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These pages provide some basic and essential information about the book including
Additional information and connections between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (LotR) are given in square brackets - [].
The full title of the book is The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
It is set in Middle-earth in the Third Age. Tolkien did not make up the name Middle-earth. It is in fact a modernised version on the name of the world inhabited by humans that was used in ancient northern European languages such as Anglo-Saxon (middangeard - Old English) and Middle English (middelerde).
It tells the story of Bilbo Baggins - the hobbit of the title - and the adventures he becomes involved in with Gandalf the wizard and a group of dwarves.
The Hobbit was originally a story Tolkien told to his children. In this form it was composed sometime between 1929 and 1936.
It was published in 1937.
It is described as a fantasy novel, a story of heroic quest, and a children's story.
It is a third-person narrative and has an omniscient narrator. This means that the narrator tells the reader the thoughts of the hobbit and also comments on them and the progress of the quest.
The narrator and the tone of the narration are sometimes comic, and sometimes condescending to the reader. This condescension was not unusual in books for children in the early 20th century.
Tolkien uses a variety of styles of writing. Sometimes the narration becomes almost poetic. Many of the characters are given their own kinds of speech.
Many of these characters and beings appear again in LotR
Bilbo's adventures in The Hobbit happen before the story told in The Lord of the Rings, but the story includes moments of foreshadowing:
Things happen in The Hobbit which will later be important in LotR, such as Gollum calling the Ring his 'Precious'. The petrification (turning to stone) of the trolls in The Hobbit becomes a playful sign of Sam's special qualities in LotR.
There are many echoes of The Hobbit in LotR, but they are often on a larger scale in LotR, or more dangerous and serious. For example, on the quests in both books the travellers visit Rivendell for rest and advice. After this, in both stories, they experience storms in the mountains.
The Hobbit includes many songs, rhymes, and riddles that form part of the story, help to create characterisation, or explain earlier events. Some are more comic, others are more childish, than songs and poems in LotR, but they are all important in their own ways within the stories. They also help to create the distinctive tone of Tolkien's storytelling.
The map at the very start of the book is important - it is Thror's map and is not like modern maps. It is like medieval maps that showed important places and things in pictures.
If you look closely, the compass directions are not like modern maps. Tolkien explains that this is how dwarf maps are made. But medieval maps did not use modern compass points. Here is an example of a Medieval Map.
Tolkien chooses to use plural form of 'dwarf' that is not spelt as it is in modern English. He explains his choice at the very start of the book, where he also explains the occasional use of 'orc' rather than 'goblin', and gives and introduction to the use of runes.
Bilbo Baggins the hobbit is persuaded to accompany Gandalf the wizard and the dwarves led by Thorin on a quest to take back the treasure that was long ago stolen from them by the dragon Smaug. He is reluctant but goes anyway.
The first adventure is the encounter with 3 great cannibalistic trolls. Bilbo manages to escape capture. All the dwarves are captured and put in sacks. Gandalf rescues everyone by tricking the trolls into staying outside until daybreak. The sunlight turns them to stone.
They find weapons in the trolls cave before continuing the journey to Rivendell, home of the Elves. There, Elrond translates the runes on Thror's map.
The journey continues. Sheltering from a storm in the Misty Mountains the travellers are captured by goblins. They escape but Bilbo is knocked out. When he recovers he is alone. In search of the dwarves he comes across Gollum, who wants to play the riddle game. If Gollum cannot guess what Bilbo asks he will show him the way out of the caves. If Bilbo cannot guess his riddles Gollum threatens to eat him.
In a panic, Bilbo finally asks What have I got in my pocket?
He has picked up a ring from the floor of a cave tunnel and forgotten it till now.
Gollum now knows it is precious
ring that he has lost, and hunts Bilbo, but the ring has slipped onto his finger and he is invisible.
He and the dwarves escape the goblins for a while but find themselves trapped by wargs - evil wolves - in a forest glade. They seek safety by climbing the trees. Gandalf tries to drive off the wolves by throwing burning pine cones at them. The fire and noise bring goblins who set fire to the trees.
Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves are rescued by the Lord of the Eagles and his companions.
They are later taken to a great rock in the midst of a river called the Carrock and released to find Beorn.
This strange character is a man who can transform into a bear. He can be dangerous, but helps the travellers to reach Mirkwood. Here Gandalf leaves them.
This is a dark and dangerous place. In it, Thorin is captured by Wood elves, the rest of the dwarves and Bilbo are caught be giant speaking spiders. Bilbo makes them angry by singing insulting songs at them and manages to free himself and the dwarves. Then they are captured by the elves who take them to their King. Bilbo, invisible again, follows.
He finds Thorin and the dwarves in dungeons and rescues them by putting them in empty wine barrels which are floated by the elves down the Forest River. So Bilbo and the dwarves reach Lake-town in the Long Lake.
The people there help them, with boats, horses and ponies, to continue their journey to the Lonely Mountain, which can be seen in the far distance. The land closer to the Mountain is desolate.
The travellers have to climb up the side of the Mountain to a ledge, but cannot work out how to open the secret door. A thrush finally arrives to crack open a snail on a flat stone.
This is part of what Elrond translated from the runes on Thror's map. At sunset, a shaft of light hits the rock face and a 'keyhole' is revealed. This is the secret door.
The dwarves insist it is Bilbo's job as the 'burglar' to go in and scout out the place. He reluctantly does so and finds Smaug asleep on the treasure. He steals a golden cup and goes back to the dwarves who are still on the ledge. The dragon wakes, feels he has been robbed, and goes out to blast the mountain with fire.
The next day Bilbo, invisible, goes back to the dragon's lair. Smaug speaks to him. The dragon is vain and boastful, and reveals his weak spot. Bilbo reports this back to the dwarves after a narrow escape. The thrush is back by the stone. Bilbo urges the dwarves to get into the tunnel behind the door. Smaug attacks the ledge and flies off.
Bilbo and the dwarves go down to his lair and find the treasure. Thorin gives Bilbo a shirt of mithril mail.
Meanwhile Smaug has gone to destroy Lake-town. The archers try to shoot him down. Bard the Bowman has only one arrow left when the thrush lands on his shoulder and tells him about Smaug's weak spot. Bard shoots and hits it. Smaug falls into the Lake and dies.
Lake-town as been destroyed. The Master is almost deposed in favour of Bard. Messengers have reached the Elvenking in Mirkwood with news of Smaug's death. He sets out with many elves. Some help to build shelters for the Lake people. Others, with armed Lake men go off to the Mountain to claim some of the treasure. Thorin begs Roäc the raven to get word to Dain his kinsman that they need help.
A large force of elves and men gather and besiege the Mountain. Bilbo is afraid that there will be another terrible battle like the ones that had happened in the ancient history of Middle-earth. He slips away from the Mountain and goes to meet Bard and the Elvenking. He offers them the Arkenstone to bargain with.
Dain and his dwarves arrive, and Thorin will not exchange any gold even for the Arkenstone. As everyone prepares for battle Gandalf notices a great black cloud. It is a cloud of bats which accompany the goblin army of the North, and the wild Wolves.
The Battle of the Five Armies begins. It is desperate and the Men, Elves and dwarves are almost defeated but Bilbo sees the Eagles coming to help. Even so, the goblins are still winning the battle. Then Beorn attacks the goblin army from the rear, saves Thorin, crushes Bolg the goblin chief, and terrifies the other goblins.
Bilbo has been knocked out again. When he recovers and returns to camp he finds Gandalf with his arm in a sling, and Thorin so badly wounded that he is dying. Bilbo and Thorin are reconciled and Thorin is buried under the Mountain with the Arkenstone.
Dain becomes King under the Mountain and shares out the treasure. Bilbo is rewarded with a chest of silver and a chest of gold. With Gandalf he returns West. When he reaches home the following summer he finds he had been declared Presumed Dead and his cousins the Sackville-Bagginses are having his belongings auctioned off. Eventually he settles down again in Bag End and starts to write the story of his adventures which he calls There and Back Again, a Hobbit's Holiday.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit. He lives a comfortable, rather self-satisfied life. While sitting outside on a sunny May morning he is visited by Gandalf the wizard. He invites Gandalf to tea next day but in fact 13 dwarves arrive as well as Gandalf, all expecting food and lodging. [LotR begins with A Long- Awaited Party]
Bilbo is not pleased, but hearing the dwarves sing of their lost treasure, and their desire to find it again he is almost persuaded to go along with them. This is Gandalf's plan - to recruit Bilbo to become their 'burglar' and help steal back the dwarf treasure from Smaug the dragon who drove them from their home under the Lonely Mountain and took their treasure.
Bilbo wakes next morning to find his visitors have left. He is relieved, until Gandalf arrives and shows him the letter the dwarves have left on his mantlepiece. It urges him to meet them. Flustered, he runs out of the house without even taking a pocket-handkerchief.
The first part of the journey is wet and miserable. When firelight is seen through the branches of forest trees, as the burglar
, Bilbo is nominated to go and see if they can all find warmth and food.
Bilbo finds 3 huge trolls cooking mutton but longing for man-flesh
. Trying to keep out of sight, Bilbo climbs into the pocket of one of the trolls. In the pocket is a purse that shrieks a warning to its owner. Bilbo is caught but escapes. The dwarves are caught and put in sacks. Gandalf mimicks the trolls' speaking, causing a fight. As daylight appears it turns the trolls into stone and everyone escapes. A search of the trolls' cave reveals food and weapons; one of which is the sword Glamdring. It becomes Gandalf's sword. [Trolls speak a kind of colloquial English that was considered characteristic of English people of low status and poor education in the 1930s. It is ungrammatical at times, uses frequent abbreviations, and colloquialisms such as calling Bilbo a blighter
.]
The travellers soon reach Rivendell and the Last Homely House. Rivendell is the home of Elrond Half-Elven and many other Elves. They sing to welcome the travellers. [Tolkien has depicted the Elves in this version of Rivendell as rather silly and childish. They are not, at this point in The Hobbit, as solemn and stately as the Elves in LotR.]
Elrond interprets the runes on the map Thorin inherited from his father Thror. This is the map shown at the start of the book. The Runes Study Pack might be useful if you want to find out more about the writing around the map.
Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves travel on to the Misty Mountains. They experience a thunderstorm which causes avalanches of rock but this is described as stone-giants hurling rocks around
. The travellers shelter briefly under an overhanging rock. [In LotR the Fellowship shelter in a similar place on Caradhras]
The travellers find shelter in a cave. A crack opens in the back [compare the crack opening in Old Man Willow (LotR)]
Goblins leap out and capture everyone except Gandalf. They are taken to the Great Goblin in his cavern under the mountains. He intends to execute them but they are rescued by Gandalf who kills the Great Goblin.
Because Bilbo cannot run as fast as dwarves he is carried on the shoulders of the dwarves. He doesn't enjoy it and when the dwarf Dori, who is carrying him, is tripped by pursuing goblins, he falls, bumps his head, and when he wakes, is all alone and lost in the dark.
As the quest gets more difficult and frightening Bilbo spends a good deal of time wishing he was back home in his cosy hobbit hole but he has an ancestry that gives him spirit and determination. Alone in the dark, he reaches for his pipe and tobacco. [Tolkien himself was a habitual pipe-smoker.] Searching his pockets, he finds the small dagger he had taken from the trolls' cave when Gandalf took Glamdring. Like this sword, Bilbo's dagger shines when enemies are near. He will later name it Sting. [The naming of swords was traditional in medieval storytelling and Tolkien follows this tradition. Swords were named because they were important and symbolic of the strength of the hero to whom they belonged. Famous swords in medieval adventure stories were Excalibur which belonged to King Arthur; Durendal, which belonged to the French hero Roland; Nailing, which was used by Beowulf.]
Encouraged by finding his dagger, which is big enough for him to wield as a sword, he moves on and discovers the underground lake were Gollum lives on a slimy island in the middle.
Gollum's speech is characterised by the hissing sound he makes. Tolkien shows this by adding several 's' letters to words that contain them anyway, e.g. preciousss
. Gollum also speaks as though he is always talking to his precious
, which is what he calls his Ring.
Bilbo asks him Who are you?
Gollum does not speak directly to Bilbo but asks e.g. What iss he, my preciouss?
[This way of speaking continues throughout this book, and through most, but not all, of LotR]
Gollum pretends to want to play a game of riddles, as if he is just lonely. Then he offers a bargain - if Bilbo guesses his riddles he will show him the way out. If he cannot guess them, then he will eat Bilbo! Gollum is always very hungry.
They ask each other a number of rhyming riddles until Bilbo runs out of ideas and asks what have I got in my pocket?
It isn't a riddle: he has picked up the Ring from the floor of a passage and forgotten about it. Gollum cannot guess.
He returns to his island and there discovers that his precious Ring is lost.
Bilbo runs for his life as Gollum chases him. He searches his pocket and the Ring slips onto his finger, and he disappears. This enables him to avoid Gollum and the goblins guarding the exit of the caves.
Ring photo © Lynn Forest-Hill
Bilbo is now on the far side of the Misty Mountains and discovers Gandalf and all the dwarves have escaped too. [In LotR there is a similar exit of the fellowship from a system of caverns - Moria. But in that story Gandalf has been lost.]
As the travellers move down the forested mountain slopes darkness arrives and wolves begin to howl. Everyone seeks safety up in the tree-tops. Soon they are surrounded by howling Wargs - the most evil wolves. [Warg is an Anglo-Saxon word for 'wolf']
Gandalf understands their speech. The clearing by the trees is their meeting place. They are planning an attack on humans after the death of the Great Goblin, and are expecting goblin soldiers to come and remove the intruders up in the trees.
Gandalf sets fire to some pine conesand uses them to 'bomb' the wolves. The bursts of fire alert goblins who come and pile brushwood under the trees to catch the fire burning in the clearing so the trees will burn.
Meanwhile the Lord of the Eagles has seen and heard what is happening. He and his eagles fly down and find Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves trapped in burning trees while the goblins sing gruesome songs below. The Eagles lift the trapped company from the trees and fly with them to the eagles' eyries. [This is similar to the episode in the story of Sinbad the Sailor when the great bird called the Roc carries Sinbad to its nest. In the Anglo-Saxon poem Andreas eagles carry the souls of disciples up to heaven, but they are not in any danger.]
Eagle photo: Tina Phillips / FreeDigitalPhotos.net, Pine Cones photo ©Lynn Forest-Hill
The eagles are not friendly birds, but their lord knows Gandalf and so the eagles transport the travellers far on their journey. They land on a great rock in a river.
Gandalf knows who lives nearby and warns them to be careful of Beorn the skin-changer [a kind of shape-shifter, someone who is supposed to be able to transform into an animal]. He is a good person, but dangerous if angered, and can transform into a great black bear. [Beorn means bear in Scandinavian languages]
This chapter contains an interesting insight into Tolkien's views on language. Gandalf says the rock on which the company are set down is called the Carrock. Bilbo asks why? Gandalf explains it is because Beorn calls things like that 'carrocks', and since this is the only one close to his home he calls it the Carrock
.
The travellers meet Beorn who lives in a strange house with animals for servants and helpers. He is a vegetarian living on cream and honey. He gives them food and lodging and warns them not to go outside during the night. Bilbo wakes up to hear the sound of a large animal outside.
When they leave, Beorn gives them food for the journey and advice not to eat anything that grows in the Forest of Mirkwood, through which they must travel, nor to touch the water in its rivers, nor wander off the path. He also lends them ponies. [In LotR, Tom Bombadil lends ponies to the four hobbits, and Galadriel warns Frodo and Sam not to touch the water of her Mirror. Mirkwood is an English form of a name used in Icelandic mythology, but Anglo-Saxon 'mirce' meant dark, black, uncanny or evil, all of which describe Tolkien's Mirkwood.]
As they ride towards the forest, Bilbo thinks he sees a great black bear away in the distance going in the same direction. Gandalf leaves the company on the edge of the forest and they have to send back Beorn's ponies.
Mirkwood is an unpleasant and unnerving place. It is dark and stuffy. [In LotR Fangorn is rather like this.] The travellers find a boat to cross a stream but the dwarf Bombur is knocked in by a fleeing black hart (male deer). Bombur is not hurt but falls into an enchanted sleep.
Everyone else hears the dim sound of a hunt and they see a white hind (female deer) and her fawns. [The dimly heard and seen hunt (the fairy hunt) and the white deer are familiar in the legends and stories of Wales, Ireland and Brittany (the ancient Celtic lands) where they are signs of the supernatural.
Tolkien also knew the medieval English story of Sir Orfeo in which the harper Orfeo sees the fairy hunt only dimly because it does not belong to his mortal world.]
After 6 days in the forest, Thorin decides Bilbo should climb a tree to see where they are. They have heard sweet singing and laughter, but seen no one. Bilbo climbs and sees small spiders hunting for dark-coloured butterflies, but not signs of the forest ending. Everyone is angry and despondent but firelight is seen and elves are discovered feasting. When Thorin approaches silence, darkness and confusion end with Bilbo alone again.
But he is not alone. When he tries to move he finds he is being wrapped up be a giant spider. He cuts the strands with his sword and kills the spider. He now names the sword 'Sting'. [Many years later he will pass Sting on to Frodo.]
More spiders have captured the dwarves and Bilbo sets out to rescue them. To lure the spiders away, he sings a song that insults them, calling them Attercop
a word made of 2 old words 'attor' meaning 'poison' and 'cop' meaning 'head'.
Bilbo frees the dwarves but they find Thorin missing. He had been captured by the Wood-elves and taken to their great cave realm. [Elves and dwarves are unfriendly towards one another as a result of ancient wars.] The elves do not treat Thorin well and imprison him in the king's dungeon.
All the dwarves are then captured by the elves. Bilbo avoids capture by slipping on the Ring and becoming invisible. But he follows the dwarves who are blindfolded and taken into the king's cavernous realm. [The members of the fellowship who enter Lothlorien in LotR are all blindfolded, not just Gimli the dwarf.]
Stag photo © David Forest-Hill, butterly photo © Lynn Forest-Hill
['Bond' in this title plays on 2 meanings. One is in the sense bondage or imprisonment. The other refers to storage of wine in barrels 'in bond' until customs duty has been paid on the wine.]
Bilbo slips unnoticed into the King's palace and eventually finds the imprisoned dwarves. Bilbo devises a plan to help everyone escape. The elves guarding the King's wine cellar drink themselves to sleep. Bilbo sneaks in and steals the keys. He releases the dwarves, and in spite of some objections, gets them all into empty wine barrels. He knows these will be pushed out of the cellar by elves to drop down into the river below. He cannot secure himself into a barrel so he jumps on to the last one as it is pushed out. [The elves sing a song like a journey charm as they push out the barrels. There are journey charms in Anglo-Saxon.] Links Original Journey Charm, and its translation.
In and on the barrels the travellers arrive on the shores of the Long Lake. Bilbo has caught a cold from being ducked in the cold river when he fell with his barrel. While Wood elves and Lake-men are feasting Bilbo releases the dwarves from their barrels, and having no better idea, they all head for Lake-town, where they are again taken prisoner.
Lake-town is built on stilts in the lake and joined to the land only by bridges.
Thorin declares his identity as King under the Mountain, who has returned. The Master of Lake-town is concerned mainly with trade and money, but the people are excited and sing of the return of the King under the Mountain. [This song contains some old forms of words: 'carven' for 'carved', 'upholden' rather than 'upheld', and 'yore', meaning 'of times long ago'. These old word forms give the song an ancient feel.]
The Master of Lake-town gives the travellers 3 boats, plenty of provisions, and ponies and horses as pack animals to help them on their way. He is pleased to see them leave because they have interrupted the town's business! [In LotR, Celeborn and Galadriel provide boats for the fellowship to travel down the River Anduin.]
From Lake-town Bilbo had seen the Lonely Mountain in the far distance. The company disembarks from the boats at the foot of the cliffs of Ravenhill. A long valley runs on towards the mountain. In it they see the ruins of Dale, an ancient town destroyed by the dragon. The great entrance to the caverns under the mountain is known as the Front Gate. Steam and smoke come from it. All around is ruined and destroyed.
The company climb up onto a mountain ledge. They know the secret entrance to the mountain is hidden up on the rock face but cannot find it. Elrond has told them about 'moon-letters' and this 'doorstep'. Autumn has almost passed. This is Durin's Day - a special day for dwarves recalling their forefather Durin.
Bilbo sees the sunset and a new moon rising and then sees a large dark thrush knocking a snail on a great stone. Now he understands what Elrond translated from the map: Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the key-hole.
In the last ray of sunlight a hole opens in the rock face. The key Thorin has carried on a chain round his neck fits it and opens the hidden door. [The magic for this door is more complicated than that for Moria in LotR]
Thrush photo: Paul Brentnall / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
This is the situation for which Bilbo has been recruited. He is not happy. None of the dwarves is willing to go with him to scout out the inside of the mountain. He slips on his Ring.
[The forgotten pocket handkerchief is mentioned now in the narration as a symbol of how much Bilbo has changed or developed from the plump complacent hobbit who was flustered by the arrival of the dwarves. Now we are told that he had not had a pocket-handkerchief for ages. He loosened his dagger in its sheath, tightened his belt, and went on.
The construction 'pocket-handkerchief' suggests a fussy preciseness. Here it is set against the practical readiness to confront danger.]
Bilbo goes slowly down until he sees a glow growing. Going on he hears a sound like a gigantic cat purring. This is a homely, pleasant idea, but the sound grows to become the noise of some vast animal snoring
. Bilbo finds Smaug the red-golden dragon asleep on great piles of treasure. [Scandinavian and Germanic literature includes famous dragons such as Fafnir - killed by the hero Sigurd/Siegfried, and the dragon in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. Red gold was considered a magical or especially valuable metal in Celtic stories.]
Intrepidly, Bilbo steals a huge two-handled cup from the hoard and escapes without waking the dragon. He presents it to the dwarves and they are overjoyed to see evidence of their lost treasure. But the dragon senses his loss, wakes and leaves his lair to seek the thief. The dwarves hide in the tunnel Bilbo used as Smaug sears the mountain and surrounding land with fire. [The theft of a cup from a dragon's treasure hoard by a small and humble person can be traced back to Tolkien's deep knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. In this long poem it is a slave who steals a cup from a dragon's underground lair. The dragon then destroys all the lands and people in revenge.] (The theft of the cup appears at line 2207 in the poem.)
After the horrors of the night, Bilbo finally volunteers next day to put on his Ring and go to see if Smaug is again asleep. He is not, and speaks to Bilbo when he approaches. Bilbo replies in elaborately flattering language calling the dragon Smaug the Tremendous
, and Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities,
at which he is well-pleased.
he dragon is clever and tricky but open to flattery and boastful. Bilbo inadvertently manages to get Smaug to roll over and display his armoured underside where diamonds have stuck to his scales. Bilbo, however, notices a bare patch, a weak spot.
Again Bilbo manages to escape from Smaug, but not without being badly singed by a spurt of flame and vapour. Rejoining the dwarves outside on the doorstep he sees the thrush again and objects that it seems to be listening. Thorin explains that he might be one of the magical race of birds used by the men of Dale to communicate messages to Lake-town. Bilbo explains what he has seen.
After Bilbo's account of his speech with Smaug he urges the dwarves to return into the top of the tunnel again - just in time. Smaug attacks the ledge with flame. Then: He rose in fire
. This is a simple but very powerful statement and image. Its simplicity comes from the use of single-syllable words, but they are made slow and stately by the long vowel sounds 'o' and 'i' which prolong the sense of action happening. The careful construction together with unnaturalness of any living creature being able to rise up surrounded by fire makes this short statement impressive. Smaug is heading for Lake-town sure that the Lake-men must have helped Bilbo and the dwarves.
With the dragon away, the dwarves accompany Bilbo down to his lair. The cavern is so huge the dwarves almost lose sight of Bilbo and he climbs the great mound of treasure. As he climbs he finds the Arkenstone a great jewel cut and shining like a huge diamond. Bilbo manages to put it in his pocket and is reluctant to tell the dwarves he has found their greatest treasure.
Finally all the dwarves move into this cavern that was once a great hall of their realm. They take coats of chain mail and weapons from the walls. Thorin gives one to Bilbo that was made in ancient times for an elf-prince. It is made of mithril and has a belt of pearl and crystal. [this is the mithril shirt and belt Bilbo will give to Frodo in LotR]
The dwarves briefly rejoice at their return but Bilbo points out that they will not be safe until Smaug is dead, so they leave the cavern.
The narrator of the story now looks back to the evening when Smaug had left the Mountain. At Lake-town, now named Esgaroth, men see light on the Mountain and think the King is forging gold and everyone will be rich.
One grim man predicts that the light means the dragon is on its way, and orders the bridges to be destroyed to make their town into an island. Smaug attacks but cannot land near the town. As he flies over the archers shoot at him but he is unharmed and sets the town ablaze. The people flee in their boats and he hunts them. Bard, the grim captain of the archers is about to shoot his last arrow when a thrush lands on his shoulder with the news of the dragon's weak spot. Bard shoots and hits Smaug, who falls into the Lake and is quenched.
The people still in their boats grow angry with the Master who left early. They want to make Bard their new king. [There are a number of similarities between Bard and Aragorn: he is a fighting man, grim-faced, and helps to care for the sick.] Bard sends messengers to the Elvenking in Mirkwood. Some elves helped the men to build shelters. Others, with armed men, marched off to the Mountain to claim some of Smaug's treasure hoard
The narrator returns to Bilbo and the dwarves who see many birds of different kinds, including the Thrush. Balin wishes they were ravens who used to be friendly to dwarves. [Many myths, legends and stories include ravens, from Noah's raven in the Bible, to Odin's raven messengers in Norse mythology. In England the most famous ravens are those at the Tower of London]
The thrush flies off and returns with a very old raven, who introduces himself as Roäc. He knows that Smaug is dead. The dwarves rejoice but Roäc warns Thorin that forces are gathering to claim parts of the treasure.
Thorin begs Roäc to send messages to Dain his cousin to bring his dwarves to help defend their treasure. Thorin's companions fortify the Front Gate. The watch fires of the invaders appear in the ruins of Dale. To counteract the elf music they hear, the dwarves sing their own song. Bard's messenger declares the Mountain besieged.
Thorin and the dwarves search for the Arkenstone. Bilbo says nothing. Roäc advised Thorin that a winter siege would mean starvation. Thorin is unmoved. Bilbo has a plan. He offers to take over the watch at the fortified Front Gate from Bombur so he can go to get warm. When Bombur has gone Bilbo slips on his ring, throws a rope over the defensive wall and slips away in the dark. He is caught by elves when he sneezes.
He is taken to the camp of the Elvenking and Bard. He tries to negotiate in order to stop war breaking out when Dain and his dwarves arrive, and offers them the Arkenstone. They are surprised and treat him with honour. As he leaves the camp he passes an old man who greets him and congratulates him - it is Gandalf! Bilbo returns to the Mountain and waits.
The next day the Elvenking, Bard, and Gandalf come to the fortified Gate to ask Thorin again for some of the treasure in recompense for Smaug's plundering. Thorin refuses again, until Bard produces the Arkenstone and offers it as a bargain. Thorin wants to know how they got it and Bilbo admits giving it to them. Thorin seizes Bilbo and shakes him, cursing him, and cursing Gandalf, who now reveals himself.
Thorin is furious and sends Bilbo to join Bard and Gandalf. He still will not negotiate, thinking Dain's army may take the Arkenstone by force. Dain's army arrives and tries to get close to the Mountain. While the opposing forces of dwarves, men and elves prepare for battle a great cloud of bats appears. Gandalf understands and shouts a warning that goblins of the North are coming commanded by Bolg, whose father had been killed by Dain in Moria.
So Dain and his dwarves joined Bard and his Men and the Elves of Mirkwood, to confront the goblin army and a force of wild Wolves, and this was the Battle of Five Armies. Things go badly and the goblins seem to be winning. Bilbo takes his last stand with a company of elves and the Elvenking. As sunset flares red, Bilbo looks up and shouts The Eagles are coming!
Then he is knocked out by a flying stone. [The cry The eagles are coming
is repeated in LotR when all seems hopeless in the battle before the Black Gate.]
Bilbo wakes but is invisible and the man who approaches cannot see him. Bilbo removes the ring and the man takes him back to camp. Gandalf is there with his arm in a sling. Thorin is badly wounded and dying, but wishes to take back his angry words to Bilbo, and speaks kindly to him now.
Bilbo learns that even with the Eagles on their side the Men, elves and Dwarves were losing the battle until Beorn joined them in his bear shape. He rescued Thorin, terrified the goblins, and crushed Bolg. So victory was achieved.
Thorin is buried under the Mountain with the Arkenstone and the Elvenking lays Orcrist beside him. Dain becomes King under the Mountain and gives much treasure to Bard, who sends some to the Master of Lake-town. Dain gives emeralds to the Elvenking. Bilbo is rewarded with a chest of gold and a chest of silver.
Bilbo returned westwards with the Elvenking, Beorn (in man shape) and Gandalf. Bilbo and Gandalf spend Yule at Beorn's house.
At their parting, Bilbo presents the Elvenking with a necklace of silver and pearls as payment for all the wine and bread he had eaten while waiting to free the dwarves! The Elvenking names him and elf-friend
.
Although not detailed, the narrator tells us that Bilbo had other adventures before he reached home.
Stream photo © Lynn Forest-Hill
Bilbo returns first to Rivendell (on the first of May) where the Merry People (elves) greet him with songs again. It is mid-summer when he arrives back at bag End - to find his possessions are being auctioned because he was Presumed Dead
and his cousins the Sackville-Bagginses are about to move into his home.
he resulting legal problems lasted for years, but Bilbo settled down again and lived quietly. He started writing his book There and Back Again, a Hobbit's Holiday. Gandalf and Balin came to visit and brought news that the Master of Lake-town had stolen much of the gold Bard had sent and had run away with it and died in the Wild of starvation. But Bard had rebuilt Dale and Lake-town was busy again.
The problems Bilbo finds when he returns home are a faint echo of the troubles that Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo have to face when they return to the Shire in LotR. Tolkien seems to insist that just because heroic deeds have been done, that is no guarantee of an easy return to ordinary life, and other people may not be impressed, or may be intent on their own lives. This may reflect the feelings of men like Tolkien, who returned from the horrors of the First World War to find England and their homes were not what they had hoped and expected.
The story of The Hobbit changes in style and tone from the light and conversational tone of the narration in the early chapters to more poetic tones and then to grimmer and even political tones later in the story, until finally confronting the reader with what seems like an anticlimax after the dangers of the quest and the rewards of the victory. It is part of Tolkien's characteristic style to follow such high moments with the cold practicalities of the everyday. He does not allow his heroes to find endless glory. Although they may eventually find comfort and contentment for a while, it is, like all human life, only a temporary condition.
These pages provide lists of some of the hard or unusual words which will be found in each chapter of The Hobbit and gives an explanation and where possible some additional information. They are not necessarily in alphabetical order. Watch out for them as you read! You could tick them off as you come across them in the book.
Other help may be found online, these are a few suggestions for the web and hard copy:
