The History of the Hobbit

by John D. Rateliff

  Chapter X

  Lake Town

  As before, the story continues with nothing more than a paragraph break between what are now chapters IX and X in the middle of manuscript page 129 (Marq.1/1/11:1). On the back of this page is a faint sketch-map showing the forest’s eastern edge, the precursor to the ‘Home Manuscript’ map shown on Plate I [bottom].

  They rounded a steep shoulder of land that came down upon their rightTN1 under which the rocky feet [> under the rocky feet of which] the deepest stream flowed lapping and bubbling. Suddenly it fell away. The trees ended. Then Bilbo saw a sight. The land opened wide about them, filled with the waters of the river which broke up and wandered into marshes and pools and isles on either side, though a strong water flowed ever on through the midst. And far away, his dark head in cloud, there loomed the Mountain. Its nearest neighbors to the N.E. and the tumbled land that joined it to them could not be seen.TN2 All alone it rose, and looked across the plain to the forest. The Lonely Mountain. Bilbo had come far and through many weary adventures to see it. And now he did not like the look of it at all!

  Listening to the talk of the raftmen he soon realized that dreary as had been their emprisonment, and unpleasant as was their position even now, they were really more fortunate than they guessed.

  They would have had small chance of doing more than glimpse that mountain from afar had they gone on and found the way out of the forest unhindered. The lands had changed since the days of the dwarves. Great floods and rains had swollen the waters. The marshes and bogs had spread wider and wider on either side. Paths had vanished, and many a wanderer and a rider too, who had tried to find his way across. Only by the river was there any longer a safe way from the skirts of Mirkwood to the mountain-shadowed plain beyond.TN3 So they went on and on; and always the Mountain seem to threaten them more closely. At last late in the day its shores grew more rocky, the river gathered its wandering waters together; and then turning with a sweep southward it passed [added: through] a wide mouth with stony gates at either side piled with shingles at the feet into the Lake. The Long Lake! It was wide enough indeed, so that the far shore was small and far; but it was so long that its northern end pointing away towards the shoulders of the Mountain could only be guessed. At that end the Running river ran into it, and with the Forest stream filled what must once have been a great deep rocky valley, and then passed out againTN4 southward with a doubled stream and ran away hurriedly to the South.

  Not far from where the Forest Stream entered it, there was a strange town. It was not built upon the shore, though there were many huts and buildings there; but right out on the surface of the lake protected from the swirl of the moving river by a bay of rock. Great bridgesTN5 ran out into the water and to where on large piles made of the trunks of forest trees was built a busy wooden town. It was not a town of elves, but of men, who still dared to live under the shadow of the mountain, protected by the water, and the bridge that could be doubly defended or destroyed from enemies and even as they thought from dragons.

  They grew rich [> still did well] on the trade that came up the great river from the south and was carted past the falls to their town, though the great days when Dale to the North was thriving and [they were rich >] there were wars and a busy town of boats were now but a legend. The rotting piles of greater could be seen along the shores when there was a drought.

  But they remembered little about it; though songs were still sung of the King Under the Mountain Thror and his son Thrain of the race of Durin, and of the coming of the Dragon, and the fall of the Lords of Dale.TN6

  Added in the top margin and marked for insertion at this point: ‘Some sang that Thror and Thrain would come back one day and gold would flow in rivers through the northern falls, and all that land would be filled with new song and new laughter. But that was a pleasant fable, which did not much affect their daily business, or their occasional quarrel with wood elves over tolls and such like troubles.’

  Boats came out from the town and hailed the raftmen: [and soon the >] Ropes were cast, oars were pulled; and soon they were drawn out of the currents of the Forest River, and towed away to [the piles of >] round the shoulder of rock to lie ashore by the head [> some way from the head] of the chief bridge to Lake-town. Soon men would come up from the South and take some away, and fill others with stuffs they had brought to be taken back up to the wood elves’ home. In the meanwhile the raftmen went to feast at [> in] Lake Town.

  They would have been surprised if they could have seen what happened down by the shore as soon as evening fell. A barrel was opened by Bilbo (and the help of pushes and groans from inside); and out crept a most unhappy dwarf. Wet straw was in his draggled beard; he was so sore and stiff [added: so bruised & battered] he could scarcely stumble through the shallow water to lie groaning on the shore. He had a famished [added: & a savage] look like a dog that has been forgotten in a kennel for a week. It was ThorinTN7 – but you can only have told it by his golden chain, and the colour of a now-tattered sky blue hood with a very tarnished silver tassel. It was some time before he would even be polite to the hobbit.

  ‘Well are you alive or are you dead?’ said Bilbo quite crossly at last. Perhaps he had rather forgotten that he had had at least one good meal more than the dwarves, and also the use of his legs and arms not to speak of air [> a greater allowance of air]. ‘Are you still in prison or are you free? Have you arrived at last clear of the wood, and reached the Lake or not?’

  ‘If you want food, and if you want to go on with this silly adventure, which is after all yours first not mine, you had better rub your legs and arms and try and help get the others out, [before >] while there is a chance!’

  Thorin of course saw the sense of [> in] this. And after a few more groans he got up and helped the hobbit. They had a time of it in the gathering dark and the cold water finding which were the right barrels. Knocking outside and calling only discovered about six. These they got out. Some had to be helped or carried ashore and laid down helpless;TN8 they were soaked as well as cramped and [?starved >] bruised and hungry [Dori and Nori were not much use yet nor Ori. >] Dwalin and Balin were two of the most unhappy. They were no use just yet. Bifur and Bofur were less knocked about, and drier but they couldn’t be got to help. Fili and Kili, however, – who were young (for dwarves) – and had been packed more neatly with plenty of straw into smaller casks, came out more or less smiling, with only a bruise or two, and a stiffness that soon wore off.

  ‘I hope I never smell the smell of [butter >] apples again’, said Fili. ‘My tub was full of it. To smell apples [when you can’t move and can’t >] everlastingly when you can scarcely move, and are getting cold and sick with hunger is exasperating. [But >] I could eat anything in the wide world now, for hours on end – but not an apple’. With the help of F. & K. they discovered the others at last and got them out. Poor fat Bombur was asleep or senseless. Dori Nori Ori Oin & Gloin were waterlogged, [added: only] half alive it seemed, and had to be carried and laid helpless on the shore.

  ‘Well here we are!’ said Thorin ‘And I suppose we ought to thank Mr Baggins. I am sure he expects it. But I wish he could have arranged a more comfortable journey. Still all very much at your service. No doubt we shall feel properly grateful when we are fed and recovered. In the meanwhile, what next?’

  ‘I suggest lake-town’ said Bilbo. ‘what else is there?’

  So Thorin and Fili and Kili went [> left the others and went] with Bilbo to [the] chief Bridge.

  There were guards there, but they were [added: not] keeping careful watch; it was so long since there had been much need. Otherwise they would have heard [added: something of] the disembarking of the dwarves. Now their surprise was enormous when Thorin OakenshieldTN9 stepped into the doorway of their hut.

  ‘Who are you?’ they shouted leaping to their feet.

  ‘Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror king under the Mountain.’ said he in a great deep voice and he looked it in spite of h
is torn and bedraggled dress. The gold and silver gleamed on his neck and waist; his eyes were dark and deep. ‘I have come back. I wish to see the master of your town!’

  Then there was a tremendous excitement. Some of the more foolish ran out as if they expected to see the mountain turned golden in the night and all the waters of the lake go yellow right away.

  The captain of the guard came forward.TN10 ‘And who are these?’ said he pointing to Fili and Kili and Bilbo. ‘The sons of my father’s daughter’s son’TN11 said Thorin ‘Fili and Kili of the race of Durin, and Mr Baggins our guide from the lands of the West.’

  ‘Lay down your arms’ said the captain.

  ‘We have none’ said Thorin; and that was true enough. Their knives and the great sword Orcrist Goblin-slasher had been taken from them by the wood-elves. Bilbo had his knife, but he said nothing about that. ‘What need of weapons we are not enemies, who return at last as spake of old. What use against so many. Take us to your master.’

  ‘He is at feast’ said the captain.

  ‘All the more reason for taking us to him’ said Fili who was getting impatient at these solemnities. ‘We are wayworn and famished after our long road, and have sick comrades. Now make haste and let’s have no more words, or your master may have something to say to you.’

  ‘Follow me’ said the captain, and with six men about them he led the way over the bridges to the market place of the town: a wide circle of still [> gentle] water surrounded with the greater homes, and great wide wooden quays with many steps and ladders going down to the surface of the lake.

  From one great house there were many lights and a sound of voices. They passed the door and stood blinking in the light looking at long tables filled with folk.

  ‘I am Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King Under the Mountain. I return’ said Thorin in a loud voice from the door before the captain could say anything.

  All leapt to their feet. The Master of the Town – the mayor perhaps we should call him – sprang from his great chair. But none knew greater surprise than the raftsmen of the elves, sitting at the end of the hall. They recognized Thorin and the two dwarves as the king’s prisoners!

  forward to the master they cried – ‘these are prisoners of our king, that have escaped. Wandering and vagabond dwarves that could not give any good account of themselves; sneaking through the woods and pursuing our people.’

  ‘Is this true?’ asked the master.

  ‘It is true that we were wrongfully waylaid by the Elf-king and emprisoned without cause, as we journeyed back to our own land’ said Thorin. ‘But locks nor bars may hinder the home coming spoken of old. Nor is this town in the wood-elves’ realm. I speak to the Master of the Town of the men of the Lake, not to the boatmen of the king.’TN12

  Then the master paused and looked from one to the other. The Woodelves’ king was grown powerful in those parts; he did not wish for any enmity with him, and he did not trouble much about old songs; but about trade and tolls, cargoes and gold.

  Others were of different mind, however, and soon [the dealing of his >] the matter was settled without him. The news spread from the doors of the hall like fire through all the town.TN13 People were shouting within the hall and outside it. The quays were thronged with hurrying feet. Some began snatches of the old songs concerning the return of the King under the Mountain – that it was Thror’s grandson not Thror himself bothered them not at all. Others took up this song and soon it rolled loud and high over the lake.

  The King beneath the Mountain[s],

  The King of carven stone,

  The Lord of silver Fountain[s]

  Shall come into his own!

  His crown shall be upholden,

  His harp shall be restrung,

  His halls shall echo golden

  To songs of yore re-sung.

  The woods shall wave on mountains

  The grass beneath the Sun;

  His wealth shall flow like [> in] fountains,

  [and the >] The rivers golden run.

  The rivers run in gladness

  The lakes shall shine and burn,

  [And >] All sorrow fail and sadness

  When the Mountain-kings return.TN14

  So they sang – or very like that, only there was a great deal more of it; and much shouting as well as music of harps and fiddles mixed up with it. Such excitement had not been in the town in the memory of the oldest grandfather.

  The woodelves themselves began to wonder greatly and even to be afraid. As yet they did not know how Thorin had escaped, and they were begin[ning] to think their King had made a grievous mistake. As for the master he saw there was nothing else for it, but to obey the general clamour for the moment at any rate.

  In fact he gave up his chair to Thorin, and Fili and Kili and even Bilbo – whose presence [had >] was quite unexplained.TN15

  Very soon the ten other dwarves were bought into the town [with >] amidst scenes of astonishing enthusiasm; and doctored, and fed, and housed, and pampered in the most delightful and satisfactory fashion.

  A large house was given up to Thorin & his company; boats and rowers were put at their service, and crowds sat outside and sang songs all day. Some of them were quite new, and spoke confidently of the sudden death of the dragon, and cargoes of rich presents coming down the river to the Lake town. These were inspired largely by the Master & didn’t particularly please the dwarves. But in the meantime they got fit & strong again. Indeed in a week they were more than recovered, fitted out in fine cloth, with well combed beards and proud steps. Thorin looked all he claimed to be and more;TN16 and as he had said the dwarves’ good-feeling towards the little hobbit grew stronger every day. They made a great fuss of him, which was just as well, for he had a shocking cold, and sneezed for days, and couldn’t go out; and his speeches at banquets were limited to ‘Thag you very buch’.

  In the meanwhile the wood-elves [were >] had gone back up the river with their cargoes; and there was not a little excitement in the king’s palace. I never heard what happened to the guard and the butler. Nothing was ever said about keys or barrels while the dwarves stayed in Lake-Town, and B. was careful never to become invisible. Still I daresay more was guessed than was known. In any case the king [sent out >] knew the dwarfs [> dwarves]TN17 errand now or thought he did; and he thought also

  ‘Very well, we’ll see – no treasure will come back through Mirkwood without my having to say in the matter[, and I >]’. He at any rate did not believe in dwarves dragons like Smaug, and he strongly suspected (being a wise elf) burglary or something like itTN18 – which shows he was a wise-elf and wiser than the men of the Lake; and yet not as right as we may see. He sent out his spies [as far to >] about the shores of the lake end as far North towards the Mountain as they would go; and waited.

  [Thorin > After >] At the end of a week Thorin began to think of departure. While the enthusiasm still lasted in the town was the time to get help. It would not do to let everything cool down with delay. So he spoke to the Master and his councillors, and [spoke >] said that soon he and his company must go on towards the Mountain.

  Then for the first time the Master was surprised and a little frightened. I don’t think he ever thought that the dwarves would dare to go [> approach Smaug];TN19 he probably thought they were frauds who would sooner or later be discovered, and turned out. He was wrong. Thorin was really the grandson of the k. under the mountain; and there is no knowing what a dwarf will not dare and do for revenge or the recovery of his own.

  At any rate the Master was not sorry to let them go. They were expensive, and their arrival had turned things into a long holiday; business was at a standstill. ‘Let him go and bother Smaug, and see how he likes it’ he thought. ‘Certainly O Thorin Thrain’s son Thror’s son’ was what he said. ‘You must claim your own. The hour is at hand; what help we can offer shall be given’.

  So one day – although autumn was already getting on, and winds were cold, and leaves were tur
n[ing] – three boats left Lake Town, laden with rowers, dwarves, Mr Baggins, and many provisions; horses went round by circuitous paths to meet them at their appointed landing place. The master and his counsellors bade the solemn farewell from the [steps of the >] great steps that went down to the lake. People sang on the quays and out of windows. The white oars dipped and splashed and off they went north up the Lake.

  As before, the text continues with no indication in the manuscript of the point where the chapter break was later inserted – in this case, just before the last paragraph on manuscript page 136 (Marq. 1/1/12:1). As was so often the case, the last line was re-written and augmented in the typescript in order to make a more effective break: ‘. . . and off they went north up the lake on the last stage of their long journey. The only person thoroughly unhappy was Bilbo’ (First Typescript, typescript page 109; 1/1/60:7).

  TEXT NOTES

  1 In the margin alongside this line is the single word ‘left?’ Since this is written in pencil, we know that it comes from the period when Tolkien was preparing the First Typescript, which takes up the proposed correction (as does every subsequent text). Note that the sudden bend to the right of the Forest River, suggesting that it was rounding some obstacle, dates all the way back to the very first Hobbit map incorporated into the Pryftan Fragment (Frontispiece) and can also be seen, though less prominently, in one of the five maps that accompanied Tolkien’s original turnover of the completed text to Allen & Unwin in October 1936 (Plate I [bottom]). On the other hand, this feature has almost disappeared from another map in the same set, the precursor of the Wilderland map (given on Plate II [top]), indicating that Tolkien remained unsure about the course of the Forest River until relatively late in the process.