The History of the Hobbit

by John D. Rateliff

] so that soon all those on the mountain were overcome or in flight. Then Elves and Men turned to [> came at last to] the help of the battle in the valley. But they were still outnumbered. In that hour Beorn had himself appeared – no one knew how or whence, [ >] and he seemed to have grown to half-giant size in his wrath. The roar of his voice was like thunder and he tossed goblin and wolf from his path like straws and feathers.TN6 He fell upon their rear and broke into the ring and there he lifted Thorin who had fallen pierced with spears and bore him out of the fray. Then he returned and none could withstand his onslaught.TN7 Thus enheartened the weary companies had fallen on and soon the goblins <?they were> [scattered >] broken. The were driven into the river and such as escaped across were hunted into [> right to] the marshes about the Forest River and there most perished, or coming into the wood-elves’ realm were slain or driven to die deep in the trackless dark of Mirkwood.

  [All this had befallen ere full >] The victory had been assured before night fall, but the pursuit was still on foot when B. returned to the camp, and not many were there save the wounded.TN8

  ‘Where are the eagles?’ he said to Gandalf that evening as he lay rolled in many warm blankets. ‘They are gone’ said G. ‘for they [do not love >] will not tarry here, [But they are >] now that they have hunted the last fugitives from the mountain.’

  ‘[Good >] I am sorry: I should have liked to see them again,’ said B. sleepily. ‘[When d[o] >] I suppose I shall be going home soon?’

  ‘As soon as you like’ said Gandalf.

  [But >] Actually it was some days [before Bilbo was strong again on his legs. He left the Mountain >] before Bilbo left the place. They buried Thorin deep beneath the Mountain, and Bard laid the Arkenstone upon his heart.TN9 ‘There let it lie with the last of the kings’ he said, ‘and may it guard [bring good fortune to >] all his folk that dwell here after.’

  Two more sentences are squeezed in at the end of the paragraph, running over into the bottom margin:

  And by him [added: upon his tomb.] the Elven king laid Orcrist the sword that had been taken from Thorin in captivity. It is said it gleamed ever in the dark if foes approached.TN10

  But Dain son of Nain took up his abode there, and all his dwarves; and [many >] he became king under the Mountain and <?many> dwarves of the race of Durin [were >] came back to old halls. The twelve dwarvesTN11 chose also to remain there; and [> for] Dain dealt his treasure well. [Yet >] There was, of course, no longer any question of dividing it in shares among Balin Dwalin, Bifur Bofur & Bombur [(or Bilbo) >] and the rest or Bilbo.

  Yet a fourteenth share [> part] of all the gold and silver made & unmade was given up to Bard; for Dain said ‘we will honour the agreement of the dead, and he has now the Arkenstone in his keeping.’ [Added: And even a fourteenth share was wealth exceeding rich.]

  And of that Bilbo was given a chest full of silver and a chest full of gold by Bard himself – he would take no more. ‘And it will be difficult enough to get that home as it is’ he said; which proved true enough.TN12 To the Elven king for his aid many jewels such as he loved were given, and <?among them> the emeralds of Girion that Dain gave to Bard.TN13

  the hour came to say farewell to his friends. ‘Farewell Dwalin’ he said ‘and Farewell Fili & Kili, and Farewell Dori and Nori, and Oin and Gloin, and Bifur & Bofur and Bombur’ he said. And turning towards the mountain ‘Fairwell king Thorin Oakenshield.’TN14

  And the Dwarves bowed low and their words stuck in ‘[Farewell >] Goodbye and good luck’ they said ‘ – if ever you visit us again when these halls are made fair again, the feast shall indeed be splendid’ said Balin.TN15

  ‘If ever you pass my way’ said Bilbo ‘don’t wait to knock. Tea is at four, but any time [is time for >] will do for you! Goodbye’.

  And he rode [> turned] away.

  The Elfhost was on the march and if it was sadly lessened yet many were glad, for now the world would be merrier for many a day. [T]he dragon was dead and the goblins would [be >] have small power in the North for many ages of m.TN16 and their hearts look forward [to a >] over winter to a spring of joy.

  Gandalf and Bilbo rode behind the Elvenking.TN17 But when they drew within sight of Mirkwood they halted; for the wizard and hobbit were going [to str >] north the Forest and towards the Hills. Now that the Goblins were overcome it was a safer road if long[er] than the dark & dreadful pathways under the trees.

  ‘Farewell O Elvenking’ said Gandalf, ‘Merry be the greenwood while the world is yet young; and merry be all your folk.’

  ‘Farewell Gandalf. May you ever turn up [> appear] where you are [wanted >] most needed; and the oftener you appear in my halls the better shall I be pleased’ said the king.

  ‘I beg you’ said Bilbo stammering ‘to accept a gift,’ and he brought out a silver necklace [> necklace of silver and pearls].

  ‘In what way have I earned gifts of you [> such a gift] O hobbit’ said the king.

  ‘Well er’ said Bilbo ‘I thought don’t you know that some little return for your hospitality should be made. I mean even a burglar has his feelings, and I drank a deal of your wine and eat much of your bread [– though >] without by your leave.’

  ‘I will take it O Bilbo the magnificent’ said the king gravely. ‘And I name you elf-friendTN18 and blessed: may your shadow never grow less (or we should [> might] all be ruined). Farewell.’

  Then the Elves [wen[t] >] turned toward the Forest and

  Bilbo home.

  Indeed yes! He had many adventures ere [> before] he got there. The wild was still the wild, and the Battle had not changed it much, but he was never in any great danger again. The wizard was with him and for long Beorn too.

  The following two paragraphs (and the first sentence of the third paragraph) were later bracketed and then cancelled, and the words ‘Put in Later’ written beside them in the margin, no doubt when the passage was moved to its present position near the end of the next chapter.

  If you would have all things settled I will tell you this: Bard brought Men back to Dale and rebuilt a town there and all the valley became in time rich and tilled, and many boats were on the running river which [fell >] ran less swift below [> after] its sudden Southern turn. and much folk gathered there And Lake Town was rebuilt in time and became prosperous once more; but the Master came to a bad end.

  He stole what treasure he could lay ha[nds on] > Bard sent much treasure to him for the help of the town; and being of the sort that is easily he fell under the spell of it, and took it and fled with it; and those who went with him, murdered him for it, and threw him in to > left him > and he died of starvation in the waste.

  But that was long after Bilbo went away . . .

  . . . Christmas [> Yule-time] he

  spent in Beorn’s house – Gandalf and it was warm and merry, and men came from far and wide for the Misty Mountains were now freed.TN19 And Beorn became a great chief [added: afterward] and ruled the [> a] wide land between the mountains & the wood; and it is said that for many a generation the men of his line had the power of taking bear’s shape; and some were grim men [added: and bad], but [some were of rough >] most were just such as Beorn, if less in size and strength. [As long as they ruled >] In their day the last goblins were hunted from the Misty Mountains, and new peace came over the edge of the wild.TN20

  [And after that Bilbo crossed the mountai[ns] > When Yule was over Beorn invited them to stay here >] It was spring and a fair one with mild weather and bright sun before Bilbo and Gandalf left; and B. left then with regret for the flowers of the gardens of Beorn were in spring [mo [re] >] no less marvelous than in high summer.

  At last they came [over the >] up the long road and to the very pass where the goblins had captured them before; but they came there at morning, and looking back a white sun was shining over the distant [> outstretched] lands, and mirkwood, darkly green even in spring, stretched across the lands laid out below away
from left to right and blue. [> There behind lay Mirkwood blue in the distance and darkly green even in spring at the nearer edge.] There far away was [a glint of s[now] >] the Lonely Mountain on the edge of eyesight. On its highest peak snow yet unmelted glinted pale.

  ‘So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have an ending’ said Bilbo and he turned his back on his adventure. The tookish part was getting very tired and Baggins was daily coming forward. ‘I now wish only to be in my home’ he said.

  TEXT NOTES

  1 This is changed to ‘A cloudless day [added: but cold] was broad above.’ That is, the amount of time Bilbo spends unconscious on the battlefield is increased; originally he is wounded and passes out at sunset, waking with the next day’s dawn. In the final version, it is already well into the next day when he recovers consciousness.

  2 These five paragraphs were re-written to remove the eagle and replace him with one of the lake-men:

  . . . suddenly he was aware of a man standing at the door of the watch-chamber nearby.

  ‘Hullo there!’ he called ‘[How goes >] hullo! what news?’

  ‘What voice is it that speaks unseen among the stones’ said the man peering forward. Suddenly Bilbo remembered his ring. ‘Well I am blessed’ said he. ‘This invisibility has its drawbacks after all! Otherwise I suppose I might have spent a warm and comfortable night in bed!’

  ‘It’s me Bilbo Baggins companion of Thorin’ he said, hurriedly taking off the ring.

  ‘It is well that I have found you; you are needed and long sought’ said the man: ‘Are you hurt?’ ‘A knock on the head’ said Bilbo, ‘but I have a helm and a hard skull. All the same I feel sick. My legs are weak.’ ‘Then I will carry you,’ said the man, ‘to the camp in the valley’ (Third Phase manuscript pages 31–32; 1/1/19:1–2).

  This change was no doubt made because Tolkien remembered that earlier he had written of the eagles that ‘Bilbo never saw them again. But he didn’t forget them’ (see page 229 and Text Note 5 following Chapter VII).

  3 The idea that Gandalf was wounded in the battle, which seems so out of keeping with the character as he was later developed in The Lord of the Rings, did not appear in the original manuscript but entered in with the typescript: ‘. . . set down before a tent in Dale; and there stood Gandalf, with his arm in a sling. Even the wizard had not escaped all hurt; and there was scarcely one unharmed in some way in all the host [> and there were few unharmed in all the host].’ (1/1/68:1).

  4 This line was cancelled. For more on ‘the halls of waiting’ and the dwarven afterlife, see part four of the commentary (iv. ‘The Halls of Waiting’) following the Third Phase manuscript, beginning on page 720.

  5 The ink of the following lines is darker, again indicating a slight pause in composition.

  6 It took Tolkien several tries to find the right simile. He tried first ‘like a dog amo[ng]’, then broke off and replaced this with ‘as if they were but yapping pupp[ies]’, before settling on ‘like straws and feathers’.

  7 Bolg’s fate is not mentioned here, instead first entering in with the typescript: ‘Swiftly he [Beorn] returned and his wrath was redoubled, so that nothing could withstand him, and no weapon seemed to bite upon him. He scattered the bodyguard, and pulled down Bolg himself and crushed him. Then dismay fell on the Goblins and they fled in all directions . . .’ (1/1/68:2–3); see Text Note 26 to Ch. XVII and also the commentary starting on page 708.

  8 This sentence was originally followed with ‘The eagles were all off on the mountain hunt > Bilbo > Among these Bilbo found himself counted’ – i.e., among the wounded.

  9 This word looks like heart in the manuscript (Third Phase manuscript page 34; 1/1/19:4) but might instead be breast, the reading of the typescript (1/1/68:3).

  10 The word preceding ‘sword’ is difficult to make out but may be Elfin.

  11 In the original story neither Fili nor Kili died fighting alongside their great-uncle but survived to the end of the tale. The idea that the two most likeable of all Bilbo’s companions should also die in the battle – one of the saddest moments in the whole story, even though it occurs offstage while our narrator is hors de combat – first appears in the continuation of the typescript that eventually (autumn 1936) replaced the Third Phase manuscript: ‘Of the twelve companions of Thorin ten remained. Fili and Kili had fallen defending him with shield and body, for he was their mother’s elder brother’ (1/1/68:3). This change thus postdates the completion of the book by some three and a half years. Thorin had still been their great-uncle when the First Typescript reached Chapter X (cf. 1/1/60:4), where at some point after the page was typed ‘sons of my father’s daughter’s son’ was changed to ‘sons of my father’s daughter’. The phrase ‘their mother’s elder brother’ perhaps suggested the presence of another brother as well, as would indeed eventually be the case, although the unfortunate Frerin was not invented until late in Tolkien’s work on The Lord of the Rings (LotR.1110–11 & 1117 and HME XII.276, 281, & 287); note his absence from the family tree given on HME XII.277. For more on issues of dwarven inheritance and the kingship, see the section of commentary entitled ‘Dain son of Nain’ beginning on page 702.

  12 Several cancelled words originally came between ‘full of gold’ and ‘by Bard himself’, but I cannot make any of them out. That Bilbo would return home with little or no treasure had long been foreseen in the Plot Notes – cf. the last page of Plot Notes B, as well as Plot Notes D & F, particularly the last, where he loses most of his treasure on the return journey. Ironically, setting off with two chests full of treasure (here a sign of modest restraint) may derive from Fáfnismál, where Sigurd finds so much gold in Fafnir’s hoard that it fills two chests, with which he loads down Grani, his faithful horse (Terry, Poems of the Elder Edda page 159). This becomes ‘two great chests’ in Morris & Magnússon’s translation of the Völsunga Saga (page 67), and Snorri Sturluson tells us that ‘Grani’s burden’ became a kenning for ‘gold’ from this incident (Prose Edda, page 113), while Bilbo’s chests became ‘two small chests . . . such as one strong pony could carry’ in the typescript (1/1/68:4). Of course Bilbo also kept his little sword, his mail coat, and the Ring, and it seems a parallel beyond coincidence that the three additional treasures Sigurd took with him from Fafnir’s hoard were a famous sword, a gold byrnie (mail-coat), and the ægishjálmr or ‘Helm of Awe’ – an item famed for its power to make the wearer invisible.†

  † Also known as the Helm of Terror, the ægishjálmr is better known today by the name Wagner used in Das Rheingold, the Tarnhelm.

  13 This sentence was preceded by the line ‘“I beg of you” said Bilbo to the Elvenking’, which was cancelled and the replacement text squeezed into place, with many hesitations. Originally the insertion seems to have read ‘To the Elven king for his aid many jewels such as he loved were given, but the emeralds of Girion were given to Bard, and by him that B. were’ before this broke off and was altered rather illegibly to read as I have given it in the main text. The typescript clarifies the sequence of events: ‘To the Elvenking he [Bard] gave the emeralds of Girion, such jewels as he most loved, which Dain had restored to him’ (1/1/68:3).

  14 Aside from the inadvertent omission of Balin and Ori, Bilbo here takes his leave of the dwarves in exactly the same order in which he was first introduced to them back in the first chapter. Fili and Kili are of course alive and present (see Text Note 11 above). The line where he bids farewell to their memory (cf. DAA.352) first appears in the typescript (1/1/68:4), where both Balin and Ori are included in their proper order, except that Balin precedes his brother Dwalin in this listing (no doubt as Bilbo’s special friend among all the remaining dwarves, and the Company’s leader now that Thorin is gone), whereas he had been the second to arrive at the ‘unexpected party’.

  15 The Lord of the Rings records that Bilbo did indeed take them up on this invitation and pay them a visit many years later, after he had vanished from the Shire and before settling down to his retirement a
t Rivendell (LotR.247).

  16 That is, ‘many ages of men’; the elision is an example of the speed with which Tolkien set down the latter half of the Third Phase manuscript in his hurry to reach the end of the story. Cf. young Christopher Tolkien’s description of this material as ‘rather roughly done’ in his 1937 letter to Father Christmas (reprinted in the Foreword to the Fiftieth Anniversary Hobbit, page vii).

  17 Added above the line, but not marked specifically where it should be inserted: ‘and Beorn strode beside’.

  18 This seemingly casual remark gains great significance in the sequel, where both Bilbo and Frodo enjoy special privileges because they are known to be ‘elf-friends’ (cf. LotR.94). More significantly, it ties Bilbo into a long tradition of Tolkien’s elf-friends, a line of figures stretching back to Eriol in The Book of Lost Tales [1917–20] and his slightly later counterpart Ælfwine in ‘Ælfwine of England’ [circa 1920 & afterwards], through the elf-friends of the Silmarillion tales such as Tuor, Húrin, and Beren, and onward to those time-travellers Oswin and Alboin Errol of The Lost Road [1936] and Arry Lowdham and Young Jeremy in The Notion Club Papers [1944–6], and ultimately Smith Smithson in Smith of Wootton Major, Tolkien’s last completed story [1964].

  19 These sentences were revised to read:

  But that was long after Bilbo went away. Anyway By Mid winter Bilbo & Gandalf had reached Beorn’s house – And there they stayed. Yule tide was warm and merry there, and men came from far and wide to feast for the goblins of the Misty Mountains were now few and , &nd men went abroad without fear.

  20 Unlike Gandalf’s prediction a few pages later (see Text Note 4 for Chapter XIX), this statement does come true, since the goblins suffer catastrophic losses upon Sauron’s downfall at the climax of The Lord of the Rings which seem to leave them near extinction (cf. LotR.985: ‘the creatures of Sauron . . . ran hither and thither mindless; and some slew themselves, or cast themselves in pits, or fled wailing back to hide in holes and dark lightless places far from hope’), although we have the testimony of the Father Christmas Letters that a few still linger in remote spots even in our time (see in particular the 1932 letter).