Tolkein & The Hobbit: Notable Moment

While reading The Hobbit my notable moment would have to be in the chapter of “Over Hill and Under Hill.” In the beginning of this chapter there are many instances that foreshadow the danger that will come that draws my interest. “He knew that something unexpected might happen, and he hardly dared to hope that they would pass without fearful adventure over those great tall mountains with lonely peaks and valleys. They did not.” (p. 53) During this time Bilbo, Gandalf, the dwarves, and the ponies were crossing over a mountain pass seeking shelter from a thunderstorm. To me this is a sign of foreshadowing bad news. Thunderstorms aren’t comforting, and frankly they scare me to death.


The group decided to stay in a cave that would protect them and keep them from danger. Gandolf showed concern about this cave by saying, “Have you thoroughly explored it? Who knew that caves up in the mountains were seldom unoccupied.” (p. 54) He is hinting that there could be something dangerous in there. Bilbo also did not trust the cave because he did not sleep very well. “For, somehow, he could not go to sleep for a long while; and when he did sleep, he had very nasty dreams. He dreamed that a crack in the wall at the back of the cave got bigger and bigger, and opened wider and wider, and he was very afraid but could not call out or do anything but lie and look. Then he dreamed that the floor of the cave was giving way, and he was slipping-beginning to fall down, down, goodness knows where to.” (p. 55) Both Gandolf’s and Biblo’s feelings of discomfort and horror are portrayed by Tolken that gave me an uneasy feeling that foreshadow the danger coming. I was reading as fast as I could because all of these detailed situations kept my interest.

The climax in this scene was when Bilbo’s horrific dream sort of came true. “A crack had opened at the back of the cave, and was already a wide passage. He was just in time to see the last ponies’ tails disappearing into it. Of course he gave a very loud yell, as loud a yell as a hobbit can give, which is surprising for their size. Out jumped the goblins, big goblins, great ugly-looking goblins, lots of goblins, before you could say rocks and blocks.” (p. 56) My imagination immediatly came to life, and I was on the edge of my seat.

To me all of these instances tell me that maybe one should trust their gut feeling, and pay attention to the details. A valuable lesson we could all use.