Lake-town

Bilbo, invisible, continued down the river with the dwarves in the barrels. Along the way he caught a glimpse of their destination, the Lonely Mountain, as the Elves spoke in hushed tones about the Dragon. It turns out that the river was now the only way to their destination; as the path in Mirkwood was in disrepair and led to dangerous marshes as it left the forest. Again providence, it would seem, was on Bilbo's side. "It might have been of some comfort to Mr. Baggins shivering on the barrels, if he had known that news of this had reached Gandalf far away and given him great anxiety, and that he was in fact finishing his other business...and getting ready to come in search of Thorin's company" (p. 203, The Hobbit). As it was the hobbit shivered on as his cold settled in.

Eventually they reached Long Lake and Lake-town, which was a town built on/in the lake. There Men lived in the shadow of the Mountain, descendents of Dale, remembering old tales of Dwarves under the Mountain and their great treasure. Now, the dwarves seemed more a myth and only the oldest of the old had actually seen the dragon. Still they sung songs about the past and some about the future where Thror and Thrain would return to claim their treasure at which the land and rivers would be filled with gold. The men of Lake-town helped bring the barrel rafts to shore and the Elves went in for some feasting with them.

Bilbo having his chance began freeing his friends not knowing if they survived the journey. The first out was Thorin, sore, stiff, bruised, and very unhappy. Yet alive and free. It took some prodding by Bilbo but Thorin helped him free the others who were in various states of health and all thoroughly upset at the journey. Dwalin and Balin were quite upset, Bifur and Bofur did not help. Only Fili and Kili had energy to help. "'I hope I never smell the smell of apples again!' said Fili. "My tub was full of it. To smell apples everlastingly when you can scarcely move and are cold and sick with hunger is maddening. I could eat anything in the wide world now, for hours on end--but not an apple!'" (p. 207, The Hobbit).

Once on land they decided to enter Lake-town. Thorin, Bilbo, Fili, and Kili set forth while the others rested. They surprised the guards and demanded to be taken to the Master of the Town. This caused quite a stir among the people. The sight of Dwarves made them think the silly songs about gold were about to come true. After some questioning the captain of the guard took them in and Thorin took over: "'I am Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain. I return!'" (p. 209, The Hobbit). All were surprised but most of all the Elves who had rafted the barrels down the river. They declared to the Master that these were in fact prisoners of Thranduil who had harassed the Elven people. 

The Master did not know who to believe, thinking no Dwarf would return to the Mountain and even so it was doubtful it was these the right Dwarves. Plus, Thranduil was powerful in that region and he wished no enmity with the Elves. "'It is true that we were wrongfully waylaid by the Elven-king and imprisoned without cause as we journeyed back to our land,' answered Thorin. 'But lock nor bar may hinder the homecoming 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 raft-men of the king'" (p. 209, The Hobbit). By now many people had gathered singing the old songs about treasure and gold that the Master had no choice but to accept what Thorin said to be true. 

For a week the Dwarves were treated to feasts, given new clothes, and recovered their strength. The people were in such a frenzy that loud cheers erupted at even a small glimpse of one of them. It seems the Master was encouraging the people, singing songs about gifts and treasures, which did not please the Dwarves who had no mind to share (it seems the Master was quite a business man looking for ways to increase his wealth). As everyone grew strong again they began to think quite highly of Bilbo realizing they would not have made it without him (the tight barrels but a memory now) and yet the hobbit was miserable. "For three days he sneezed and coughed, and he could not go out, and even after that his speeches at a banquets were limited to 'Thag you very buch'" (p. 212, The Hobbit).

The Elves had made their way back to Thranduil telling him everything they saw. Thranduil now suspected the Dwarves true purpose and vowed no treasure would journey back through Mirkwood. He figured they would all die trying to win back the treasure from Smaug anyway. Thorin sensing the excitement of the people spoke with the Master about provisions for the final stretch to the Lonely Mountain. "Then for the first time the Master was surprised and a little frightened; and he wondered if Thorin was after all really a descendent of the old kings. He had never thought the dwarves would actually dare to approach Smaug, but believed they were frauds who would sooner or later be discovered and be turned out" (p. 213, The Hobbit). Nonetheless he was not sad to see them depart for all commerce had ceased in the town while the dwarves remained. He sent them by boat with many supplies and arranged for horses and ponies to meet them on shore. Everyone was excited as they left; everyone but Bilbo.

Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 2941 (autumn)
Today's reading comes from: The Hobbit, pages 200-213