Chapters 6-7 questions

The Hobbit

Chapters 6-7 Study Questions

1. Having escaped the elves, Bilbo is momentarily quite alone.  As he walks to the other side of the Misty Mountains, what is he thinking?  Do these thoughts express a crucial change in him?  Why? He is wondering about Gandalf and the dwarves and wondering whether they got out ok. I do not believe this shows a crucial change in him because any ordinary person would wonder about their companions in an event like this and because Bilbo has been friendly towards them so far so that implies that he likes and cares about them at least a little bit.

2. “... Bilbo’s reputation went up a very great deal with the dwarves after” which event? When he finds their camp after the mines and sneaks in wearing the ring so nobody can see him. They all believe that he had just snuck in and was astonishingly sneaky.

3. Gandalf urges the group to travel at once and quickly to put space between themselves and the goblins.  He then adds, “You lose track of time inside goblin-tunnels.”  Speculate as to the symbolic significance of this loss of time. Time is important in their travels and if they lose time they could miss out on traveling through certain paths.

4. When the dwarves and Bilbo fear a pack of evil howling wolves (Wargs), what do they do to protect themselves? They climbed up trees.

5. Why are the Wargs puzzled and angry at the dwarves and Bilbo?Because they planned on raiding a nearby town with the goblins and having discovered the group there, they thought they were spies.

6. Describe the ordeal Bilbo and the dwarves have to endure at the hands of the goblins before they are rescued by the eagles. They are stuck in trees for awhile until Gandalf starts lighting things on fire causing the wolves to freak out. Then the goblins arrived and steered the fire towards the dwarves trees.

7. Being rescued is a frightening proposition for Bilbo and one that prompts him to drumble.  However, he soon reminds himself “not to be rude to an eagle, when you are only the size of a hobbit.”  What has happened to Bilbo since his heroic escape from Gollum’s cave that reminds him of his low stature? That he had to be rescued and would have died otherwise.

8. Describe Beorn.  What does he represent and how does he enhance the significance of this tale? He was a large muscled man with a big beard.  He is kind of like a lumberjack and is friends with Radagast. He allows Gandalf to summerize what has happened so far.

9. Beorn abandons his guests for nearly two days, leaving them to wonder what happened to him.  What happened to him? He had gone out and gathered information from the goblins and wargs.

10. What provisions and advice does Beorn give the travelers as they prepare for their journey into the Milkwood?  How is the advice received? He gave them food and ponies.

11. Why does Gandalf plan to abandon Bilbo and the dwarves at the edge of the Mirkwood Forest, that most dangerous of places?

12. The narrator tells us that “now began the most dangerous part of all the journey.”  Aside from a literal interpretation, how else could this warning be construed?