Middle-earth Journeys
Tolkien Studies
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September 21: TA 2941
20 September 2008 21:58:34The company escapes the Elvenking in the afternoon and reaches the huts of the Raft-men at dusk.
...the barrels turned and twisted off down the ….
© Alan Lee.
© Alan Lee.
Oh! I get it! This is exactly one of those situations that Gandalf envisioned when he sent Bilbo running after the Dwarves on this grand adventure. The depressed Thorin has taken heart and indeed has a new respect for Bilbo and the magic Ring that makes him invisible, and therefore the perfect escape coordinator.
It is interesting that Tolkien has placed each Dwarf in a separate cell and unable to communicate with the others...a tactic much used even today in criminal incarceration and interrogation methods. It also gives Bilbo the chance to prove his worth in planning their escape and communicating with them all to pull it off. It is, however, very much in Bilbo's personality that he is not comfortable with this new role. Too much responsibility...too much stress.
Thorin also stays true to form. Not only is he delighted with Bilbo, he is equally pleased that he will not have to barter away any of the treasure from the Lonely Mountain to secure the Company's release from the Elven King. The ever present greed and suspicion of Thorin and the rest of the Dwarves shows itself again and is engraved in the mind as a true Dwarvish trait.
Bilbo has discovered a second path of exit other than the great gates. He discovers the Elves love of wine and their method of transporting via the river that flows under the palace. The empty barrels were floated downstream to Long Lake and Lake-town. The perfect escape vehicles! Waiting until the Elf guards had drunk their fill and fallen asleep, Bilbo at length convinces the not to enthusiastic Dwarves that it is now or never and loads each of them into his own barrel. The Elves supply the muscle power to push the barrels through the trap door into the river. It is only here that it dawns on still invisible Bilbo that he hasn't figured out how he himself will escape and it is only at the last moment that grabs hold of the final barrel and is pushed through the trap door as well.
At last, wet and cold, they come to a place where Men gather the barrels and tie them into rafts before floating them further downstream. It is now dusk and Bilbo is wretched and cold and manages to find a little food, but has no way the reach the em-barralled Dwarves. It is a long cold night indeed. Are his Dwarf friends alive or dead?
It is interesting that Tolkien has placed each Dwarf in a separate cell and unable to communicate with the others...a tactic much used even today in criminal incarceration and interrogation methods. It also gives Bilbo the chance to prove his worth in planning their escape and communicating with them all to pull it off. It is, however, very much in Bilbo's personality that he is not comfortable with this new role. Too much responsibility...too much stress.
Thorin also stays true to form. Not only is he delighted with Bilbo, he is equally pleased that he will not have to barter away any of the treasure from the Lonely Mountain to secure the Company's release from the Elven King. The ever present greed and suspicion of Thorin and the rest of the Dwarves shows itself again and is engraved in the mind as a true Dwarvish trait.
Bilbo has discovered a second path of exit other than the great gates. He discovers the Elves love of wine and their method of transporting via the river that flows under the palace. The empty barrels were floated downstream to Long Lake and Lake-town. The perfect escape vehicles! Waiting until the Elf guards had drunk their fill and fallen asleep, Bilbo at length convinces the not to enthusiastic Dwarves that it is now or never and loads each of them into his own barrel. The Elves supply the muscle power to push the barrels through the trap door into the river. It is only here that it dawns on still invisible Bilbo that he hasn't figured out how he himself will escape and it is only at the last moment that grabs hold of the final barrel and is pushed through the trap door as well.
At last, wet and cold, they come to a place where Men gather the barrels and tie them into rafts before floating them further downstream. It is now dusk and Bilbo is wretched and cold and manages to find a little food, but has no way the reach the em-barralled Dwarves. It is a long cold night indeed. Are his Dwarf friends alive or dead?
© middle-earth-journeys.com. Images © Alan Lee.