Hobbit2 - Chapter 08 - Flies and Spiders

[jallanite]

This chapter reads like three chapters, introducing three separate perils.

First, there are the general perils associated with Mirkwood. Tolkien portrays the difficulties of traversing an immense primeval forest, the gimmick being that the dwarves and hobbit are not allowed to stray from the magic road. Accordingly, hunting and foraging for vegetable food is not allowed. Tension is increased because no peril is clearly seen, only the eyes of animals and what seem to be enormous insects.

Black squirrels alone are seen, which is not untypical of a forest where squirrels will be the most visible animals. No hint of danger is associated with the black squirrels, other than the implication that their black coloration is a result of the sinister magic of the forest. This linking of black coloration with sinister magic somewhat fails for readers who live in areas where black squirrels are common, notably in my native Toronto.

Black squirrels dwell in mass throughout the city and very seldom cause any problems. They are friendly and cheeky and easily persuaded to eat from one’s hand, but if left alone mostly ignore and avoid people.

The second peril is the giant, intelligent spiders. I have encountered giant spiders as females in some mythological tales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_...ambiguation%29) and there are the West African tales of the spider trickster Anansi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anansi) but giant spiders don’t otherwise appear in traditional tales so far as I recall. Giant spiders are a commonplace in sensationalistic modern fantasy and sf tales which seem to here be the origin of Tolkien’s villainous spiders. Tolkien’s account of the death of the spider slain by Bilbo is unnervingly horrific:

Bilbo came at it before it could disappear and stuck it with his sword right in the eyes. Then it went mad and leaped and danced and flung out its legs in horrible jerks, until he killed it with another stroke.

The third peril is that of the Wood Elves, though here there is no necessary conflict. Thorin, and later the other dwarves, simply refuse to answer the Elves’ questions, though in fact the dwarves don’t have anything to hide. Even not considering past history, the elves might reasonably want to know why dwarves have suddenly appeared in their lands and the dwarves’ refusal to account for themselves hints at some sort of plot against the elves.

An interesting point is that Bilbo’s sword is visible, once he draws it, seemingly seen by the spiders as a sword apparently moving through the air by itself. But Bilbo’s clothes remain invisible. One might suppose that the Ring generates a field of invisibility extending some distance outside the body of the Ring-wearer. Anything held by the Ring-wearer that extends beyond that distance is visible. If Bilbo had been wearing a large cloak, it might have been seen to flicker in and out of visibility as the wind blew it.

Presumably the earth beneath Bilbo’s feet is to be considered a single, large object which extends far beyond the field and is therefore visible. The idea that there is an area of invisibility beneath Bilbo’s feet is not even thought of.

While Tolkien undoubtedly simply imagined that the spiders actually spoke in the common language when he originally wrote these passages, in light of the passage in The Lord of the Rings in which the Ring translates Orc thoughts and speech for Sam, one might suspect that this is what is happening here with the spiders, although Bilbo does not realize it.