Bilbo spends almost all of this chapter invisible! The ring continues to be his most important asset as the dwarves are captured to share Thorin’s fate. He truly acts as a burglar, though not for profit, but only to stay alive by stealing food.
Though the capturing seems to be unfortunate, it could possibly be that they were saved in this way, unable as they were to find their way out of the forest on their own - or at least able to continue on to their goal by way of the Elven caves and the river.
Here is a picture of the Elven King's Gate by Tolkien:
What do you think of the Elven underground kingdom? Is the fact that the Wood-elves’ king’s insignia were of natural materials, as compared to the gold and mithril of other kingdoms, significant?
The continuing enmity between Dwarves and Elves is shown in the conversation between Balin and the King – how do you feel about it? Is either side justified in considering itself in the right?
Time passes slowly for all of them, and this is not a safe haven; however, they are given food and drink, so are nourished and kept kindly in captivity.
Bilbo continues his coming-of-age experience in realizing that he has no one else to help him and the dwarves out of their predicament.
Quote:
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...he soon realized that if anything was to be done, it would have to be done by Mr. Baggins, alone and unaided.
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He takes action, plans a method of escape, and implements it. As a German proverb says, “Luck is with the hard-worker”; circumstances help him to achieve his goal.
Again we see Bilbo’s pity here – after freeing the dwarves, he replaces the keys to keep the guard from getting into trouble afterwards.
We have two Elven poems – one brief rhyme when rolling out the barrels; it seems rather un-Elven to me, with its colloquial-sounding “Splash plump!” and “bump!” The longer one is more picturesque: “Down the swift dark stream you go”. What do you think about them?
Bilbo shows his bravery in jumping into the water, not usually a favourite element of Hobbits! In this passage, there is some descriptive writing of the landscape through which they pass. There is another tricky situation, when the raft-elves come into the story, but that hurdle is soon passed as well. The story ends with a positive ending, their escape, but with uncertainty as well – are the dwarves dead or alive?
It also ends with one of those mundane annoyances we all know – Bilbo has caught a cold...
Here is Tolkien's own drawing for this chapter, one of my favourites:
