Week Six: Fantasy

For this week it was all about fantasy. We were asked to read this week The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. So far I’ve seen all the Lord of The Rings movies and both Hobbit movies that have been made. I really enjoyed The Lord of The Rings with its story and characters, until The Hobbit came out. The Hobbit for me right now by far is the best out of the all the books and the movies.

Summary:

Gandalf tricks Bilbo into hosting a party for Thorin and his band of dwarves, who sing of reclaiming the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasure from the dragon Smaug. When the music ends, Gandalf unveils a map showing a secret door into the Mountain and proposes that the dumbfounded Bilbo serve as the expedition's "burglar". The dwarves ridicule the idea, but Bilbo, indignant, joins despite himself.

The group travel into the wild, where Gandalf saves the company from trolls and leads them to Rivendell, where Elrond reveals more secrets from the map. Passing over the Misty Mountains, they are caught by goblins and driven deep underground. Although Gandalf rescues them, Bilbo gets separated from the others as they flee the goblins. Lost in the goblin tunnels, he stumbles across a mysterious ring and then encounters Gollum, who engages him in a game of riddles. As a reward for solving all riddles Gollum will show him the path out of the tunnels, but if Bilbo fails, his life will be forfeit. With the help of the ring, which confers invisibility, Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, improving his reputation with them. The goblins and Wargs give chase but the company are saved by eagles before resting in the house of Beorn.

The company enters the black forest of Mirkwood without Gandalf. In Mirkwood, Bilbo first saves the dwarves from giant spiders and then from the dungeons of the Wood-elves. Nearing the Lonely Mountain, the travellers are welcomed by the human inhabitants of Lake-town, who hope the dwarves will fulfil prophecies of Smaug's demise. The expedition travels to the Lonely Mountain and finds the secret door; Bilbo scouts the dragon's lair, stealing a great cup and learning of a weakness in Smaug's armour. The enraged dragon, deducing that Lake-town has aided the intruder, sets out to destroy the town. A noble thrush had overheard Bilbo's report of Smaug's vulnerability and reports it to the Lake-town defender, Bard, who slays the dragon.

When the dwarves take possession of the mountain, Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, an heirloom of Thorin's dynasty, and hides it away. The Wood-elves and Lake-men besiege the mountain and request compensation for their aid, reparations for Lake-town's destruction, and settlement of old claims on the treasure. Thorin refuses and, having summoned his kin from the mountains of the North, reinforces his position. Bilbo tries to ransom the Arkenstone to head off a war, but Thorin is intransigent. He banishes Bilbo, and battle seems inevitable.

Gandalf reappears to warn all of an approaching army of goblins and Wargs. The dwarves, men and elves band together, but only with the timely arrival of the eagles and Beorn do they win the climactic Battle of Five Armies. Thorin is fatally wounded and reconciles with Bilbo before he dies. Bilbo accepts only a small portion of his share of the treasure, having no want or need for more, but still returns home a very wealthy hobbit.

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            Even though the hobbit is just one book there is a lot of things happening throughout it. One of the events that happens through out the whole book that I really enjoyed was the evolution of

Bilbo’s character. The journey that Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves go through helps Bilbo to gain a very clear sense of identity through his quest with them. At the beginning for me, Bilbo was more of a problem then useful to the journey. After all of the things that Bilbo went through it was nice for him to take more of a leadership role and trying to solve problems for an example. Bilbo steals the Arkenstone, a most ancient relic of the dwarves, and attempts to ransom it to Thorin for peace. However, Thorin turns on the Hobbit as a traitor, disregarding all the promises he had previously bestowed. In the end Bilbo gives up the precious stone and most of his share of the treasure to help those in greater need. Another example of Bilbo growth throughout the hobbit is at the beginning Gandalf was a parental influence over Bilbo early on and try to make sure no harm was done to him. Over time Bilbo gradually takes over leadership of the party, a fact the dwarves could not bear to acknowledge.

            Another aspect that I found interesting while reading the hobbit is overcoming mental obstacles. The overcoming of greed and selfishness has been seen as the central moral of the story. Whilst greed is a recurring theme in the novel, with many of the episodes stemming from one or more of the characters' simple desire for food. Like be it trolls eating dwarves or dwarves eating Wood-elf fare or a desire for beautiful objects, such as gold and jewels, it is only by the Arkenstone's influence upon Thorin that greed, and its attendant vices "coveting" and "malignancy", come fully to the fore in the story and provide the moral crux of the tale.

            Overall The Hobbit was an enjoyable read. I recommend reading The Hobbit if you have problems reading The Lord of The Rings. In addition I also recommend watching The Hobbit movies and The Lord of The Rings.