Hobbit2 - Chapter 12 - Inside Information

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

This is definitely my favourite chapter in the Hobbit, the whole conversation between Smaug and Bilbo is pure gold. Together with the information provided by the narrator, it gives a brilliant insight to the malice and cunning of Smaug. I think that that very conversation is the reason that Smaug is my favourite Tolkien villain, though there are many worthy candidates.

Another thing I have always loved is the magic of Middle-Earth. I love that it is ever present, though often in quite subtle ways and that it takes many forms. In this particular chapter I always focus on “the spell of the dragon”, exactly what it is or how it works is not said. However it does give you an feeling, that even if Smaug cannot conjure up a jar of jam or a thunderstorm, he clearly posses latent magic.

I have however always been bothered with the dwarves lack of planning, I simply cannot get it to make sense, not from any perspective. They have clearly talked about this amongst themselves for quite a while, and they have had meetings with capacities like Elrond and Gandalf and yet they have no plan for dealing with the dragon.... I can understand that Dragons are no ordinary foe and it is hard to make a battle plan before you have an idea of your foe’s strengths and weaknesses, but surely you make a provisional plan. It just seemed exceptionally stupid, just like their choice not to bring any proper weapons with them on their quest.


Neither do I truly understand why Bilbo is on the quest... Why did they need a burglar? Bilbo himself establishes that the treasure is much too large for him to steal piece by piece, and they clearly did not hire him to murder the dragon. What was his purpose, to be a scout of sorts?