This ended up being more like a book report, but bear with me. I think you can find my points hidden among all my "inane babble."
Its the morning after thirteen Dwarves and a wizard had more or less invaded Bilbo Baggins house and convinced him to join their quest for treasure. The Dwarves need someone else to join the quest because (1) thirteen is unlucky and (2) they need a burglar. And why do they need a burglar, you ask. Did I forget to mention theres a dragon guarding the treasure? Gandalf the wizard has decided Bilbo is the perfect fit. But is he?
When Bilbo finally gets up, he discovers the Dwarves had eaten breakfast and gone, leaving a mess in the dining room and dirty dishes in the kitchen. With no one there to urge him out the door, the hobbit scoffs at his thinking of dragons and outlandish nonsense at his age, and begins to straighten the place. Hes only 50, about early middle-age for a hobbit, but dangerously close to becoming complacent and fussy, almost a hausfrau.
Fortunately, Gandalf shows up in the nick of time and pushes him out the door. Theres something very amusing about Bilbo being more concerned about leaving without a pocket-handkerchief, surely a trivial matter, than leaving without any money - and no American Express card either! This concern about the pocket-handkerchief only confirms the impression that Bilbo is still very much a proper gentleman, who would never leave the house not properly dressed.
The note that Thorin leaves Bilbo laying out the terms of the contract is very thorough, answering the financial questions the hobbit had raised in the first chapter, even covering funeral expenses, if necessary. It has always struck me as a little humorous, so 20th century in tone.
After the group leaves the hobbit-lands (I cannot find that Tolkien used The Shire to this point in the story), they come to the Lone-lands, a name that Tolkien introduced in the 1966 revision of The Hobbit, thus providing a linguistic equivalent of the Sindarin Elvish name Eriador (wilderness).*
They pass old castles with an evil look, as if they had been built by wicked people. This sentence gives a sense of immense history to the lands, and yet another tantalizing mystery with which Tolkien teases us. Who built the castles? What happened to them?
The group left Bilbos house at the end of April. In the original 1937 version, Bilbo grumbles, To think it is June the first tomorrow, . . but it was changed in 1966 to To think it will soon be June!. IMO, this could be as early as May 20th, but other than that one line, I dont get the impression the group has been traveling more than one or two weeks. This change was made to match the travel times in LotR.
Come nightfall of that day, its raining and they cant get a fire going when they spot a light in the distance. In the ensuing discussion over whether to check out the light , some of the dwarves say, They have seldom heard of the king round here . . . What king? There hasnt been a king in Arnor or Gondor for almost 1000 years. I really doubt theyre talking about an Elven-king several hundred miles away.
The dwarves decide its time for Bilbo (as Gandalf had disappeared) to check out the light. After all, hes the burglar. Hes to signal them by hooting twice like a barn-owl and once like a screech-owl, as if Mr. Baggins could tell the difference! He does quietly sneak up and discovers the light is coming from a fire, and there are three trolls sitting around it, tired of eating mutton and hungering for a people dinner.
Now, does he do the sensible thing - go back to the dwarves and come up with a plan of action? I figure the dwarves would have given the trolls a wide berth had they known they were there. No, he decides to be a burglar (I guess he had to practice some time) and pick the trolls pocket, and of course, bungles it. He gets a talking purse which rats him out (reminds me of the singing harp in Jack & the Beanstalk).
Naturally, he is captured and starts to blurt out what is he and how many are in the party before he realizes thats not a very good idea. Hes making mistakes, but he is learning.
The trolls get into a argument and forget about Bilbo, when the dwarves start arriving one by one - just like they came to his door - and are captured. Bilbo hasnt the wits to crawl off and warn them until only Thorin is left and he, of course, rushes in to fight. Dumb, dumb, dumb; one small dwarf against three large trolls, and he too is captured. Does anyone in this group think more than 2 seconds ahead?
The trolls begin to argue over how to kill the dwarves, which to kill first, and how to cook them. Just as it appears agreement has been reached, it starts up again and continues until the sun rises and turns the trolls to stone. Now who knew sunlight would turn trolls into stone? Tolkien did, as this part of Icelandic folklore. Come to think of it, maybe thats why the troll hid under the bridge in the fairy tale, Three Billy Goats Gruff.
It turns out Gandalf had come back and, ventriloquism being one of his talents, kept the argument going until sunrise. The dwarves are freed and Bilbo finds a key which opens the trolls' cave, where they find food, clothes and swords, including two beautiful swords, which Thorin and Gandalf take, and a small sword thats perfect for a hobbit.
Here we find a pattern which Tolkien repeats in LotR. Our hero starts out on a journey for which he is ill prepared, and encounters an obstacle for which he has no plan to overcome and ends up needing to be rescued. However, he begins to learn how to deal with obstacles and also picks up something which turns out to be useful in the journey.
* The Annotated Hobbit
But Pippin rose to his feet, as if a great weight had been lifted from him; and he stood listening to the horns, and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blowing in the distance without tears starting in his eyes.
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Chapter 2 - Roast Mutton
Its the morning after thirteen Dwarves and a wizard had more or less invaded Bilbo Baggins house and convinced him to join their quest for treasure. The Dwarves need someone else to join the quest because (1) thirteen is unlucky and (2) they need a burglar. And why do they need a burglar, you ask. Did I forget to mention theres a dragon guarding the treasure? Gandalf the wizard has decided Bilbo is the perfect fit. But is he?
When Bilbo finally gets up, he discovers the Dwarves had eaten breakfast and gone, leaving a mess in the dining room and dirty dishes in the kitchen. With no one there to urge him out the door, the hobbit scoffs at his thinking of dragons and outlandish nonsense at his age, and begins to straighten the place. Hes only 50, about early middle-age for a hobbit, but dangerously close to becoming complacent and fussy, almost a hausfrau.
Fortunately, Gandalf shows up in the nick of time and pushes him out the door. Theres something very amusing about Bilbo being more concerned about leaving without a pocket-handkerchief, surely a trivial matter, than leaving without any money - and no American Express card either! This concern about the pocket-handkerchief only confirms the impression that Bilbo is still very much a proper gentleman, who would never leave the house not properly dressed.
The note that Thorin leaves Bilbo laying out the terms of the contract is very thorough, answering the financial questions the hobbit had raised in the first chapter, even covering funeral expenses, if necessary. It has always struck me as a little humorous, so 20th century in tone.
After the group leaves the hobbit-lands (I cannot find that Tolkien used The Shire to this point in the story), they come to the Lone-lands, a name that Tolkien introduced in the 1966 revision of The Hobbit, thus providing a linguistic equivalent of the Sindarin Elvish name Eriador (wilderness).*
They pass old castles with an evil look, as if they had been built by wicked people. This sentence gives a sense of immense history to the lands, and yet another tantalizing mystery with which Tolkien teases us. Who built the castles? What happened to them?
The group left Bilbos house at the end of April. In the original 1937 version, Bilbo grumbles, To think it is June the first tomorrow, . . but it was changed in 1966 to To think it will soon be June!. IMO, this could be as early as May 20th, but other than that one line, I dont get the impression the group has been traveling more than one or two weeks. This change was made to match the travel times in LotR.
Come nightfall of that day, its raining and they cant get a fire going when they spot a light in the distance. In the ensuing discussion over whether to check out the light , some of the dwarves say, They have seldom heard of the king round here . . . What king? There hasnt been a king in Arnor or Gondor for almost 1000 years. I really doubt theyre talking about an Elven-king several hundred miles away.
The dwarves decide its time for Bilbo (as Gandalf had disappeared) to check out the light. After all, hes the burglar. Hes to signal them by hooting twice like a barn-owl and once like a screech-owl, as if Mr. Baggins could tell the difference! He does quietly sneak up and discovers the light is coming from a fire, and there are three trolls sitting around it, tired of eating mutton and hungering for a people dinner.
Now, does he do the sensible thing - go back to the dwarves and come up with a plan of action? I figure the dwarves would have given the trolls a wide berth had they known they were there. No, he decides to be a burglar (I guess he had to practice some time) and pick the trolls pocket, and of course, bungles it. He gets a talking purse which rats him out (reminds me of the singing harp in Jack & the Beanstalk).
Naturally, he is captured and starts to blurt out what is he and how many are in the party before he realizes thats not a very good idea. Hes making mistakes, but he is learning.
The trolls get into a argument and forget about Bilbo, when the dwarves start arriving one by one - just like they came to his door - and are captured. Bilbo hasnt the wits to crawl off and warn them until only Thorin is left and he, of course, rushes in to fight. Dumb, dumb, dumb; one small dwarf against three large trolls, and he too is captured. Does anyone in this group think more than 2 seconds ahead?
The trolls begin to argue over how to kill the dwarves, which to kill first, and how to cook them. Just as it appears agreement has been reached, it starts up again and continues until the sun rises and turns the trolls to stone. Now who knew sunlight would turn trolls into stone? Tolkien did, as this part of Icelandic folklore. Come to think of it, maybe thats why the troll hid under the bridge in the fairy tale, Three Billy Goats Gruff.
It turns out Gandalf had come back and, ventriloquism being one of his talents, kept the argument going until sunrise. The dwarves are freed and Bilbo finds a key which opens the trolls' cave, where they find food, clothes and swords, including two beautiful swords, which Thorin and Gandalf take, and a small sword thats perfect for a hobbit.
Here we find a pattern which Tolkien repeats in LotR. Our hero starts out on a journey for which he is ill prepared, and encounters an obstacle for which he has no plan to overcome and ends up needing to be rescued. However, he begins to learn how to deal with obstacles and also picks up something which turns out to be useful in the journey.
* The Annotated Hobbit
But Pippin rose to his feet, as if a great weight had been lifted from him; and he stood listening to the horns, and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blowing in the distance without tears starting in his eyes.
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I think this is absolutely hilarious. I've always loved it.
