The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Contents
CHAPTER XIX: THE LAST STAGE
Overview
Bilbo and Gandalf return to Rivendell, where Bilbo hears that the white wizards have driven the Necromancer from southern Mirkwood. They journey home, retrieve the trolls’ hoard, and reach Bag End during an auction of Bilbo’s effects.
After legal tangles and lost respectability, Bilbo settles happily. Years later, Balin and Gandalf visit with news of Dale and Lake-town’s prosperity and the Master’s grim end; Gandalf reminds Bilbo of his small yet meaningful place in a wide world.
Summary
On May First, Bilbo and Gandalf reach Rivendell to songs and a warm welcome. As Gandalf recounts their journey, Bilbo dozes and overhears that a council of white wizards has driven the Necromancer from southern Mirkwood, promising a healthier North, though Elrond doubts a final banishment soon. Rested by Elrond’s hospitality, Bilbo lingers briefly but remains intent on home.
After a week they depart into wind and rain, recross the ford at the Wild’s edge, and retrace their earlier route. They recover the trolls’ buried gold and divide it, slowing their travel with the added weight. Summer returns as they near the Shire, and Bilbo pauses to sing of roads and home; Gandalf notes he is changed.
At Bag End, Bilbo finds an auction of his effects underway, as he had been presumed dead. His unexpected return causes uproar and years of legal disputes. Bilbo buys back much of his property, loses silver spoons (which he suspects the Sackville-Bagginses), and more broadly loses his “respectable” reputation, though he gains lasting esteem among dwarves, elves, and wizards.
Content regardless, Bilbo hangs his sword, displays his mail, spends much of his wealth on gifts, keeps his magic ring secret for inconvenient callers, writes poetry, and visits elves. Years later Balin and Gandalf call; Balin reports Dale rebuilt, Lake-town refounded, prosperity and renewed friendship among elves, men, and dwarves, and the old Master’s dragon-sickness leading to his death in the Waste.
Hearing that songs and prophecies have come true “after a fashion,” Bilbo is gently reminded by Gandalf that his escapes were not mere luck but part of a larger design—and that he remains a small figure in a wide world. Bilbo gratefully accepts this perspective and offers the tobacco-jar, content at journey’s end.
Who Appears
- Bilbo BagginsReturns via Rivendell, reclaims trolls’ gold, interrupts his own auction, loses respectability, lives content, and later hosts Gandalf and Balin.
- GandalfReports the council drove the Necromancer from Mirkwood, travels home with Bilbo, visits later, and frames Bilbo’s role in a wider world.
- ElrondWelcomes Bilbo and Gandalf in Rivendell and discusses the Necromancer’s limited banishment.
- Elves of RivendellGreet the travelers with songs, host them, and lull Bilbo to rest before his final journey home.
- BalinVisits years later, reporting Dale’s renewal, Lake-town’s prosperity, and the old Master’s fall.
- Sackville-BagginsesBilbo’s cousins; found measuring Bag End during the auction; suspected of taking silver spoons.
- Messrs Grubb, Grubb, and BurrowesAuctioneers selling Bilbo’s effects until his unexpected return halts the proceedings.