The Last Homely House

The company continued on its journey, reaching the Misty Mountains. They still had a long way to go. They were heading to Rivendell to meet Gandalf's friends. Gandalf explained that Elrond lived there and that it was the last homely house west of the mountains. The elves of Rivendell took care of the dwarves and restocked their supplies. Elrond was very wise and new a lot about runes, Gandalf and Thorin showed him their swords, Gandalf's was Glamdring “the foe hammer”, and Thorin's Orcrist “the Goblin-cleaver. Elrond requested to see the map and as he held it in the light of the moon he discovered that there were moon letters written in the map. The letters read “Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole.” They stayed two weeks in Rivendell and rode of strong and at a good pace. They began their journey through treacherous paths in the Misty Mountains. One day of their hike, a huge storm rolled in, making the path almost unpassable. They found a cave to take shelter in and decided to spend the night there. Bilbo could not go to sleep, when suddenly he realized that a crack was opening in the cave's wall. Goblins jumped out of the cave and grabbed all the dwarves and Bilbo. Gandalf killed the goblins that went for him with a blast of light and the crack closed. The Goblins took the dwarves and the hobbit down a tunnel while Gandalf was following close behind unnoticed. The Goblins took the dwarves and Bilbo to the Great Goblin. As the Great Goblin questioned them, Gandalf extinguished all the lights in the room, which turned to smoke with blue sparks which burned the Goblins everywhere. In the dark Gandalf killed the Great Goblin and helped the dwarves and Bilbo escape through the commotion. They escaped through the dark tunnels of the mountain, even though the Goblins had taken their ponies and all their supplies. The Goblins were pursuing them angrily. The Goblins were catching up to them, so Gandalf and Thorin turned with Glamdring and Orcrist and killed the ones in the front the rest fled. While the company continued, a group of Goblins followed them stealthily, one of them grabbed Dori from behind, who was carrying Bilbo, he fell and the hobbit rolled of his shoulders into the dark. Bilbo woke up and found himself alone in a dark tunnel. He started to crawl down the tunnel when he felt a small metal ring, without thinking he quickly grabbed it and out it in his pocket. He kept walking down the tunnel until he ran into an underground lake. In that lake lived Gollum, Gollum approached Bilbo in his little boat. Bilbo got scared and reached for his dagger. Gollum was not hungry at the moment, just curious so he decided to play a game of riddles with the hobbit. The rules where that if Bilbo won, Gollum would show him the way out, but if Gollum won he would eat Bilbo. The game went on for a while until Gollum started to grow bored and hungry. After Gollum started to grow angry and Bilbo had no more riddles to ask, he asked him, “What have I got in my pocket?” Bilbo gave him three guesses but Gollum didn't guess correctly. Gollum was planning to eat him and get it over with, so he went to his little island, looking for his magic ring that made him invisible. When he could not find it, he got really angry and started to think about Bolbo's question. Gollum realized what Bilbo had in his pocket and was enraged. Bilbo ran away while putting the ring on his finger. While running Bilbo, tripped with a crack on the floor. He fell down with Gollum close behind him, when Bilbo thought Gollum was going to get him, he just passed by him like he didn't see him. Gollum thought Bilbo was heading to the back door, Bilbo decided to follow him, once he learned that Gollum was heading to an exit. Bilbo jumped over Gollum, when he stopped to look for him. Bilbo saw the exit, it was guarded by Goblins but Bilbo slipped past them and escaped.

“It’s got to ask uss a quesstion, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss. Jusst one more question to guess, yes, yess,” said Gollum.”

This quote from The Hobbit captures how the ring and all of Gollums' years of solitude have corrupted him. This quote is also a foreshadowing of how not only does Gollum call himself precious but he is also referring to the ring Bilbo found. The fact that Gollum refers to Bilbo, as it suggests that he believes that Bilbo is an unknown creature ,who he thinks does not resemble himself at all. Gollum treats Bilbo as if he were not there in the conversation, he only addresses himself like if Bilbo were an excluded party. The ring of power is of course, the item that has corrupted Gollum for so many years and he has a fixation towards. Power corrupts and the ring of power is no exception as Tolkien appoints out in this chapter that Gollum was not always like this.

“He knew, of course, that the riddle-game was sacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it.” (114)

I find it interesting how a game which in this case was not particularly friendly and I really never regarded it as important, would have so much superstitious power in this book. Even dark and creatures who have practically no morals, have respect for the game of riddles and its rules. I have always wondered why superstition has so much effect on the human society. There is no evidence on the effects of superstition (if any) but we still are afraid of what might happen and I have a strong believe that the uncertainty is what gives superstition its power. Of course there is no hard evidence, that points at superstition being a true force but there is also no evidence that points to the contrary. Regardless, I do not agree with this way of thinking and I do believe that if any idea, regardless of the type, has no actual logic backing its validity then the likeliness of it being true is slim to nonexistent.

I was very interested in this part of the book because it is a turning point in Bilbo's life. Without this sequence of events, which led to the finding of the ring and the encounter with Gollum, The Hobbit would be a totally different book. I was very intrigued by Gollum. He is a very interesting character which is actually used in a way as a channel to characterize the power of the ring. This event is just not important for Bilbo but to Middle Earth. Bilbo finding the ring was not just important to the events in The Hobbit but it is also very important to the Lord of the Rings series.