Chapters 16-19 of The Hobbit

The Lonely Mountain was under lock-down. No one was let in or out of it until Thorin changed his mind. Thorin didn't care about that at all. Instead, he became more obsessed with finding the Arkenstone of his father and made it a priority for everyone to find it. They searched for many days, but no one located it. This is because it was already found by Bilbo. Bilbo came up with the idea that he could make Thorin give up the treasure if he gave the Arkenstone to Bard and the Elven king. One night he snuck out and gave them the Arkenstone. While he was there he saw Gandalf (who finally joins the story again).

The next morning a messenger (Gandalf in disguise), Bard, the Elven king and many more came to see the dwarves and Bilbo. They offered Thorin the Arkenstone and Thorin realized who betrayed him. He got extremely mad and told Bilbo to leave with them. They said the would return tomorrow at the same time and give the Arkenstone and get the reward. Thorin had called the help of dwarves from Dain and they had arrived. Bard tried to reason with them, but they were only angry he had the Arkenstone. They decided to attack.

Then the battle begun, it was called the Battle of five armies. The men, elves, and dwarves were fighting, then out of nowhere came hundreds of Goblins. Goblins were enemies with everyone so the elves, dwarves, and men teamed up against the Goblins. But it wouldn't be enough to defeat them, they could only hold them off. Again, out of nowhere came the Lord of the Eagles and his followers to help the dwarves, elves, and men. With the help of the eagles, they were able to defeat the Goblins and send them running back to the Misty Mountains. During the battle many got hurt and many died. Thorin Oakenshield died along with Fili and Kili.

Bilbo left the battlefield with Gandalf, the Elven king and his subjects, Beorn, and two small chests. One contained gold and the other silver, it was his payment for the deeds he did to help everyone. Slowly people left their group. The Elven king and his subjects first, then Beorn, so all that was left was Bilbo, Gandalf, and a couple of ponies. As they rode home Bilbo remembered every part of their journey and talked about it with Gandalf.

When they finally reached Bilbo's house, he found all his things being auctioned off. Everyone thought he had died because he had been gone so long. He had to buy back most of his things, but he was just happy to be home. He lived a comfortable lifestyle with many beautiful things he bought with his gold and silver. The other Hobbits thought he was crazy, but he didn't really care. He was just happy to be back in his hobbit-hole. And that is how The Hobbit ends.

Chapters 13-15 of The Hobbit

The dwarves and Bilbo are now trapped in the tunnel and don't know when Smaug will be back. After about two days, Bilbo decides they can't stay in the tunnel any longer or they will die. He goes off in search of Smaug to see if he is still in the treasure room. He isn't there, so Bilbo tells the dwarves it is okay to come down. They look around at the treasure and all take some. Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, but doesn't give it to Thorin. He keeps it for himself. Then they leave just in case Smaug comes back soon. Balin leads them to an old look-out post. This is smart because they won't be seen, but they will be able to see Smaug when he comes back.

While they have been exploring Smaug's territory, he died. He was killed by a man from Esgaroth, that man's name was Bard. The Master of the town ran away, but Bard and some other men stayed to defeat the deadly dragon and save their town. He actually got help from Bilbo, in a round about way. Bard is a descendant of Girion, the Lord of Dale. The people who lived during that time could understand the squawking of a certain type of bird. This bird had heard Bilbo say that there was a weak spot in Smaug's armor. That was how he was defeated. Bard hit an arrow right in his left breast plate and Smaug died. The people wanted Bard to be Master, but he didn't want to upset the life of Esgaroth. He chose to take his followers to the Lonely Mountain where they could take the free treasure and build back Dale.

Thorin was not too happy when he heard of this from a bird ( he can also understand some birds). He also heard that the Wood elves were also coming to claim the treasure. This upset him and he became a little crazy. He ordered the dwarves around and prepared them to defend the treasure. When the elves and men got there, Bard came to see what was going on. He asked Thorin if he could have some of the treasure for defeating Smaug and the elves wanted some pay for housing the dwarves. Thorin refused to even think about giving some of the treasure up while they were camped out in front of the Lonely Mountain. He thought they should back off and send the Wood elves home, then he might give them some payment.

Thorin's actions in these chapters disappointed me. I had no idea dwarves were so greedy and rude. He had all that treasure locked up in the castle, but wouldn't share one piece with the man who defeated Smaug. If Smaug hadn't died none of the treasure would be available! I also think the treasure wasn't Thorin's to give which made me even more angry with him. I think his rudeness and bitterness towards the men and elves will come back to bite him in the end.

Chapters 10-12 of The Hobbit

After a long and damp trip down the river, Bilbo reaches the town of Esgaroth and hopes his friends have too. Besides being damp and quite cross with Bilbo, they are in decent shape. Thorin goes up to a captain in the town and demands to see the "Master of the Lake-town". He says he is the son of Thrain and Thror. They take him, Fili, Kili, and Bilbo to see the Master. He confirms they are who they say they are and they stay for about a week and rest up. Then, much to the Master's pleasure, they leave in search of the Lonely Mountain and its treasure. The men of Esgaroth helped them get closer to the mountain, but wouldn't take them very close.

Then the group set off into a wasteland. There were no trees and only a bush or two; it had all been destroyed by Smaug. They searched around the mountain for some time, then they found a ledge. Some of the dwarves and Bilbo went to check it out. They determined this was the spot, but couldn't figure out how to open the door or where it was. They brought everyone up there, but still didn't have any luck. Finally, one night the rock in the center of the ledge started to crack and they shoved the key into it. The key went in and they found the door! Bilbo went down and found all the treasure, but with it was Smaug. He was asleep so Bilbo only took one goblet to show them. Smaug woke up and realized some of his treasure was gone and went on a fiery rampage. Thankfully everyone hid in the tunnel before Smaug reached their side of the mountain.

When all had been quiet for a few days, Bilbo went down to see if Smaug was out. He wasn't and he was only pretending to be asleep. At the last second Bilbo slipped on his ring and Smaug couldn't find him. Instead of looking for him Smaug had a chat with Bilbo. Bilbo (being smart and kind of lucky) decided to not give away his name, but said riddles about his journey which the dragon liked. On accident though, he did mention the town of Esgaroth helping him and his friends. Bilbo left safely, but had a very bad feeling in his bones that Smaug would attack again. He did and then went down to the town of Esgaroth, and I'm sure it was not a pretty sight when he got down there.

In chapter 12, Smaug and Bilbo talked about Bilbo's journey. Bilbo didn't want to give away his identity, so he talked in riddles. This reminded me of how riddles, in a way, saved him from Gollum earlier in the book. At this point, I think the riddles saved Bilbo once again. If he had insulted Smaug with talking to him normally, that could have ended badly. I wonder why Tolkien connected Bilbo's survival to riddles in these instances. Maybe they are important in his life for some reason or maybe he just thought they went well with the story.

Chapters 8 and 9 of The Hobbit

Bilbo and the dwarves have now entered the dark forest of Mirkwood. They follow the path as closely as they can, because Beorn warned them not to stray from the path. He also warned them about the river that flows through the woods. He said that they should not drink from it or even touch it. Soon enough they reach the river. They find a boat and get everyone across, but when Bombur is about to get out of the boat he slips and touches the river. They pull him out, but he is fast asleep and they can't wake him up. They couldn't just leave him so they dwarves took turns carrying Bombur, which was not an easy feat.

The dwarves and Bilbo continue on into the forest in hopes of reaching the end soon. The provisions went really fast and for awhile they walked around starving. One night the travelers saw a light and could smell delicious food. They ran to the light, but before they could blink the lights were out and the food was gone. They attempted this three times but to no prevail. Every time the lights got snuffed out the group was separated and the third time Bilbo fell asleep alone in the woods. When he woke up, he had spider threads all over him and a spider about to eat him. He used his elven sword and cut free then defeated the spider. He slipped on his ring and went off in search for his friends.

He finds them in a very bad place. They are all tangled in spider webs and spiders are talking about when to eat them. Bilbo comes up with a plan to save them. He lures the spiders away and then comes back to help his friends. After coming back he had little time to cut his friends down, the spiders were already heading back. Then all the spiders attacked. Bilbo was the only one in any shape to fight and he fought hard. In this fight he decided to name his sword Sting. He was able to get everyone out alive, except he realized that Thorin was not with them.

Thorin was actually with the Wood elves, who had captured him and demanded him to tell them why he was going to the Lonely Mountain. He wouldn't tell the elves about the treasure he was seeking (of course!), so he was put in the dungeon until he would talk. Not before long, the dwarves joined him because they were ambushed by Wood elves and taken to their king. Bilbo slipped his ring on so he wouldn't be captured. While the dwarves were trapped, Bilbo wandered the halls of the castle searching for a way out. Suddenly he found it! He saw that there was a place where the empty barrels were dumped into the river and this gave him an idea. He unlocked all the dwarves and they hopped into the barrels, but he couldn't get him in a barrel in time, so he had to ride on top of one. Then the elves pushed all the barrels into the river and they were away from the castle of the Wood elves!

Chapter 7 of the Hobbit

The Lord of the Eagles and his followers have just dropped the group near the house of Beorn. Beorn is a magical creature that can transform into anything, but he mostly transforms into a bear or a human. Gandalf knows of him, but doesn't personally know him. He does know that Beorn is a generally happy guy, but when he is angry you don't want to be near him. He also doesn't like beggars, but if they wanted a place to stay they were going to have to beg. Gandalf and Bilbo go to Beorn's house and tell who they are and start telling their story. Every five minutes or so two dwarves come in the house. Gandalf gets Beorn interested in the story, so he doesn't tell the dwarves to go away.

After Beorn hears the rest of the story, he decides to let them stay and rest up at his place. They have many fabulous meals and sleep comfortably in beds that he prepared for them. After a couple days of needed rest, the group set with many provisions and some ponies Beorn let them to borrow. They traveled to Mirkwood and when they arrived Gandalf departed from them. Now Bilbo and the dwarves don't have the guidance of Gandalf, they have to make it to Smaug on their own.

This chapter kind of confused me. I was confused with the reason that Gandalf left. He said it wasn't his journey earlier in the book, but why did he go so far with them if it wasn't his journey to begin with? Maybe this will become clearer later in the book. It made me think about how Bilbo and the dwarves will get to Smaug without Gandalf's help. I think that Tolkien made Gandalf leave so he could develop Bilbo as a hero and a leader for the dwarves.

Chapters 5 and 6 of the Hobbit

Bilbo wakes up and he is all alone in the darkness. He can't remember what happened so he decides to start searching for his friends. On his search, he comes across a ring and decides keep it. He continues on in hopes of finding them, and comes across the home of Gollum. Gollum sneaks up on Bilbo and scares him. Then he comes up with a deal; if Bilbo can answer all of his riddles and he gets one of Bilbo's wrong, he will show Bilbo the way out of the goblin cave.

They go for awhile, answering each other's riddles with little difficulty. Finally, Bilbo gets stuck and can't think of a riddle. Before Gollum comes out of his boat and eats Bilbo, he asks Gollum what is in his pocket. Gollum can't figure it out and becomes mad, then Bilbo slips on the ring he found and realizes it makes him invisible! This infuriates Gollum even more and he goes off in search of Bilbo and the ring because it was originally his. Gollum goes all the way to the tunnel leading to exit. This gives Bilbo the time to escape.

He meets back with his friends and they continue on their journey. A land slide occurs and throws them off the path and they get lost in the forest. Not too long after they get lost they are attacked by the Wargs. They climb up into the trees for safety, but the goblins come and find them again. Gandalf tries to shake them off, but he can't do much from up in a tree. As it looked like the group would be captured and eaten, the Lord of the Eagles swoops down with other eagles and rescues them. They go to the eagles home and rest up for awhile. Then the eagles drop them somewhere past the Misty Mountains and they continue their journey.

Chapters 3 and 4 of The Hobbit

The group has now left the trolls camp and is on to the Misty Mountains. They go through the forest and meet the elves of  Rivendell and their leader Elrond. It is obvious that the dwarves don't like the trickster and childlike nature of the elves, but they are happy for the couple days of rest at Rivendell. Elrond, Gandalf, and Thorin figure out that the map has a secret message within it that can only be seen in the certain phase of the moon and season it was originally written in it. This just happens to be the same phase of the moon and season, hmm... they were very lucky.

Bilbo, the dwarves, and Gandalf move forward with their journey and reach the very bottom of the Misty Mountains. Then a terrible storms comes through and they look in search of shelter. Fili and Kili find a decent looking cave and they decided to wait out the storm in their. Unfortunately the cave is goblin territory, and then everyone is captured except for Gandalf. The goblins take them to their leader the Great Goblin. The goblins and dwarves don't have a good relationship and the Great Goblin strongly disliked Thorin and company. Before anything bad happened to Bilbo and the dwarves, Gandalf poofed in the cave and Thorin and Gandalf fought the goblins off and then they all ran for it. During the fight, the Great Goblin was killed, and this angered the goblins. The goblins caught up with them and Dori dropped Bilbo. Bilbo was left behind in the darkness.

Before Gandalf, Bilbo, and Thorin and Company escaped the goblins cave they were trapped in, the Great Goblin mentioned the swords they were carrying. Gandalf was carrying Glamdring the Foe-hammer and Thorin was carrying the Orcrist. The goblins just called these swords Beater and Biter. Hearing the different names for the swords made me think about their origins in the book. This made me appreciate the time Tolkien took to weave small outer stories, like the naming of these two swords, into his books.

Chapters 1 and 2 of The Hobbit

The Hobbit begins with a small town where the Hobbits live. Hobbits are a short race that like a simple and routine lifestyle. They are not meant for adventures, but somehow the hero of our story is Bilbo Baggins. He is definitely not your average hero, he is probably the exact opposite. In the book when the dwarves come to his house to get him to go on his adventure, he passes out at the thought of the dragon he will steal from. Now, does that sound like a very heroic thing, well obviously not!

Gandalf is able to get Bilbo out of his house and on his way. The dwarves meet Bilbo and Gandalf at an inn and start their journey. In the beginning the quest was all fun and laughs, but all to soon it was very dark and mysterious. One night it was pouring rain and the group were low on food and shelter. Miraculously they found a light in the distance. Unluckily it turned out to be the camp of three trolls. In the end, all the dwarves and Bilbo are saved by Gandalf.

In the scene with the trolls, Bilbo showed a very unexpected side. Instead of leaving the trolls camp, knowing the danger that trolls can cause, he attempted to steal something from him. This is the exact opposite of the Bilbo we saw freak out at the thought of anything dangerous. Earlier in the book, it also mentioned his "Took" side. I believe this is his "Took" side coming out, and I predict that this isn't the only time we will see this side of Bilbo Baggins.

Prologue and thoughts before reading

I haven't read The Hobbit before, but I have high expectations for it. I have seen all the Lord of the Rings movies and read the first book. In my opinion, the movies were very good. I also liked The Fellowship of the Ring, but I read it a long time ago and don't remember much. I know that The Hobbit is like a children's story, but I expect it to capture my attention like the movies and book did.