Hello everyone!
Alright, alright, I will admit, I can never seem to get over the whole Tolkien phase at all, even for a little bit. I'm always reading something or other from the master, and recently I've discovered that I need to be very careful about what I do before bed or else I might end up awake until the wee morning hours.
So to try and combat that, I decided to read every night before I went to sleep, which means that I was going to pick something I would enjoy, of course.
Naturally, I picked the Hobbit, because for one thing it was meant to be a bed time story, and for another I just love reading about Bilbo and the Dwarves, who are pretty much a comedic relief in comparison to what you see in the movies sometimes.
Then of course, I'm now debating what else to read before bed and I might tackle the Silmarillion next, but we will see!
For the time being, let's dip into the review of the Hobbit, book version.
As I have done many blog posts with Tolkien's name stapled to them to the side, there will be links to the lot down below as soon as I can manage them, hopefully tonight, but I'm struggling with a bit of a headache and so I don't think I'll be doing anything too elaborate with this post right now.
So onward we go!
Bilbo Baggins is a very respectable Hobbit, living in his comfortable Hobbit hole in the land of the Shire when one day, the wizard Gandalf appears on his doorstep, asking if he knows anyone who would share in an adventure.
Sadly, Bilbo doesn't feel like it, and politely declines (he's frightfully polite, the little fellow).
Unfortunately for him though, Gandalf decides he'll be just the right prson, and soon enough there are Dwarves all over his house, popping up one after another to annoy both their host and each other. Then they eat, and sing, and plot, and scare Bilbo into his bed, although he does, in fact, agree to go with them. Almost ends up being late, too, and without any hankies!
But anyway, the company numbering fifteen now saddle up the ponies and head off into the wild, where their first encounter is less than pleasant, seeing as they get caught by three monstrous trolls (I am, in fact, quoting dear Bilbo on this one), who want to eat the lot.
Luckily for them, Gandalf knows how to deal with trolls, which eventually means the creatures get turned to stone and our companions get gold and food and drink from the troll cave. This also includes the famous Elven swords, Glamdring and Orcrist, as well as Sting (at this point unnamed).
Continuing on, they seek aid and advice from Lord Elrond in the Last Homely House, from where they start their journey across the Misty Mountains.
Which, inevitably, lands them in more trouble.
They get caught by goblins, though truth be told Gandalf gets left behind, and Bilbo manages to knock his head on a stone and end up playing riddle games with Gollum.
This is where the history of Middle Earth shifts as Bilbo finds the One Ring (though he doesn't know it at the time) and evades getting eaten by said Gollum, who swears vengeance on poor Baggins. But poor Baggins has other problems, as the company needs to keep trudging on and unfortunately ends up in a Warg meeting place.
There, things would have gone horribly wrong in the cooking kind of sense (or grilling, really), if the Great Eagles didn't sweep in and save the day.
Their next stop is the house of Beorn, a skin-changer, who hates goblins and Wargs with a passion, and so promises to help the Dwarves reach Mirkwood, at the very least. At the forest itself, Gandalf leaves them, and heads off to do his own thing for a while.
So the fourteen now enter the forest and meet sort of one mishap after another, from Bombur falling into the river and sleeping and then losing the path as they try to follow the Elves.
They also get separated, since Thorin is caught by the Elves of Mirkwood, and the rest by the spiders of Mirkwood.
This is the first chance for Bilbo to actually show his skills at rescuing his friends, which he does rather admirably I think, and manages to also evade capture by the Elves who are the next to clap eyes on our sorry lot.
After spending some time in the palace dungeons, Bilbo, once again, saves the day by sneaking about and managing to figure out a second exit from the palace, which is by river and with the use of barrels (after the butler and captain of the guards are snoring, natch).
Sadly for our Dwarven companions, they get stuffed into said barrels and end up floating all the way to the Long Lake, where they are almost half dead by the time they reach the shore. But, in the land of Men now and in the shadow of the Lonely Mountain, they are now able to get goods and help, and get the rest of the way to the Mountain itself, where once again their burglar has to figure out the riddle from the map.
As it always is in fairytales, this is achieved, and Bilbo now sets into the Mountain proper, where he comes face to face with Smaug, chiefest of calamities of the Third Age before Sauron's open return to Mordor.
Now, bartering with a living dragon is no mean feat, and I think our little friend does it quite well, only he and the Dwarves kind of manage to piss the old geezer off, sending him down to Laketown to enact his revenge ... which does not, in fact, happen, as Bard, a descendant of the Men who used to live in harmony with the Dwarves in Dale, kills the dragon with a black arrow.
Here on out, though, things get tricky, as Thorin is claimed by dragon sickness which rests upon the gold Smaug had snuggled up on over the years, and refuses to be reasonable or even smart, almost inciting war between the Elves (who had come to see about Smaug and the treasure), Men (who wanted recompense for their given aid) and Dwarves (since he sent for Dain, his cousin, to help secure the Mountain).
Luckily, or unluckily, Bolg, who has a long-standing grievance with Dwarves (they killed his papa, you see) comes out of the North with an army that attacks the joint Free Peoples, and chaos in the form of the Battle of the Five Armies ensues, also including Beorn and the Great Eagles at a latter point in time.
Unfortunately, it also claims the lives of Thorin, Fili and Kili, crowning Dain King Under the Mountain; Bilbo, who had attempted to prevent a war by using the Arkenstone as a bartering chip, can finally return home, where he finds he has been proclaimed dead, and needs to rebuy most of his things!
The cheek of people.
As an epilogue of sorts, the Hobbit is visited by Balin, one of the thirteen Dwarves, and Gandalf for afternoon tea one time, and they catch up on what has been happening all around (most notably, that Dale had been rebuilt, Bard crowned king, and that there was peace east of the Misty Mountains).
As stories go, it is uncomplicated, but full of adventure and little nuggets of wisdom, not to mention humor and perfect manners by some (less so by others). It was the first book I ever bought with my own money, way back when, and will always have a special place in my heart.
And now, I'm off into a dark room where I can sleep this headache off!
xx
*image not mine
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