"Out of the Frying-Pan" | JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit | 230

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo Baggins becomes bacon, or at least he fears that he has.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Some new creatures want to eat him, another new creature seems to want to eat him, yet despite feeling like food, Bilbo is starting to change, but is it all for the best?

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[SPEAKER_00]: This is Laura of the Rings episode 96, and today we return to J.R.R.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Tolkins of the Hobbit, to wander through chapter 6 out of the frying pan into the fire, and I have a new segment for the show to share with you.

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[SPEAKER_00]: More on that in a moment.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Fair warning, we're going to talk a bit about food in this episode.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So if you're hungry, go grab a snack.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And if you like the show, feel free to send me a wave for a flambus at buymeacoffee.com slash L.O.T.R.

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[SPEAKER_00]: podcast.

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[SPEAKER_00]: One small bite can fill the stomach of a grown man, and one small financial donation can fill the stomach of a hungry podcaster.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, let's wander.

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[SPEAKER_00]: As you likely know, the hobbits of the Shire were very fond of writing letters to one another.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Likewise, I am very fond of messages from fans, so I'm introducing a new segment to the podcast, Shire letters, where I will respond to one or two notes from fellow wonders from time to time.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Today's Shire Letter comes from Paul, based on the previous episode about Tolkien's on fairy stories essay.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Paul said, people in stories and in real life are very often defined by change.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Ideally, that change helps us meet our potential.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I find Tolkien stories, especially the storylines about the Hobbits, to be particularly powerful because they exemplify the capacity for change,

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[SPEAKER_00]: have the capacity to become its greatest heroes.

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[SPEAKER_00]: This is a lot more compelling than the Tired Old Tale of Strong Brave Hero succeeds by being strong brave and heroic.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so true, change, even unexpected change, pushes us to reach our potential, and the Hobbits are the perfect example of that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's for that reason that Tolkien included the chapter on the Hobbits coming back and saving the Shire from the likes of Saduman and Wormton, all on their own with that Gandalf's help.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's one of the endearing characteristics of many heroes in the Lord of the Rings.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They become heroes because they have to, not because they already are mighty heroes.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you Paul.

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[SPEAKER_00]: If you would like to send me a share letter, send me a note at Lord of the Rings podcast at gmail.com.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That's Lord with a D. Or you can find the Lord of the Rings podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or tap the link in the show notes.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's been a few episodes since we last checked the map, so let's do a map check.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We are following the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a simple hobbit from the Shire, who has found himself on an unexpected quest with Thor and Oak and Shield and other dwarves, to reclaim their ancestral homeland, Arobor, or the Lonely Mountain, from Smog the Dragon.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo has just passed the Misty Mountains, having encountered the slimy creature Golum in the dark depths, and after finding a magic gold ring.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo has narrowly escaped Golum and the goblins of the mountain, but he is lost and separated from the dwarves and their wizard guide Gandalf.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Ooh, that's a packed summary, but we find Bilbo, with the ring on his finger, running from the mountain gate, wondering what to do.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now I won't give a play by play summary of what happens in this chapter, but as an FYI, Bilbo finds his company again, they are cornered by wolves, Gandalf lights some fires, and eventually they are saved by Eagles.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The first thing I want to explore with you is the repeated illusions to food.

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[SPEAKER_00]: In nearly every chapter before this one, Bilbo is usually telling the time by what meal of the day would be happening if he were back home.

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[SPEAKER_00]: For example, back in chapter 5, Bilbo could quote, feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other.

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[SPEAKER_00]: This chapter is no different.

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[SPEAKER_00]: When Gandalf says that the group must go on, Bilbo is, quote, suddenly aware that he had not had a meal since the night before the night before last.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Just think of that for a Hobbit.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But besides telling time by meals or the lack of meals, food pops up in a few more places.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Not the least of which is the chapter title, out of the frying pan, into the fire.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That's a common enough axiom in the English language today, usually referring to getting out of one bad situation just to find yourself in another.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But Tolkien actually who serves this phrase, saying it is a variation of what Bilbo says, quote, escaping goblins to be caught by wolves, he said, and it became a proverb, though we now say out of the frying pan into the fire.

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[SPEAKER_00]: in the same sort of uncomfortable situations.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, there's that motif of uncomfort again as well.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Later, Bilbo says he feels like a piece of bacon, and that the Eagles are forks who have picked him out of the pan to be put back on the shelf.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But Dory points out the flaw in his metaphor, quote, no you don't, because the bacon knows it will get back into the pan sooner or later, and it is to be hoped we shant.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo continues to think of himself as food, for when the Eagles referred to them as prisoner, he begins, quote, to think of being torn up for supper like a rabbit.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You can't really blame Bilbo for the feeling, of all the new creatures he's met on this adventure, only the dwarves and the elves have not tried to eat him.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The trolls, the goblins, and golem all considered Bilbo as a meal.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The goblins even had a song, once they had joined the warps at the foot of the trees, where they seen, quote, roast them alive, or stew them in a pot, fry them, boil them, and eat them hot.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But Bilbo sees Gandalf talking with the Lord of the Eagles, and realizes that he is quote not going to be eaten after all, what a relief.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The Eagles do not intend to make a meal out of Bilbo, so we can easily categorize them as good creatures.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo ends this chapter with a much fuller stomach than how he began.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Sure he found some barriers on the road, but it's only after the Eagles have brought up, quote, rabbits, hairs, and a small sheep.

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[SPEAKER_00]: For the dwarves to roast, that Bilbo finally has a meal.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Funny, though, that the dwarves are much more self-sufficient than the Hobbit, quote, he was not much good at skinning rabbits or kind of get meat, being used to having it delivered by the butcher already to cook.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And even though he would have preferred bread and butter to meat roasted in the wild, quote, soon Bilbo Stomach was feeling full and comfortable again.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We've danced around them a bit, but let's dive a little deeper on the two new creatures that Tolkien introduces us to in this chapter, Wargs and Eagles.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo has never seen wolves before.

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[SPEAKER_00]: All the same he and the dwarves come to a clearing that quote, somehow strikes all of them as not at all a nice place.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Suddenly, they hear a howling in the distance.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Already these wolves, without even being seen yet, are putting Bilbo on uncomfortable footing.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Quote, to hear the howling out in the forest under the moon was too much for Bilbo.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Even magic rings are not much use against wolves, but these are not mere wolves.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They are quote evil packs that lived under the shadow of the goblin infested mountains.

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[SPEAKER_00]: These wolves are so evil in fact that they are given a specific name, quote, warrants, for so the evil wolves over the edge of the wild were named.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Their language was dreadful, and even though Bilbo doesn't understand it, quote, it sounded terrible to him, as if all their talk was about cruel and wicked things.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We learned that the wargs and the goblins have an alliance, and the wargs allow goblins to write them, quote, like men do on horses.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Gandalf, being a master of fire, begins to burn the walls with blue, red, and green flames.

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[SPEAKER_00]: All this commotion catches the attention of the Lord of the Eagles.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Eagles were told, had very keen eyesight.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They are, quote, not kindly birds, but at least they had no love or fear for goblins and wards.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The Eagles arrive at just the right time.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The trees the Bilbo and the dwarves are hiding in are in flames.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Roblins and wolves have encircled the trees, singing nasty insulting songs, and calling them little birds.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That insult actually is a touch of foreshadowing that, as we're about to see.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But Gandalf has reached the end of his power.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The fire is climbing his tree.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He is preparing to spring down on the goblins in an attempt to break their ranks.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Quote, that would have been the end of him.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Though he would probably have killed many of them as he came hurtling down like a thunderbolt.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But, he never leaped.

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[SPEAKER_00]: At Gandalf's most desperate moment, when he has decided to sacrifice himself and potentially help the others.

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[SPEAKER_00]: he eagles intervene.

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[SPEAKER_00]: This is a classic case of eucotastrophe.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The sudden joyous turn, just when all seems lost, that we discussed in our previous episode.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Not only for Gandalf, but for Bilbo too, as he grabs Dory's legs and is pulled from the tree by an eagle, just as the tree catches fire, quote, there was a sudden flurry of sparks and smoke.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo has escaped, only just in time.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But this is not the only you catastrophic moment of this chapter.

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[SPEAKER_00]: After being saved, Bilba mentions that he is quote nearly dead of hunger.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, it had been three days since he ate anything of substance.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The Eagles saw this desperation as well, bringing up firewood and food as I mentioned before.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So we have two new creatures, Wargs, who are aligned with Goblins and Eagles, who are not.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But the Eagles serve a higher literary function.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They are Tolkien's prime choice for delivering a sudden joyous turn.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But there's something the Eagles have not saved Bilbo from, and we'll get to that right after this break.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo is beginning to change.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We see subtle beginnings of his changing in this chapter, and it happens right from the first paragraphs.

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[SPEAKER_00]: As Bilbo has escaped the goblins and golem, he is still lost and separated from the others.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Beyond that, quote, all the while a very uncomfortable thought was growing inside him.

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[SPEAKER_00]: What was that uncomfortable thought?

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[SPEAKER_00]: A thought as unexpected as it was uncomfortable for Bilbo Baggins, that he should return to the darkness of the horrible tunnels, and attempt to rescue his friends.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Why this sudden surge of boldness in our little Hobbit?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Quote?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, he had the magic ring.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, yes.

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[SPEAKER_00]: A magic ring that made you invisible in the darkness.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That hid you from the eyes of others.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That obscured your deeds so that no one could see.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That was a power that suddenly made Bilbo think he could rescue his friends.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, the deceitfulness of Sauron's one ring.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The words from Ergon in the Fellowship movie come to mind, quote, you cannot wield it, none of us can.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo is luckily spared from this test as he stumbles on Gandalf and the dwarves conversing.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The dwarves opinion of the Hobbit has never been lower than it is now, quote, he has been more troubled than use so far, they say.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They are willing to leave him behind, to fare on his own with the goblins and the dark.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Quote, Confused to Kate him, they say.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Which is the second time that where it has appeared in this book and I still don't completely understand what it means.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But Bill Bo's ring provides him an advantage.

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[SPEAKER_00]: His invisibility allows him to slip past unseen by their sharp-eyed look-out man, and step right into the middle of the group, suddenly appearing as he takes off the ring.

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[SPEAKER_00]: From that moment, Grote, Bilbo's reputation went up a very great deal with the dwarves after this.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Ballin, who has not even let Amal go unnoticed by him as lookout, takes his hood off and offers his service to Bilbo.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo tells them of the real game in the dark and his escape from the garblins.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But leaves out the little detail of the ring, and, quote, The Dwarves looked at him with quite a new respect.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Certainly, Bilbo felt very proud of himself, and I can't help but think of that moment 60 years from our current tale, when Bilbo will throw a long-expected party in the Shire, give a speech, and then suddenly disappear.

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[SPEAKER_00]: and, in an inverse, his gravitas with the Hobbit's plummetes after this act, quote, he's mad, I always said so, was probably the most popular comment.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Returning to the chapter, Bill Bo's change in character will have dire ramifications for the fate of Middle-earth, though it out that Bill Bo or even Tolkien knew it at the time.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Nevertheless, there's a little foreshadowing, as the party is traveling, small pebbles begin to be unlaugged under their feet, until eventually an entire rock slide has been triggered.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The change in billbows character are like the small pebbles starting in avalanche that will have a lasting impact on Middle-earth.

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[SPEAKER_00]: One final change to observe in billbow.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's safe in the Eagle's Iary with a belly full of roasted meat.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yet he seems to be adjusted to travel in the wild.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But he slept curled up on the hard rock, more soundly than ever he had done on his featherbed, in his own little hole at home.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But are all these changes for Bilbo's good?

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[SPEAKER_00]: The last sentence of the chapter suggests that Bilbo is growing in anxiety and nervousness.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Quote, But all night, he dreamed of his own house and wandered in his sleep into all his different rooms, looking for something that he could not find, nor remember what it looks like.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo, like Golem before him, is beginning to brood over the one ring, but the ring, with a will of its own, is deceptive and eludes Bilbo's dream time searching.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Join me in the next episode, where we'll compare this episode to Peter Jackson's film adaptation, which will take us nearly to the end of the first Hobbit movie.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for wondering

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[SPEAKER_00]: My friends, if you enjoyed this episode, let me know by subscribing, leaving a review and sharing with your friends.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Follow me on Facebook or Instagram at more of the Reads podcast.

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[SPEAKER_00]: For feedback on the show, please email me using the link in the show news.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Until next Thursday, remember, not all those who want to, are lost.