The Hobbit - Chapter 07 - Queer Lodgings

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This chapter opens with a sentence on which Tolkien based a drawing: "Bilbo Woke Up with the Early Sun in His Eyes". I have it in J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator, by Hammond and Scull, but haven't been able to find it online. If there's interest, I'll see if I can scan it.

At any rate, the Eagle's eyrie looks like a place I wouldn't want to sleep, but it was a safe haven for Bilbo and the Dwarves. It doesn't look like he appreciated that at the moment, but another benefit came from the Eagles' rescue - they travelled farther faster than they could have otherwise. I must confess, I have enough fear of heights that I can understand the hobbit clsing his eyes!

The Eagles' farewell and Gandalf's reply are the kind of thing fans like to use. Have you ever said it to your fellow LotR friends?

Do you remember first reading about the 'Someone' Gandalf mentions with trepidation and/or suspense? What did you expect? A 'skin-changer' is unusual in Tolkien's Lengendarium, though the Silmarillion and other stories do mention people with similar abilities. Where would you place Beorn amongst the peoples of Middle-earth? Later in the chapter, we find out a bit more; what do you think of him?

Gandalf's answer on the reason for the name "Carrock" is interesting, coming from a linguist! No etymology - an inside joke, perhaps? It reminds me of Lewis Carroll's "When I use a word, it means precisely what I mean it to..."

Any speculation on the reason for the bees' unusually large size? The intelligent animals seem like a touch of Narnia in the story, though the Chronicles were of course not yet written.

Gandalf's tactic in combining a fascinating story with unpleasant facts (unwanted guests, in this case) sounds like a good example for writers, film makers, and teachers to follow. It's a fun passage to read, isn't it?!

Again, we have the group spending several days in a safe haven, though not without a feeling of lurking danger, both outside the hall and ahead of them. There is a much-neglected poem here, "The wind was on the withered heath..." Do you like it? Why do you think it's not as popular as many other Tolkien poems?

Like in Rivendell, they are not only fed while staying there, but also provided with food for the journey. Additionally, they are given good advice on travelling through Mirkwood.

At the end of the chapter, Gandalf again leaves them alone. This definitely gives the story a "coming-of-age" feeling. He helps when necessary, but gives them the opportunity to fend for themselves as much as possible. In this context, we do not know where he is going or why he has to leave, but from other sources (UT, 'Quest of Erebor', if I recall rightly) we know that he and the others of the White Council are fighting the Necromancer, aka Sauron.

The chapter ends with their entry into Mirkwood.

It's a fairly long chapter - what are your favourite or most memorable parts? What do you think is significant for the further story? Is there anything that will be important later, in LotR?

My favourite quote in this chapter, one that makes me chuckle and is definitely usable in real life:

You had better go to bed, your wits are sleepy.