2019/2020 LE blogs

Chapter 19 - The Last Stage Bilbo was now at Rivendell.  He had not been home for over a year.  At Riverdell, he and Gandalf rested and told their stories to Elrond. Then Gandalf confesses where he had been when he was not with the dwarves. He was at the great council of the white wizards who had driven the Necromancer from Mirkwood. The Necromancer was actually Sauron, the evil lord that appears in "the Lord of the Rings" as the main antagonist. Then they left Rivendell. They went past the river where they were captured by three trolls and dug up the box of treasure they took from the trolls. Bilbo was surprised when he got back to his hobbit-hole. Bilbo was presumed dead, and his belongings were being sold at an auction. He stops the auction and gets his things back from other people, but he lost his reputation as a good hobbit. They thought Bilbo was queer, even when he told his stories to other people but they are suspicious about it. However, he didn't care becau...

Chapter 18 - The Return Journey When Bilbo became conscious again, he noticed that he was alone. He also noticed that his side has won the battle. A man came to the hill to find Bilbo, so Bilbo took off his ring and went to the camp where the people were waiting. Gandalf was happy to see Bilbo alive because Gandalf was worried that Bilbo was dead. However, there was bad news too; Thorin had a fatal injury and was dying. Thorin gave his last words to Bilbo. He said he will give some treasure to Bilbo and take back the words he had said to Bilbo. Of course, Bilbo told Thorin he wasn't angry at Thorin. Then Thorin said, "If more of us valued food and cheer and songs above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world" and passed away. Bilbo turned away and wept; he had a kind soul. In Thorin's tomb, Bard laid the Arkenstone and the Elven-king laid Orcrist, the elvish sword. Other news were told to Bilbo too. When Bilbo was unconscious, the Eagles attacked the goblins, ca...

Chapter 17 - The Clouds Burst Bard, the Elven-king and an old man in a cloak came to the gate to negotiate with Thorin. Bard asked Thorin if his mind has changed but Thorin replied that he will still never give any gold until the armies retreat. Then Bard shows Thorin the Arkenstone and asked if he would exchange treasure with this. Thorin was dumbfounded when he saw the Arkenstone in his enemy's hands. He asked Bard where he got the Arkenstone and Bilbo confessed that he had given the Arkenstone to Bard. Thorin became furious with Bilbo, cursing and shaking him. Then the old man in the cloak revealed himself to be Gandalf and asked Thorin to listen to Bilbo. Bilbo said that he took the Arkenstone as his share of the treasure, and demanded Thorin to exchange the Arkenstone with one-fourteenth share of gold and silver. Thorin kept his promise reluctantly and said he would give gold and silver to Bard. Bard said he was going to wait until the next day for the dwarves to prepare the...

Chapter 16 - A Theif In The Night Thorin's greed towards gold and especially the Arkenstone had reached its peak: he would kill anyone who took the Arkenstone and withholds it. Hearing this, Bilbo became afraid because he had the Arkenstone and was using it as a pillow, but he decided to take action. One night, he slips on the ring, sneaks out of the mountain and went to Bard and the Elven-king. The two were suspicious at first but curious when Bilbo showed them the Arkenstone they believed that Bilbo was not an enemy. Bilbo's plan was to offer the Arkenstone to Bard to help the negotiation with Thorin. Thorin desires the Arkenstone above a river of gold, so Bilbo was certain that Thorin would give away some treasure to the people of Lake Town. He claimed that he took the Arkenstone as the one-fourteenth share of the treasure that was promised to him in his contract. Both Bard and the Elven-king praised Bilbo with honour. Gandalf was there and he also praised him for his brav...

Chapter 15 - The Gathering Of The Clouds Looking at the unusual gathering of the birds, the dwarves and Bilbo sense something strange had happened. The thrush that told Bard Smaug's weak point flew towards the party and was trying to tell them something. However, they were not the descendants of Girion, so they couldn't understand what the thrush was saying. The thrush brings a great old raven called Roäc who was good and friendly with the dwarves. He tells the dwarves and hobbit (in ordinary language) that Smaug was dead. The party rejoiced the death of Smaug. They are also told that the wood elves have prepared an army for war and the people of Lake Town are seeking a share of the treasure to rebuild their town. However, Thorin was too greedy, he angrily stated that the treasure was his, and not a single coin will be given to them, he would even risk war to protect his treasure. Thorin sends messages to his relatives, for example, Dain in the Iron Hills to prepare for war. ...

Chapter 14 - Fire And Water When the dwarves were in the hall looking at the mountain of treasures, Smaug was heading to Lake Town to take revenge on the people. The people of Lake Town first thought that flaming Smaug was gold flowing the river, but Bard, a grim-voiced, grim-faced but courageous man soon realize that it was Smaug, and prepared for an attack. Smaug destroyed the only bridge that connected land and Lake Town and breathed fire on all the houses. He enjoyed the destruction. The men's arrows had no effect on Smaug's hard scales. The people in Lake Town was overpowered.  Many people fled to the shore to save their lives. The master of Lake-Town was very selfish since he abandoned the town earlier than most of the citizens. Bard stayed at Lake Town to fight against the dragon until the last moment. Then suddenly, a thrush landed on his shoulders and tells him Smaug's weakness. The thrush was listening to Bilbo on the mountain and came to Bard to tell him the ...

Chapter 13 - Not At Home The party couldn't bear staying inside the dark passage anymore. They thought that if they stayed in the passage, they would starve to death, so they decided to go down the passage to the hall where Smaug was sleeping and escape from the front gate. Bilbo put on his ring to investigate first to see if the dragon was there. The hall was filled with darkness and silence. Bilbo fell into the mountain of treasure because it was so dark, but there was no sign of the dragon. Bilbo thought Smaug was not at home today and called the dwarves for help in the dark. The dwarves came out from the passage with light. Then Bilbo found a giant gem that was glowing white. Guessing from Thorin's description, Bilbo thought the gem was the Arkenstone, also called "the king's jewel" the most valuable treasure of all the treasure in the hall. Bilbo was drawn by the enchantment of the Arkenstone and he put it inside his pocket unnoticed by the dwarves. Now, fe...

Chapter 12 - Inside Information The dwarves sent Bilbo into the mountain to investigate since he is a burglar, and was originally hired to steal the treasure. No-one volunteered to come with poor Bilbo, except Balin, who was a little fond of Bilbo, but he only went inside the passage for a little. Bilbo slipped on the ring and went down the dark passage to the hall where Smaug sleeps. However, Bilbo wasn't aware that Smaug could smell Bilbo's scent. Bilbo saw the enormous, terrible dragon lying asleep on a mountain of gold, gems and other treasure. He was glowing red, smoke was coming out of his nostrils. He had claws like swords, scales like armour and a tail like a whip. Bilbo was terrified but as a burglar, he stole a golden cup from the mountain of treasure and brought it back to the dwarves. The dwarves were astonished and were overjoyed at the sight of the treasure, but unfortunately, Smaug woke up, notices a single cup was stolen and was outraged. He flew out of the ...

Chapter 11 - On The Doorstep As the party got nearer to the mountain, the land becomes more desolate because of Smaug's fire. There were only rocks, some dead trees and the ancient ruins of the town of Dale were left around them. At the skirt of the mountain, Thorin sent Balin, Kili, Fili and Bilbo to scout the main gate of the mountain that the dragon used. From the giant gate, steam and black smoke were coming out, there was no sign of life except spooky crows. Sensing danger, the scouts hurry back to the party. Then, they searched for the secret entrance. After some hours, Bilbo finds steps and narrow tracks, that led to a small open area beside the rocky wall of the mountain. The party were certain that the secret entrance was definitely here so they start tapping and hitting the wall, but they did not find the keyhole.  The party totally forgot about Elrond's interpretation of the moon runes on the map. After a few days, on an evening, a big thrush was cracking a snail...

Chapter 10 - A Warm Welcome The barrels with the dwarves and Bilbo were collected and put on a boat by some wood elves around the downstream. The boat flowed down the river and went past the Lonely Mountain and arrived at Lake Town: a town built on an enormous lake.  It consisted of men originally from the town of Dale which was destroyed by Smaug and was near the Lonely Mountain. After the boat was tied on a shore and the wood elves had gone to Lake Town to feast, Bilbo opens the barrels to pull out the dwarves. They were all alive, but exhausted, hungry and wet. The dwarves thanked Bilbo then went to see the master of Lake Town. Thorin announces to the master and other people who were feasting, that he is a grandson of Thror, King under the mountain and returned to take back his kingdom. The people in Lake Town had been told stories that when the dwarves had thrived under the mountain, gold flowed in the river. Some people believed that the dragon was already dead, some young...