Parasha: The Hobbit, September 24th reading
Such very stealth and brave dwarves, creeping down the tunnel like mice and refusing a light! Okay, so there might be a dragon, I guess that's somewhat of an ameliorating factor. But still, Bilbo is braver than them!
Oh dear oh dear oh dear Bilbo... you know better than to take the one prized stone that the dwarves were drooling over! Seriously, what is wrong with your head?
Harps still in tune? Riiight. Well, okay, if they're magical, maybe. Although I'll admit it's still weird to think of dwarves playing harps.
Which the elves call mithril... hahahaha, yeah, it's weird to see that mentioned here and realize it's, well, for the first time. Also of cram, another couple pages on.
And yeah, it's a good question - what exactly DOES Smaug eat (or did he eat, I guess) in that desolate area? Maybe he flame-dried a bunch of Dwarf Jerky for later consumption? *shudder*
So why is the dragon confounded because the bridges are down? He should just be able to land in the town and squash anything in his way. You'd think maybe that could have actually been a tactic - get the dragon to land on a bridge, THEN drop it, and dunk him in the lake.
Also: Man, Smaug is a dick. That is all.
So... being able to understand thrushes is an inherited trait. Good to know, I guess?
An... inherited arrow? Okay, that sucker must have some strong magic to last that long.
"Three quarters of the people of the town had at least escaped alive"... which is a nice way to say about a quarter of the population was wiped out. OUCH.
"As you see, the Master had not got his position for nothing." No, he's a spin-doctor. Seriously, there's not many of the people of Middle Earth that come across well on the whole, in this book. The Elves have been either selfish jerks, or frou-frou birdies singing in the trees. The dwarves are... well, yeah. The Hobbits are mostly complacent and lazy, from what pictures we've gotten of them, and how much the Tooks are non-Hobbitlike. And the men from the Lake aren't exactly shining in virtue, if we're looking at their leaders and the majority of the townsfolk. And of course the goblins go without saying...
Given the greed of people in general (and especially the people in Middle-Earth), I'm finding it hard to imagine that *no one* would dive into the water after diamonds that were on Smaug, even before the body was totally cooled. Just sayin'.
Eesh, yet another talking animal. What is this, Narnia?
And yeah, both sides are jerkyfaces. Srsly. I mean on the one hand, yeah, the men (and maybe the elves somewhat for helping the men) deserve recompense, considering that the dwarves stirred up the dragon and caused their whole town to be burned down and all! But most of them (except Bard) also don't seem even willing to talk to the dwarves first and ask, they're ready to just burn them out and take everything. Screw both sides. Although screw the dwarves more, for being so damn greedy and not wanting to repay the huuuge debt they have to the humans.
So... yeah. Down with 'em all.
And on Wednesday, we finish off the book!