Summary: Chapter 14
The narrator suspends telling the story of Bilbo and the
dwarves at the mountain and focuses on Smaug as the dragon flies
toward Lake Town to wreak vengeance. The people of Lake Town see
the dragon coming from a long way off (some think at first that
his fire is the river running with gold) and prepare archers and
many buckets of water to douse the coming flames. Their readiness
is of little help, for Smaug flies over the town and lights every
roof on fire. The men’s arrows bounce harmlessly off the dragon’s
diamondlike hide. When most of the men have abandoned the city,
one man, Bard, the captain of the archers, readies his last arrow.
Suddenly, a thrush lands on his shoulder and speaks in a language
he can understand. The bird tells Bard to watch for the dragon’s
weak spot in the hollow of his left breast. Bard looks, sees the
open patch, and lets fly his arrow. It plunges through the chink
in the dragon’s armor and buries itself in his heart. The beast
comes crashing down, destroying the rest of Lake Town as he dies.
Bard manages to dive safely into the water and join the rest of
his people, who are mourning the dead and their lost town. Some
blame the dwarves for waking the dragon, but most assume that they
too are dead. Then the lake men remember the gold in the Lonely
Mountain, and they think eagerly of how the wealth could rebuild
their town.
News of Smaug’s death spreads quickly. It reaches far
and wide, bringing the Elvenking and an army of elves, who stop
at Lake Town to lend aid. The humans and elves then gather together
in a single army and march toward the Lonely Mountain. Most of them expect
to find a massive treasure left unattended.
Summary: Chapter 15
Meanwhile, the thrush returns to the company on the mountain. Finding
that they cannot understand its speech, the thrush brings an old
raven that can speak in the common tongue. This bird informs Bilbo
and the dwarves of Smaug’s death, and they rejoice. However, their
rejoicing is short-lived, as the raven goes on to describe the huge
army of humans and elves marching toward them, as well as the suffering
of Lake Town’s people, who surely deserve some share of the massive
treasure in the mountain. Thorin regards the treasure as his inheritance
and plans to fight for it, however, regardless of what the people
of Lake Town have suffered.
Under Thorin’s orders, the company retreats to the mountain and
fortifies it by building a formidable wall at the main gate. From there,
they watch as Bard and representatives of the elves approach. Bard
informs them that he killed Smaug and that Lake Town has been destroyed.
He asks that the dwarves be generous in sharing the wealth of the
mountain, since they have benefited so much at the expense of the
humans. Thorin flatly refuses. He feels that he owes the humans
nothing since the gold belonged to his people originally. Bard gives
Thorin some time to reconsider, but Thorin will not change his position.
The mountain is declared besieged: nothing and no one will be let
in or out if elves and men can help it. Bilbo, for his part, would
gladly share the treasure. He is entirely discouraged by the whole
turn of affairs. However, no dwarf questions Thorin, and the hobbit
has no say in the dwarves’ decision.
Analysis: Chapters 14–15
Bard, the only human hero in The Hobbit, is
grim, courageous, and honorable. Bard’s descent from the people
of Dale—who lived in peace with Thorin’s ancestors in happier times,
before Smaug—allows him to hear the words of the thrush that communicates Bilbo’s
message. Bard is brave enough to be the last man standing in the
town and skilled enough to kill Smaug with a shot. Bard is kind and
reasonable, presenting the demands of the men and the elves as politely
as possible to Thorin and asking only for what is needed to rebuild
Lake Town and help alleviate his people’s suffering.
After they find the treasure, the dwarves’ disturbing
greed escalates to the extent that Thorin seems more like a villain
than a hero by Chapter 15. We sense that
poor Bilbo, as an ally of the dwarves, is stuck on the wrong side
of the conflict. When the elf and human armies advance to propose
that the treasure be shared, the narrator observes that Thorin’s
lust for gold has been building ever since he entered the dragon’s
lair. This lust has made Thorin and most of the other dwarves totally
unreasonable. We are told that only Bombur, Fili, and Kili do not
completely share Thorin’s stubbornness.
