[Nogrod]

All the playfulness lightens the mood considerably - all those presents given after Bilbo had left with their pointy choices and finding the three young hobbits digging for the treasure etc. bring us back to the innocent or "unspoiled" Hobitton - like one would be in the Hundred-acre Wood...

But the last two pages yet again change the general mood. Discussions of Bilbo's versions of the story and Gandalf's sudden urge to leave while being quite vague but clearly worried about the Ring are a perfect ending for this kind of introductory chapter yet again reminding the reader that there are bigger and more serious things bubbling under the sunny surface.