kriskowal/The Hobbit.md

## The Hobbit.md

      
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              The Hobbit.md
            
          
    Thorin’s company in order of appearance at the Unexpected Party. (p8-11)

Dwalin (p8)

blue beard
gold belt
dark green hood
bright eyes
had tea and three cakes
plays a viol as big as himself (p14)


Balin (p9)

white beard
scarlet hood
beer and seed cake
plays a viol as big as himself (p14)
visits bilbo after his return to The Shire. (p271)


Kili (p9)

yellow beard
silver belt
blue hood
keeps a bag of tools (p13)
plays a little fiddle (p13)


Fili (p9)

yellow beard
silver belt
blue hood
keeps a spade
plays a little fiddle (p13)


Dori (p10)

may have had a gold or silver belt
may have had a purple, grey, brown, or white hood
may have had ale, porter, or coffe at the party
definitely had cakes
plays a flute, kept in his coat (p13)


Nori (p10)

may have had a gold or silver belt
may have had a purple, grey, brown, or white hood
may have had ale, porter, or coffe at the party
definitely had cakes
plays a flute, kept in his coat (p13)


Ori (p10)

may have had a gold or silver belt
may have had a purple, grey, brown, or white hood
may have had ale, porter, or coffe at the party
definitely had cakes
plays a flute, kept in his coat (p13)


Oin (p10)

may have had a gold or silver belt
may have had a purple, grey, brown, or white hood
may have had ale, porter, or coffe at the party
definitely had cakes
good at starting fires (p31)


Gloin (p10)

may have had a gold or silver belt
may have had a purple, grey, brown, or white hood
may have had ale, porter, or coffe at the party
definitely had cakes
was following close behind Dori, Nori, Ori, and Oin on the night of the
party, and arrived at Bilbo’s door at the same time.
good at starting fires (p31)


Bifur (p11)

not explicitly mentioned, but may have had a gold or silver belt
yellow hood


Bofur (p11)

not explicitly mentioned, but may have had a gold or silver belt
yellow hood


Bombur (p11)

not explicitly mentioned, but may have had a gold or silver belt
pale green
plays a drum


Thorin (p11)

not explicitly mentioned, but may have had a gold or silver belt
sky blue hood with a silver tassle
wears yellow stockings on the night with the trolls (p39)
plays a golden harp
was the bottom of the pile of dwarves entering Bilbo’s door.
enjoyed a red wine at the unexpected party.
died at the battle of five armies in a circle of defenders, his companions,
elven spearmen, lake men, and dwarves Dain, of the Iron Hills

“fallen pierced with many spears” p260
born by Beorn out of the fray


Gandalf (p11)

Slays the Great Goblin (p61) presumably with Glamdring


In aggregate

Fili and Kili play “little fiddles”, which they kept in their bags of tools.
(p13)
Dwalin and Balin had “viols as big as themselves”. (p14)
Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin each wore either a gold or silver belt.
Among them they had two purple hoods and one grey, brown, and white.  The
order and assignment are left to conjecture. p10
Dori, Nori, and Ori played “flutes kept somewhere inside their coats.” p13
Dori and Nori “shared the hobbit’s [Bilbo’s] views about meals, plenty and
often.” p30
On the night of meeting the trolls, Oin and Gloin fail to start a fire, a
task for which they were normally adept. (p31)
When the trolls caught them, Bifur and Bofur put up a good fight. (p37)
Fili and Kili die at the Battle of Five armies “defending [Thorin] with
shield and body.” (p261)

More facts

“Lone-lands” is given as the name of the region around hobbit lands.  This
is a probable idiomatic translation of “Eriador”. (p29)
Thorin’s company passes through a “deep valley with a river” with an
“ancient stone bridge” before encountering the Trolls. (p30)  This
corresponds with the “Last Bridge” as drawn on Christopher Tolkien’s map of
Middle-earth during the events of Lord of the Rings.

Concerning the Trolls

Trolls can have multiple heads. (p33)
The purses of trolls are mischievous and can talk. (p34)  This is a rare
overt case of magic in the Legendarium.
Trolls wear clothes and speak in The Hobbit. (p33)
William (Bill) Huggins (p35)

Dies stooping (p39)


Bert

Loses an eye to Thorin’s branch. (p37)  This may allude to the
occasion at the Battle of Nanduhirion where Thorin earned the eipithet
“Oakenshield” by defending himself with a branch.
Dies looking at William (p39)


Tom

Loses a tooth to Thorin’s branch (p37)
Dies looking at William (p39)


Of the Troll hoard

Orcrist

means Orc Cleaver in the ancient language of Gondolin (p49)
known as “Biter” to Goblins (p60)


Glamdring:

means Foe Hammer (p49) in the ancient language of Gondolin (p49)
known as “Beater” to Goblins (p63)


More facts


Gandalf has a wand (p55)


After the meeting with the Trolls, Thorin’s company “forded a river at a
wide shallow place full of the noise of stones and foam,” (p43) Clearly a
reference to the crossing at the Loudwater, Bruinen.  “The far bank was
steep and slippery.”


(p44) describes the region of Rhudaur near Imladris in the foothills of the
Hithaeglir: scree slopes, green patches of mos and grass denoting water;
heather and rock.


Moon Runes must be read when the moon shines behind them and has the same
shape and season in which they were written. The dwarves invented them.
(p50)


The moon runes on Thror’s map were written on a midsummer’s eve in a
crescent moon.


Durin’s Day is the last new moon of autumn (p50)


The mountain path climbs the south side of a ravine with a conical rock
before the goblin cave entrance, as illustrated (p57) or the “Front Portch”
as known by the goblins (p59)


Goblins eat ponies, horses, and donkeys, and are always hungry (p59)


(p59) presents support for Tolkien as a luddite.


(p64) Bilbo finds the ring: “He guessed as well as he could, and crawled
along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring
of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel.”


(p65) Concerning Hobbits, “they can move very quietly, and hide easily, and
recover wonderfully from falls and bruises, and they have a fund of wisdom
and wise sayings that men have mostly never heard or have forgotten long
ago.”


Gollum is “Dark as darkness” (p67)


Gollum’s name comes from his swallowing noise. ‘And when he said /gollum/ he
made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name,
though he always called himself “my precious”.’ (p67)


Gollum keeps in his pockets (implying he is clothed in more than a
loin-cloth) (p73)

fish bones
goblins’ teeth
wet shells
a bat wing
sharp stone (for sharpening his fangs)
other nasty things


The “Lower Gate” is the name the Goblins give to the exit of their tunnels
beneath the High Pass.  It is known by Gollum as the “Back Door”.

The gate appears at elevation above the tree line as implied when they
arrive at the trees on (p91) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_line
for elevations of tree line at various latitudes. Likely 1.5 to 3
kilometers above the sea.


The eastward drainage of the Misty Mountains: (p89)

vegitation

bushes
long grasses
turves of grass, cropped by said rabbits
wild strawberries
spices

thyme
sage
majoram


trees (p91)

larch
pine
fir


animals

rabbits


scree slopes


The Anduin drainage near the Carrock: (p104)

oaks
elms
wide grasslands


Concerning Eagles

(p100) illustration: “The Misty Mountains looking West from the Eyrie towards
Goblin Gate”
Eagle call and response: (p104)

Farewell! wherever you fare, till your eyries receive you at the
journey’s end
May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon
walks (the proper reply, known and said by Gandalf)


Eagles: (p104)

“King of All Birds” wears a golden crown
15 chieftans wear gold collars


Concerning the Land of Beorn

Description of the Carrock and the ford of Carrock (p104)

“There was a flat space on the top of the hill of stone and a well worn
path with many steps leading down it to the river, across which a ford
of huge flat stones led to the grass-land beyond the stream.  There was
a little cave (a wholesome one with a pebbly floor) at the foot of the
steps and near the end of the stony ford.”


Beorn’s house (p107)

bee pastures
belt of tall, ancient oaks
high thorn hedge
wooden gate
gardens
low wood buildings

thatched, unshapen logs


barns, stables, sheds (p108)
hives, southward, inside hedge
long low wooden house
courtyard amid the house’s two wings
fire in the long hall
hedge opens on the east side (p123)


More facts

Dwarven etiquette calls for waving hoods before knees. (p111)
The Grey Mountains (Ered Mithrin) are “simply stiff with goblins,
hobgoblins, and orcs of the worst description.” (p126) This seems to imply
that at least goblins and hobgoblins are distinct classes of creature, if
not also orcs. It is plausible to infer that orcs are goblins and that
hobgoblins are an early reference to Uruks, though that would not jive with
the timeline if Uruks are an invention of Saruman.

Regarding Mirkwood

Ivy is on the trees (p124)
Leaves are dark and long
Four days walk to the east from the enchanted stream, the trees are beeches
with grey trunks.
Two more days, there is a valley of oaks.
-   With black butterflies, which are similar to Purple Emperors, but
black, thus Bilbo names them “Black Emperors”.
In Bombur’s dream, the King of the Elves [Thranduil] wears a crown of
leaves.

Regarding the Lonely Mountain

The town by the shore called Esgaroth (p202)
It is a five hour march from the door to raven hill (p217) That would imply
about 13 miles. This can be used to scale Thror’s map on the Middle-earth
Map

More facts

Council of the White Wizards drove out the Necromancer (p266)
Elrond does not foresee Sauron’s end in the age of the world (p267)
The river (Loudwater?) that marks the border of the Wild (p268)
All things come to an end (p269)
The Master of Lake Town dies in “The Waste” (p272)