The Beornings

[Firnantoonion]

it seems to me that there are more beornings (after all, there are more traces of bears at the door when Bilbo wakes up in the Hobbit) but that they all live solitary and see each other rarely, only on meetings wich are organized so to say..

therefore, I think that the Goblin attack was such a surprise that beorn had no time to call for more of his brethren, and keep in mind that the dwarves at that point know nothing about the beornings and Gandalf sees no need to explain more than just the things they have to know.

later on, in LotR the dwarves have become "neighbours" of the beornings and travel more through their land, and learn more of the beornings. I think the dwarves (and the reader [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]) learn just in these travels that there are more people of the kind of Beorn. (maybe even Gandalf didn't knew this in the hobbit)