The Hobbit - Ramble - Ep 12

[ach_sss_no]

Livebloggy notes while reading The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 11. These are notes I'm making in the process of assembling a proper chapter-by-chapter review of the book. There was some indication of interest in seeing a liveblog-style thing when I asked on Tumblr, so I'm posting my notes. 

The dwarves ponder the open door, and Thorin begins making a long ceremonial speech, the upshot of which is ‘Bilbo go inside and do something'

 

‘If you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passage first, O Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer," he said crossly, "say so at once and have done! I might refuse.

 

This is a very satisfying moment lol

 

Perhaps I have begun to trust my luck more than I used to in the old days" – he meant last spring before he left his own house, but it seemed centuries ago

 

Bilbo is one of the few relateable-tm protagonists that I actually relate to.

 

the others made no pretence of offering – except old Balin. the look-out man, who was rather fond of the hobbit.

He said he would come inside at least and perhaps a bit of the way too, really to call for help if necessary

 

:(

 

Balin is the one that dies in Moria later, right?

*checks*

Yeah he is. I was hoping I was wrong somehow

 

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

 

Oh. I might be a dwarf lmao

 

 It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait

 

There are a lot of things that make Tolkien a distinctive writer and have contributed to his success, but I think sometimes people miss the forest for the trees a bit by overlooking the very simple fact that he’s just very good at understanding and portraying what people find emotionally and psychologically meaningful. That’s probably the most resonating thing

 

There are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful.

 

The language Tolkien made up lmao

 

Smaug has so much gold down here that Bilbo has a sort of spiritual awakening (a negative one) (he learns greed) when he sees it. And Smaug’s just sleeping on top of it using none of it- what a waste! So Bilbo immediately steals something and runs out of there at top hobbit speed. The dwarves are thrilled to see him alive and carrying gold. (He grabbed a ‘two-handled cup’ which sounds like it probably resembles a literal trophy.)

 

Then Smaug wakes up after having a nightmare where Bilbo killed him, apparently. 

 

His rage passes description – the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted

 

Now that is the kind of description that comes from experience and a certain amount of disgust with one’s fellow man.

 

Anyway, Smaug is angry and starts freaking out, and rushes out of the mountain, and Bilbo saves the Company by quickly ushering them into the tunnel where they won’t be seen. 

 

Here Thorin does something purely heroic; he risks life and limb to haul Bombur and Bofur up from where they were waiting below in the valley, risking death by Smaug. All the dwarves get into safety but Smaug eats the- the ponies. No!! All the ponies die AGAIN! This is the second full-party wipe of ponies! Jirt really was making amends by making Bill survive LOTR!

 

They debated long on what was to be done, but they could think of no way of getting rid of Smaug – which had always been a weak point in their plans, as Bilbo felt inclined to point out. 

 

Dwarf plan:

1) Go to Lonely Mountain

2) Find secret way in

3) Smaug is there

4) ???

5) I shrink the gold, I grab the gold, I sit on the toilet

 

The dwarves start blaming Bilbo and he cusses them out so thoroughly Thorin politely apologizes. I am very much wondering what would happen if these guys all barged into Bilbo’s house and tried ordering him around again they way they did at the beginning. 

 

Now Bilbo has to go creep into the dragon’s lair again to see what’s going on, and this time they have a conversation.

 

Your mileage may vary, but my interest in a fantasy world plummets if I find out the dragons don’t talk.

 

And then Bilbo does this?!

 

"I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number."

"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 alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me."

"These don't sound so creditable," scoffed Smaug.

"I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider," went on Bilbo beginning to be pleased with his riddling.

 

I can’t tell whether I’m embarrassed for him or impressed?

 

Now a nasty suspicion began to grow in his mind-had the dwarves forgotten this important point too, or were they laughing in their sleeves at him all the time?

That is the effect that dragon-talk has on the inexperienced. 

 

No! He’s making Bilbo upset!

 

But then Smaug gets a little too egotistical and Bilbo tricks him into revealing the literal chink in his armor.

 

"Dazzlingly marvellous! Perfect! Flawless! Staggering!" exclaimed Bilbo aloud, but what he thought inside was: "Old fool! Why there is a large patch in the hollow of his left breast as bare as a snail out of its shell!"

 

I’m so proud of him! Bilbo is also rather over-proud of himself and gets in a parting shot that induces Smaug to roast his butt as he runs out of the cave. Tolkien is very adept at not letting his heroes start to take themselves too seriously. 

 

On thinking things over he was now regretting some of the things he had said to the dragon, and was not eager to repeat them. 

 

He did a lot better in that conversation than I would have. I dare YOU to have a conversation with a dragon where you say nothing you regret later.

 

Bilbo is now so out of sorts he starts bullying a bird.

 

"Drat the bird!" said Bilbo crossly. "I believe he is listening, and I don't like the look of him."

"Leave him alone!" said Thorin.

 

OH no! Thorin ‘let’s ditch Bombur he’s fat’ Oakenshield is the one who has to tell him to be nice to the bird. that must be a real wake-up call

 

They start having a nice long discussion about how to kill dragons until the thrush gets bored and leaves. Bilbo gets a foreboding feeling and makes everyone hide in the tunnel.

 

The talk turned to the dragon's wicked words about the dwarves. Bilbo wished he had never heard them, or at least that he could feel quite certain that the dwarves now were absolutely honest when they declared that they had never thought at all about what would happen after the treasure had been won. 

 

I’m glad they’re discussing this openly right after it happened. A lesser book would draw it out as a point of drama and angst long after it had stopped being interesting. Also this feels like ‘I know the dragon is the opposite of trustworthy but I can’t shake the seed of doubt he planted, in part because I have seen unpleasant sides of these dwarves myself and he mentioned some plausible logistics issues’ and less of a ‘oh NO, this random villain in cave told me not to trust my friend, based on nothing, and now I dont trust???’

 

Here’s the first mention of the Arkenstone. Bilbo is sort of half-listening at this point because gold is boring and you can’t eat it. 

 

Bilbo gets anxious and begs the dwarves into shutting themselves up in the mountain, which they do just as Smaug comes by in a fury to attack, narrowly staying alive. Smaug is off to attack Lake-town, and now Bilbo and dwarves are stuck in the mountain. Chapter over! How will the Company get out of this one? Tune in next time!

 

Comments

‘oh NO, this random villain in cave told me not to trust my friend, based on nothing'

[(Anonymous)]

In the LOTR movie
Gollum "Look Sam ate all the Lembas, there's CRUMBS"
Sam "NO I DIDN'T I DON'T KNOW HOW THESE GOT HERE, YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME."
Frodo "I think I should trust the guy who strangled his friend for the ring."
If that scene did not exist I maybe could enjoy the movie despite its shortcomings.
But probably not.