The Hobbit
Denis GAONACH
Created on April 7, 2022
A genially created by Denis GAONACH, English teacher at Collège Saint André, Colmar, académie de Strasbourg
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Transcript
Genially created by Mr Denis GAONACH, English teacher at Collège Saint André, Colmar, académie de Strasbourg
Start
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892 - 1973) was an English poet, writer, philologist and teacher. He is famous for writing the fantasy novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55).
Choose your destination :
Get ready for your quest !
The Lonely Mountain
The company travels !
An Unexpected Party
1. Visiting a hobbit's house
3. When Bilbo met Gandalf
2. What is a hobbit ?
4. Meet the company of dwarves !
5. The quest
Welcome to Bag-End !
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat : it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel : a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats — the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill — The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it — and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit : bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.
Read about a hobbit's house and come in !
a green round door
a shiny yellow brass in the exact middle
Let's visit a hobbit's house !
a tube-shaped hall
This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Bilbo Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for a very long time, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected (...). This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. (...)What is a hobbit ? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, because they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come (...) and make a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach ; they dress in bright colours (chiefly green and yellow) ; wear no shoes, because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly) ; have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it). (...)
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What is a hobbit ?
When Bilbo met Gandalf...
Bilbo
Gandalf
Meet the company of dwarves !
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Gandalf in the meantime was still standing outside the door, and laughing long but quietly. After a while he stepped up, and with the spike on his staff scratched a strange sign on the hobbit’s beautiful green front-door. Then he left, just about the time when Bilbo was finishing his second cake and beginning to think that he had escaped adventures very well.
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Bilbo never forgot the way they slipped in the dusk down the steep zig-zag path into the secret valley of Rivendell. The air grew warmer as they got lower, (...) and there was a comfortable feeling in the twilight. (...)“Hmmm ! It smells like elves !” thought Bilbo, and he looked up at the stars. (...)Soon Bilbo caught glimpses of elves as the darkness deepened. He loved elves, though he rarely met them ; but he was a little frightened of them too. Dwarves don’t get on well with them. Even decent enough dwarves like Thorin and his friends think them foolish (which is a very foolish thing to think), or get annoyed with them. For some elves tease them and laugh at them, and most of all at their beards. (...)A tall young fellow came out from the trees and bowed to Gandalf and to Thorin.“Welcome to the valley !” he said.“Thank you !” said Thorin a bit grumpily ; but Gandalf was already off his horse and among the elves, talking merrily with them.“You are a little out of your way,” said the elf : “That is, if you are making for the only path across the water and to the house beyond. We will set you right, but you had best get on foot, until you are over the bridge. Are you going to stay a bit and sing with us, or will you go straight on ? Supper is preparing over there,” he said. “I can smell the wood-fires for the cooking.”Tired as he was, Bilbo desired to stay a while. Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things. (...) Elves know a lot and are wonderful folk for news, and know what is going on among the peoples of the land, as quick as water flows, or quicker.But the dwarves were all for supper as soon as possible, and didn’t want to stay long. (...) However, they stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it hard to leave. (...)
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The master of the house was an elf-friend— one of those people whose fathers came into the strange stories before the beginning of History, the wars of the evil goblins and the elves and the first men in the North. In those days of our tale there were still some people who had both elves and heroes of the North for ancestors, and Elrond the master of the house was their chief.He was as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer. (...) His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not come into that valley.Unfortunately I don’t have time to tell you even a few of the tales or one or two of the songs that they heard in that house. (...)So the time came to midsummer eve, and they were to go on again with the early sun on midsummer morning. (...)Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. (...) “Show me your map !” he said.
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He took it and looked at it for a long time. (...) The moon was shining in a broad silver crescent. He held up the map and the white light shone through it. “What is this ?” he said. “There are moon-letters here, beside the plain runes which say ‘five feet high the door and three may walk abreast.’”“What are moon-letters ?” asked the hobbit full of excitement. He loved maps, (...) and he also liked runes. (...)“Moon-letters are rune-letters, but you cannot see them,” said Elrond, “not when you look straight at them. They can only be seen when the moon shines behind them, and what is more, with the more cunning sort it must be a moon of the same shape and season as the day when they were written. The dwarves invented them and wrote them with silver pens, as your friends could tell you. These must have been written on a midsummer’s eve in a crescent moon, a long while ago.”“What do they say ?” asked Gandalf and Thorin together. (...)“Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks,” read Elrond, “and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole.”“Durin, Durin !” said Thorin. “He was the father of the fathers of the eldest race of Dwarves, the Longbeards, and my first ancestor : I am his heir.”“Then what is Durin’s Day ?” asked Elrond. “The first day of the dwarves’ New Year,” said Thorin, “It is the first day of the last moon of Autumn before Winter. We still call it Durin’s Day when the last moon of Autumn and the sun are in the sky together. But this will not help us much, I fear, for it passes our skill in these days to guess when such a time will come again.”“That remains to be seen,” said Gandalf. “Is there any more writing ?”“None to be seen by this moon,” said Elrond, and he gave the map back to Thorin ; and then they went down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer’s eve.The next morning was a midsummer’s morning as fair and fresh as in a dream : blue sky and never a cloud, and the sun dancing on the water. Now they rode away (...), with their hearts ready for more adventure, and with a knowledge of the road they must follow over the Misty Mountains to the land beyond.
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Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was. He was Gollum — as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face. He had a little boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake ; for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold. He paddled it with large feet dangling over the side, but never a ripple did he make. Not he. He was looking out of his pale lamp-like eyes for blind fish, which he grabbed with his long fingers as quick as thinking. He liked meat too. Goblin he thought good, when he could get it ; but he took care they never found him out. He just strangled them from behind, if they ever came down alone anywhere near the edge of the water, while he was prowling about. They very rarely did, for they had a feeling that something unpleasant was lurking down there, down at the very roots of the mountain. They had come on the lake, when they were tunnelling down long ago, and they found they could go no further ; so there their road ended in that direction, and there was no reason to go that way — unless the Great Goblin sent them. Sometimes he appreciated fish from the lake, and sometimes neither goblin nor fish came back.Actually Gollum lived on a slimy island of rock in the middle of the lake. He was watching Bilbo now from the distance with his pale eyes like telescopes. Bilbo could not see him, but he was wondering a lot about Bilbo, for he could see that he was no goblin at all.Gollum got into his boat and departed from the island, while Bilbo was sitting on the brink, confused and lost.
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After escaping Gollum, Bilbo joined Gandalf and the dwarves but goblins and wargs (= wild monstrous wolves) attacked them. Fortunately, giant eagles saved them and took them away from the Misty Mountains. After this dangerous moment, Gandalf decided to announce the company he was leaving...
The dwarves and Bilbo thought Gandalf was going to come all the way and (...) help them out of difficulties. “I am not going to disappear this very instant,” said he. “I can give you a day or two more. Probably I can help you out of your present plight, and I need a little help myself. We have no food, and no baggage,and no ponies to ride ; and you don’t know where you are. Now I can tell you that. You are still some miles north of the path which we have to follow. Very few people live in these parts, but there is somebody that I know who lives not far away. That Somebody does not come here often, certainly not in the daytime, and it is no good waiting for him. In fact it is very dangerous. We must go and find him ; and if all goes well at our meeting, I think I will leave you there.” (...)“You must all be very polite when I introduce you. I will introduce you slowly, two by two, I think ; and you must be careful not to annoy him, or heaven knows what will happen. He can be appalling when he is angry, though he is kind enough if humoured. Still I warn you he gets angry easily. ” (...)“If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer (...). It means he changes his skin : sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black- haired man with huge arms and a great beard (...). Some say that he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug or the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I like thinking the last is the true tale.” (...)“He lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house ; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses which are nearly as marvellous as himself. They work for him and talk to him. He does not eat them ; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees, and lives most on cream and honey.”
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The Wood-elves are not wicked folk. If they have a fault it is distrust of strangers. Though their magic was strong, even in those days they were wary. They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise (...). They lived most often by the edges of the woods, from which they could escape at times to hunt, or to ride and run overthe open lands by moonlight or starlight (...).In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood on its eastern side there lived at this time their greatest king. Before his huge doors of stone a river ran out of the heights of the forest and flowed on and out into the marshes at the feet of the high wooded lands. This great cave (...) had many passages and wide halls (...). In fact the subjects of the king mostly lived and hunted in the open woods, and had houses or huts on the ground and in the branches. The beeches were their favourite trees. The king’s cave was his palace, and the strong place of his treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies.It was also the dungeon of his prisoners. So to the cave they dragged Thorin — not too gently, because they did not love dwarves, and thought he was an enemy (...). If the elf-king had a weakness it was for treasure, especially for silver and white gems ; and though his hoard was rich, he was ever eager for more (...). Consequently, Thorin was determined that no word of gold or jewels should be dragged out of him.The king looked sternly on Thorin, when he was brought before him, and asked him many questions. But Thorin only said that he was starving (...).“What were you doing in the forest ?”“Looking for food and drink, because we were starving.”“But what brought you into the forest at all ?” asked the king angrily.At that Thorin shut his mouth and did not say another word.“Very well !” said the king. “Take him away and keep him safe, until he feels inclined to tell the truth, even if he waits a hundred years.”Then the elves put thongs on him, and shut him in one of the deepest caves with strong wooden doors, and left him. They gave him food and drink, plenty of both, if not very fine (...).There in the king’s dungeon poor Thorin lay ; and after he ate bread and meat and drank water, he began to wonder what had become of his unfortunate friends. It was not very long before he discovered ; but that belongs to the next chapter and the beginning of another adventure in which the hobbit again showedhis usefulness.
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Enter the Lonely Mountain !
The Lonely Mountain
1. Smaug
3. A Difficult Negotiation
2. Discussing with a Dragon
4. A Thief in the Night
5. The Battle of Five Armies
6. The Death of a Hero
7. There and Back Again
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Before him lies the dungeon-hall of the ancient dwarves right at the Mountain’s root. It is almost dark (...), but rising from the near side of the rocky floor there is a great glow. The glow of Smaug !There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep. (...) Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail (...) lay countless piles of precious things, gold, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light.Smaug lay, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed. (...)To say that Bilbo’s breath was taken away is no description at all. (...) Bilbo had heard (...) of dragon-hoards before, but not the splendour, the lust, the glory of such treasure. His heart was filled and pierced with enchantment and with the desire of dwarves ; and he looked motionless, almost forgetting the frightful guardian, at the gold beyond price and count. (...)Above him the sleeping dragon lay, an extreme menace even in his sleep. Bilbo caught a cup, and escaped. But the dragon did not wake. (...)Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth, but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession ; and Smaug was no exception. He had passed from an uneasy dream (...) to wide waking. There was a breath of strange air in his cave. (...) He stirred and stretched forth his neck to sniff. Then he missed the cup !Thieves ! Fire ! Murder ! (...) His rage passes description. (...) His fire belched forth, the hall smoked, he shook the mountain-roots. (...) Roaring like thunder underground, he went quickly from his deep lair through its great door, out into the huge passages of the mountain-palace and up towards the Front Gate. (...)The dwarves heard the awful rumour of his flight, and they crouched (...), hoping somehow to escape the frightful eyes of the hunting dragon. (...) During the night they could hear the roar of the flying dragon grow and then pass and fade, as he hunted round and round the mountain-sides.
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The Lonely Mountain
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Smaug burnt Laketown but Bard managed to hit him with a black arrow and the dragon died. The city was destroyed and the people didn’t know where to go. During the following days, the news of Smaug’s death was quickly heard all over the land and humans as well as the Wood-elves wanted their share of the treasure and walked to the Lonely Mountain. Meanwhile, Thorin claimed he was King Under the Mountain and looked for the Arkenstone – the symbol of his royal power – but he knew he had to protect his home and his wealth in the first place...
The next morning early a company of spearmen was crossing the river, and marching up the valley. They had with them the green banner of the Elvenking and the blue banner of the Lake, and they advanced until they stood right before the wall at the Gate.Thorin hailed them in a loud voice : “Who are you that come armed for war to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain ?” (...)Bard stood forward and cried : “Hail Thorin ! Why do you fence yourself like a robber in his hold ? We are not yet foes, and we rejoice that you are alive. (...) By my hand was the dragon slain and your treasure delivered. Is that not a matter that concerns you ? (...) I ask whether you have no thought for the sorrow and misery of my people who helped you in your distress.” (...)Bilbo thought that Thorin would admit Bard was right. (...) But he did not count on the power that gold has (...). Long hours in the past days Thorin had spent in the treasury, and the lust of it was heavy on him. He had hunted chiefly for the Arkenstone, but he also had an eye for many other wonderful things that were lying there,. (...)Thorin answered : “To the treasure of my people no man has a claim, because Smaug who stole it from us also robbed us our home. (...) The price of the goods and the assistance that we received of the Lake-men we will fairly pay — in due time. But nothing will we give (...) under threat of force. While an armed host lies before our doors, we look on you as foes and thieves. (...)“But we are not robbers.” replied Bard. “And the wealthy may have pity (...) on the needy that befriended them when they were in want.” (...)“I will not parley with armed men at my gate. Nor with the people of the Elvenking. (...) In this debate they have no place.”“The Elvenking is my friend, and he helped the people of the Lake in their need.” answered Bard. (...)Then Thorin seized a bow and shot an arrow.“Since such is your answer, (...) I declare the Mountain besieged. You shall not depart from it, until you call on your side for a truce and a parley. We will bear no weapons against you, but we leave you to your gold. You may eat that, if you will !”With that Bard departed, and the dwarves were left to consider their case. (...) Bilbo, of course, disapproved of the whole turn of affairs. He had more than enough of the Mountain, and being besieged inside it was not at all to his taste.
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Thorin refused to negotiate with Bard and the Elvenking. In fact, he asked his cousin Dain for help and he came with his army of Dwarves to challenge the Elves and the Men. But as the battle started, Gandalf saw two other armies coming...
So began a battle that none had expected ; and it was called the Battle of Five Armies, and it was very terrible. Upon one side were the Goblins and the Wild Wolves, and upon the other were Elves and Men and Dwarves. This is how it fell out. After the fall of the Great Goblin ofthe Misty Mountains the hatred of their race for the dwarves had been reanimated to fury (...). Then they learnt of the death of Smaug, and joy was in their hearts ; and they hurried night after night through the mountains, and came thus at last suddenly (...).It was a terrible battle. The most dreadful of all Bilbo’s experiences, and the one which at the time he hated most — which is to say it was the one he was most proud of, and most fond of recalling long afterwards, although he was quite unimportant in it. Actually I may say he put on his ring early in the business, and disappeared from sight, if not from all danger (...).The elves were the first to charge. Their hatred for the goblins is cold and bitter (...). They sent a shower of arrows (...). A thousand of their spearmen leapt down and charged. The yells were deafening. The rocks were stained black with goblin blood.Just as the goblins were recovering (...), there rose from across the valley a deep-throated roar. With cries of “Moria !” and “Dain, Dain !” the dwarves of the Iron Hills plunged in, wielding their mattocks, upon the other side ; and beside them came the men of the Lake with long swords.Panic came upon the Goblins ; and even as they turned to meet this new attack, the elves charged again with renewed numbers. Already many of the goblins were flying back down the river to escape from the trap (...).The goblins gathered again in the valley. There a hord of Wargs came to devour Men, Elves and Dwarves and with them came goblins of huge size with scimitars of steel. Soon actual darkness was coming into a stormy sky (...).Suddenly there was a great shout, and from the Gate came a trumpet call. They had forgotten Thorin ! (...) Out leapt the King under the Mountain, and his companions followed him. (...) They were in shining armour, and red light leapt from their eyes. In the gloom the great dwarf gleamed like gold in a dying fire (...).Thorin wielded his axe with mighty strokes, and nothing seemed to harm him (...). Already behind him among the goblin dead lay many men and many dwarves, and many elves (...).On all this Bilbo looked with misery (...) “The Eagles ! The Eagles !” he shouted. “The Eagles are coming !” (...). But at that moment a stone thrown from above hit him on the head (...), and he fell with a crash and knew no more.