There's very little action in this chapter, and yet there is a journey, though it is brief in the amount of distance involved. Bilbo and the dwarves move from their hiding place into the cave itself, and from darkness into light. The latter especially is potentially symbolic - how do you feel when you read about the change?
Again Bilbo is braver than the dwarves, but they finally muster up enough courage to move out of their comfort zone. Does their initial despair feel appropriate to their dwarvish nature, or do you think it is just given them to contrast with Bilbo's hope?
Aside from the matter of Smaug's whereabouts, the other major question in this chapter concerns the Arkenstone. What prompted Bilbo to take it? Was it the greed that accompanies a dragon hoard? Was it the desire of the dwarves that he felt again, like when hearing their singing back in his hobbit hole? Or was it a premonition that he would need it later?
According to Anderson in
The Annotated Hobbit,
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The name Arkenstone comes from the Anglo-Saxon eorclanstan, "precious stone."
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There have been discussions on its nature and a possible connection to the Silmarils. Despite the similarities, there is no indication that it is intended to be one of them. Its fate differs distinctly from theirs.
The third object (after ring and sword) which will be significant in the sequel LotR shows up here - the
mithril mail coat given to Bilbo by Thorin. According to Anderson,
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Mithril is a Sindarin Elvish word, which translates as "grey glitter."
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Thorin's accurate memory of the ways and layout of the Mountain remind me of Gandalf's words about being glad to have a dwarf with him in Moria, as he would be able to keep a straight head underground.
At the end of the previous chapter we had a brief passage from Smaug's point of view. As readers we have an idea of his destination and the reason for his absence. Not knowing his train of thought, Bilbo and the dwarves can't really be blamed for being in the dark - by the end of the chapter, only metaphorically so.
Do you find this transitional chapter boring? What does it add to the story?
Here's the link to the brief
previous discussion.