"Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo, you fool!"

November 1 is one of those all inclusive Tolkien cataclysmic days. So much happens in an afternoon that it is hard to comprehend it all and keep one's timeline straight.

Bilbo has his final conversation with Smaug and succeeds in stirring the dragon's anger to the breaking point. His rather careless boasting and dropping of hints finds it's mark. Bilbo is scorched but eludes the enraged Smaug. Leaving his lair and searching for the intruder, Smaug is further incensed at not finding anyone. He takes out his fury on the mountainside, and the Dwarves and Bilbo barely escape into the mountain tunnel. Convinced that Bilbo is aided by the Men of Lake-town, Smaug roars off to reek his vengeance there. Bilbo's words indeed pointed him in that direction.

I am always struck by the Dwarves overwhelming pre-occupation with the golden hoards under the Mountain. It consumes their every waking moment and here it is no exception. Even living with the growing fear of the awakening Smaug and the danger that he presents, there is no talk of warning Lake-town. There is little talk of much else but the treasure, even when the frightened Bilbo issues his warnings.

So into the Mountain they go and while Lake-town is besieged, the Dwarves marvel at the golden treasure so long guarded by the Dragon. They are uneasy, but enraptured. This is also the day that Bilbo receives his priceless shirt of Mithril that plays such an important role many years hence.

The day of the thrush.

Tolkien has chosen an unlikely hero in that of the thrush who has watched and listened to all that has transpired on the Lonely Mountain. Thorin explains the thrush's alliance with the Men of Lake-town, and today the thrush proves its worth.

At Lake-town, the people see the golden light coming from the Mountain and are overjoyed thinking that the King Under the Mountain had returned to 'forge' his gold. They are soon terrified at the approach of Smaug and it is the thrush who shows Bard exactly where the dragon is weakest, and thus brings the Smaug to his end. For all his horror and might, in the end, Smaug is revealed to be just as vulnerable as any Hobbit, Dwarf, or Man. Thanks to Bilbo and the thrush, Bard knows just where to shoot that fateful arrow.