The Hobbit

1
The Hobbit

• A review by Ben Guthrie

2
What is The Hobbit?

• The hobbit is the prequel to the famous Lord of
  the Rings trilogy. It involves an ordinary
  hobbit (small human creature, similar to elves)
  named Bilbo Baggins. When one day the wizard
  Gandalf comes to Bilbo offering a profitable
  quest (that is all he says, he gives no details).
  Bilbo flatly says no, preferring a normal,
  simple, life. But he comes back tomorrow with a
  band of 13 dwarves, and takes Bilbo into their
  quest against his will. But little does he know,
  he has much more to do than just help the dwarves
  slay the dragon, Smaug, that had captured the
  dwarf capital and its endless treasure, but he
  finds the invisibility ring, the basis of
  Hobbits sequel.
• One including Thorin, the heir to the dwarf
  throne

3
Trolls

• After sacks of food had washed off a donkey when
  it nearly drowned in the river, the dwarves and
  Bilbo (Gandalf disappeared) spot a fire, they
  think they could get some food. Choosing the
  stealthiest, Bilbo, being a hobbit, would check
  if the fire belonged to friend or foe. He found
  three trolls sitting around it, arguing about
  finding more food. Bilbo, feeling a little
  adventurous, tried to pickpocket one of the
  trolls, but was caught. Soon the dwarves came
  charging in, worried about Bilbo in the middle of
  the trolls conversation on how to eat him. But
  the dwarves were captured too, and the argument
  started all over on how to cook them. But it
  lasted too long, and were turned to stone because
  of the sun. Gandalf came out of the trees, who
  had imitated the trolls voices with magic to
  lengthen the argument, and keep them out until
  sunrise. He had used magic to scout ahead, and
  Rivendell, an elf town, was not far off. When
  they raided the trolls cave to see what they
  could find, it was far more than they ever hoped.
  Plenty of swords had them all armed, plenty of
  gold which they buried to come back later for,
  and two more swords. The last two were not
  ordinary. They were excellently crafted, and were
  known for slaying goblins. Goblins utterly feared
  them, and panicked in their presence. It would be
  very useful later on.

4
Elves

• Soon Bilbo and co. arrive in a small valley
  inhabited by elves. They welcome them with food
  and song, giving them a good rest. Elrond does
  examine the map that Thorins father had given
  Gandalf, along with a mysterious key. The map
  showed the Desolation of Smaug, the ruined Dwarf
  Capital. It had a secret passage on the map
  unknown before. It probably explained Thorins
  father and grandfathers secret escape from
  Smaug. Also, Elrond found moon-letters, letters
  that could only be seen on a certain phase of the
  moon. It said the passageway would open on
  Durins Day, the dwarf new year. It was doubtful
  Smaug thought of the passageway maybe he hadnt
  discovered it. It would be vital for a surprise
  attack. After resting about another week, they
  headed of to the Misty Mountains.

5
Goblin Tunnels

• A storm in the Misty Mountains took Bilbo and co.
  of guard, and had to take shelter in a damp cave.
  After waking up from a nightmare, Bilbo finds
  himself being carried off into a crack in the
  wall by GOBLINS! He yells, trying to wake
  everyone else up, but only Gandalf was alerted.
  Gandalf uses magic to kill the goblins after him,
  just before the wall closes up and traps them in.
  The goblins took them down twisting, winding
  tunnels until a massive goblin stood before them,
  the Great Goblin. After poking and taunting them
  a bit, the goblins go off to sleep, and so to
  Bilbo and co. But Gandalf comes soon, with the
  swords, kills the Great Goblin, and rescues the
  dwarves and Bilbo. Being scared and weak with the
  adventure, the dwarves take turns carrying him.
  But fat Bombur drops Bilbo off his back after
  avoiding a goblin. Bilbo hits his head on a
  rock, and is lost to the goblins.
• I could find no school-appropriate pictures for
  a goblin.

6
Gollum

• Bilbo wakes up and finds himself in pitch
  darkness. Grabbing his sword, he realizes it has
  a faint glow. Using it to navigate the tunnels,
  he finds a ring and puts it in his pocket.
  Figured out what it is? He soon come to a small
  lake and finds a creature fishing in a boat. The
  creature, talking to himself, calls himself
  Gollum and my precousssss. Gollum, not being
  hungry and rather bored, challenges Bilbo to a
  riddle contest. If Gollum wins, he gets to keep
  Bilbo and eat him. If Bilbo wins, Bilbo goes
  free. The contest lasts a while, and Bilbo is
  beginning to lose his touch. But after asking
  himself, What is in my pocket? when he felt the
  ring, forgetting about it in the contest. Gollum,
  thinking that is Bilbos question, loses. But he
  tries to eat Bilbo anyway, and Bilbo accidentally
  slips on the ring. After realizing that he was
  invisible because of the ring, and Gollum crying
  out for his birthday present, he escapes the
  goblins easily. But he decides not to tell anyone
  of the ring, but Gandalf seems to suspect
  something.

7
Wargs

• Since goblins were dizzy in the sunlight, Bilbo
  and co. got a head start. But the Wargs, savage
  wolves and the goblins partners, came after the
  dwarves. Gandalf had a contact some miles away,
  and that would be their next stop. The Wargs
  chased Bilbo and co. up a tree. Wargs couldnt
  climb trees, but goblins could, or cut them down.
  While Bilbo was fretting, Gandalf made a plan. He
  lit pinecones on fire with magic and bombed the
  Wargs. But the goblins had come in, and one lit
  the tree on fire. But they were rescued by
  eagles. The king eagle thanked them for dealing
  with the troublesome Wargs, and let Bilbo and co.
  ride on them up to Gandalfs contact.

8
Beorn

• Gandalf warned them that his contact, Beorn, had
  a hot temper, and you had to be very respectful
  of him. On his farm, were he makes amazing honey
  and animals that understand English, he is a
  human. When he is in the forest or wild places,
  he is a bear. Gandalf believes he is a mountain
  spirit. They arrived, and Beorn lets them in for
  their excellent tale. He warns them to NEVER go
  outside at night. When it is night, hes with his
  wild animal friends, and in bear form. The days
  on his farm get them well rested before their
  journey to Mirkwood. Soon, he lends them ponies
  that must be returned at the edge of Mirkwood,
  gives them food, and warns them of things. One of
  the things was to NEVER stray from the path, or
  youre as good as dead. Also, they will come
  across a dark river, DONT DRINK! It will send
  you to sleep and make you lose memory and sense
  of direction. After they said goodbye to Beorn
  and had arrived at the tip of Mirkwood, Gandalf
  said he must go. He had another quest to
  complete, and left Bilbo and co.

9
Trials of Mirkwood

• Even though sign of dangerous things were just
  outside of the path, they never entered the path.
  It was about halfway through the forest that they
  came across the river. Using a boat that was
  there to cross, they were fine. Except for
  Bombur, who fell in, and apparently had drunk the
  water. Now they had to carry him since he was
  asleep, which was uncomfortable because he was
  rather fat. In a few days, he woke up after a
  dream of a magnificent feast. Soon, they found
  the feast was real, and went to beg for food. But
  the elves scattered when they came and took all
  their food with them. They found more feasts
  further up, but the same thing happened. After
  the 3rd time, Bilbo couldnt sleep. It was a good
  thing too, because when the spiders came, he was
  the only one to be awake to fight.

10
Spiders of Mirkwood

• Soon giant spiders came, disturbed by the
  commotion Bilbo and co. had caused. Due to the
  darkness, he was only able to save himself from
  the spiders. Using his invisibility ring, Bilbo
  tracked the spiders. They had wrapped the dwarfs
  in cocoons. As one spider crawled up to a dwarf,
  Bilbo threw a rock. The spider was knocked off
  its perch and stuck in one of its own webs.
  Since throwing stones was a childhood hobby of
  Bilbos, he was an excellent marksman. He got
  another spider stuck in the web, and cut the web
  with more stones. The spiders fell and died. The
  remaining spiders came after the direction Bilbo
  had thrown the rocks. Trying to lure the spiders
  away from the dwarves, he taunted them with an
  insulting rhyme. After keeping silent for a while
  when the spiders were a distance from the
  dwarves, he rescued them. With their weapons,
  they escaped the spiders. But Thorin was nowhere
  to be found.

11
City of the Elves

• It was the next day when they figured out what
  happened to Thorin. The elf king had captured
  him, demanding to know his business and why he
  had disturbed his people and the spiders. Thorin
  doesnt tell, because there had been a war
  between dwarfs and elves concerning a debut, and
  Thorin knew that the king might demand that they
  send him gold when they had slain Smaug. The
  other dwarves were also captured, and gave the
  same response. But Bilbo, being invisible,
  avoided capture. He spent 2 weeks stealing food,
  running messages for the captured dwarves, and
  attempting to devise an escape plan. Finally, he
  got one. As shipments of food were being shipped
  down the river from Esaurough, a feast was being
  held that day and the empty barrels were being
  shipped back. The guard was sleeping soundly
  after the feast, and Bilbo stole the keys to the
  dwarf's cells. He put all the dwarves in empty
  barrels. But he realized he hadnt had himself a
  barrel, and had to ride on top of one. When they
  washed up on Esaurough, they were half-drowned.
  But they were at the last town until the The
  Desolation of Smaug.

12
Esarough and the Foothills of the Mountain

• According to a prophecy, when dwarves would come
  to slay Smaug, Esaurough would prosper as it had
  when the dwarves lived in the mountain, with
  rivers running with gold. Esaurough was built on
  a small island that split the river (and rejoined
  around it). When the dwarves and Bilbo arrived,
  they were given the royal treatment. They were
  well stocked up on their supplies, and set off in
  about a week. The Desolation of Smaug had little
  food, but little trouble befell the dwarves.
  Soon, they came to the point where the secret
  passage should have been. But it was as sturdy as
  any stone. The dwarves waited around a week
  before Durins Day seemed to take place. The door
  exploded and Bilbo went down to scout Smaug and
  bring back what he could.

13
A Chat with Smaug

• Bilbo, still invisible, woken Smaug after his
  nap. Smaug, thinking of riddles, was trying to
  guess just what and where was Bilbo. He gave
  hints of recent events in his life. Smaug began
  to ruin Bilbos trust of the dwarves by asking
  how could he carry one-fourteenth of the treasure
  home? Smaug told him that the dwarves were using
  him for their own gain and would give nothing to
  Bilbo. But Bilbo didnt want to be near him any
  longer, and tried to escape with a gold chalice.
  Smaug noticed, and breathed fire down the secret
  passage Bilbo was escaping from. But he escaped,
  and gave his find to the dwarves. Bilbo voiced
  his worries about what Smaug had told him, but
  Thorin said since all of them would stay at the
  mountain, they hadnt thought of that. But Smaug
  was furious. He thought that the dwarves had been
  sent from Esaurough, and flew down to attack it.

14
Smaug on a Rampage

• Esarough was caught off guard in Smaugs strike,
  and the town was quickly evacuating. The diamonds
  that coated Smaugs vulnerable underside
  deflected all arrows from the guards, except for
  one small opening. Bard was the only guard that
  stood his ground against Smaug. With a silver
  arrow, made by dwarves and a family heirloom, he
  destroyed Smaug. The villagers were safe, but the
  town was destroyed. No one came to that island
  again, because many thought it was cursed. Bard
  was the leader of the town until they were
  settled again, and would be the official leader
  then. But since Smaug had been angered by the
  dwarves, the villagers wanted a payment of gold
  to help rebuild. Thats when things begin to get
  nasty.

15
Gathering Tensions

• There were two factions asking payments from the
  dwarves the elves, due to the old war, and the
  villagers of Esaurough. If battle broke out,
  Thorin had called for an army from a smaller
  dwarf city via raven messengers. Battle wasnot
  far off. Bilbo, attempting to make peace, gave
  the prize treasure of the dwarves, the
  Arkenstone, to Bard. Bilbo, wanting to choose his
  own 14th of the treasure, wanted the Arkenstone,
  and had kept it secret. He knew Thorin would give
  all the money Esaurough and the elves wanted for
  it. But Thorin was furious, and said that he
  shouldnt buy what was already his. Bilbo, saying
  he was only trying to make peace, just made
  Thorin angry at him. Just as battle was about to
  break out, Gandalf apppeared in the middle of the
  two groups. He said that the Goblins and Wargs
  were mere hours away, in massive armies. They
  wanted to take the gold, now that Smaug was gone,
  and take revenge for the dwarves for killing the
  Great Goblin. The groups united, and stood to
  defend the mountain. The Battle of the Five
  Armies was about to begin.

16
The Battle of the Five Armies

• Bilbo slipped on his invisiblity ring as the
  battle began. At first, it seemed as if the
  mountain was easily defended, and the goblin/warg
  army was being pushed back and destroyed. But on
  the back side of the mountain, away from the
  dwarf/Esaurough/elf army concentraition, golbins
  charged up, and took a foothold on the back side
  of the mountain. Now the dwarf/Esaurough/elf army
  was trapped. It seemed like they were losing.
  Fili, Kili, and Thorin had died, future leaders
  of the dwarf kingdom. Then Bilbo spotted the
  eagles who had assisted Bilbo and the dwarves
  earlier. They dropped boulders on the goblins,
  and the tide began to turn. But Bilbo, being
  invisible, was not seen by the eagles. When a
  rock was accidentally dropped on Bilbos head, he
  was knocked out cold. He did not see the end of
  the battle.

17
The Aftermath of the Battle

• Bilbo woke up a few hours later and found the
  area in peace. Gandalf said that he should be
  fine, since he was wearing a helmet. Gandalf had
  just defeated a dark wizard, and he was the last
  evil foe in current times. They had won the
  battle. Not long after the eagles had come, Beorn
  had arrived in bear form and tore the goblin army
  to shreds. Thorins ghost visited Bilbo before he
  went to afterlife-world. He apologized to Bilbo
  for his anger, and understood his intentions.
  Bard gave him the Arkenstone, showing he meant
  peace. The leader of the dwarf army came to
  Thorin, and he became the next King Under the
  Mountain. Bilbo, followed by Gandalf and Beorn,
  made the journey home. His reward, since he could
  carry so little, was one chest of silver and one
  chest of gold. Luckily, he was not robbed. Not
  yet, anyway. When was finally home, he arrived
  right in the middle of all his stuff being
  auctioned off. He had been gone for a year, and
  everyone thought he was dead. Some of his stuff
  that had already been bought, he had to buy back
  with his reward money. Over time, it had been
  stolen, probably by the people who had hosted the
  auction. But the elf armor he had worn in the
  battle stayed put, and his nephews loved him to
  tell the story. All was happy for Bilbo.