The Hobbit: Chapter 11-12 Summary/Review

Summary

Chapter 11

The company finds that Smaug has burned all the green life of the Lonely Mountains. They investigated the main entrance on the south side and Bilbo eventually finds a narrow passage which happens to be where the secret door. However, they realized that they forgot the riddle on how to open the door that Elfond revealed in the moonlight. They try to break it open, but it doesn't budge. Later on, Bilbo remembers how to open the door and tells the others what it is. They wait for the sun's last light to where a single ray of light centers on a specific area on the door. A rock falls revealing the keyhole and Thorin quickly inserts the key. The door unlocks and the company stares at the depths of the mountain.

Chapter 12

The company enters the secret door. Thorin volunteers Bilbo to inside at scout around the area. Bilbo wears his ring allowing him to become invisible. Bilbo sees a red gold dragon with a fiery breath, sharp claws, and diamond strong skin. Smaug is asleep and Bilbo takes a golden cup to show the dwarves.While Bilbo show the dwarves the magnificent golden cup, Smaug takes a careful account of his treasure and he goes on a huge rage when he discovered that the cup was missing.

Stolen gold cup

Smaug finds ponies at the foot of the mountain. He chases and devours them causing Bilbo and the dwarves to be frightened. Smaug goes back to sleep and Bilbo goes back to the lair only to find that Smaug was faking it. However, Smaug can only smell Bilbo, and Bilbo talks in riddles to lower Smaug's anger. The hobbit was able find a small patch on the dragon's underbelly that has no scales protection and he manages to escape Smaug's flames. Bilbo tells the dwarves what he saw and how Smaug will target the city of Lake Town after solving the riddles. Smaug roars loudly in anger and Thorin keeps repeating "the Arkenstone". The dwarves manage to close the door just as the avalanche falls down causing them to be trap.

Review

The dwarves are more stubborn than they usually are. They are determined to get inside and get their gold back. Their greed almost kills Bilbo and caused them to be trap inside the mountain. I think that this will cause Bilbo to not only develop more courage and heroism, but also will frustrate him to the point of having doubt on the dwarves. I believe that Tolkien created the dragon Smaug because of the the European mythological stories that he read and studied. He also used Bilbo's near-death experience with Smaug to allude how Tolkien near deaths in WWI.

"It was an unfortunate remark, for the dragon spouted terrific flames at him....Luckily the whole head and jaws could not squeeze in, but the nostrils sent forth fire and vapour to pursue him, and he was nearly overcome, and stumbled blindly on in great pain and fear." (page 227; paragraph 3)

I believe that Tolkien wrote this to represent his personal experience of WWI. Tolkien uses phrases like "sent forth fire and vapour" and "great pain and fear" to show a small glimpse of what near-death felt like during WWI. Overall, I believe these two chapters is just the beginning of a much larger story.

The Hobbit: Ch. 9-10 Summary/Review

Summary

Chapter 9

The other dwarves get captured and questioned by the King of Elvenking. He tries to force the dwarves to reveal where are they going but the dwarves refuse. The elf king later sends the dwarves to the dungeon with Thorin. Meanwhile, Bilbo is still wearing his ring allowing him to become invisible and he follows the captured dwarves to the dungeon where they are plotting an escape. Bilbo manages to steal a sleeping guard's keys and free the dwarves by hiding them in barrels and pushes them into the river. Bilbo also hops into a barrel and escapes the elf castle with the dwarves to Lake Town.

Chapter 10

Bilbo and the dwarves are in the barrels floating away to Lake Town. Lake Town (Esgaroth) is a human city built on Long Lake in the southern side of the Lonely Mountains. Thorin proudly declares himself a descendant of the King under the Lonely Mountains and the villagers cheered because they heard story of gold flowing down the river when the dwarves ruled the mountains. Thorin and the dwarves then quickly return to the Lonely Mountains and face the dragon Smaug with extra supplies they picked up from Lake Town.

Review

The introduction of the elf king is really fascinating. However, I keep wondering what would happen if the dwarves reveal to the king where they were heading. What would the king do? Will he prevent the dwarves or aid them? My best guess is that the elf king most likely will say something like it is unwise to reclaim their homeland that is guarded by the same dragon who drove them out. Then the dwarves will ignore the king's idea and escape to Lake Town because they are too stubborn.

Based on what I read, I believe that the only person who can get pass Smaug without the dragon knowing is Bilbo. Bilbo wears the One Ring that grants him invisibility. This advantage will allow Bilbo to sneak pass the dragon and maybe do something that gives the dwarves an advantage. The other dwarves will either stay behind and wait for Bilbo to come back so Bilbo can tell them where Smaug is or they will barge in and fight the dragon. I believe that their attack on the dragon will fail and they will be force to retreat and have help from the villagers of Esgaroth.

Smaug the Dragon

Let's face it, a group of dwarves and a hobbit by themselves will be vaporized by a full sized dragon. That's like fighting trying to fight Darth Vader with a wooden stick. The dwarves will need help if they want to defeat Smaug and reclaim their homeland. I read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. One of Tzu's advices of battle is:

"It your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is tempermental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."

– Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This means that it is smarter to fight an enemy with strategy than to rush into their territory. Overall, I believe that the company will eventually find a way to reclaim their homeland and overthrow Smaug.

The Hobbit: Chapter 7-8 Summary/Review

Summary

Chapter 7

Beorn

The company is escorted by the Great Eagles to a safe area far from the goblins. Gandalf leads the company to his friend, Beorn. Beorn is a half-man, half bear creature who gives food and other supplies that the dwarves need on their trip. Beorn scouts ahead and find out that the goblins are creating a attack party to kill the dwarves so they can avenge the Great Goblin's death. He advises the
company to travel the the northern pass where they can bypass the more dangerous southern pass. He also warns them the the northern pass between the Mirkwood is also not safe and they should never stray from the path. Gandalf leaves the company again and the dwarves head into the forest.

"....for I have heard that it carries enchantment and a great drowsiness and forgetfulness. And in the dim shadows of that place I donít think you will shoot anything, wholesome or unwholesome, without straying from the path. That you MUST NOT do, for any reason." (page 132; paragraph 1)

Chapter 8

Great Spiders of Mirkwood

The group goes into the woods and keep seeing strange eyes watching them. They later had to carry Bombur who fell asleep on a boat they found and can't wake up for days. The dwarves and Bilbo saw lights and decide to ignore the warnings and stray off the northern pass. The lights suddenly snuff out and the company gets lost from each other. Everyone gets separated and Bilbo falls asleep exhausted. Bilbo wakes up tied up with sticky webs and really big spiders coming towards him. Bilbo frees
himself with his sword and slays the spiders. After the victory, Bilbo names his sword: Sting.

"I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call you Sting." (page 156; paragraph 2)

Bilbo led the spiders away wearing the ring and later frees the poisoned dwarves. They managed to cross into Elvin territory, but are shock that the leader Thorin is still missing. Meanwhile, Thorin is taken prisoners by the elves and refuse to tell them where he and his dwarves are going so the elves hold him in a prison.

Review

I want to talk about Bilbo's newly name sword: Sting. I believe that Tolkien wanted to give the main character, Bilbo, a sword with a name that is unique from all the other legendary swords such as Excalibur and Hrunting. The sword, Sting, is a really unique weapon. Unlike other weapons, Sting is considered more of an Elvin dagger than a sword. However, this dagger also fits well with Bilbo because of his height and size. The sword Sting was named like this because the spiders Bilbo were fighting were getting stung with Bilbo's sword. Bilbo's sword is a ancient Elvin dagger forged and created by weapon-smiths in Gondolin. This little short sword also glows blue when goblins are nearby. Unlike your typical and more famous swords, Sting was never used in battle until it killed several spiders. I believe that this sword be important to Bilbo in the future and will later be use for something even greater.

Bilbo Baggins's sword: Sting

The Hobbit: Chapter 5-6 Summary/Review

Summary

Chapter 5

Gollum

Bilbo wakes up in a darkness and find a metal ring on the floor.  He meets a wandering and hungry creature name Gollum and points his sword at him. Gollum challenges Bilbo in a riddle game. If Gollum beats Bilbo, he eats him, and if Bilbo wins, Gollum will show him the way out of the mountain. Bilbo and Gollum exchange riddles. Bilbo finally wins by asking Gollum...

"What have I got in my pocket?" (page 78; last paragraph)

and Gollum could guess the 3 chances he was given. Gollum tries to use his last option and eat Bilbo by using his "precious" a.k.a. the Ring. Bilbo manages to escape wearing the ring which renders him invisible.

Chapter 6

Bilbo escapes the mountain and overhears Gandalf and the dwarves deciding if they should ditch Bilbo. Bilbo reveals himself to be alive after he slips the ring off and put it into his pocket. Bilbo tells them that he found his way out of the mountain, but didn't tell them about Gollum and the ring. The company then quickly create a head start from the goblins who can't stop them because of sunlight. The goblin's wolflike allies, Wargs, help the goblins corner the company to a tree. Gandalf tries his best to kill most of them. Luckily a friend of Gandalf's, Lord of Eagles, saves them with his eagles and flies them to safety. They provide new supplies and rest before the company ahead toward the doorway.

"There was a howl of anger and surprise from the goblins. Loud cried from the Lord of Eagles, to whom Gandalf had now spoken. Back swept the great birds that were with him, and down they came like huge black shadows." (page 107; second to last paragraph).

Review

Okay, let me just say that my foreshadowing guess was right. Tolkien revealed the ring in Chapter 5 just as I thought. Tolkien was influenced by many literature works to create the fun riddles that Gollum says. He also used his personal experience of war to show Bilbo's uncomfortableness in his present surroundings. Tolkien was a ranking soldier in WWII. He lived in a calm life before he was forced to engage in harsh environments. Tolkien experienced a lot of huge explosions and I think he used some of that personal experience into Chapter 6.

"He gathered the huge pinecones from the branches of his tree. Then he set one alight with bright blue fire, and threw it whizzing down among the circle of the wolves. It struck one on the back, and immediately his shaggy coat caught fire, and he was leaping to and fro yelping horribly. Then another came and another, one in blue flames, one in red, another in green. They burst on the ground in the middle of the circle and went off in coloured sparks and smoke."

This shows Tolkien's personal experience of seeing explosions during his time at war and was able to recreate them into a work of art.

The ring

In Chapter 5, I thought of it as a extremely essential part of the story. I mean, think of this...why would a creature name Gollum be so obsessed with the ring? The ring so far has the ability to allow the user to become invisible, but there should be more information about this mysterious ring. I also know that this ring has a evil presence. This is because Gollum is sort of insane. What kind of creature lives under a mountain for who knows how long and is obsessed with a ring to the point of insanity. The ring has a dark evil screaming out and will continue to reveal more about it.