The Hobbit

The morning after their battle with the spiders, Bilbo and the dwarves set off in the direction they suspect is the way out of the woods, but they almost immediately meet a host of armed wood elves. Too weary to fight, the dwarves surrender and are taken into custody; all except Bilbo, however, who has the foresight to slip the ring on his finger and follow at a distance. They cross a bridge, enter a great gate, and soon find themselves in the great hall of the elf king himself. Brought before the king, the dwarves are unbound, for as the king notes, “There is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside” (145). The king questions them, but the dwarves refuse to tell him why they ventured into the wood. Convinced they are up to no good, the king has them thrown into individual cells in his dungeons until one of them is ready to fess up.

For many days, the fugitive Bilbo lives within the palace walls, seeking ways to rescue his companions. Eventually, he stumbles upon the imprisoned Thorin, and together they hatch a plan for their escape via the underground river to circumvent the palace’s magic boundaries. Rescuing the dwarves from their cells after stealing the keys from an unconscious guard, Bilbo loads the dwarves into empty wine barrels, and, after being cast into the water, they float down the river to freedom. Bilbo, who couldn’t get into a barrel himself, leaps into the river after the last barrel and clings on for dear life. The barrels are soon gathered together by elves on a raft; the elves bind the barrels to be transported downstream to Lake-town: “They had escaped the dungeons of the king and were through the wood, but whether alive or dead still remains to be seen” (157).

Floating down the river as the day grows brighter, Bilbo sees the lands open up around him as the water flows out of the trees, and, looming over the entire landscape, there lies the mountain they’ve traversed so many obstacles to see. Still, the Lonely Mountain looks foreboding to him. Bilbo stays with the barrels as they drift along with the current the whole day long, eventually coming to the Long Lake and to Lake-town, “a busy wooden town, not a town of elves but of Men, who still dared to dwell here under the shadow of the distant dragon-mountain” (159). As the barrels float towards the town, boats approach them and tow them over to the shore and the great bridge that leads from the land to the town, which is built onto the water.

After nightfall, Bilbo drags the barrels onto land, cutting them open, one by one, spilling a water-logged dwarf from each. Cold, drenched, and famished, the company decide that Bilbo will go into town, along with Thorin, Fili, and Kili to take stock of their situation and find food. Crossing the bridge, the guards, who thus far have paid little attention, gasp at the sight of them and at Thorin’s announcement: “‘Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain! [...] I have come back. I wish to see the Master of your town!” (162). The guards tell him that the master of the town is at table, and they lead the small group to him.

Striding into the banquet hall, Thorin announces his arrival, and one of the elven raft-men cries out that these are escaped convicts from the realm of the elf king. Ignoring him, Thorin proclaims that neither “lock nor bar may hinder the homecoming spoken of old. Nor is this town in the Wood-elves’ realm” (164). The master of the town, astonished, gives Thorin’s group seats at their table in honor of the ancient songs that prophesied the dwarf king’s return to the mountain. The elves that had remained in town returned to the elf king’s palace and relay all that happened. The king, however, feeling no anxiety—”No treasure will come back through Mirkwood without my having something to say in the matter” (166)—and he casually sends spies to the town to watch the situation.

After two weeks of being pampered and celebrated, Thorin and company declare that they are setting out for the Lonely Mountain. The master of the town has begun to suspect they are frauds, but upon hearing of their venture to the mountains, all doubt is erased, as “Thorin, of course, was really the grandson of the King under the Mountain, and there is no knowing what a dwarf will not dare and do for revenge or the recovery of his own” (166). With the cold of autumn approaching, Bilbo, Thorin, and the whole company of dwarves set out, laden with provisions and with hearts intent on their mission. Setting off in three large boats, “they went north up the lake on the last stage of their long journey” (167).

Rowing up the lake and the river for three days, the company finally docks. Met with ponies and more provisions that were sent to them over land, they head northwest towards the foot of the great mountain. By now, there are no illusions about what lies ahead: “They were come to the Desolation of the Dragon, and they were come at the waning of the year” (168). Having no sight nor sound of the dragon, they camp on the western side of the mount in a place called Ravenhill.

Later approaching the foot of Lonely Mountain, Thorin decides to scout the area before they try to find the hidden door (as described on his grandfather’s map) on the western side of the mountain, and he sends Bilbo, Balin, Fili, and Kili to scout out the southern foot of the mountain and the Front Gate. Seeing the once-lush land is scorched and barren from the fiery wrath of Smaug, and not daring to approach the Front Gate much closer, the band return to the main company, struggling to maintain what was left of their dwindling spirits. Surprised to be the most hopeful of the bunch, Bilbo urges his companions to continue their search for the secret passage on the western side. After many days, their fortunes change when Bilbo finds a set of ascending steps, and they come upon a sealed door without “post or lintel or threshold, nor any sign of bar or bolt or key-hole” (170). Even so, they have no doubt that this is the secret door into the depths of the mountain.

Higher up, they discover a path leading farther up into the mountain, but none dare explore it. They take turns trying to break into the door, but their tools prove no good against whatever magic keeps the door sealed. Beginning to despair, the company even speculate as to whether they should send Bilbo in the front gate under the power of the ring. As evening falls, however, Bilbo notices something strange about the way the twilight and the light of the rising moon reflects off of the stone wall. A gleam of light strikes the rock, and “[t]here was a loud crack. A flake of rock split from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about three feet from the ground” (173). Bilbo is the first to understand, remembering the key that Gandalf gave to Thorin (in Chapter 1): “The key that went with the map! Try it now while there is still time!” (174). Turning the key and pushing with all their might, an outline of a door appears, and a gaping hole opens into the depths of the mountain. The company has finally found their entrance into the Lonely Mountain.

Now that they found the entrance, the dwarves are none too keen to be the first ones to enter into the mountain. Thorin suggests that Bilbo, their burglar, the “esteemed Mr. Baggins” (174), should enter and make the first discoveries. After the dwarves try to persuade him by offering a great reward (which Bilbo believes he has already more than earned), Bilbo begrudgingly ventures into the darkness, slipping on the ring and creeping silently into the depths of the cavern. After some time, Bilbo spies a faint glow and hears “the unmistakable gurgling noise of some vast animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him” (176). Stopping to gather his courage, he presses on, conquering the fear in his heart and stepping through the end of the tunnel.

There, unmistakably, lies Smaug, “a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep […] [T]he hobbit could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed” (177). Snatching a golden chalice from the great heaps of wealth, Bilbo turns and rushes back up the tunnel into the open air and starlight, and the dwarves all congratulate and praise him. In only a moment, however, they realize what they have truly come up against; Smaug awakes, quickly realizes the golden chalice is missing, and begins to spew fire. Realizing that he will not fit through the small entrance through which the hobbit came, he launches himself into the air towards the great passages leading to the Front Gate.

As the whole length of the dragon spills from the entrance, the company scramble and rush to the door as Smaug begins to home in on their location—”[a] whirring noise was heard. A red light touched the points of standing rocks. The dragon came” (179)—and they escape into the darkness of the tunnel. Lying in wait as Smaug eventually returns to his lair, they discuss what is to be done, listening intently to Bilbo as “he had become the real leader in their adventure” (182). Bilbo decides he will wait until he believes Smaug is napping and then slip on the ring to look about.

Wearing the ring, Bilbo ventures back into Smaug’s lair, believing himself undetectable. However, he immediately discovers otherwise, as dragon’s have an uncanny sense of smell and can sleep with one eye half-open: “Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air. I hear your breath. Come along! Help yourself again, there is plenty and to spare!” (182). Alarmed but not scared witless, Bilbo begins to flatter and cajole the dragon in an attempt to prolong their encounter and escape; Bilbo refuses to divulge his name to Smaug but makes a riddle of it, as “[n]o dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk” (184).

Smaug is quite intelligent, however, and guesses at many truths, such as the hobbit’s association with dwarves and his journey north from the town of men on the lake. In the course of their dialogue, Bilbo mentions that they came for more than treasure—they came for revenge. Smaug only laughs at this and gloatingly snorts about all the men he has effortlessly slaughtered. The hobbit, though, has something else on his mind; the last time Bilbo was in Smaug’s lair, he thought he saw something funny on Smaug’s underside, and now he schemes to get another look. Bilbo pretends to be admiringly curious about Smaug’s physique, and he prods at the dragon, alleging that, according to hearsay, dragons are “softer underneath,” especially around the chest. An indignant Smaug contests this brazen slander and, to refute it, rolls over to expose his underside, boasting that he is immaculately armored in impenetrable scales and even precious gems. Bilbo feigns sycophantic rhapsodizing about Smaug’s grandeur—all while noticing that, as he suspected, there is a large bare patch on Smaug’s left breast, with missing scales and no gems. He then says that it’s time for him to leave, and he scurries back up the tunnel.

Returning to the dwarves, Bilbo recounts all that occurred while with Smaug, relating the most important of his discoveries as Balin congratulates him: “[It] is more than most can say who have had words with the likes of Smaug. It may be a mercy and a blessing yet to know of the bare patch in the old Worm’s diamond waistcoat” (188-89). With a foreboding feeling—not helped by the presence of a large, ancient Thrush bird that Bilbo is convinced was eavesdropping on their conversation—they shut the tunnel door and trap themselves inside to avoid the searching wrath of Smaug, and not a moment too soon, for “behind them outside they heard the roar and rumble of Smaug’s fury” (191). Unable to reach their hiding place, Smaug decides to take out his wrath on the town of men on the lake, turning about and flying south.

Trapped inside the mountain, they decide there is nothing to do but to venture down the tunnel, and “Thorin was the first to go forward by Bilbo’s side” (193). Stumbling into the great cavern they discover it to be pitch black and empty, and Bilbo asks for a light. Afraid to carry a light, the dwarves tell Bilbo he is free to spark a light but that they will be waiting in the tunnel. Lighting a torch, Bilbo walks up the great mountain of treasure, exploring the whole way, and spying the greatest dwarf treasure under the mountain, “the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain” (195), of which he had been told by Thorin.

Enchanted by the gleam of the legendary gem, Bilbo reaches out his hand to grasp it, and without even knowing why, “shut his eyes, and put it in his deepest pocket” (195). Turning back down the great heaps of treasure in the direction he had come, Bilbo slips and, in the process, puts out the light which he had been carrying. Unable to see and disoriented, he calls out to the dwarves. Hearing the faint cry of the hobbit, the dwarves light torches and nervously head toward the sound of Bilbo’s voice. In the process, they catch a glimpse of the hordes of wealth that lies beneath their feet, and “when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is awakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold” (197). All are now eager to explore, some picking up gems and gold, while others arm themselves with weapons hanging on the walls.

Bilbo does not come away empty handed, either, in this respect, as Thorin approaches him with a gift of finely wrought chainmail, fashioned from “silver-steel, which the elves call mithril” (197-98). Finishing their gathering, Thorin leads them through the halls and passages, eventually exiting the Front Gate into the outside world. Eager to find safety, they make for the old watch post in the southwest corner of the mountain, where they take shelter in the chamber hewn from the rock of the mountain. They drift off to sleep as they discuss the unknown whereabouts of the dragon.