Gollum, who excelsat wordplay, the dwarves, who excel at combat, etc.—tend to fail in their aims;for instance, the dwarves are captured by spiders, their skill with swordsuseless. Although Bilbo is hardly a hero at the start of the book, he finds thathe has many of the skills required for heroism as he and the dwarves travel tothe Lonely Mountain. Ultimately, Bilbo develops a talent for bothwordplay—he trades riddles with Gollum—and bravery—he alone iscourageous enough to sneak into the Lonely Mountain while Smaug livesthere. While he also shows some talent for combat, killing the spiders inMirkwood forest, it’s clear that Bilbo is not a great warrior—indeed, he largelyhides during the Battle of the Five Armies.

There seems to be no single character in The Hobbit who excels at every skillrequired to complete a quest. Bard, the archer who kills Smaug and goes on tolead the people of Esgaroth, excels at bravery and combat, but while he alsoshows some talent for words during his negotiations with Thorin, it’s difficultto imagine him riddling his way out of the Misty Mountains, tricking Smauginto revealing his weak point, talking his way into Beorn’s house, etc.Ultimately, the question of what makes a hero, or who best exemplifiesheroism is less important to Tolkien than describing how characters cooperatewith each other to fight evil and accomplish their goals. Thus, both Bilbo andBard kill Smaug: Bilbo determines how to kill Smaug, and Bard uses theinformation to do the deed. It may be true that no single person is heroic inevery sense of the word; thus, only when characters work together (asdwarves, elves, and men do in the Battle of the Five Armies) do theirachievements become truly heroic.

HOME AND BIRHOME AND BIRTHRIGHTTHRIGHTThe desire and love for a home motivates most of the main characters in TheHobbit. Sometimes, the characters’ desires for home contradict each other. Forinstance, Bilbo Baggins says at many points throughout his journey that heregrets ever leaving his home in hobbit-town, while the dwarves with whomhe’s embarking on his adventure seek to return to (and reclaim from Smaug)their home under the Lonely Mountain. In many cases, having home meanshaving a claim to some position or material wealth. Thus, Thorin, thedescendant of many dwarf kings, has a claim to his ancestors’ treasure, whichlies under the Lonely Mountain; similarly, Bard, the descendant of the lords ofDale, can claim lordship of Dale as his birthright.

But having a birthright isn’t only a privilege—it’s a duty. To have a home, onemust also be a fair and generous “host,” treating one’s guests, subjects, andproperty with respect. Most of the antagonists in The Hobbit —the three trolls,

the goblins, Gollum—are ungracious hosts who refuse to entertain Bilbo andthe dwarves during their long quest. Some of the other antagonists, such asthe Master and Smaug, play the part of a good hosts but are actually doing sofor the wrong reasons, like the Master (who’s trying to stay in power bymanipulating the crowd), or trying to lure travelers into a false sense ofsecurity, like Smaug (who tells Bilbo to take what he wants of the treasure). Yeteven the dwarves become ungracious hosts once they regain their treasureand their home under the Lonely Mountain, refusing to help the wood-elves orthe men whose town Smaug has destroyed. Thorin even becomes ungraciousto his own subjects, condemning Bilbo and the twelve other dwarves to starveduring a siege. As a result, Bilbo leaves the dwarves, and a war breaks outbetween men, elves, and dwarves. The desire for a home is a universal humanfeeling, so we sympathize with Bilbo and the dwarves because they feel thisdesire particularly strongly. But sometimes, this desire becomes too powerful,and leads the characters, such as the dwarves, to be ungracious hosts andoverprotective of their home—to make of their home something to be ownedrather than shared.

In the end, Tolkien implies, having a home means loving it, but not too much.Bilbo is a good model for how to regard one’s home—he loves his hobbit-hole,but he’s willing to invite others into it and to travel far away from it, too. Bardprovides a good example 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 tofeed and shelter his people, eventually bringing great prosperity the town.

Symbols appear in red text throughout the Summary & Analysis sections ofthis LitChart.

THE RINGWithout a doubt, the most famous symbol in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books isthe ring itself, which first appears in The Hobbit when Bilbo finds it under theMisty Mountains, just before he meets Gollum. There are rings in earlier epicstories that Tolkien would have been aware of, the most famous being the ringin Richard Wagner’s four-part opera, the Ring Cycle — itself based on theMedieval epic poem the Nibelungenlied, in which two of the characters find aring and fight to the death for it. In The Hobbit, as in these earlier works, thering symbolizes the corruption of wealth and power. Gollum lives a miserableexistence under the mountains; though he once lived above ground in the sun,it seems as if he has journeyed underground to be alone with his “precious”ring. (There’s lots of other evidence for the corrupting influence of wealth andpower in The Hobbit, such as Thorin’s jealous obsession with the Arkenstone.)Bilbo, by contrast, seems relatively uninterested in treasure or power of anykind; perhaps because he is “innocent” in this sense, he can wear the ringwithout being consumed by jealousy or vanity.

THE MISTY MOUNTAINSThere is an old rule in adventure stories, from The Odyssey to Star Wars, thatthe hero’s personal growth must be accompanied by a journey underground.After Bilbo falls off Dori’s shoulders while fleeing from the goblins, he’s forcedto fend for himself as he tries to find his way out of the Misty Mountains. Indoing so, he has to confront Gollum and goblins, and discovers talents hedidn’t know he had — deception, path-finding, riddle-telling, etc. Thus, theMisty Mountains represent Bilbo’s maturation as a character and anadventurer: when he enters them, he’s still immature (literally being carried onsomeone else’s back!), but when he leaves, he’s confident enough to navigatehis own way around.

STINGBilbo finds a knife in the trolls’ lair, which is small for the trolls, but largeenough to serve as his sword. Later, when Bilbo is rescuing his friends from thespiders in Mirkwood forest, he renames this knife Sting. It’s no coincidencethat Bilbo gives his weapon a name at the same time that he’s discovering hisown aptitude for adventure, deception, and fighting. In effect, Bilbo “renames”himself in the second half of The Hobbit — he goes from thinking of himself as awell-to-do, adventure-phobic hobbit to a bold, daring adventurer (when hetalks to Smaug, he even gives himself new names). Thus, Sting symbolizes

SYMBOLSSYMBOLS



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Bilbo’s changing nature, and proves that ordinary things —a knife or a hobbit —are full of surprises.

The color-coded boxes under each quote below make it easy to track thethemes related to each quote. Each color corresponds to one of the themesexplained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

CHAPTER 1This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing andsaying things altogether unexpected.—Narrator

As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and bycunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desireof the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and hewished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and thewaterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walkingstick.He looked out of the window. The stars were out in a dark sky above the trees.He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns.Suddenly inthe wood beyond The Water a flame leapt up--probably somebody lighting awood-fire-and he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quiet Hill andkindling it all to flames. He shuddered; and very quickly he was plain Mr.Baggins of Bag-End, Under-Hill, again.—Narrator

CHAPTER 3The master of the house was an elf-friend-one of those people whose fatherscame into the strange stories before the beginning of History, the wars of theevil goblins and the elves and the first men in the North. In those days of ourtale there were still some people who had both elves and heroes of the Northfor ancestors, and Elrond the master of the house was their chief. He was asnoble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as awizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer. He comesinto. many tales, but his part in the story of Bilbo's great adventure is only asmall one, though important, as you will see, if we ever get to the end of it.—Narrator

CHAPTER 4The goblins were very rough, and pinched unmercifully, and chuckled andlaughed in their horrible stony voices; and Bilbo was more unhappy even thanwhen the troll had picked him up by his toes. He wished again and again for hisnice bright hobbit-hole. Not for the last time.—Narrator

"Now I am a burglar indeed!" thought he. "But I suppose I must tell thedwarves about it sometime. They did say I could pick and choose my ownshare; and I think I would choose this, if they took all the rest!" All the same hehad an uncomfortable feeling that the picking and choosing had not reallybeen meant to include this marvelous gem, and that trouble would yet come ofit.—Bilbo Baggins

CHAPTER 5"Both wrong," cried Bilbo very much relieved; and he jumped at once to hisfeet, put his back to the nearest wall, and held out his little sword. He knew, ofcourse, that the riddlegame was sacred and of immense antiquity, and evenwicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it. But he felt hecould not trust this slimy thing to keep any promise at a pinch. Any excusewould do for him to slide out of it. And after all that last question had not beena genuine riddle according to the ancient laws.—Narrator, Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself. He was desperate.Hemust get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. Hemust fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it.It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had nosword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And hewas miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror,welled up in Bilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light orhope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering.—Narrator

CHAPTER 6He crept still nearer, and suddenly he saw peering between two big boulders ahead with a red hood on: it was Balin doing look-out. He could have clappedand shouted for joy, but he did not. He had still got the ring on, for fear ofmeeting something unexpected and unpleasant, and he saw that Balin waslooking straight at him without noticing him. "I will give them all a surprise," hethought, as he crawled into the bushes at the edge of the dell.—Narrator

CHAPTER 7Mr. Baggins saw then how clever Gandalf had been. The interruptions hadreally made Beorn more interested in the story, and the story had kept himfrom sending the dwarves off at once like suspicious beggars. He never invitedpeople into his house, if he could help it. He had very few friends and they liveda good way away; and he never invited more than a couple of these to hishouse at a time. Now he had got fifteen strangers sitting in his porch!—Narrator

CHAPTER 8He looked at the 'black emperors' for a long time, and enjoyed the feel of thebreeze in his hair and on his face; but at length the cries of the dwarves, whowere now simply stamping with impatience down below, reminded him of hisreal business. It was no good. Gaze as much as he might, he could see no end tothe trees and the leaves in any direction. His heart, that had been lightened bythe sight of the sun and the feel of the wind, sank back into his toes: there wasno food to go back to down below.—Narrator

Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark withoutthe help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a greatdifference to Mr. Baggins.He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an emptystomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath."I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call you Sting."

QUOQUOTESTES



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—Narrator, Bilbo Baggins

CHAPTER 10He had never thought that the dwarves would actually dare to approachSmaug, but believed they were frauds who would sooner or later bediscovered and be turned out.He was wrong. Thorin, of course, was really the grandson of the King underthe Mountain, and there is no knowing what a dwarf will not dare and do forrevenge or the recovery of his own. But the Master was not sorry at all to letthem go. They were 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 welcomes them!" hethought."Certainly, O Thorin Thrain's son Thror's son!" was what he said. "Youmust claim your own. The hour is at hand, spoken of old. What help we canoffer shall be yours, and we trust to your gratitude when your kingdom isregained."—Narrator, The Master

CHAPTER 12"If you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passage first, O ThorinThrain's son Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer," he said crossly,"say so at once and have done! I might refuse. I have got you out of two messesalready, which were hardly in the original bargain, so that I am, I think, alreadyowed some reward. But 'third time pays for all' as my father used to say, andsomehow I don't think I shall refuse. Perhaps I have begun to trust my luckmore than I used to in the old days" - he meant last spring before he left hisown house, but it seemed centuries ago -"but anyway I think I will go and havea peep at once and get it over. Now who is coming with me?" He did not expecta chorus of volunteers, so he was not disappointed.—Bilbo Baggins

There it is: dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of thevalue of money; some are tricky and treacherous and pretty bad lots; some arenot, but are decent enough people like Thorin and Company, if you don'texpect too much.—Narrator

"I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I as chosen for the luckynumber.""Lovely titles!" sneered the dragon. "But lucky numbers don't always come off.""I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them aliveagain from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went overme.""These don't sound so creditable," scoffed Smaug."I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner andLuckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider," went on Bilbo beginning to be pleased withhis riddling.—Bilbo Baggins, Smaug

CHAPTER 14As you see, the Master had not got his position for nothing. The result of hiswords was that for the moment the people quite forgot their idea of a newking, and turned their angry thoughts towards Thorin and his company. Wildand bitter words were shouted from many sides; and some of those who hadbefore sung the old songs loudest, were now heard as loudly crying that thedwarves had stirred the dragon up against them deliberately!

—Narrator

CHAPTER 15Bilbo thought that Thorin would at once admit what justice was in them. Hedid not, of course, expect that any one would remember that it was he whodiscovered all by himself the dragon's weak spot; and that was just as well, forno one ever did. But also he did not reckon with the power that gold has uponwhich a dragon has long brooded, nor with dwarvish hearts. Long hours in thepast days Thorin had spent in the treasury, and the lust of it was heavy on him.Though he had hunted chiefly for the Arkenstone, yet he had an eye for manyanother wonderful thing that was lying there, about which were wound oldmemories of the labors and the sorrows of his race.—Narrator

CHAPTER 17“Misery me! I have heard songs of many battles, and I have always understoodthat defeat may be glorious. It seems very uncomfortable, not to saydistressing. I wish I was well out of it."—Bilbo Baggins

CHAPTER 18From that treasure Bard sent much gold to the Master of Lake-town; and herewarded his followers and friends freely. To the Elvenking he gave theemeralds of Girion, such jewels as he most loved, which Dain had restored tohim. To Bilbo he said:"This treasure is as much yours as it is mine; though old agreements cannotstand, since so many have a claim in its winning and defense. Yet even thoughyou were willing to lay aside all your claim, I should wish that the words ofThorin, of which he repented, should not prove true: that we should give youlittle. I would reward you most richly of all.""Very kind of you," said Bilbo. "But really it is a relief to me. How on earthshould I have got all that treasure home without war and murder all along theway, I don't know. And I don't know what I should have done with it when I gothome. I am sure it is better in your hands."—Narrator, Bilbo Baggins, Bard

CHAPTER 19"Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after afashion!" said Bilbo."Of course!" said Gandalf. "And why should not they prove true? Surely youdon't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing themabout yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures andescapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a veryfine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite alittle fellow in a wide world after all!""Thank goodness!" said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar.—Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf

The color-coded boxes under "Analysis & Themes" below make it easy to trackthe themes throughout the work. Each color corresponds to one of thethemes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

SUMMARY & ANALSUMMARY & ANALYSISYSIS




CHAPTER 1: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEYThe narrator begins by describing thehole in the ground beneath a hill, inwhich a particular hobbit lives. Thehole is highly comfortable: it hasbedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, anddining rooms for entertaining thehobbit’s many visitors. The best roomsin the house have a view of the gardenoutside the hobbit’s home. Localsrefer to the area as The Hill, located inhobbit-town.

The first paragraph of The Hobbit is asurprise to read, because Tolkien doesn’tbegin by describing what a hobbit is—hebegins by describing the hole. This is aclever strategy for immersing readers inthe fictional world of the book: the holeTolkien describes is actually a fairlyordinary-sounding home, comfortableand clean. In this way, we see the worldof The Hobbit as both fantastical(populated with strange creatures we’venever heard of) and familiar (full of cozyhomes). It’s also important to note thatthe best rooms in this hobbit’shome—presumably the ones the hobbititself prefers—have windows. The hobbitenjoys comfort and security, but it alsolongs for the exterior world, and,perhaps, for travel and adventure.

The hobbit’s name is Baggins, and hebelongs to a well-to-do family ofhobbits that never gets involved inadventure. The narrator notes thatThe Hobbit is the story of how Bagginsbecame involved in an adventure andlost some of his neighbors’ respect.The narrator will leave it up to thereader to decide whether Bagginsgained anything from his adventure.

Tolkien narrates The Hobbit in a third-person omniscient voice; this creates atone of reassurance that Bilbo willsurvive his dangerous adventures.Nevertheless, the narrator doesn’texplain whether or not Bilbo has “gained”anything—this focuses the reader onmost important part of the story, Bilbo’spersonal transformation.

The narrator turns to describinghobbits. Hobbits are small creaturesthat resemble dwarves, exceptwithout beards. They have no magicalpowers except for their ability to hide,especially from humans, who are loudand clumsy. Hobbits love to laugh andeat, and they wear bright clothing.

Tolkien simultaneously distinguisheshobbits from people, who he playfullycriticizes for being big and loud, andcompares hobbits with people, notingtheir love for food, their sense of humor,etc. Again, Hobbits are established asboth fantastic and “normal”, in the senseof being like the normal, non-heroic, non-adventurous, everyday people likely to bereading the book.

Bilbo Baggins, the Baggins aboutwhom The Hobbit is written, is thechild of the hobbit Belladonna Took,who was herself the daughter of thefamous Old Took. The Tooks wererumored to be distantly related tofairies, and they were said to go onadventures occasionally. BelladonnaTook never went on adventures;instead, she married Bungo Baggins,who used Belladonna’s mother’smoney to build the hobbit-hole whereBilbo lives. At the time when the storybegins, Bilbo is fully grown—aboutfifty years old—and looks and behavesexactly like his father, though heseems to have inherited somequalities from his Took ancestors.

Tolkien’s suggestion that, despite Bilbo’sapparent comfort, he has some yearningfor adventure is connected to hisancestors. Tolkien makes similarconnections for other characters later inthe book, and often sees character traitsand even destinies as a kind of“birthright” that can be passed downwithout the person receiving them evenreally knowing it. It’s important to notethat Bilbo is supposed to be “fully grown”when the story begins—in fact, he willchange greatly during the story, and, ineffect, grow up. Perhaps the point is thatit’s never too late to become a differentperson, and that adventure is a means ofdiscovering things about yourself youdidn’t know.

One morning, Bilbo is sitting outsidehis home smoking, when Gandalfpasses by. Gandalf, an old man whowears a grey cloak and carries a staff,is famous among hobbits. He wasfriends with Old Took, but hasn’t beenby The Hill since Took’s death. Bilbo,doesn’t recognize Gandalf, but greetshim; Gandalf tells Bilbo that he islooking for someone to accompanyhim on an adventure. Bilbo refuses,saying that hobbits don’t take part inadventures, and pretends to ignoreGandalf. Gandalf then introduceshimself to Bilbo, who is impressed,having heard stories about howGandalf would bring quiet youngpeople on adventures.

Bilbo, revealing his dual nature, is bothattracted to and repelled by Gandalf’spromises of adventure. He knows thatGandalf brings innocent people likehimself on quests and tries to avoid him,and yet he doesn’t simply turn Gandalfaway. This suggests that, deep down,Bilbo wants to go on precisely this kind ofquest, even if he’s too peaceful andsatisfied with his life to admit it (toothers or to himself).

Gandalf tells Bilbo that he will givehim what he has asked for; when Bilbosays that he hasn’t asked for anything,Gandalf says that, in fact, he’s askedfor it twice. Bilbo, rattled and a littleafraid, invites Gandalf to teatomorrow, and immediately goesinside his home, thinking that Gandalfis a powerful wizard, and that he’llhave to be careful. Gandalf is amusedby Bilbo’s behavior, and marks Bilbo’sdoor with a strange sign before heleaves.

Gandalf seems to sense (and perhapsknew before even meeting Bilbo) thatBilbo secretly wants to go on anadventure, but can’t admit it. Bilbo’sinvitation to Gandalf further suggeststhat he’s at least a little attracted to hisoffers of adventure. Gandalf also proveshimself to be adept at manipulatinglanguage and signs—drawing a complexfigure on Bilbo’s door—while Bilbostumbles over his words.



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The next day, Bilbo has almostforgotten about tea. So he’s surprisedto hear a knock at his door and find adwarf, who introduces himself asDwalin, standing outside his home.Bilbo is flustered, but invites Dwalininside for tea. A little later, he hearsanother knock on the door, and findsanther dwarf, Balin—Dwalin’s brother.Again, he invites Balin in. In thismanner, he lets a total of thirteendwarves into his house: Dwalin, Balin,Fili, Kili, Dori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur,Bofur, Bombur, who’s very fat, andThorin Oakenshield, who is haughty.Gandalf arrives along with the lastfour dwarves. All thirteen dwarves,except for Thorin, who’s too importantto join in, ask for food and sing songsabout ruining Bilbo’s home, thoughthey actually treat it with great care.

There is very little characterization of thetwelve dwarves other than Thorin. Thissets the tone for The Hobbit, in whichthe group often acts as a single entity.Thorin’s sense of honor verging onhaughtiness is established here andremains important through the book. Thedwarves’ boisterous singing and playalong with the actual respect they pay toBilbo’s home establishes them as fun-loving and disorderly but also as having adeep sense of honor and respect. Thescene also portrays how to be both agood host and a good guest. The hosttrusts and is generous with his guests;the guests enjoy themselves but are alsocareful with the host and his home.

The dwarves play music and sing ofthe dwarves of the past, who lived in agreat hall beneath a mountain, wherethey mined gold and jewels. A dragonattacked the dwarves and drove themfrom their home, and now they mustquest to reclaim their home and theirtreasure. As Bilbo hears this song, he’smomentarily filled with a desire to goon adventures, but this desiredisappears soon after the music ends.

Song is an important means ofcommunication in Tolkien’s book—itallows a group of people to share thesame stories and keep memories of thepast alive. Bilbo’s reaction to the songimplies again his secret yearning foradventure. The dwarves’ tale marks themas a group that has had their home, andwealth, stolen from them. Now thestakes begin to be set: Bilbo has a homewith which he is content (both his holeand his life among Hobbits), but thedwarves are without a home, withouttheir birthright, and must go on anadventurous quest to get it back and theimplication is that Bilbo could choose toleave his own home to go on the quest.

Thorin rises from his seat and praisesBilbo, who he calls the dwarves’ co-conspirator, for his hospitality. Healludes to a great adventure on whichBilbo is to accompany the dwarves,and comments that Bilbo may neverreturn. Bilbo is so shocked by this thathe screams and faints. When Bilbo isrevived, he overhears the dwarveswondering whether Bilbo, who theycall a “little fellow” is capable ofadventures. Bilbo indignantly saysthat he is capable of anything, anoutburst that he is later to regret. Thedwarves inform him that there was asign on his door claiming that he is aburglar looking for employment;Gandalf reveals that it was he whowrote this sign, but that the dwarvesshould accept Bilbo as their co-conspirator.

At this point in the narrative, Bilbo is shyand timid, hardly the adventurer he willeventually become. Instead of activelychoosing to participate in the quest, he’sforced to so by Gandalf, whomanipulates language to fool thedwarves into treating Bilbo as theirburglar. Nevertheless, Bilbo shows somesigns that he wants to be part of theadventure—he angrily insists that he isn’tafraid. For the time being, though,Gandalf controls Bilbo’s fate, not Bilbohimself.

Gandalf produces a map, which hetells Thorin belonged to Thror,Thorin’s grandfather. The map showsa hall beneath a mountain, markedwith the symbol of a red dragon.Gandalf explains that there is a secretpassageway into the mountain, whichis too small for a dragon to use itself.He had attempted to recruit warriorsfor the dwarves’ expedition, but foundthat warriors were too busy fighting,and for this reason chose a burglar,Bilbo. He also gives Thorin the key tothe secret passageway.

Gandalf acts as a source of history anduseful information for the dwarvesduring their quest. His discussion of therelative merits of warriors and burglars isa clue to the kind of heroism he believesin. Where others favor violence andstrength, Gandalf seems to have morerespect for cunning and cleverness.Gandalf’s motives in The Hobbit arenever entirely clear—why is he helpingthe dwarves? Why does he seem sointerested to include Bilbo?—though theyare revealed more in Tolkien’s later Lordof the Rings trilogy.

Bilbo, who loves maps, asks for anexplanation of the dwarves’ quest.Thorin explains that the fourteendwarves in Bilbo’s house were thedwarves in their song. Hisgrandfather, Thror, was King underthe Mountain—King of a vast Dwarfcity under the Lonely Mountain—andhis subjects’ skill as miners andcraftsmen brought trade, wealth, andprosperity to the surrounding area,and led also to the establishment of alarge town for men, the Dale, whichserved as a hub of trade. A dragon,Smaug, heard about the dwarves’wealth, and drove them from theirhome, keeping the treasure for itself.

Bilbo’s love of maps again suggests hisyearning for adventure (though it alsodisplays at this point a love of adventurecontained within a very domestic world:Bilbo likes to imagine faraway lands fromthe safe comfort of his home). Thorin’sdescription of his family’s history shedslight on the interaction between thedifferent peoples of Middle Earth, animportant theme later in the novel: thehomes of the dwarves and of men areinterdependent.

Bilbo suggests that the dwarves go tothe Mountain and try to reclaim theirtreasure, and offers to fix thembreakfast before they leave. Thorinimplies that Bilbo will be going withthem, and, without waiting for ananswer, asks Bilbo to fix him eggs forbreakfast. The other dwarves ask forsimilar food and go to bed. As Bilbofalls asleep, he hears Thorin hummingthe dwarves’ song. He has vivid,unusual dreams that night, and wakesup late.

Bilbo falls short of personallyvolunteering for the dwarves’ quest tothe Lonely Mountain, but he continues toshow signs that he’s secretly attracted tothis quest. It’s as if Bilbo’s coming ofage—from a passive homeowner to anactive adventurer—can only be achievedif someone else—in this case,Gandalf—gives him a strong nudge.




CHAPTER 2: ROAST MUTTONBilbo jumps out of bed in the morningand goes into his kitchen, where hesees the huge number of plates andglasses the dwarves used last night.This sight depresses him, since hecan’t easily forget that the dwarveswere in his home. Gandalf greets him,and points to a note the dwarves haveleft him. The note says that Bilbo willact as a burglar for the dwarves, thatin return he will receive one-fourteenth of the treasure, and thathe must meet them at the GreenDragon Tavern at eleven o’clock sharp,which Bilbo realizes is in only tenminutes. Bilbo protests, but Gandalfurges him to hurry there, and heleaves his home without a hat, coat, orwalking stick.

Bilbo’s dual nature – his love of comfortalongside his yearning for adventure –are again on display here. It is interestingthat what he initially wishes is not dislikeof the dwarves or adventure but a wishto forget all about it. It is as if his“domestic side” is seeking to repress his“adventurous side. Yet all it takes is alittle push from Gandalf and he is off andrunning. The fact that he forgets his hatand cloak symbolizes the other, lesstangible baggage he’s leaving behind—hiscomfort, his peacefulness, his safety, etc.

At the Green Dragon, the dwarvesgreet Bilbo, and tell him that theymust be going and that he can borrowa hat and coat. The group, whichincludes Gandalf riding on a whitehorse, leaves the hobbit-lands inwhich Bilbo lives, and soon venturesinto areas where the people speakstrange languages, and the buildingslook sinister. Bilbo wishes, for not thelast time, that he were at home.

The physical changes in the landscapethat accompany the group’s travelingreflect Bilbo’s state of mind: a gloomylandscape signals a gloomy mind. Thisestablishes a pattern that will continuethroughout The Hobbit, whereby theexternal environment matches thecharacters’ internal thoughts andfeelings.

While the group is traveling throughthe wilderness, it begins to rain, andthe group notices that Gandalf ismissing. The dwarves are unable tomake fire, and a horse runs away,leaving them with little food for theevening. They see a faint light in thedistance, and decide to send Bilbo toinvestigate what it is, giving him acomplicated signaling system if he’s indanger. Bilbo finds that the source ofthe light is a campfire, around whichsit three huge trolls, Tom, Bert, andWilliam, complaining about eating thesame meal, mutton, night after night.Bilbo, who knows from readingvarious books that the trolls areprobably carrying valuable things intheir pockets, picks Williams’s pocket,thinking excitedly that this is thebeginning of his career as a burglar.Unfortunately, William’s enchantedpurse lets out a yell when Bilbo holdsit, and William captures Bilbo.

Gandalf disappears for the first, but notthe last time in the novel. It’s neverexplicitly clear if Gandalf vanishesaccidentally, or deliberately. In eitherevent, the encounter with the trolls isimportant because during it, Bilbo showshis first signs of enjoying burglary, andenjoying his adventures. He dependsupon knowledge he’s learned inbooks—trolls have lots of treasure. Thissuggests that Bilbo is better prepared forhis journey than he lets on, though it alsosignals that his knowledge is entirely ofthe book-learning kind and not at allfrom experience. And, indeed,inexperienced as he is, Bilbo makes amistake and gets captured.

The trolls ask Bilbo if there are othersnear their fire; Bilbo says yes at first,then no. William, who’s already eatensupper, wants to let Bilbo go, but theother two trolls want to eat him. Thetrolls begin to fight, and Bilbo is ableto slip away in the confusion.Meanwhile, the dwarves have begunto approach the fire. When the trollssee the dwarves, they capture all ofthem and put them in sacks, whileBilbo hides nearby, afraid to move.

Bilbo continues to stumble over hiswords, changing his statement aboutwhether he is alone in a painfully obviousway. For now, the dangers of the questare relatively small—one of the trollseven wants to let Bilbo go. Even at thisearly point, though, Bilbo shows signs ofbeing an adept burglar and adventurer:his small size allows him to escape fromthe trolls in their confusion. Yet Bilbothen does nothing to help the captureddwarves, instead he is so scared that hejust hides.

While the three trolls are decidinghow to kill and eat the dwarves, amysterious stranger’s voice is heard.The stranger mimics the voices of thethree trolls, causing an argument thatgoes on for so long that the sun rises,turning the trolls to stone instantly.The stranger, who turns out to beGandalf, frees the dwarves from theirsacks, and Bilbo comes out of hishiding place. Gandalf suggests thatthey explore the trolls’ undergroundtreasure room, and Bilbo produces akey he’s found on the ground while hewas hiding. Gandalf uses the key toopen the treasure room, whereGandalf and Thorin find two excellentswords, and Bilbo finds a knife that,while small for a troll, is large enoughto serve as his sword.

No small part of Gandalf’s power isverbal —- without using any force, hedefeats the trolls, simply by saying theright things at the right time in the rightway. Bilbo proves himself to be a decentburglar and a lucky finder-of-things,finding the key to the trolls’ treasure,which proves to be very valuable. Bilboalso takes an important step inestablishing his identity when he choosesa weapon for himself: this symbolizes thephysical might he’ll have to learn later on,and the increased freedom and maturityhe’s enjoying.

Thorin asks Gandalf how he becameseparated from the rest of the group.Gandalf says that he had ridden aheadto Rivendell to inquire aboutprovisions and lodgings for thedwarves, but when he looked behindhim he noticed that the dwarvesweren’t there. He tells Thorin that hemust be more careful in the future.

Gandalf’s explanation isn’t entirelyconvincing—though he claims he lostsight of the dwarves, it’s entirely possiblethat he deliberately left them and Bilbo.If this is the case, it’s likely that Gandalfleft Bilbo on his own to encourage him todevelop skills as a burglar—it’s as if hethrew Bilbo in the deep end of the pool toteach him to swim.

CHAPTER 3: A SHORT RESTThe weather improves, but thedwarves don’t sing or laugh; they’vebegun to feel the increasing dangerand weight of their quest. Bilbo sees agreat mountain in the distance, whichbelongs to the chain called the MistyMountains. The group will have tocross the Misty Mountains beforethey arrive at their destination. Hefeels tired, and wishes, for not the lasttime, that he was back in his home.

Bilbo continues to long for home, evenafter he begins to improve as a burglarand an adventurer. Yet his melancholyhas the unintended effect of uniting himwith the rest of his group—the otherdwarves are feeling sad and tired, too,and they are even further from having ahome. Bilbo wants to leave the group,but ironically, this feeling makes him apart of the group.



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The group travels to Rivendell, a cityof elves located near a river valley,where Elrond the elf-lord will givethem food and lodgings. The way toRivendell is difficult, but when thegroup arrives, they’re greeted by thesound of elves singing. Gandalfeagerly greets the elves, with whomhe’s friendly.

Rivendell represents the last safe placeon the group’s journey for a long time.That Rivendell is a safe place is madeobvious by the elves’ joyous singing. Notethe elves hospitality toward their guests.

The group stays in Rivendell for twolargely uneventful weeks—Bilbowould have stayed much longer.Elrond, the elf-lord, examines the mapthat Gandalf gave to Thorin, and on itfinds moon letters, which can only beread by the light of the moon: themessage says that on Durin’s Day, thefirst day of the dwarves’ New Year,taking place between autumn andwinter, the light of the setting sun willshine upon the keyhole to the secretpassageway to Smaug’s lair. Elrondalso reads the runes on the twoswords Gandalf and Thorin found inthe troll’s possession and reveals thatthey are famous goblin-killingweapons: Orcrist, the “goblin-cleaver”and Glamdring, the “Foe-hammer.”

While the dwarves stay in Rivendell for along time, they accomplish relativelylittle, besides obtaining importantinformation about how to enter thesecret passageway. This suggests thatpeace, for all its intrinsic pleasures, isn’tterribly interesting, and suggests thatadventures may be more fun, both forthe people who participate in them andthe readers who experience themindirectly. Meanwhile, Elrond’s masteryof language allows him to decipher themap. Also note how the fact that theswords have names give them a historyand power they didn’t have asanonymous weapons. The swords, too,have a kind of birthright through their“heroic” actions. The history of theswords also establishes goblins as the“bad guys” of The Hobbit.

In midsummer, the group leavesRivendell and heads toward the MistyMountains. The elves sing them songsas they depart.

The elves sang their guests into Rivendell,and sing for their departure. The elvesare good hosts, but their kindness againmakes the comforts of the “home” ofRivendell stand in contrast todiscomforts (even if exciting discomforts)of adventure, and also emphasizes howthe elves have a home and the dwarvesdo not.

CHAPTER 4: OVER HILL AND UNDER HILLThe group walks through the MistyMountains, and their path is difficultand dangerous. As they climb high up,they can see back to the West, back inthe direction of Bilbo’s home, theShire. Bilbo thinks longingly of theharvests taking place in the hobbit-lands.

Bilbo continues to think of his home. He’sconnected to the land itself—to therituals of harvesting—as much as he’sconnected to specific people and places.But he has also traveled far, and can seehis former home in a new way.

Gandalf knows that the MistyMountains have become full of dangerin recent times, and that underneaththem, in the Mines of Moria, there aregoblins. One night, a thunderstormbreaks out, and the Mountain Giantsthrow rocks to each other for fun. Filiand Kili, the two youngest dwarves,find a cave that can provide shelterfrom the storm—Gandalf asks them ifthey’re sure the cave is empty, andthough Fili and Kili have come backtoo quickly to be at all sure of this,they insist that it is. The group goesinto the cave; Gandalf forbids themfrom lighting a fire. They rest.

Gandalf’s questions about the emptinessof the cave foreshadow danger to come.That Fili and Kili insist the cave is emptyattests to their own inexperience asadventurers but also for the urgent needof finding shelter—a temporaryhome—from the brutal force of natureembodied in the storm. Also, as readers,the story gives us enough detail to knowthat going into the cave is a bad decisionand will lead to danger, but at the sametime, we want them to get intotrouble—we don’t want another series ofuneventful weeks, as the dwarves justexperiences in Rivendell. As readers, wehave some of the same “dual nature” asBilbo: longing for the characters safety,while also longing for them to haveadventures.

In the middle of the night, Bilbo wakesup to a creaking sound, and sees acrack growing in the side of the cave,from which goblins emerge. Bilbogives a cry, waking up Gandalf andallowing him to vanish in a flash oflight that kills several goblins. Thegoblins seize the group’s ponies, whichthey will later eat, and take everyonebut Gandalf prisoner. Goblins, thenarrator notes, are clever, evilcreatures who bear Thorin’s people aspecial grudge because of the warsthey’ve fought with each other.

Bilbo isn’t powerful or resourcefulenough to fight the goblins, but he doesdemonstrate his value to the group bynoticing them—Bilbo may not be awarrior, but he is alert and clever. Thenarrator establishes a long-runningconflict between dwarves and goblins—ahistory or “birthright” of war—which willcontinue to be important in the rest ofthe book.

The goblins lead Bilbo and thedwarves to their leader, the GreatGoblin. The Great Goblin asks Thorinto identify himself and explain whyhe’s here; Thorin identifies himself,but lies and says that he and his groupare visiting his relatives on the otherside of the mountain. The goblins howlthat Thorin is lying, and that he hasn’texplained the bright flash of light thatkilled some of them. They alsoproduce the sword Thorin found inthe troll’s treasure hole, which theGreat Goblin immediately recognizesas Orcrist, or Biter, a famous swordthat has killed hundreds of goblins.

Thorin doesn’t lie and give a false nameto the Goblin King—it’s as if he’s tooproud to conceal his identity, even as herefuses to reveal the purpose of histravels. Thorin is a warrior, and he actsaccording to a warrior’s code of honor,but without all that much cleverness. Inthis section, Bilbo begins to get a sensefor battle and violence—not only thepeople who participate in them, but thetrophies and relics of battle, such asOrcrist.

The Great Goblin gives a howl of rageat the sight of Orcrist, but at this exactmoment, the lights go out. A brightsword appears to float through theroom, and kills the Great Goblin. Avoice tells the dwarves to quicklyfollow it away from the goblins. As thedwarves run away, Gandalf lights hiswand, revealing himself to be thebearer of the sword, which is calledGalmdring the Foe-Hammer.

At this point, Gandalf’s powers are moreobviously magical—he can extinguishlight, see in the dark, etc. He also excelsat old-fashioned sword-fighting, and killsthe Great Goblin with apparent ease. Inthis way, we begin to see the full extent ofGandalf’s abilities: he uses words,weapons, and magic with equal skill.



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The dwarves run, but the goblins arefaster, and Gandalf tells Thorin toturn and fight. Using Glamdring andOrcrist, Gandalf and Thorin kill manygoblins, then turn back and continuerunning away. Bilbo thinks to himselfthat he was wrong to ever leave hishobbit-hole. Dori is carrying Bilbo onhis back as they run from the goblins,but when a goblin tries to grad Dori,Bilbo rolls off his back and falls deepinto a cavern, hits his head on a rock,and loses consciousness.

In the midst of the first big danger thegroup faces, Bilbo is too inexperienced tobe of much use—in fact, he’s so uselessthat Dori carries him on his back like achild. In moments such as this, Bilbowishes he were back at home,demonstrating how unprepared he is forthe challenges of adventure.

CHAPTER 5: RIDDLES IN THE DARKBilbo wakes up and finds himself alonein a cold, dark cave. He finds a smallring on the ground, and puts it in hispocket almost without thinking.Though he doesn’t know it at the time,this is a turning point in his life. Helooks in his pockets for a pipe ortobacco, but finds nothing, thoughunder his coat he finds the knife hetook from the trolls. He realizes thatit’s been made by elves, since it glowswhen goblins are nearby. Thinkingthat it’s a great thing to own an old,beautiful weapon, he resolves to goforward, though he’s afraid.

Events have caused Bilbo to be alone,forcing him to begin to take control of hislife: he resolves to move forward with hisweapon instead of cowering in the dark.That his weapon has an elven-madehistory and he, as holder of the sword,inherits that history, also gives him asense of security. The ring he finds,apparently by accident, will indeed beimportant to his success—in retrospect,this suggests that successful adventuringisn’t always due to the individual’sabilities. Sometimes luck—or fate—isequally, if not more important. Yet theway he finds the ring mirrors the way hefinds the keys to the Troll treasure. Bilboseems to be someone who happens tofind things. And, of course, it beingtreasure, he pockets it: Bilbo is notimmune to greed for beautiful things likerings and beautiful swords.

Bilbo is in a “tight place,” the narratornotes, but he has the advantage ofbeing used to living underground inholes. Bilbo walks for a long time, untilhe’s very tired. Eventually, when hissword is barely glowing at all, hecomes to a cold, slimy pool.

Bilbo’s experiences in his home preparehim well for his adventures hereunderground (which also functions as away to connect him to establish thesoon-to-be-introduced Gollum as a kindof double to Bilbo). He courageouslycontinues to walk into the darkness.

A small, slimy creature called Gollumlives by the pool. Gollum hides fromthe goblins, though he eats goblinwhen he can get it, and also eats fish.He paddles through the water in asmall boat, and notices Bilbo beforeBilbo notices him. Gollum thinks thatBilbo, who’s clearly not a goblin, wouldmake a good meal.

The narrator makes it clear almostimmediately that Gollum is a threat toBilbo; and Gollum is clearly a very badhost, who is not at all generous with his“guest,” Bilbo. Tolkien also more firmlyestablishes the doubling between Bilboand Gollum by pointing out somesimilarities between them: both areobsessed with eating. It’s as if Bilbo isconfronting a darker version of himself.

Bilbo becomes aware of Gollum and,frightened, points his sword at him.Gollum, who always talks to himself,asks what Bilbo is; Bilbo replies thathe’s a hobbit. Gollum shifts his planwhen he realizes that Bilbo is armed.Rather than attack, he asks Bilbo tostay a while and tell riddles, as heremembers doing years ago, when helived in the sun and had friends.Gollum tells Bilbo an easy riddle, andwhen Bilbo answers it, Gollumsuggests that they have a competition:if Gollum can stump Bilbo, he eatsBilbo; if Bilbo can stump Gollum,Gollum will show Bilbo the way out ofthe cave. Bilbo is too afraid to disagreewith these terms.

Gollum lives in utter solitude— he liveson the exaggerated edge of the spectrumof someone who is so homebound thathe never interacts with the world henever leaves his home, exemplified in thefact that he talks only to himself.. Bilbo,in contrast, has left his home andinteracted with the world. Note Bilbo’simproved use of language as he engagesin a high-stakes game of riddling. Onceagain, the immediate danger of thesituation forces him to grow intosomething of a different person (orhobbit) than he was before.

Bilbo and Gollum tell each other aseries of riddles. Bilbo’s riddles haveanswers that reflect his life in hobbit-town: the sun, flowers, eggs, etc.Gollum tells riddles about the thingshe’s most familiar with: the dark, fish,the wind, etc. Though Gollum andBilbo have trouble guessing eachother’s riddles, they trade correctanswers for four rounds without awinner. Finally, after Bilbo correctlyanswers Gollum’s fifth question, theonly question Bilbo can come up withis to ask Gollum what he, Bilbo, has inhis pocket (the ring); Gollum asks forthree guesses, but can’t come up withthe right answer, and thus loses thegame. Bilbo knows that riddle-tellingis an ancient, sacred art, and evenGollum won’t break the rules they’veagreed upon. Still, he’s nervousaround Gollum, since he won on aquestion that wasn’t a proper riddle.

Language is a powerful weapon—Gollumis literally using it to try to kill Bilbo, whileBilbo is using it to save his life. Languageis also a reflection of a speaker’sinnermost thoughts and experiences:Bilbo’s and Gollum’s riddles reflect thekind of person each is and theexperiences each has had. Language isalso a sacred art, and both Bilbo andGollum seem to abide by the rules of theriddle-telling game. It’s worth bearing inmind, however, that Bilbo isn’t yet amaster of language—he quickly runs outof riddles to tell, and ends up askingGollum such a casual question that itdoesn’t follow the sacred code of riddling,and thus puts Bilbo’s life in danger.

Gollum says that he’ll show Bilbo theway out, but first he must paddle backto his lair and retrieve some things.Gollum actually intends to retrieve hisring, which makes him invisible, anduse it to turn invisible and then killBilbo. The narrator says that no oneknows how Gollum first found thering, long ago, but that he wears itfrequently, and uses it to catch hisprey. But when Gollum goes back tohis lair, he discovers that the ring ismissing. He paddles back to Bilbo, anddemands to know what Bilbo had inhis pocket. Bilbo refuses to answerthe question, and asks Gollum what hehas lost, having heard him wailingearlier. Gollum refuses to answerBilbo’s question.

Tolkien shows us that Gollum is evilbecause he breaks a verbal promise toshow Bilbo the way out—though heclaims he’ll help Bilbo, he secretly wantsto eat him. In a sense, Gollum is evilbecause he is a host so bad he wants toeat his guest. Yet the doubling betweenBilbo and Gollum also intensifies here asit becomes clear to the reader (thoughnot entirely to Bilbo) that Bilbo hasactually inadvertently stolen Gollum’sring. Gollum’s demand to know what’s inBilbo’s pocket and Bilbo’s refusal toreveal it is a kind of standoff of greed(which mirrors in a way the much largerstandoff based on greed near the end ofthe book). It is important to recognizethat Bilbo is not portrayed as totallygood, here: he and Gollum sharesimilarities.



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Gollum slips away, and Bilbo is afraidthat he will attack and eat him. Heslips on the ring without thinking, andthen runs as he hears Gollum coming.He trips and falls while trying to runaway from Gollum, but to his surprise,Gollum doesn’t attack him, but runspast him. Bilbo hears Gollum talking tohimself, saying that “the hobbit” musthave Gollum’s ring, and he must notescape with it, or the goblins willcapture him, take the ring, and use itto kill Gollum. Gollum decides to headfor the way out, in the event that Bilbohas gone that way, and ambush Bilbothere. Bilbo follows Gollum, realizingthat the ring he wears must make himinvisible.

Bilbo’s survival in this section is almostcompletely accidental, not the product ofhis own ability or heroism. Even whenBilbo finds his way out, he doesn’t do sobecause of his excellent sense ofdirection; he simply follows Gollum. In away, Tolkien suggests, heroism issomething of a myth—skill is necessary,but so is good fortune. Note how thering—and each’s need and desire forit—has become the center of the conflictbetween Bilbo and Gollum.

Gollum continues toward the way out,with Bilbo secretly following behindhim. Though Gollum can’t see Bilbo,he smells him in the dark. Bilbo istempted to use his sword to killGollum, but he feels pity for him, andthinks to himself that Gollum is lonely,and, after all, hasn’t actuallythreatened to kill him. So, instead, hejumps over Gollum, and rushes intothe goblins’ territory. Gollum tries tocatch Bilbo, but is too slow, and staysback, cursing Bilbo’s name.

Bilbo could easily kill Gollum, but hedoesn’t. In part, this is because he doesn’thave all the information aboutGollum—he doesn’t know that Gollumwas going to kill him—but just as muchhe spares Gollum’s life because he’s kindand sympathizes with the weak andpitiable. Bilbo is hardly perfect, and infact, he’s a thief who has stolen the ring,but at moments like this, it becomesclear that he’s also a moral character.And this morality and kindness is asmuch of what establishes Bilbo as a heroin the story as any of his cunning exploitsto come.

In the goblins’ lair, the goblins seeBilbo—he has taken off his ring. Bilboslips it back on just in time, and hidesbehind a barrel while the goblins tryto find him. He sees an open door, andmoves toward it, dodging goblins. Hesqueezes through a crack in the door,but his buttons get stuck. A goblinpoints out that there’s a shadow nearthe door, as they near the door, Bilbopulls himself through the door and outof the mountains, losing his buttons inthe process—he has escaped.

The difference between Bilbo’sinteraction with the goblins here and inthe last chapter is obvious—though Bilbostill doesn’t fight them directly, he nowhas a powerful weapon for avoidingthem and the willingness to take actionon his own. Symbolically, Bilbo loses hisbuttons at the end of this chapter, inwhich he’s changed so greatly. It’s as ifhe’s casting aside a final remnant of hisold life, and turning to his adventureinstead.

CHAPTER 6: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTOTHE FIREBilbo finds himself on the other sideof the Misty Mountains without apony, buttons, or his companions. Hewalks along the mountains for sometime, and eventually hears voices thatdon’t sound like goblins’. He is happyto find that they belong to thedwarves and Gandalf, but rather thangreet them right away, he decides tohave some fun, and puts on his ringand walks among them, invisible.

Here, Bilbo begins to enjoy himself forthe first time on his journey. Instead ofimmediately rejoining the group, heasserts his independence by walkingamong them unnoticed. Bilbo’s ring haschanged his personality—he’s braver andmore adventurous than he was only aday before. And yet, his actions here arealso somewhat unkind—his new powerhas made him at least slightly lesssympathetic.

Gandalf is arguing with the dwarves;the dwarves are annoyed that Bilbocouldn’t stay with them, and had toget himself lost, while Gandalf insiststhat they find Bilbo instead of goingon. Bilbo removes his ring and seemsto appear out of thin air, startlingeveryone, including Gandalf. Thedwarves are highly impressed, andBilbo’s reputation as a burglar goes upconsiderably in their eyes. Bilbodoesn’t show his ring to anyone, butsimply says that he snuck past Balin,the sentry, very quietly. When askedabout where he has been, Bilbo onlysays that he fell off of Dori’s back andsnuck past the goblins—Gandalf givesBilbo a look as if he senses what Bilbohas left out. Gandalf explains thatBilbo’s cry woke him up, and he wasable to escape from the goblinshimself by using his enchantments.

It becomes clear that the dwarves aren’tat all loyal to their friend; indeed, this isan early clue that they’re not particularlymoral people, especially compared toBilbo. Even so, the dwarves begin torespect Bilbo much more after heappears before them, seemingly out ofthin air. This suggests that the dwarvesare somewhat shallow—they respectBilbo because he’s a good burglar, notbecause he’s a good person—but it alsoshows how greatly Bilbo has changed ina short time. It’s also significant thatBilbo doesn’t tell the dwarves everythingabout his journey—he begins to developa private life: a sure sign of his growingmaturity. Gandalf senses this growingprivate life, these secrets that Bilbo iskeeping, but also perhaps the greed thatis also a part of Bilbo not revealingeverything that has happened to him.

The dwarves have lost their suppliesand ponies to the goblins, but thecompany proceeds on their route.Bilbo is enormously hungry, and thepath is difficult. After a long time, thegroup hears the sound of wolves,which Bilbo recognizes from a relativewho used to imitate wolf howls toscare him. Bilbo, the dwarves, andGandalf climb into trees to avoid thewolves. Bilbo is unable to climb up, butDori climbs down and pulls him up justas a wolf is about to bite him.

Again, Bilbo makes connections betweenthe lessons he’s learned at home and hisexperiences on the road. Even afteracquiring the ring, he’s unable to evadethe wolves by himself –- he still dependsin no small part on his companions forhelp.

The wolves are actuallyWargs—wolves that can talk—andGandalf overhears their conversationas they talk among themselves. Theywere supposed to meet the goblinsthere that night to raid a nearby townof men. The Wargs are “annoyed” tofind that the goblins are late (Gandalfknows this is probably because of thedeath of the Great Goblin) andthey’re equally angry to see that thereare people in the trees, who theyassume must be in cahoots with themen in the town. Gandalf, who’sscared despite being a wizard, takesthe large pinecones growing in thetrees, uses magic to set them on fire,and throws them down at the Wargs,who yelp and run away.

Since we’ve seen the extent of Gandalf’sabilities by this point in the novel, thatfact that he is scared adds tension to thismoment. But even so, Tolkien lightensthe moods by anthropomorphizing thewolves and describing their feelings indry, understated language—it would beterrifying to read that the wolves areangry, but not that they’re “annoyed.”



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The Lord of the Eagles notices a fire inhis forest, and sees a great crowd ofgoblins jeering at Gandalf and thedwarves in the trees. Gandalf, who’snow afraid that the fire will burn downtheir trees and kill the entire group,mocks the goblins, and calls for theeagles to carry him and his friendsaway. The eagles arrive, snatchingGandalf and the dwarves out of thetrees before they’re burned down. Asan eagle carries Dori, Bilbo hangs onto Dori’s ankles, and lets go just as theeagles drop them in a nest.

The appearance of the Eagles is anexample of deus ex machina—a sudden,unexpected resolution to a problem,which relies heavily on magic or thesuspension of disbelief. Usually, this isfrowned upon in fiction, because it takesreaders out of the story and remindsthem that they’re reading a work offiction. Yet Tolkien counteracts theseeffects with lots of concrete details aboutBilbo’s flight, such as the way he grips onto Dori’s legs. In this way, the scenebecomes more satisfying as a work offantasy.

The eagles are no friends of dwarves,but let them go because Gandalf isfriendly with the Lord of the Eagles,having healed a wound the eagle hadsuffered many years ago. The eaglesrefuse to take the group anywherenear a city of men, since they’re afraidthat men will shoot them with arrows,but Gandalf convinces them to takehim and his friends much closer totheir destination. Bilbo says that he ishungry, and the eagles bring the grouphares, rabbits, and sheep to eat. Bilbois too tired to help the dwarvesprepare the food, but he eats it, andfalls asleep. In his dreams, he walksthrough his home looking forsomething whose appearance oridentity he can’t remember.

Gandalf’s experience continues to provevaluable, since without his friendshipwith the Eagles, the group would neverhave been saved. Bilbo ends the chapterin an almost childlike state, too weak tohelp make dinner. His dream mightsymbolize the rapid changes he’sexperienced recently. Though hecontinues to occasionally and almostreflexively miss his home, he’s graduallyforgetting what he misses about it as hebecomes more familiar with travel.

CHAPTER 7: QUEER LODGINGSThe eagles take Gandalf, Bilbo, andthe dwarves to a far-away place withwoods and a river. Bilbo is afraid to fly,but loosens his grip around his eagle’stalons when the eagle tells him to doso. Bilbo will never see the eaglesagain, the narrator notes, except forduring the Battle of the Five Armies,which will come much later in thestory.

The way Bilbo overcomes his initial fearsdemonstrates that he is beginning togrow more comfortable with his quest.This isn’t to say that he isn’t still terrifiedof the goblins and trolls he encounters;rather, it suggests that he’s getting betterat coping with fear.

Gandalf now announces that he hasother business to attend to, and mustleave the dwarves in the near fewdays. The dwarves are sad to hear this,and offer Gandalf gold and jewels tostay, but Gandalf is insistent; he alsocomments that he believes he hasalready earned some of the dwarves’treasure already. He tells the groupthat he will take them to a place calledthe Carrock, where there lives astrange “Somebody,” of whom theymust not ask too many questions. Thisperson, Gandalf tells Bilbo, is a shape-shifter, and sometimes assumes theshape of a bear. He adds that he willhave to introduce this person to thegroup very gradually.

Gandalf’s sudden need to depart is asurprise, especially since he’s provedhimself to be extremely useful to thegroup, having saved them twice in thelast few days. It’s not entirely clear whyGandalf needs to leave so soon—it’spossible that he has business to attendto, as he says, but it’s also possible thathe wants to test the dwarves and makeBilbo a better adventurer by exposinghim to danger.

The group comes to the Carrock, andGandalf leads Bilbo to the home of aman so huge that Bilbo can walkbetween his legs without his headtouching the man’s tunic. Gandalfintroduces himself and Bilbo to theman, and mentions that the man mightknow Gandalf’s cousin, Radagast. Theman, Beorn, comments that Radagastisn’t a bad sort, as wizards go, and asksGandalf to explain how he has come tobe here.

Gandalf is a master of words, spells, andfighting, but one of his most importantskills is his experience, in and of itself.Gandalf knows a huge number of people,who he can ask to host him and hisfriends. Beorn proves himself to be adecent, if not an excellent, person insofaras he agrees to be a host.

Gandalf tells Beorn that he has beentraveling with a friend or two; Beornasks where the other friend is, andGandalf calls for Thorin and Dori.Beorn says that he doesn’t likedwarves much, but since thesedwarves have been fighting goblins,they’re welcome to stay with him.Gandalf goes on describing his travelsthrough Rivendell, the MistyMountains, and the woods, each timementioning a few more of thedwarves; each time, Beorn questionsGandalf’s story, and Gandalf calls for afew more of the dwarves to come,until finally, Beorn has agreed toaccommodate Bilbo and all of thedwarves. Bilbo is impressed thatGandalf has managed to convinceBeorn to accommodate such a largegroup, especially since Beorn usuallyturns away visitors. Gandalf doesn’ttell Beorn that the dwarves arelooking for treasure.

Gandalf manipulates language to trickBeorn into housing all fourteen of themat the same time. In many ways, this isthe same trick that he used to convinceBilbo to invite all of the dwarves into hishouse when he was expecting Gandalf.This is important in and of itself—Bilbo isno longer the object of trickery, but anobserver of it: he’s maturing. Gandalfcontinues to keep the goal of thedwarves’ quest a secret, knowing that ifthe information were to become widelyavailable, many others would try to takethe dwarves’ treasure. Greed abounds inthe world.

Beorn leads the group into his hall,where he feeds them food and tellsthem tales of the dark forest,Mirkwood, through which Bilbo andthe dwarves must soon travel. Beorn’sstory makes everyone feel nervous forthe journey that lies ahead. That night,as Bilbo is falling asleep, he wonders ifBeorn has transformed into a bearand intends to kill his guests, but heputs this thought out of his head andfalls asleep.

Bilbo doesn’t sleep well because hedoesn’t entirely trust Beorn. But this isonly appropriate—Gandalf has withheldinformation from Beorn, meaning thatBeorn has no particular reason to trustthe group he’s hosting. Hosting, then, is atwo-way affair: the host must beaccommodating to his guests, while theguests must give the hosts some kind oftruthful information about what they’redoing. In the absence of this equalexchange, neither host nor guests feelsentirely comfortable.

The next morning, Bilbo findsGandalf, who explains that he foundbear tracks outside, leading towardthe woods from which the eaglessaved them. Beorn, in the shape of abear, may have led other bears to thislocation. Bilbo is afraid that Beorn willlead the Wargs and goblins to them,but Gandalf urges Bilbo to calmhimself; the next day, Beorn hasreturned, and says that he went to thewoods to confirm Gandalf’s story, andthat he likes it better now that heknows it’s true.

Beorn confirms that Gandalf is telling thetruth about the group’s adventures in theMisty Mountains, and this confirms theimportance of the host-guest exchange.Beorn become more trustworthy to thegroup—he’s not leading the goblins to killthem—at the same instance that thegroup becomes more trustworthy to him.



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Beorn gives the dwarves provisions,including bows and arrows, and sendsthem off to Mirkwood with the advicethat they mustn’t leave the path forany reason, or wet their bodies withwater from an enchanted stream. Thedwarves are grateful to Beorn for hisadvice and hospitality, and set offtoward Mirkwood. As they travel thatnight, Bilbo thinks that he sees thefigure of a huge bear that might beBeorn, but Gandalf tells him not topay attention to it.

Beorn proves himself to be a generoushost after confirming that Gandalf istrustworthy. Again, truth is a kind ofcurrency here, one that the group uses to“buy” important supplies from their host:weapons, food, advice, etc. It even seemsas if Beorn—in the shape of a bear—isguarding them on their way.

The group reaches Mirkwood forest,and they let their ponies go as theponies will not be able to travelthrough the forest. Gandalfannounces that he is leaving them toattend to other business. Bilbo isespecially sad to see Gandalf go, andwishes that he were going with him.Gandalf reminds Bilbo that there is noother way to reach the destinationwithout traveling through Mirkwood;the only alternative would involvetraveling near goblins or theNecromancer. Gandalf leaves Bilboand the dwarves, reminding them notto go off the path. The group entersMirkwood forest, and begins the mostdangerous part of its journey.

Bilbo feels a special connection toGandalf; it’s clear that he’s closer toGandalf, who wanted to wait and findBilbo in the Misty Mountains, than he isto the dwarves, who wanted to move onwithout him. Gandalf’s allusion to theNecromancer, who’s never fully explainedin The Hobbit, suggests what his “otherbusiness” might be—but even so, it seemsas if Gandalf is deliberately abandoningthe group at the time when they needhim most.

CHAPTER 8: FLIES AND SPIDERSBilbo and the dwarves march insingle-file through the forest along thepath. They quickly come to hate theconstant sight of cobwebs, and thealmost total darkness in which theysleep every night. At night, Bilbo seesbright, glowing eyes looking at him,and thinks that these eyes mustbelong to insects, not animals.

There’s a noticeable contrast betweenthe accommodating way Beorn treatsBilbo and the dwarves and the group’suneasy experiences in the forest. Theforest, with its darkness and lurking giantinsects, is like the opposite of a home.

Eventually, the group comes to astream, and sees a boat on theopposite side. Remembering Beorn’sadvice, they don’t swim in the stream,but throw a rope across to pull theboat over. Bilbo and the dwarves goacross two or three at a time, withBombur, the fattest, going last,despite his protestations. As theycross the river, they see an enchanteddeer jump over the river. ThoughThorin tells them to hold their fire, thedwarves waste all of their arrowstrying to shoot the deer, making theirbows useless. When it is Bombur’sturn to cross, he falls in the water, andimmediately falls asleep; the dwarvesmust now carry him. The group beginsto hear mysterious laughter; it doesn’tsound like it comes from goblins.

The enchanted hunt of deer is a familiarmotif from early English and Celticpoetry, one with which Tolkien wasextremely familiar from his academicstudies. Here, the dwarves’ failure to usetheir weaponry effectively signals thatthey’re inadequately prepared for theirquest, and that, for all his weaknesses,Bilbo might be a better adventurer thanany of them. Where the dwarves rely ongut instinct and weaponry, Bilbo uses hisring, his trickery, and his words to surviveon the open road.

The dwarves send Bilbo to climb atree in the hope that he’ll be able tosee the end of the forest. Bilbo climbsa tree, and at the top, he sees sunshineand beautiful butterflies, but no endto the trees. By the time he’s climbedback down, he is tired and miserableat having to return to the forest; whenhe tells the dwarves what he saw,they’re miserable, too.

There is something melancholy anddeeply moving about the fact that thegroup is only a few feet away fromsunshine and warmth—it’s just thatthese things are high above them, notaround them. This situation is ametaphor for the dwarves’ largersituation: they know what their home is(the Lonely Mountain), but it is beyondtheir reach.

Bombur wakes up, saying that he’sbeen having lovely dreams of feastsand food. Thorin is irritated with thisnews, since the group’s supplies havealmost ran out. Bilbo and the dwarvessee lights, and what appears to be theking of the woodland holding a grandfeast. Thorin is reluctant to step offthe path, but eventually he and theothers wander toward the food. Assoon as they arrive, it becomescompletely dark, and Bilbo becomesseparated from the rest of his group.

Bombur is almost a parody of Bilbo at hisweakest—he dreams of food, he has to becarried, he contributes nothing to thegroup. This signals that Bilbo is no longerthe “weak link” in the group; he’sbeginning to prove his worth and earn hisfourteenth of the treasure. Even so, he’sno more responsible than the dwarveswhen they run off the path.

Bilbo falls asleep, and when he wakesup from dreams of food and home, hefinds himself half-covered in spiderthread—a giant spider has capturedhim and is about to poison him. Bilbomanages to free his sword and kill thespider. He names his sword Sting, andsuddenly feels powerful and excited.

Here, Bilbo participates in a crucial act ofrenaming. By giving a simple knife animpressive, evocative name, he makeshimself more imposing and heroic—nocommon person could wield Sting. (It’sinteresting that this moment comes onthe heels of Tolkien’s descriptions ofOrcrist and Glamdring, swords that dohave an impressive history and legacy.)Language, then, is Bilbo’s most importanttool: when he uses words to make himselfappear more impressive, his statementbecomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and hedoes become more impressive. Innaming his sword he gives it, and himselfas its wielder, a legacy, and that legacy isconnected to all other named swords.



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Bilbo puts on his ring and follows thesounds of yelling, and, with a littleluck, he comes to a web where a groupof giant spiders is discussing the biggroup it has just captured. Bilborecognizes the shapes of the dwarves,covered in thread. He finds a smallstone and throws it at a spider, killingit. Confident that the spiders can’t seehim, he begins singing a song, mockingthe remaining spiders and luring themaway from their web. Bilbo doublesback and hastily uses his sword to cutthe dwarves free. They are tired andsick from the spiders’ poison, andBombur is so exhausted that he fallsout of the web. The spiders close inaround Bombur, but Bilbo jumps downand kills half a dozen with his sword,while the dwarves use sticks andstones to help him scare away therest.

Bilbo continues to use words to fight hisenemies—his song accomplishes itsintended purpose, confusing andmaddening the spiders. Bilbo, it’s clear,has begun to enjoy his quest, and relishthe battles with monsters instead offearing them. It’s clear how quickly Bilbohas grown into a good adventurer by theway he saves the lives of the thirteendwarves—who have much moreexperience than he does with adventures,after all. Bilbo also gains a new skill—old-fashioned sword fighting.

Bilbo realizes that he’ll have to explainhis ring to the dwarves; he tells themthat he can use it to disappear, andthat they must run away from thespiders while he uses his ring andsword to fight them. For what seems along time, Bilbo defends the dwarves,but eventually, the spiders give up andreturn to their lair.

Bilbo no longer hides his secrets from thedwarves, and perhaps this is because he’sconfident enough in his own abilities thathe doesn’t think he needs to hide themany longer.

The dwarves run away from thespiders, and eventually arrive at aplace that they determine to be thehome of the wood-elves, who areoften hostile to visitors but are notevil like goblins. They are curiousabout Bilbo’s story, and ask him manyquestions. It is at this time that theybegin to take Bilbo more seriously, asGandalf hinted would happen.Suddenly, the dwarves notice thatThorin is missing.

Bilbo’s reputation goes up enormouslyafter he saves the dwarves’ lives: theypester him with questions, much the waythey’ve pestered Gandalf for informationin the past. Yet the dwarves aren’t exactlybrilliant adventurers themselves—theylose Thorin without noticing.

The narrator reveals what happenedto Thorin: when the dwarveswandered off the path to find food,the wood-elves find and captureThorin for supposedly attacking themat their feast. Thorin is taken beforethe king of the Wood-Elves; he tellshim that he was traveling with hiscompanions, but refuses to say whatthey were doing in the woods. Theking accuses Thorin of lying, and, as awood-elf, is hostile to dwarves ingeneral, since the dwarves supposedlystole the elves’ treasure long ago (thedwarves say exactly the same thingabout the elves). The king sendsThorin to prison, where Thorin isgiven only bread and water, andwonders what became of his friends.

Thorin’s behavior before the king isperfectly indicative of his personalstrengths and weaknesses. Thorin hasenough loyalty in his quest to the LonelyMountain that he doesn’t reveal it to theking, and enough heroism to withstandany punishment. At the same time, hekeeps his mouth shut when he could,presumably, apologize or be honest withthe king and get a lighter sentence (ornone at all). Yet Thorin wants hiskingdom and all of its treasure forhimself, and his refusal to divulge his goalis also a sign of his greed, and of his fearof the greed of others (which is itself asymptom of greed). At the same time, it isthe long-standing conflict betweendwarves and elves, not any individualconflict between Thorin and theElvenking, that results in Thorin’simprisonment. Separated from hiscompanions, Thorin begins to lose someof his hope.

CHAPTER 9: BARRELS OUT OF BONDBilbo and the dwarves wander

through the woods, desperate forfood. Just then a party of wood-elvesemerges from behind the trees, andcaptures them all, except for Bilbo,who manages to put on his ring andthen follow behind unnoticed as theelves march the dwarves into theircity. The dwarves are presented to theElvenking, who questions them andreprimands them for using his roadsand attacking the spiders, therebydisturbing his people. The dwarvesare angry with the Elvenking, andthey’re imprisoned in separate cells,unaware that Thorin is there as well.

Once again, Bilbo demonstrates his valueto the group, evading capture while hiscompanions are marched off toimprisonment. It’s important that Tolkiendoesn’t entirely take the dwarves’ side inthis passage: the Elvenking is right, afterall, to be angry that the dwarves havedisturbed the spiders, since he has aresponsibility to keep his people safe.Bilbo and the dwarves are hardlyperfect—they’re not exactly goodguests—and this is largely what makesthem such interesting characters.

Bilbo walks, invisible, though theelves’ prison, not wanting to abandonthe dwarves. He is cautious, for fear ofthe guards bumping into him. Hewishes that he were back in hishobbit-hole, or that he could send amessage to Gandalf, but eventually herealizes that he will have to save thedwarves himself.

Bilbo demonstrates how much he haslearned about taking care ofhimself—though he momentarily wisheshe could rely on someone else for help,the direness of his situation encourageshim to work alone to free his friends.

After a week or two of searching,Bilbo finds Thorin in a special prisoncell; Thorin has been so miserable thathe was considering telling the elvesabout his quest for treasure. Bilbotells Thorin that the other dwarvesare there; and he tells the otherdwarves that Thorin is nearby, too.Thorin’s opinion of Bilbo growsquickly. Bilbo also discovers that thereis a way out of the prison besides thefront gates: there is a canalunderneath the building that the elvesuse to transport barrels of wine.

Thorin gains new respect for Bilbo, justas the other dwarves do. Indeed, Bilbo’sintelligence and resourcefulness seemmuch more impressive than Thorin’sintegrity—he was considering giving upinformation about the treasure whenBilbo found him.



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One night, Bilbo overhears the elvestalking about an upcoming great feast,full of wine and revelry. Bilbo seizesthe opportunity, and when the guardsare drinking upstairs, he steals thekeys to the prison cells and freesevery dwarf. He tells the dwarves tohurry and be silent as he loads theminto barrels; normally the barrelstransport wine down the river to tradewith the men of Lake-town (which isalso called Esgaroth). Now they willcarry the dwarves to freedom. Bilbolowers the barrels into the canal andthey float down the river. Bilbohimself is forced to swim in the water,at least until he is able to swim to abarrel and use it as a raft.

There is a childish quality to the dwarves'escape, since they make use of the elves’drunkenness—an unmistakably adultvice—when they escape. In this chapter,Bilbo has become responsible for theother members of his group, and the endis no exception—he’s forced to swimalongside the barrels.

The barrels run aground at a nearbytown, where they’re stored overnight.Bilbo swims ashore and uses his ringto steal some food and wine; the nextday, the barrels are sent back alongthe river, and they float to Lake-town.

Tolkien doesn’t give details about howBilbo steals food that night—it’s as ifBilbo has grown so competent as thiskind of burglary that it’s almost notworth mentioning.

CHAPTER 10: A WARM WELCOMEBilbo, who has developed a cold in thewater, floats along with the dwarves,still in their barrels. In the distancebeyond Lake-town, he sees the LonelyMountain, the mountain he and thedwarves have been trying to reach,and thinks that he isn’t at all glad tosee it. The narrator notes that Bilbohas found the only good path fromMirkwood to the dwarves’destination—the river—since theroads of Mirkwood have become toodangerous, or fallen into disrepair.Gandalf, having learned thisinformation, makes haste to rejoin thedwarves, though Bilbo doesn’t knowthis at the time.

The narrator offers his own take onBilbo’s adventures, and explains thatBilbo was luckier than he could haveimagined. This suggests that Bilbo’ssuccess as an adventurer—and, perhaps,all adventurers’ success—isn’t entirely upto them; there’s an element of chance orfate at play. Gandalf will return to thedwarves to help them, but it’s clear bynow that Bilbo can often figure out howto get by without Gandalf.

The narrator notes that Lake-town is atown of men, which, like much of thearea surrounding the LonelyMountain, has fallen into disrepairfollowing the arrival of Smaug.Though men in Lake-town arerelatively far away from Smaug, andsurvive by trading with the elves alongthe river, they can still see the ruinSmaug caused—there are no trees orelaborate buildings. Some say that oneday the dwarves will return to theirhome, and the men of Lake-town willreturn to and rebuild Dale, a largetown that was prosperous when ittraded with the dwarves and thatSmaug later destroyed.

Tolkien here portrays the importance ofhope to the townspeople; they getthrough their difficult lives by thinkingahead to a brighter future. Thisreinforces the importance of music andpoetry—the songs the dwarves sing atthe beginning of The Hobbit, forinstance, help to maintain this spirit ofhope. The connection of the relativepoverty of Lake-town to thedisappearance of the dwarves from theLonely Mountain again suggests thepower when elves, men, and dwarvescooperate rather than fight, when theywork together rather than split apartbased on greed.

Long after the sun sets, Bilbo swims tothe shore and lets the dwarves out oftheir barrels; they are extremely tiredand hungry. Because he is so wet andexhausted, the narrator notes, itwould be some time before Thorinwas polite to Bilbo again;nevertheless, he thanks Bilbo forsaving them from the elves. The groupmakes its way into Lake-town, andThorin announces himself as the KingUnder the Mountain and demands tobe taken to the Master of the town.

Thorin is a stubborn, occasionallyungrateful dwarf; this foreshadows theevents of the final third of the book. Yethe’s also a noble, impressive figure, whoquickly switches from being cold and wetto commanding the respect of the entiretown.

Men take the dwarves and Bilbo tosee the Master of Lake-town, who isat a feast. He is astounded to hearthat the King Under the Mountain hasreturned, and though there is an elf atthe feast who says that Thorin and hiscomrades are escaped prisoners, thegeneral excitement over Thorin’sreturn is so great that the Master hasno choice but to allow the group toremain free.

The Master is immediately shown to be acallous, greedy leader, who feasts evenwhen his people are poor and hungry.Despite his greed, he’s not a particularlypowerful leader; he has to give in to thecrowd because he isn’t strong enough todisagree with them. This suggests thatthe Master stays in his position bymanipulating popular opinion, ratherignoring it altogether. He comes to serveas a contract to other, more heroiccharacters.

For the next two weeks, Bilbo and thedwarves enjoy the town’s hospitality,and regain their strength. After thistime, Thorin announces to the Masterthat he is ready to go to the Mountain.The Master is surprised, because hehad assumed that Thorin was a fraudand merely pretending to be the KingUnder the Mountain in order to getfree food and lodgings. Nevertheless,the Master conceals his surprise andwishes Thorin good luck on his quest.He is happy to be rid of the dwarves,since they are expensive to take careof. Bilbo is the only one who’s unhappyto be leaving the town.

The Master is such a fraud himself thathe’s amazed when his guest turns out tobe sincere in his aims. Bilbo, despite theaptitude for adventure he’s developed sofar, isn’t at all eager to go to the LonelyMountain. This raises the question ofwhat, exactly, Bilbo wants to get out ofhis quest. It may be that Bilbo wants a“healthy balance” of adventure andpeace—too much of either one makeshim anxious.

CHAPTER 11: ON THE DOORSTEPBilbo and the dwarves make use ofthe supplies and ponies the men of thetown give them, and take two days toride to Smaug’s Desolation, the areaaround the Mountain that Smaug hasclaimed for himself. They are notcheery as they ride, since they knowthat they are nearing the end of theirjourney, and it might be an unpleasantend.

The climactic scenes of The Hobbit areabout to begin, and everyone, includingthe dwarves, Bilbo, and Tolkien himself,knows it.

The group reaches the remains ofDale, which is in ruins. Thorin andBalin note sadly that the Dale wasgreen and beautiful before Smaugdestroyed it. Bilbo sees smoke risingfrom the Mountain, and assumes thatSmaug must still be there. Balin saysthat he’s probably right, but thatSmaug could be gone for a time, withthe underground halls still full of hissmell.

Part of Smaug’s danger to the dwarves isthat he’s unpredictable—surprisingly forsuch a large, visible animal. Thus, it’s noteven clear that he’s really under themountain.



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The dwarves are afraid of what they’llencounter in the mountain, and havelittle spirit for their quest. Bilbo,surprisingly, is eager to use the map tofind the secret passageway. However,after many days of looking, they donot succeed in finding it. Autumn isalmost over, and winter is about tobegin: at this point in the quest, theentire group, even Bilbo, begins todespair. Bilbo looks to the West andthinks fondly of his home. Thedwarves suggest that he try to enterthe Kingdom under the Mountainthrough the Main Gate; Bilbo turnsdown this suggestion immediately,since he’d likely to run into Smaug, andthe dwarves reluctantly accept hisdecision.

Though Bilbo was initially reluctant to goto the mountain, the sight of themap—he’s loved maps since long beforehe began the quest—reinvigorates hisspirits. This, and the other conversationsBilbo has with the dwarves in thissection, suggests that defeating Smaug isas much a practical problem as one ofbravery—they have to figure out how toenter the mountain first.

Several days after they arrive at theLonely Mountain, there is a new moonin the sky and the sun is setting. Bilbosees a thrush knocking a snail againstthe rock, and this sight reminds him ofthe message Elrond read on the map:he realizes that he has found thesecret entrance, and it is Durin’s Day,the dwarf New Year. This means thatthe group can open the passageway.As the sun sets that evening, a singlered ray of light shines on the side ofthe mountain; a rock falls, illuminatinga keyhole, just as Elrond predicted.Quickly, Thorin produces his key,turns it in the keyhole, and opens adoor into the side of the LonelyMountain.

Bilbo continues to prove himself valuableto the quest, but his heroism here isbased on traits not always connected toheroism (but which Tolkien seems toindicate should be). He is observant, andhas a better memory than the otherdwarves—he remembers that Elrond toldthem that on Durin’s Day, the light of thesun would shine on the door to the secretpassageway. The thrush proves avaluable ally to the dwarves, for reasonsthat Tolkien will make clear later on.

CHAPTER 12: INSIDE INFORMATIONThorin announces that it is time forBilbo to earn his pay by investigatingthe interior of the Mountain andacting as a burglar. Bilbo replies,impatiently, that he has already savedthe dwarves twice, but that he’ll gointo the Mountain anyway, since hetrusts his luck more than he used to athome. He asks for someone toaccompany him into the Mountain;only Balin, who’s fond of Bilbo,volunteers. The narrator notes thatdwarves are tricky, and not alwaysvery honorable. These dwarves, thenarrator continues, intend to keeptheir promise and pay Bilbohandsomely for his services, but at thesame time, they’re not necessarilywilling risk their own lives to help him.Balin walks Bilbo into the Mountain,but eventually he hangs back and letsBilbo proceed alone. Bilbo is afraid,but determined to go on—he haschanged greatly since he left his home.

Bilbo is clearly enjoying himself when henotes how useful he’s been to thedwarves so far: he’s bragging. At thesame time, the narrator paints acomplicated portrait of dwarves. Some,such as Balin, are kind, and genuinely likeBilbo. Nevertheless, the dwarves as agroup don’t value Bilbo’s life remotely asmuch as they value their gold and jewels.This foreshadows the conflicts of thefinal chapters of The Hobbit, andsuggests that Bilbo, for all his flaws, is thereal moral center of the book.

Bilbo climbs down into the mountain,where he notices a red light. As hegets closer to the source of the light,he realizes that he is looking at Smaugthe dragon, lying on his treasure,asleep. The sight takes Bilbo’s breathaway—he has no words that candescribe it. He takes a cup from thepile of treasure, proud of himself forhis bravery, and runs back to the door,where he shows Balin and the otherdwarves the cup. Everyone is elatedwith this find, until they hear a hugenoise, the sound of Smaug’s rage—therage of a rich person who has just lostsomething he doesn’t really need.

Smaug’s evil is inseparable from hisgreed—he’s dangerous because, muchlike the dwarves themselves (or Gollumwith his ring), he loves his treasure to thepoint where he’s unwilling to part withany of it. Tolkien lightens the mood herewith an amusing comparison betweenSmaug and a grumpy old man, thoughthat comparison also emphasizes thatSmaug is the embodiment of a bad host:he shares nothing with anyone. It’s alsoimportant that Bilbo can’t describeSmaug’s treasure—and nor can Tolkien.Language is a powerful tool, but it has itslimits, and here it fails to account for thewonder of the dwarves’ gold.

The dwarves are terrified to seeSmaug emerge from the mountain,roaring with rage. The dwarves try tofind shelter from Smaug; they areafraid to save Bifur, Bofur, andBombur, who are stationed lowerdown on the mountain, in a morevulnerable position. Thorin insiststhat they rescue them by pulling themup with rope. Bilbo and the dwarvesthen run through the door into themountain. They sleep there for thenight, while Smaug searches themountain for the thief who took hiscup, and finds the ponies on which thedwarves rode. Though the ponies tryto run away, Thorin despairs thatthey’ll be killed.

Thorin is hardly a perfect character, buthe’s fiercely loyal to his dwarves, whohave followed him across the world insearch of treasure. The fact that Smaugeats the dwarves’ ponies makes himsimilar to the goblins, who did the samething in the Misty Mountains. The goodcharacters in The Hobbit are hugelydifferent from each other, but the evilones are largely the same: greedy,bloodthirsty, etc.

Hidden just inside the mountain, thedwarves try to decide what to do.They have no way of killing Smaug,which was the flaw in their plan allalong, and Bilbo points out that he canhardly be expected to steal the hugeamount of treasure under themountain piece by piece. Bilboimpatiently offers to go down toSmaug and see if he has anyweaknesses. The dwarves accept hisoffer.

Bilbo’s cleverness becomes increasinglyimportant as it becomes clear that thedwarves aren’t strong enough to kill thedragon. There’s something cocky andarrogant about the way that Bilbovolunteers to talk to Smaug—he knowshow valuable he is to the dwarves.

Bilbo again travels down to Smaug’slair, to which Smaug has returned.Smaug looks asleep to Bilbo, but Bilbodoesn’t know about dragons’ keensense of smell. Smaug smells Bilbo,and opens his eye slightly—he has onlybeen pretending to sleep. Headdresses Bilbo as “thief,” and tells himto enter and take what he wants of thetreasure, since there is plenty of it tospare. Bilbo is too clever to fall for thisploy, and puts on his ring, tellingSmaug that he has only come to see ifSmaug is as impressive as the talessay.

Here, Bilbo’s smallness andinconspicuousness —the qualities thatmade the dwarves initially doubthim—become assets, allowing him toenter Smaug’s lair and talk to him.Smaug pretends to be a “good host” andoffers Bilbo some of his gold, but Bilbo,who’s dealt with plenty of bad hosts bythis point, isn’t fooled.



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Smaug asks Bilbo for his name, andBilbo replies that he is clue-finder,web-cutter, barrel-rider, and variousother titles relating to his adventures.This, the narrator notes, is the properway to talk to dragons, who can’tresist riddles. Smaug, says he doesn’tunderstand Bilbo but ate fourteenponies that smelled of dwarf, andwarns Bilbo not to associate withdwarves, since they’ll surely kill himafter Bilbo does their dirty work forthem. He adds that Bilbo, who hasprobably been promised one-fourteenth of the treasure, won’treceive any of it, since it’s impossiblefor it to be transported back to hishome. Bilbo, falling under the dragon’sspell, is genuinely surprised to hearthis, and wonders if the dwarves meanto cheat him. Nevertheless, he repliesthat he is confident in his friends, andturns the conversation to Smaug’sarmor.

Bilbo’s listing of his names is a gloriousfeat of language, proving how far he’scome as a speaker and as a person. Hisexperiences in the quest have become apart of his identity; he’s not just a hobbitwho happens to have ridden abarrel—he’s a “barrel rider.” Yet thesemanipulations of language go both ways.Smaug uses words and cunning tomanipulate Bilbo into doubting thedwarves’ honesty—Bilbo will be unableto get these thoughts out of his head forsome time. Smaug is not just greedy; hesows doubt among others and as a resultmakes them greedy, too. Nevertheless,Bilbo is loyal enough to his friends thathe doesn’t give in to his doubts, at leastnot right away.

Smaug, eager to show off hisimpregnability, rolls onto his side sothat Bilbo can see his diamond armor.Bilbo notices, however, that there is alarge hole in the waistcoat on Smaug’sleft breast. With this information,Bilbo runs away from Smaug, who inrage bellows fire after him. Thedwarves treat Bilbo’s burns, whileBilbo explains his conversation withSmaug. Bilbo, irritated with hiswounds, throws a rock at a thrush, butThorin tells him to stop, sincethrushes are noble, talking birds whothe dwarves have long used tocommunicate messages across greatdistances. Bilbo, meanwhile, regretscalling himself “barrel-rider,” since thiswill cause Smaug to think of Lake-town and to attack it. As the thrushlistens, Bilbo tells the dwarves whatSmaug said about being cheated outof his share; Thorin assures Bilbo thathe was telling the truth, and tells himthat he can choose his own fourteenthshare.10110

Smaug’s weakness is his vanity (whichmight be described as a kind of greedrelating to one’s own qualities)—if hehadn’t given in to Bilbo’s flattery, Bilbowould never have known that it waspossible to kill him. Yet note, also, that itwas Bilbo’s own vanity that made himincautious with his self-naming as“barrel-rider” and put the people of Lake-town in danger. Bilbo shares Smaug’sfaults, just not to the same degree. WhenThorin tells Bilbo not to hurt the thrush,he shows the alliance between dwarvesand thrushes, and more generally, theimportance of cooperating with nature.Smaug eats animals—in other words,attacks nature—and this is an essentialpart of how we know he’s evil. Bilbo andthe dwarves, on the other hand,cooperate with animals; ultimately, thisbecomes a key part of how they defeatthe dragon.

The dwarves turn to talking about thetreasures they will own once Smaug isdefeated. The most importanttreasure that the dwarves mention isthe Arkenstone, an incrediblybeautiful gem that shines like themoon. The group goes to sleep; but inthe middle of the night Bilbo wakes upand urges Thorin to shut the door inthe side of the mountain. Just asThorin shuts the door, they hear aloud crash. Smaug had emergedquietly from his lair and attempted toattack them. If Bilbo hadn’t woken upand they hadn’t closed the door, thegroup would be dead. Through thedoor they listed as they hear Smaugfly to the river to attack the men ofLake-town, who, thanks to Bilbo’sremarks about being a “barrel rider,”Smaug thinks played some part in thetheft of his cup.10110

The dwarves display their love for theirtreasure, a love that borders on greed,particularly in the case of theArkenstone. For the second time, Bilbo’swaking up in the middle of the nightsaves his group from death (the first timewas in the Misty Mountains before thegoblin attack in Chapter 4). This suggeststhat alertness is a crucial part ofsucceeding in one’s adventures—thosewho sleep too much (like Bombur) maybe punished for their laziness. Bilbo’sremarks about being a “barrel-rider” docause Smaug to attack the men. As Bilbobecomes more competent as anadventurer, his mistakes becomeproportionally greater, too. Heroisminvolves responsibility. Further, the factthat one’s actions can affect others inunforeseen ways becomes a kind ofmoral underpinning for the rules behindbeing good hosts and good guests,toward cooperation and trust ratherthan greed – in essence, if one’s ownactions and successes impact and aresupported by others, then one should begenerous with those others as a way ofacknowledging that interconnectedness.

CHAPTER 13: NOT AT HOMEThe dwarves begin to despair, sincethey have no way out of the mountain.Strangely, Bilbo feels more hopefulthan he had before—he urges thedwarves to follow him down theSmaug’s lair. The group travels downthrough the mountain, cautious eventhough they think Smaug is outside.

Bilbo’s hope is an important weapon inthe group’s conflict with Smaug. He firstdevelops this sense of optimism whenhe’s trapped under the Misty Mountains,and it serves him well when he’s trappedunder the Lonely Mountain.

Bilbo explores Smaug’s pile oftreasure, and urges Oin and Gloin tomake fire; while they do so, he findsthe Arkenstone, the gem Thorin hadpreviously mentioned. Bilbo keeps thestone for himself, reasoning thatThorin told him he could keep anyfourteenth share of the treasure hedesired, though he still feels guiltyabout taking what is surely the mostbeautiful part of the treasure.

The fact that Bilbo takes the Arkenstonereveals several things. First, it shows thathe’s taken Smaug’s words to heart, and isworried that he’ll be unable to collect hisfourteenth share of the treasure later.Second, it shows his nimbleness withwords, since he’s interpreting Thorin’spromise that he can choose hisfourteenth of the treasure given near theend of Chapter 12 to mean that he cantake any part of the treasure he wants.Finally, it shows that even Bilbo isn’timmune to the hypnotic effects oftreasure. Overall, he seems uninterestedin material wealth, but here, he changeshis tune.

The dwarves are glad to see theirtreasure, and fill their pockets withwhatever they can carry. Thorinwears regal armor and gives Bilbo amail coat, which he accepts despitethinking that he must look ridiculous.

Bilbo rejects the pomp and pageantry ofheroism—he’s largely happy to be ahumble hobbit, without any fancy armor.



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Thorin guides Bilbo and the dwarvesalong the Running River, which leadsfrom the inside of the LonelyMountains to the Front Gate,overlooking the ruined town of Dale.Bilbo suggests that they move faraway from the Gate, since Smaug willpass through it when he returns, andthe dwarves move toward a look-outpost in the mountain five hours away.Thorin insists that his hall under themountain will be beautiful once it’sbeen cleaned and restored to itsformer glory. The group wonderswhere Smaug could be.

Thorin’s optimism in this scene indicateshis greatest strengths and his greatestweaknesses. He’s loyal to hisinheritance—the treasure itself—and thismakes him an effective leader, guiding histwelve followers across the world. At thesame time, Thorin’s overwhelming lovefor his home and his gold is a weakness,since it makes him selfish anduninterested in compromise of any kind –in these ways he actually resemblesGollum and Smaug.

CHAPTER 14: FIRE AND WATERThe dwarves are unaware, thenarrator says, what happened toSmaug after he flew away from themountain. The men in Esgaroth (i.e.Lake-town) see a light in the distance,which they think might be thedwarves returning to forging gold. Butsoon, they realize that Smaug israpidly approaching their town. TheMaster tries to row away from thedragon in a boat, while the rest of thetown blows warning trumpets andtries to defend itself. Smaug hopesthat the townspeople will flee in boats,since it will be easy for him to trapthem on the water and starve themout. He wreaks havoc on the town.

The Master reveals himself to be acoward, but the people of Esgaroththemselves are loyal enough to their ownhome that they stay and fight. Smaugmeanwhile, reveals himself to be asadistic villain, longing for the easytargets of boats in the water. It’s possiblethat Tolkien’s experiences as a soldier inWorld War I, the first war in whichairplanes were used in large quantities,influenced his description of Smaugflying through the air, wreaking havoc oneverything below him.

In the town lives a man named Bard.He is a descendant of Girion, who longago was the Lord of Dale, beforeSmaug destroyed it. Bard commands agroup of archers to shoot at Smaug. Inthe middle of Smaug’s destruction, thesame thrush that was listening toBilbo when he told the dwarves aboutSmaug’s weak point, flies to Esgarothand tells Bard how to kill the dragon.Bard then takes his black arrow, whichhad been passed down to him from hisfather, and uses it to shoot Smaug inthe weak point on his stomach and killhim. Smaug dies, having alreadydestroyed much of the city ofEsgaroth.

Bard’s legitimacy as a warrior seemsdeeply rooted in his family—his ancestorswere great lords. At the same time, hissuccess in killing Smaug stems from thedwarves’ cooperation with thethrushes—without this alliance, Bardwould never have known where to shoot.Even the greatest and most impressiveheroes in The Hobbit depend on otherpeople and animals, and feel a deepsense of loyalty to others. (Bard, forinstance, is fiercely loyal to his people.)Villains, on the other hand, are oftenportrayed as being on their own; Smaugis the perfect example.

The townspeople, including theMaster, who has hastily rowed backto the town, praise Bard for hisbravery, but think that he’s died in thedestruction. They say that they wouldhave made him king had he survived.Bard appears suddenly, and thepeople chant that they want Bard fortheir king. The Master insists thatBard’s ancestors were kings in Dale,not Esgaroth; when this doesn’t work,he cleverly encourages the people todemand reparations from the dwarvesfor the damage Smaug has done totheir home. This suggestion distractsthe people from their proposal thatBard become king, and keeps theMaster in power. Bard at first insiststhat it’s foolish to be thinking of thedwarves, since surely Smaug has killedthem too, but eventually he gives inthe Master, reasoning that thedwarves’ treasure can be used torebuild the city of Dale. He tells theMaster that he’ll obey him for the timebeing, but may break away to foundhis own community later on.

The Master is a clever ruler (in the senseof keeping himself in power), even if he’sa coward. In Machiavellian fashion, heturns the people against an externalenemy, thereby distracting the attentionfrom himself. Bard, in contrast, provesthat he’s an honest, sensible person whenhe says that the people shouldn’t bethinking about the dwarves at all—but inthe end, even he isn’t immune to theforce of the crowd. Though it is worthnoting that the Master uses the idea ofthe treasure to keep himself in power,while Bard seeks to rebuild a city for thepeople of Esgaroth. Just as a good hosttrusts his guests, who in turn trust andrespect him, a good ruler seeks to help hispeople who in turn grant him rule overthem.

While Bard organizes the people ofEsgaroth and marches them towardthe Lonely Mountain, Beorn, thegoblins, and the wood-elves also learnthat Smaug has died. The Elvenking ofMirkwood marches to Esgaroth,where he offers aid to the sick andinjured men in return for a reward oftreasure later on. The Master hangsback, building a new townimmediately north of Esgaroth withthe resources the wood-elves lend themen, while the Elvenking and Bardthen march their people further northto the dwarves’ home under themountain.

The stage is set for the final part of TheHobbit: Smaug is dead, but various otherenemies, including goblins, remain alive.The book is becoming more obviouslypolitical—in large part, the conflicts inthe next few chapters won’t be physical,but verbal, hinging on complicatednegotiations that involve various parties’sense, based on both legitimate right andgreed, of what should be theirs.

CHAPTER 15: THE GATHERING STORMBack on the Lonely Mountain, Bilboand the dwarves are trying todetermine where Smaug is. Theynotice the thrush that told Bard aboutSmaug’s weak point. The dwarvescomplain however that they can’tunderstand what the thrush is saying;as a result, the thrush flies away andbrings back an old raven, Rac, whoBilbo and the dwarves canunderstand, since they have a historicfriendship with the birds. Rac tells thegroup that Smaug is dead, having beenshot by Bard, and they are overjoyedwith this news. Rac adds that the menof the lake, along with the wood-elves,are marching to the Lonely Mountainseeking some of Thorin’s treasure,and that Thorin should trust Bard, notthe Master.

Tolkien quickly gets the plot expositionout of the way—now, both sides (menand dwarves) know that Smaug is dead,and thus that the dwarves’ treasure is upfor grabs. Even though a conflict seemsto be brewing between Thorin and Bard,it’s worth noting that the thrush tellsThorin to trust Bard—but here Thorinrefuses, marking a break from hiscooperation with nature and theemergence of his greed above all. Inmany ways, Bard is like Thorin: they’reboth highly loyal to the people they lead.The difference is that Bard has alreadyproven that he is willing to fight andnegotiate on behalf of his people; it’s notyet clear if Thorin is as devoted to hisfellow dwarves, or if he’s loyal, first andforemost, to his precious treasure.



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Thorin is furious to learn that otherswill try to take part of his treasure,and vows not to give away any of it. Hetells Rac to fly to Dain, Thorin’s cousinwho lives in the Iron Hills, to summonhim to come with an army, and ordershis own group of dwarves to fortifythe Lonely Mountain. Bilbo points outthat they have only a little food, andthinks to himself that their adventureis over, and that he’d like to go homenow.

Bilbo is no longer sure of his role, sincethe task he was hired for—burglary—he’salready accomplished. Thus, he wants toreturn to his home as soon as possible.It’s as if Bilbo alone is unaffected by thehuge amounts of treasure around him(though, of course, it’s worthremembering that Bilbo has alreadytaken the Arkenstone for himself).

CHAPTER 16: A THIEF IN THE NIGHTNow under siege from the men andelves, Thorin orders the dwarves tosearch for the Arkenstone, the mostbeautiful of the dwarves’ jewels. Ractells Thorin that Dain is only two daysaway and ready to fight, but adds thatthe ensuing battle will be long andbloody, and that Thorin’s treasure maybe the death of him. Thorin angrilyrefuses to listen to Rac.

Thorin refuses to listen to his people’shistorical allies, the birds. This suggeststhat Thorin is betraying his family’slegacy with his selfish refusal to share histreasure—indeed, he’s endangering thelives of his fellow dwarves by refusing toallow them to get food from outside theirhome. In some sense, Thorin’s desire forhis home and his treasure has made himforget, now that he has them, that a truehome is founded on sharing it, on being agood host. Thorin’s willingness to fight ishere presented as un-heroic.

Bilbo offers to take Bombur’s positionas night watchman. While the otherdwarves sleep, he puts on his armorand uses his ring to sneak out of theLonely Mountain through the Gate.While he’s crawling through a streamon the side of the mountain, he slips,and the elves notice him. Heintroduces himself as Bilbo Baggins,and asks to be taken to see Bard. Theelves take him to Bard’s tent, wherehe tells Bard that Thorin will gladlystarve to death before he gives up histreasure, and that Dain is bringing anarmy to fight alongside Thorin. WhenBard asks Bilbo whether he’sthreatening him or negotiating, Bilbooffers Bard the Arkenstone as a wayof bargaining with Thorin and endingthe siege. Bard is surprised at thesight of a hobbit wearing armor, butrecognizes the Arkenstone is ofenormous value, and accepts it fromBilbo, adding that Bilbo is moreworthy of his armor than many otherswho have worn it.

Again, Bilbo is productive while the othercharacters sleep. Though it seemed (andmay have been true) that he originallytook the Arkenstone out of personalgreed and mistrust of the dwarves, itbecomes clear here that whatever greedhe felt is outweighed by his desire forpeace, and his desire to return to hishome alive. Again, it’s unclear how morala decision this really is (in a way, it’s aselfish decision, since Bilbo is valuing hisown comfort above his friends’possessions), though it is an admirabletriumph over his own personal greed.Bard and the elves show themselves tobe reasonable, even likable people,because they respect Bilbo for hisabilities as a burglar and a negotiator,and recognize his heroism.

Bilbo travels back to the LonelyMountain, escorted up to the Gate bythe elves. He returns to his watch andwakes Bombur up at midnight,pretending that he’s been keepingwatch the entire time. He falls asleep,and dreams of food.

Bilbo does not give away the Arkenstoneand then leave. He returns to thedwarves, revealing that he both feels aconnection to them and that it was thisconnection that drove him to give up theArkenstone: he sees his actions assomething that could save the dwarvesfrom greedily marching to their owndestruction. The fact that Bilbo dreamsof food harkens back to his love ofdomesticity, but also connects thatdomesticity to his heroism here: he wantsto be able to return to that domesticityafter his adventure, and he wants thedwarves to able to do the same.

CHAPTER 17: THE CLOUDS BURSTThe day after Bilbo gives him theArkenstone, Bard, the elves, and anold, cloaked man march to the Gate ofthe Lonely Mountain to greet Thorin.They ask him if he will bargain withthem for some of the treasure. WhenThorin refuses, Bard produces theArkenstone, and insists that while heis not a thief, he’ll trade it back to thedwarves in return for what his peoplerightfully deserve: food and shelter.Thorin is furious, and demands toknow how Bard got the Arkenstone –Bilbo timidly admits that he was theone who gave it away. Thorin seizesBilbo, insults him, and wishes aloudthat Gandalf were with him; at thismoment, Gandalf reveals himself to bethe old, cloaked man, and demandsthat Thorin release Bilbo.

Bilbo, in admitting that he was the onewho gave up the Arkenstone, faces theconsequences of his actions rather thansimply trying to manipulate events. Putanother way, Bilbo (with somenervousness) trusts that the goodintentions of his actions will beunderstood. Gandalf’s suddenappearance—perfectly timed for themoment when Bilbo needs himmost—suggests that he’s more involvedin the dwarves’ quest than he seems, andin fact, might have been secretlywatching them all along.

Bilbo tries to justify himself to Thorin.He explains that Thorin told him hecould choose any part of the treasurefor himself as his share, and so hechose the Arkenstone. Thorin doesn’tdisagree with Bilbo, but he calls Bilboa traitor and dismisses him from theLonely Mountain, saying that he hopeshe’ll never see Bilbo again. Bilbodeparts from the mountain and joinsGandalf, the men, and the elves. WhileBilbo is saying goodbye to the otherdwarves, Thorin threatens to shoothim.

While Thorin recognizes that Bilbo’sinterpretation of Thorin’s words isaccurate, Thorin nonetheless refuses toaccept the spirit behind Bilbo’s actions:to try to avoid a war fueled by greed.Rather than see Bilbo as trying to savethe dwarves from themselves, Thorin’sgreed for his treasure is such that he canonly see giving it away as treachery andas a basis to sever his friendship withBilbo. Note that Thorin and the dwarves,now, are isolated and alone in the sameway that evil characters like Smaug andGollum were portrayed as being.



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Thorin tells Bard that in exchange forthe Arkenstone he will trade him one-fourteenth of the treasure, which hewill take from Bilbo’s share.Meanwhile, Thorin thinks to himselfthat he might be able to regain theArkenstone with Dain’s help, and thusavoid having to surrender any of thetreasure to Bard. Bard tells Thorinthat he has until noon of the next dayto deliver him the treasure.

Despite Thorin’s loyalty to his word, he’sso greedy that he always thinks aboutways to keep his wealth, even if itinvolves war. This is ultimately whatdistinguishes him from Bard: althoughboth leaders regard treasure as extremelyimportant, Bard does so because he seesit as a way to promote peace andhappiness in his people, whereas Thorinsees treasure as an end in itself.

Shortly after Thorin agrees tosurrender some of his treasure, Dainarrives, leading an army of strong,tough dwarves carrying manysupplies. Bard refuses to let himthrough to the Lonely Mountain andgive supplies to the other dwarves.Dain plans to wait out Bard, while inthe meantime many other dwarvesrelated to Thorin arrive from aroundMiddle-Earth, having been alerted byravens and thrushes that they areneeded. Bard sends messengers tothe Gates in the hope of negotiating,but the dwarves shoot arrows atthese messengers instead of giving uptheir treasure. Dain and his armyadvance toward the men, and Bard isready to open fire on them, starting ahuge battle. The Elvenking urges Bardto wait a little longer, in the event thata last-minute event might preventwar.

War seems inevitable: the dwarves’armies are ready to fight, and Bard’s last-minute efforts for a compromise are metwith arrows. Yet the Elvenking remainshopeful, telling his soldiers, and the men,to wait, in the event that peace could bereached. This moment partially justifiesBilbo’s feeling that the elves are the bestof the three peoples at themountain—they seem the least willing toresort to violence, the most wise andpatient. Here the Elvenking’s wordspause the march to war, at least for awhile.

Just as a battle is about to break outbetween the elves and men and thedwarves, the skies darken, andGandalf comes, bringing news that anew goblin leader, Bolg, and his armyof goblins and wargs is about to arrive– the skies are black because an armyof bats accompanies the goblins. Thenarrator explains that the goblins,incensed by the death of the GreatGoblin, have been pursuing thedwarves in search of revenge. WithGandalf’s encouragement, the menand elves ally with the dwarves andfight against the goblins and wargs:this is eventually called The Battle ofthe Five Armies. In order to defeat thegoblins, the elves, men, and dwarveslure them into the wide valleybetween two arms of the LonelyMountain, and then surround them. Inthis manner, a long, bloody battlebegins.

Gandalf is a powerful warrior, but he’s anequally brilliant organizer and negotiator.Here, he organizes three opposing forces,men, dwarves, and elves, together in theinterest of peace. This loose confederacy,united against a common enemy but stillsomewhat at odds with itself, mightreflect Tolkien’s experiences during WorldWar I, when the “Triple Entente” ofFrance, England, and Russia, threehistorical enemies, allied together todefeat Germany.

Bilbo is unimportant during the Battleof the Five Armies; he wears hisinvisibility ring the whole time.Nevertheless, for a long timeafterwards, it is this portion of hisjourney that he’s most fond of relatingto others. Bilbo, standing close toGandalf, sees the men, dwarves, andelves fight together to defeat thegoblins. The elves are the first toattack the goblins, and at first, itseems as if the goblins will bedefeated. Then, the men, dwarves, andelves realize that they have onlydefeated the first wave ofenemies—many more goblins arecoming.

Here, at the climax of The Hobbit, Bilbodoesn’t play a crucial role at all—on thecontrary, he hides away. It’s as if Tolkienhas been preparing Bilbo for the role of ahero throughout the story, and thendoesn’t fulfill. But Bilbo’s distaste forfighting isn’t purely cowardly—he haslegitimate moral reasons for hesitating tofight. He doesn’t value treasure, as thepeoples around him do, and indeed, hisrole in the quest has been over for sometime. Further, the novel has emphasizeddifferent types of heroism, and Bilbo’sheroism is not the sort to turn the tide ofa pitched battle.

Goblins quickly overwhelm themountain. But just as they begin toclimb the walls of the Main Gate,Thorin and the other twelve dwarvesburst out and bravely fight back. Manydie throughout the battle; the elves, inparticular, suffer great losses, sincethey didn’t bring enough troops tobegin with. Bilbo stands with theelves, since he would prefer to allywith them. He thinks that battle is adirty business, and that all the storiesthat say that battle is glorious are lies.The battle goes on for many hours,without a clear victor. The goblinsseem like they are about to take theGate when Bilbo sees the Eaglesarriving from the skies, but a stonehits him in the head, and he losesconsciousness.

There’s nothing glorious about the Battleof the Five Armies—Tolkien doesn’t throwin any jokes or funny asides, as he did inearly scenes that involved violence. Withthe exception of leaders like Bard, whoseem genuinely committed to helpingothers, most of the different peoplesparticipating in battle are greedy, short-sighted, and selfish (not unlike theWestern countries who fought in WorldWar I)—by this logic, battle is a dirtybusiness indeed, and Bilbo isn’t wrong toavoid it. Tolkien might be rememberinghis own experiences in the trenchesduring the Battle of the Somme, when hewas almost killed.

CHAPTER 18: THE RETURN JOURNEYWhen Bilbo regains consciousness, heis alone. He stumbles around, and seesthat the goblins have been defeated.He thinks that if this is victory, it’s verydisappointing. He meets a man whotakes him to the Dale, where Gandalf,his arm in a sling, is standing besideThorin, who has been fatallywounded.

Bilbo not only avoids the battle, he’sactually unconscious for most of it. Yeteven waking he continues to express hisdoubts with battle, and with thesupposed heroism of fighting. The factthat even Gandalf, the most powerfuland seemingly immortal person in TheHobbit, is wounded suggests thebrutality of the Battle of the Five Armies.Thorin’s fatal wounds suggest that hehas been punished for his greed, yet thefact that he is next to Gandalf indicatesthat somehow he has found some kind ofredemption: he did ultimately give up thesecurity of the Lonely Mountain to joinwith the elves and men in their battleagainst the goblins.



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On his deathbed, Thorin tells Bilbothat he regrets calling him a traitorand expelling him. He promises Bilbohis one-fourteenth of the treasure,noting that he is now traveling to theland where gold and silver can’t becarried. Bilbo, greatly moved, bidsfarewell to Thorin, and tells him thathe feels lucky to have questedalongside him. Bilbo feels personallyresponsible for the battle, since it washe who stole the Arkenstone, but atthe same time reasons that he can’t beblamed, since he stole the stone tobring about peace.

Tolkien, who was raised a Christian,alludes through Thorin’s words to anafterlife that the characters of TheHobbit can all access. This helps usunderstand why Thorin’s obsession withtreasure is so small-minded: he can’t takeit with him when he dies. It is a measureof Thorin’s ultimate goodness that herecognizes his own former greed andsmall-mindedness. In the midst of thisChristian-influenced morality, Bilbomakes an unusual moral judgment of hisown. He knows that he was responsiblefor the battle, insofar as he stole theArkenstone, but he doesn’t feel that he’sdone anything wrong, since his intentionswere good. And, in fact, in a novel thatregularly makes clear that both good andbad characters share traits like greed,one can argue that in fact the goodnessor badness of character’s intentions arewhat separate the good from badcharacters.

Bilbo learns what happened at theend of the Battle of the Five Armies.The Eagles had noticed the goblinsmarching toward the LonelyMountain, so they flew to intervene,arriving at the last minute. Even withthe eagles, the men, dwarves, andelves were outnumbered – only withthe arrival of Beorn, taking the shapeof a giant bear, were the goblinsdefeated. Upon seeing that Thorinwas wounded, Beorn became so angrythat he destroyed a huge chunk of thegoblin army – so many of them thatfor years afterward the area aroundthe Misty Mountains was safe andsecure.

Beorn and the Eagles prove themselvesto be invaluable, winning the battle forthe men, dwarves, and elves. In this way,Gandalf proves himself to be the mostimportant person in the Battle of theFive Armies—without his influence, hisfriends Beorn and the Lord of the Eagleswould never have traveled to providehelp.

The Eagles depart after intervening inbattle, and Dain replaces Thorin asKing Under the Mountain. All ofThorin’s original dwarves except forFili and Kili survive. Dain is moregenerous with his birthright thanThorin was; he sends Bard one-fourteenth of the treasure, whichBard uses to help his people rebuild.Bard tells Bilbo that he would havegiven him a huge amount of gold,except that Bilbo’s share of thetreasure, it had already been agreed,was to be given to the men. Bilbo saysthat he is relieved that he doesn’t havemuch treasure to take back with him,since it’s difficult to carry. He departsfor his home, accompanied by Gandalfand carrying two chests of treasurewith him. Before he leaves, he saysgoodbye to the dwarves, remindingthem that they’re always welcome inhis home. He also gives the Elvenkinga necklace. When the Elvenking isconfused, Bilbo explains that thenecklace is a gift in return for hishospitality.

The Battle of the Five Armies results inpeace and new trust between thedwarves, men, and elves, where beforethere had been huge tension. It’s as if thedeath and violence on the battlefieldreminded everyone that there are moreimportant things in life than wealth.Thus, Dain generously gives the people ofLake-town money to help them rebuildtheir town, and Bilbo gives the Elvenkinga necklace—he even expresses hisgladness that he doesn’t have muchtreasure to carry, where before he hadworried that he would be given less thanhe deserved. In spite of Bilbo’s argumentsand quarrels with the dwarves, he partsways with them on excellent terms.

Over the course of the next year,Gandalf and Bilbo travel back tohobbit-town. While they have manyadventures on the way back, the wayis far easier than it was when travelingtoward the Lonely Mountain, sincemost of the goblins are dead, havingbeen killed at the Battle of the FiveArmies. Beorn, who has become animportant chief, is also responsible forprotecting them during their travelshome. As Bilbo and Gandalf climb theMisty Mountains, Bilbo looks behindhim, and sees snow on the LonelyMountain. Amused that where oncethere was fire there is now only snow,he thinks to himself that even dragonsmeet their end. He is feeling tired, andis eager to return to his home andarmchair.

At the beginning of The Hobbit, Bilbofelt a vague, even subconscious desire toleave his home and travel elsewhere.Now, he is eager to return, and we sensethat he’s quenched his desire foradventure, at least for some time. Bilbo’squest forced him to grow, to discoverthings about himself he never knew, andat the same time to make him value whathe had before: his home. Bilbo alsoshows signs of maturity when he museson the sudden changes that the LonelyMountain has undergone recently. Thephilosophical observations about theinevitability of change and death wouldbe inconceivable coming from Bilbo atthe beginning of the novel—hisexperiences with death and suddenchange have clearly affected the way hethinks.




CHAPTER 19: THE LAST STAGEOn May 1st, Bilbo and Gandalf passthrough Rivendell, where the elvessing songs of Smaug’s defeat and thedwarves’ victory. Gandalf tells Elrondof the group’s adventures – Bilbo islargely too tired to explain. Bilbolearns that while Gandalf was awayfrom his quest with the dwarves, thewizard was driving the mysteriousNecromancer from his home nearMirkwood; thus, the forest and muchof the surrounding area will be safer inthe future.

At every stage of The Hobbit, song andpoetry marks the major events of thedwarves’ quest. Bilbo has participated inan important adventure, and this meansthat he will be remembered long after hisdeath, in the songs of the dwarves andthe elves—he too has been written intohistory. Another mark of the importanceof the group’s quest is that the journeyhome is relatively safe and easy—manyevil foes have been defeated. It’s a markof Tolkien’s imagination that he doesn’tfully—or even partially—explain who theNecromancer is: Middle Earth is a vastworld, only a fraction of which isexplained in The Hobbit (this world,including the Necromancer, is muchfurther developed in Tolkien’s subsequentLord of the Rings trilogy).

As Gandalf and Bilbo get closer tohobbit-town, Bilbo remembers hisadventures, which seem to haveoccurred a decade ago, though it’sbeen only a year since he left hishome. He and Gandalf come upon thetreasure that belonged to the threetrolls. Though at first he offers thetreasure to Gandalf, he eventuallytakes some of it for himself whenGandalf reminds him that he mayneed it someday.

Bilbo remembers his adventures havingbegun long ago because he has changedenormously in the last year—he’s becomemore resourceful, braver, etc. At the sametime, Bilbo doesn’t seem much moreinterested in treasure or gold than he wasat the beginning of the book. Thissuggests that the real value of his questwasn’t in the treasure chests he broughtback with him, but rather in the personalchange he experienced as a result ofparticipating in it.

When Bilbo arrives in hobbit-town, heis surprised to learn that he has beenpresumed dead, and the other hobbitshave been raiding his house and takinghis possessions. Even after Bilboreturns, some of his possessionsremain missing, and some people,such as his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses, say that he is an imposter.Among the hobbits, Bilbo has gained adamaging reputation for beingadventurous and a friend to the elves,but he does not mind. He enjoys hislife in his hobbit-hole even more thanhe did before he met Gandalf. Herarely uses his sword or ring, anddonates his mail coat to a museum.

With Bilbo’s return to hobbit-town, he“rises from the dead,” since his neighborshad thought he was deceased. This isstrangely appropriate, since Bilbo hasindeed been “reborn” in the last year—hispersonality and character has changed.The greed of Bilbo’s neighbors shows thatgreed is prevalent even in the “safety” ofdomestic life, and that Bilbo truly is arare breed—a brave, daring adventurerwho, unlike almost everyone around him,has no real interest in materialpossessions. Similarly, Bilbo recognizesthat neither his adventures nor thethings he got from it are to be hoarded:he gives up the implements of hisheroism, such as his sword, with littlefanfare.

Years later, Bilbo is working on amemoir about his journey to theLonely Mountain, called “There andBack Again, a Hobbit’s Holiday,” whenhe hears a ring and finds that Balinand Gandalf are visiting. Bilbo learnsthat Bard has rebuilt the town of Dale,now a thriving city. Lake-town is alsoprosperous once again, due to thefriendly relationships between men,elves, and dwarves, which lead totrade and travel. The old Master hasdied, having succumbed to “dragon-sickness” and been abandoned by hisfriends. The new Master, Bard, iswiser and more honest, and is loyal tohis people’s interests.

In the same way that Bilbo reinventedhimself by renaming his sword Sting,Bilbo takes control over his own life,literally “writing his own story.”Meanwhile, the information that Bardhas brought peace and prosperity to hispeople ends The Hobbit on anoptimistic note. The dwarves may havesought their treasure for selfish reasons,but ultimately, their quest resulted ingreater happiness for everyone as thecooperation inspired by the Battle of theFive Armies has held. The Master, like allthe bad characters of the novel, ends upalone. It’s not clear if Bilbo’s memoir issupposed to be the book The Hobbit(half of the title is the same), but if this isthe case, it shows a new stage in Bilbo’smaturity: his writing is no clumsy diary,but a sophisticated, well-writtenadventure story.

Bilbo says that the prophecies thatthe rivers would one day run with goldhave come true, and Gandalf repliesthat they have. He adds that Bilbodidn’t succeed in his quest by himself,since he’s only a little fellow. Bilboresponds that he’s glad he’s only alittle fellow.

Bilbo brings the book “full circle,” notingthat the prophecy mentioned in the firstchapter has come true. At the same time,Tolkien closes The Hobbit byquestioning how much of a hero Bilboreally is. He’s accomplished a great deal,to be sure, but as Gandalf points out, hehasn’t done it by himself. Bilbo, for hispart, seems glad to be only a minorplayer in the world—he’s foundhappiness in being a humble man ofsimple tastes—a position that, havingadventured, he has now earned andchosen as the right one for him—and thisis the model of happiness with which thebook ends.



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