The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (chapter 13)
The Hobbit – Chapter 13: Not at home
Situation of the excerpt
After Bilbo’s discovered Smaug’s weak spot and the group is trapped inside the secret passage in the mountain.
Before Smaug attacks lake town and before his death.
What happens in this excerpt:
The dwarves and Bilbo wait in silence after Smaug’s attack. They are trapped inside the mountain and there is no way out. The door they came in from can’t be used. The dwarves despair, but Bilbo proposes that they all go down the tunnel, and they all agree. In the tunnel, the dwarves and the hobbit lost all sense of time. They don’t know for how long they have been in there nor if it’s night or day. (“he is not home…whatever” page 273)
The passage is so dark that Bilbo stumbles and rolls into the hall. He cries to the dwarves to bring torches, but he cannot persuade them to enter. So Bilbo is the one to find the Arkenstone, and under “its enchantment,” he takes it, despite “an uncomfortable feeling that the picking and choosing had not really been meant to include this marvelous gem, and that trouble would yet come of it” (page 275). But he justifies his action by saying: “They [the dwarves] did say I could pick up and choose my own share; and I think I would choose this, if they took all the rest!”. He confirms that he is now officially a burglar.
Bilbo’s explorations bring him to the large entry doors, where he gets scared by a bat and that causes him to drop his torch. He cries for help, and the dwarves go find him and then explore the treasures of the hall. They arm themselves, and Thorin gives Bilbo a mithril coat of mail that apparently belonged to some young elf prince.
Mithril is a sindarin word (sidnarin: language spoken in Middle-Earth by the immortal Elves). It is a metal that resembles silver but is stronger than steel and lighter. So the mail shirt given to Bilbo in this chapter is described as being made of “silver steel”.
Afterwards, Thorin leads them through the ruins to the
Situation of the excerpt
After Bilbo’s discovered Smaug’s weak spot and the group is trapped inside the secret passage in the mountain.
Before Smaug attacks lake town and before his death.
What happens in this excerpt:
The dwarves and Bilbo wait in silence after Smaug’s attack. They are trapped inside the mountain and there is no way out. The door they came in from can’t be used. The dwarves despair, but Bilbo proposes that they all go down the tunnel, and they all agree. In the tunnel, the dwarves and the hobbit lost all sense of time. They don’t know for how long they have been in there nor if it’s night or day. (“he is not home…whatever” page 273)
The passage is so dark that Bilbo stumbles and rolls into the hall. He cries to the dwarves to bring torches, but he cannot persuade them to enter. So Bilbo is the one to find the Arkenstone, and under “its enchantment,” he takes it, despite “an uncomfortable feeling that the picking and choosing had not really been meant to include this marvelous gem, and that trouble would yet come of it” (page 275). But he justifies his action by saying: “They [the dwarves] did say I could pick up and choose my own share; and I think I would choose this, if they took all the rest!”. He confirms that he is now officially a burglar.
Bilbo’s explorations bring him to the large entry doors, where he gets scared by a bat and that causes him to drop his torch. He cries for help, and the dwarves go find him and then explore the treasures of the hall. They arm themselves, and Thorin gives Bilbo a mithril coat of mail that apparently belonged to some young elf prince.
Mithril is a sindarin word (sidnarin: language spoken in Middle-Earth by the immortal Elves). It is a metal that resembles silver but is stronger than steel and lighter. So the mail shirt given to Bilbo in this chapter is described as being made of “silver steel”.
Afterwards, Thorin leads them through the ruins to the