This chapter leaves me wondering how Jackson's tough Dwarves are going to come across in the Hobbit movie - in the book they blunder about Mirkwood, forgetting their instructions, and appear both rather stupid and not very brave.
The chapter title made me pause and think upon rereading it - I know about the spiders, but didn't recall any mention of flies! Then I realized that it's the Dwarves who are the flies, getting caught in the spiders' webs. Again, not a very glorious role for them to play!
There are a number of questions to ask about this chapter: for one, are these giant spiders descendents of Ungoliath, related to Shelob? They seem less deeply malicious, acting more like a normal spider catching its prey - but they do have the ability to speak...
Another question - what causes the black mutations of animals such as squirrels and butterflies in Mirkwood ?
The enchanted stream is an element that appears in folk fairy tales - how does it fit into Middle-earth?
I look forward to your thoughts on this chapter!
Previous discussion.