The End of the Journey

The thrush returns to the mountain and finds the company. Non of them could understand its speech, so the thrush brings an old raven who speaks the common tongue. The raven informs Bilbo and the dwarves about the death of Smaug. The dwarves were delighted when they heard the news, but not for long, after he proceeded to describe the huge armies that were coming for the treasure and the destruction of Lake Town. Thorin does not plan to share the treasure with anyone (except for the company), which he believes to be his inheritance and is willing to defend it if necessary. Following Thorin's orders, the company returns to the mountain and fortifies it by building a huge wall at the main gate. From the wall, they watch as the representatives of Bard and the Elvenking's approach. Bard informs them that he was the one that slated the Dragon and that the citizens of Lake Town deserve payment for the destruction of their city. Bard demands a generous share from the treasure to repay the people of Lake Town. Thorin flatly refuses his proposal, he believes that he owes the men nothing, given that the treasure was originally the property of his people. Bard gives Thorin time to reconsierd but Thorin is stubborn and plans to stand by his decision. The mountain is declared besieged by the man and the elves,  meaning that no one can go in or out. Bilbo completely disagrees with Thorin's decision, however there is nothing the rest of the company can do to change his decision. Thorin continues to search for the Arkenstone and he is beginning to obsess with is while the other dwarves are sorry about their current position. Bilbo decides to try to solve the problem himself. With the help of the ring, he slips out of the mountain and into the camp of the men of Lake Town and the elves. He then requests to speak with Bard and the Elvenking. They do not entirely trust him until he reveals to them the Arkenstone. He gives it to Bard so he can use it to facilitate the negotiations with Thorin. Both Bard and the Elvenking are amazed at the willingness of Bilbo to risk so much to prevent a war. They offer Bilbo safety in the camp but he refuses and returns to the mountain. On the way out, he meets Gandalf who congratulated him for his decision. Gandalf had just arrived after he heard the news of what had happened. The next morning Bard returns to renegotiate his deal with Thorin. When Thorin maintains his refusal, Bard reveals the Arkenstone, which Thorin valued more than the rest of the treasure. Thorin felt immensely disappointed and he is enraged at Bilbo when he reveals what he had done. Thorin is about to attack bilbo when Gandalf reveals himself and commands Thorin to let Bilbo speak. Bilbo claimed that he took the Arkenstone as his share of the treasure as his contract specified. Thorin angrily agrees and offers a fourteenth share of the treasure for the Arkenstone. The elves and men are satisfied with this but secretly Thorin hopes that his cousin Dain, who was marching towards the mountain, arrives with an army and help him take the stone by force. When Dain arrives, his dwarf army threatens the elves and men and when they were about to engage in combat, darkness covers the sky coming from the west. Gandalf stands in the middle of the two armies and announces that a new threat was upon them, an army of Goblins and Wargs, who intended to take the treasure. Therefore the men, elves and dwarves unite against the Goblins and Wargs in a battle called the Battle of the Five Armies. The army of good fights fiercely against the army of darkness but the Goblins and Wargs are fierce foes. Bilbo stayed watching from the mountain a bit retreated from battle,  as the battle raged below him. Thorin fought fiercely alongside the men and elves but the Goblins were gaining ground. Bilbo retreats to the elves' camp which was nearly surrounded. The battle seemed lost when Bilbo spotted something approaching from the distant sky. The Eagles where flying towards the battlefield but at that same moment a stone fell from the mountain and knocked Bilbo unconscious. Bilbo awakens mostly unhurt by the side of the mountain. He sees that his said had won the battle. A man had come searching for him but cannot find him until he remember to take of his ring. Bilbo is taken to Gandalf at the camp, who is happy to see Bilbo alive. Even though the battle was won, there were sad matters to attend to. Bilbo must say farewell to Thorin, who was fatally wounded in the battle. Thorin asks Bilbo for his forgiveness after his actions earlier. Fili and Kili were also killed protecting Thorin with shield and body. The rest of the company had survived the battle. Gandalf describes the final moments of the battle to Bilbo: the Eagles had come in the nick of time to turn the tide of the battle but the battle was still not won until the appearance of Beorn in bear form. Funeral arrangements had been made for the dead and Dain was crowned the new king under the mountain. The dwarves had made peace with the men of Lake Town and the Wood Elves. Bard is the new Master of Lake Town and he rewarded Bilbo with one chest of gold and one of silver. It was time for Bilbo to return home, he traveled with Gandalf and Beorn, taking the long way across the edge of Mirkwood. They spent the winter joyfully at Beorn's house. In the spring they continued to Rivendell, where Bilbo rested and recovered under elvish care. Bilbo also learned why had Gandalf left them at the edge of Mirkwood: he was fighting alongside the council of wizards to drive the necromancer out of the forest. Finally Bilbo travels the last stretch back to Bag-End. When he arrives home he is surprised with the fact that he had been presumed dead and his belongings were being auctioned. Even though Bilbo put an end to the auction and recovered most of his belongings, he was never entirely accepted back to society. The other Hobbits didn't approve of Bilbo's adventure and were suspicious about his riches and tales. Bilbo did not mind that now that he had made friends with dwraves, elves and wizards. Now that he was back at his Hobbit-Hole he had all the comforts he missed during his adventure.

“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!” (317)

This are Thorin's last words in chapter 18. He was asking Bilbo for forgiveness for his actions before the battle. Even though Thorin had looked at Bilbo's good and simple heart with contempt, he acknowledges that the world would be a better place if more people were like him. This quote contrasts the simple modern life with the ancient epic heroism in a different way. Bilbo had thought that his adventure would part him of his simple and comfortable life. At the end of the book Tolkien implies that a simple Hobbit-like life would mean a world free of evil therefore heroics would not be necessary. An entirely peaceful world wouldn't essentially mean a better world. Even though Bilbo missed his comfortable life, he was glad he went on the dwarves' adventure. A life free of heroics would mean that no one would go through the Hero's Journey. Peace and comfort are always important in life but adventures serve as a method of inner growth, Bilbo found a whole new side of himself and learned leadership and confidence throughout his adventure. A life without adventure would be a practically boring life, were most people won't experience or create new things, Bilbo would have never met any of the dwarves if it weren't for their quest. Bilbo unleashed his full potential on the quest and Gandalf saw that potential in him, that's why he decided to take him on the quest. I do not believe that an uneventful and tipi al life would be entirely worth living.

“The treasure is likely to be your death, though the dragon is no more!” (296)

This words serve as warning for Thorin and were spoken by the rave Roäc. This on the surface implies, of course, that the treasure will bring the company a lot of complications since it is no longer guarded by the dragon. Everyone who has heard the news and has the power, will want to take hold of the treasure under the mountain. Although that is the outer threat, the inner struggle will also be a major problem, especially for Thorin. In this case the inner struggle is greed. Later in the book Dragon-Sickness is mentioned, which is most likely when greed takes over the logical reasoning of a person. Thorin is willing to risk war, in order to protect his treasure and no longer cares about the right thing to do. Thorin was not willing to share his treasure with anyone except for the members of the company, who already had rightful shares agreed upon by contract. When Thorin learned that Bilbo had taken the Arkenstone he was was willing to hurt him regardless of their friendship. Thorin's biggest struggle throughout their quest was greed, and that was not a battle that he won until he was in his deathbed. The treasure corrupted him and once he realized that Bilbo and his way or thinking were the best in order to live in a more peaceful world, it was too late.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it encouraged me to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think that the Hobbit was a great book and I really liked the way in which Tolkien writes his books. I think that this book has many important messages which I found interesting because they could be interpreted in different ways. I recommend reading this book, even though some people might be bored because most of the major plot-twists were revealed in the movies. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed paying attention to the details and Tolkien's commentary as the narrator.