The Hobbit: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

Thorin announces that it is time for Bilbo to earn his pay by investigating the interior of the Mountain and acting as a burglar. Bilbo replies, impatiently, that he has already saved the dwarves twice, but that he’ll go into the Mountain anyway, since he trusts his luck more than he used to at home. He asks for someone to accompany him into the Mountain; only Balin, who’s fond of Bilbo, volunteers. The narrator notes that dwarves are tricky, and not always very honorable. These dwarves, the narrator continues, intend to keep their promise and pay Bilbo handsomely for his services, but at the same time, they’re not necessarily willing risk their own lives to help him. Balin walks Bilbo into the Mountain, but eventually he hangs back and lets Bilbo proceed alone. Bilbo is afraid, but determined to go on—he has changed greatly since he left his home.

Bilbo climbs down into the mountain, where he notices a red light. As he gets closer to the source of the light, he realizes that he is looking at Smaug the dragon, lying on his treasure, asleep. The sight takes Bilbo’s breath away—he has no words that can describe it. He takes a cup from the pile of treasure, proud of himself for his bravery, and runs back to the door, where he shows Balin and the other dwarves the cup. Everyone is elated with this find, until they hear a huge noise, the sound of Smaug’s rage—the rage of a rich person who has just lost something he doesn’t really need.

The dwarves are terrified to see Smaug emerge from the mountain, roaring with rage. The dwarves try to find shelter from Smaug; they are afraid to save Bofur and Bombur, who are stationed lower down on the mountain, in a more vulnerable position. Thorin insists that they rescue them by pulling them up with rope. Bilbo and the dwarves then run through the door into the mountain. They sleep there for the night, while Smaug searches the mountain for the thief who took his cup, and finds the ponies on which the dwarves rode. Though the ponies try to run away, Thorin despairs that they’ll be killed.

Hidden just inside the mountain, the dwarves try to decide what to do. They have no way of killing Smaug, which was the flaw in their plan all along, and Bilbo points out that he can hardly be expected to steal the huge amount of treasure under the mountain piece by piece. Bilbo impatiently offers to go down to Smaug and see if he has any weaknesses. The dwarves accept his offer.

Bilbo again travels down to Smaug’s lair, to which Smaug has returned. Smaug looks asleep to Bilbo, but Bilbo doesn’t know about dragons’ keen sense of smell. Smaug smells Bilbo, and opens his eye slightly—he has only been pretending to sleep. He addresses Bilbo as “thief,” and tells him to enter and take what he wants of the treasure, since there is plenty of it to spare. Bilbo is too clever to fall for this ploy, and puts on his ring, telling Smaug that he has only come to see if Smaug is as impressive as the tales say.

Smaug asks Bilbo for his name, and Bilbo replies that he is clue-finder, web-cutter, barrel-rider, and various other titles relating to his adventures. This, the narrator notes, is the proper way to talk to dragons, who can’t resist riddles. Smaug, says he doesn’t understand Bilbo but ate fourteen ponies that smelled of dwarf, and warns Bilbo not to associate with dwarves, since they’ll surely kill him after Bilbo does their dirty work for them. He adds that Bilbo, who has probably been promised one-fourteenth of the treasure, won’t receive any of it, since it’s impossible for it to be transported back to his home. Bilbo, falling under the dragon’s spell, is genuinely surprised to hear this, and wonders if the dwarves mean to cheat him. Nevertheless, he replies that he is confident in his friends, and turns the conversation to Smaug’s armor.

Smaug, eager to show off his impregnability, rolls onto his side so that Bilbo can see his diamond armor. Bilbo notices, however, that there is a large hole in the waistcoat on Smaug’s left breast. With this information, Bilbo runs away from Smaug, who in rage bellows fire after him. The dwarves treat Bilbo’s burns, while Bilbo explains his conversation with Smaug. Bilbo, irritated with his wounds, throws a rock at a thrush, but Thorin tells him to stop, since thrushes are noble, talking birds who the dwarves have long used to communicate messages across great distances. Bilbo, meanwhile, regrets calling himself “barrel-rider,” since this will cause Smaug to think of Lake-town and to attack it. As the thrush listens, Bilbo tells the dwarves what Smaug said about being cheated out of his share; Thorin assures Bilbo that he was telling the truth, and tells him that he can choose his own fourteenth share.

The dwarves turn to talking about the treasures they will own once Smaug is defeated. The most important treasure that the dwarves mention is the Arkenstone, an incredibly beautiful gem that shines like the moon. The group then hears a roar in the middle of the night, and Bilbo urges Thorin to shut the door in the side of the mountain. Just as Thorin shuts the door, they hear a loud crash. Smaug had emerged quietly from his lair and attempted to attack them, and now has caused an avalanche, trapping them in the passageway. They listen through the door and hear Smaug fly to the river to attack the men of Lake-town, who, thanks to Bilbo’s remarks about being a “barrel rider,” Smaug thinks played some part in the theft of his cup.