The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

Bilbo Baggins lives a quiet and respectable life until Gandalf arrives and draws him into the quest of Thorin Oakenshield and twelve other dwarves. Thorin explains that his people once ruled the wealthy halls of Erebor under the Lonely Mountain, until the dragon Smaug destroyed the kingdom, ruined Dale, and seized the treasure. Gandalf produces Thror’s map and Thrain’s key, which reveal a hidden side-door into the Mountain, and insists that Bilbo will be the company’s burglar. Though frightened and unprepared, Bilbo leaves home with the dwarves.

The early journey quickly strips away Bilbo’s comfort. In lonely country, the company is captured by three trolls after Bilbo’s attempted burglary fails. Gandalf returns in time to trick the trolls into arguing until dawn, when sunlight turns them to stone. From the trolls’ cave the travelers gain food, gold, and ancient blades. In Rivendell, Elrond identifies Thorin’s sword as Orcrist and Gandalf’s as Glamdring, and reveals moon-letters on the map: on Durin’s Day, the last light will show the keyhole of the secret door.

Crossing the Misty Mountains, the company shelters in a cave during a violent storm, only to be seized by goblins. Gandalf escapes capture, kills the Great Goblin, and leads the dwarves through dark tunnels, but Bilbo is knocked unconscious and left behind. Alone underground, he finds a ring and meets Gollum beside a black lake. Their riddle-game becomes a struggle for survival. When Gollum realizes Bilbo has found his lost “precious,” Bilbo accidentally discovers that the ring makes him invisible. He follows Gollum toward an exit, spares his life rather than killing him, and escapes past goblin guards.

Bilbo rejoins Gandalf and the dwarves and, while hiding the ring’s secret, gains new respect. Soon the company is trapped in trees by Wargs and goblins, and Gandalf’s fire only partly delays destruction. The Lord of the Eagles rescues them and carries them east. Gandalf then brings them to Beorn, a powerful skin-changer who verifies their tale, becomes their ally, and equips them for Mirkwood. At the forest’s edge, Gandalf departs, warning them not to leave the path.

Mirkwood tests the company’s endurance. Bombur falls into an enchanted stream and sleeps, food runs low, and the dwarves repeatedly glimpse elvish feasts. Desperate, they stray from the path and become lost. Giant spiders capture the dwarves, but Bilbo, using Sting and the ring, kills spiders, taunts them away, and frees his companions. Thorin, however, has already been captured by Wood-elves and imprisoned by the Elvenking; soon the remaining dwarves are also taken. Bilbo follows unseen into the halls, steals keys from drunken guards, packs the dwarves into barrels, and sends them through the water-gate downriver toward Lake-town.

At Lake-town, Thorin declares himself King under the Mountain. The townspeople, excited by old songs of restored wealth, welcome the company, and the cautious Master provides supplies. The Elvenking, suspicious of the escaped prisoners, sends spies. The company travels to the Lonely Mountain, scouts the dangerous Front Gate, and, through Bilbo’s persistence, finds the hidden doorstep on the western slope. On Durin’s Day, a thrush knocks as the last light reveals the keyhole, and Thorin opens the secret door.

Bilbo enters Smaug’s lair and steals a cup, provoking the dragon’s rage. On a second visit, he speaks with Smaug in riddles. Smaug tries to sow distrust between Bilbo and the dwarves, but Bilbo draws him into boasting and notices a bare patch in the armor of jewels on the dragon’s left breast. The thrush overhears this. Smaug attacks the mountainside, fails to find the hidden door, and concludes that Lake-town helped the intruders. He flies south to punish it. The company, trapped inside, descends into the halls, where Bilbo secretly takes the Arkenstone, Thorin’s most desired treasure. With Smaug gone, the dwarves arm themselves and move to the Front Gate.

Smaug devastates Lake-town, but Bard, a grim archer descended from Girion of Dale, understands the thrush’s message and shoots his Black Arrow into the dragon’s weak spot. Smaug dies, crushing much of the town. The survivors praise Bard, while the Master shifts blame onto Thorin. Bard organizes relief and asks the Elvenking for aid. Together, Men and Elves march toward the Mountain to seek compensation from the treasure.

At Erebor, Roäc the raven tells Thorin that Smaug is dead and urges him to deal honorably with Bard. Thorin instead fortifies the Gate, summons Dain from the Iron Hills, and refuses Bard’s claims for Dale and Lake-town. Bilbo, fearing war and disturbed by Thorin’s gold-lust, slips out at night and gives the Arkenstone to Bard and the Elvenking as bargaining leverage. Gandalf reappears and praises Bilbo’s courage, though he warns that worse trouble is near.

When Bard presents the Arkenstone, Thorin denounces Bilbo but agrees to ransom it, while secretly waiting for Dain’s army. Dain arrives, and battle between Dwarves, Men, and Elves seems imminent until Gandalf announces a greater threat: goblins and Wargs led by Bolg are descending from the North. The rivals unite. In the Battle of Five Armies, Elves, Men, and Dwarves first drive the enemy back, but goblins attack from the heights and the defenders are nearly overwhelmed. Thorin charges from the Gate with his companions but is encircled. Bilbo sees the Eagles arriving before a stone knocks him unconscious.

Bilbo wakes after the battle and learns that the Eagles broke the goblins’ hold on the heights, and Beorn arrived in bear-shape, rescued the wounded Thorin, slew Bolg, and routed the enemy. Thorin, dying, reconciles with Bilbo and withdraws his harsh words. Fili and Kili have fallen defending him. Thorin is buried with the Arkenstone, Dain becomes King under the Mountain, and the treasure is distributed: Bard receives a share, the Elvenking is rewarded, and Bilbo accepts only two small chests of silver and gold. Bilbo journeys home with Gandalf, visiting Beorn and Rivendell, and finally reaches Bag End during an auction of his belongings. Though he loses much of his old respectability, he returns changed, content, and honored by dwarves, elves, and wizards. Years later, Balin and Gandalf visit with news of restored Dale and Lake-town, and Gandalf reminds Bilbo that his adventures were part of a wider design.