From today's discussion I wanted to talk a little bit more about Bilbo's change from being pretty pessimistic throughout The Hobbit to his sudden hope for opening the hidden door when the company reaches Erebor.
In the text his hope seems to come from nowhere as he continues to wait by the door even though all the others have left and given up hope. It says on page 228 that "he had a queer feeling that he was waiting for something". This relates back to a conversation we had last week about the idea of a higher power manipulating things behind the scenes. My thought is that one of the Middle Earth gods gave Bilbo some hope so that he wouldn't miss the opening of the door. This, to me, indicates that reclaiming Erebor is a huge event for the whole of Middle Earth even though the dwarves think they are only claiming it for themselves.
In the movies, I can't remember if it talks about this in the book, Gandalf explains that Smaug would have been an even bigger problem for much longer if he was around long enough to be recruited by Sauron's forces and that Erebor becomes the main defense against evil in the east. This shows that the quest for the Mountain might have had importance in determining how events in The Lord of the Rings occurred.
I’d never thought about the insane amount of pure CHANCE involved in Bilbo finally figuring out how to open the secret door. The timing and location had to be EXACTLY right – and like you’d said, all the others had already given up on the door when Bilbo managed to understand that it was the right moment for the opening of the door! That “queer feeling” could very well have been a higher power making sure someone would be there to open the door. If Bilbo hadn’t paid attention to the translation Elrond gave the Company, if he hadn’t paid attention to the thrush hitting the snail on the wall, if he had decided to give up and join the others, if he had been too scared to go get the company when he realized the significance (maybe he wouldn’t have to deal with the dragon if they just couldn’t get in the mountain! Unlikely, but still) if, if, if.
ReplyDeleteI looked up what you said about Smaug becoming even more of a problem if he was recruited for Sauron’s purposes and found this quote from Appendix A(III) of an online version of the Lord of the Rings – “[…] Sauron was plotting war, and intended, as soon as he felt strong enough, to attack Rivendell. But to resist any attempt from the East to regain the lands of Angmar and the northern passes in the mountains there were now only the Dwarves of the Iron Hills. And beyond them lay the desolation of the Dragon. The Dragon Sauron might use with terrible effect.” so this is definitely a concern that at least Gandalf is feeling in the books as well as in the movies!.