Bilbo was somewhat startled to realize that the pattern of his movements may have been observed more closely than he had known. Respectfully, the guard had asked that Bilbo accompany him to Dain’s small attendance room (Dain never used the grand throne if he could avoid it). It seemed disrespectful to go directly from Thranduil to Thorin. Bilbo usually went there after a visit down the mountain.
One of Dain’s guards had caught Bilbo on his way to the library. It was in the early evening, after he had returned from dinner with the Wood Elves, that Dain spoke to Bilbo for the first time. Though from what Bilbo had seen, he was not sure Elven kings ever had much to do. Certainly he seemed to have nothing to do there. If Bilbo had not known the idea was ridiculous, he would have thought Thranduil lingered at the Elven camp only for his company. Already Bard spent most of his time in Dale, supervising the rebuilding there. As the wounded healed enough to be moved, the camps were shrinking. Soon this escape would no longer be available to him.
When he could stand the mountain no longer and must see the sky above him, Bilbo went down the approach a bit to the camps of the Men or the Elves, to visit with Bard or Thranduil, for somehow both had become good friends. Bilbo thought that at some point, he would be ready to return to the Shire and Gandalf would somehow know and be there the next day. Gandalf had stayed for a time, but then he was required elsewhere. None of them approached Bilbo, however so he was left to mourn with only his dear companions. They did show great respect to the members of the company, Bilbo among them in fact, Bilbo thought they regarded the company with as close to awe as these stoic Dwarves came. The Dwarves of the Iron Hills remained in their plain iron-studded jerkins and iron-toed boots. Bilbo remembered how easily Thorin’s company had traded their worn travel clothes for the shining armor of the Dragon’s hoard.
The mines of the Iron Hills were practical mines for a practical people: its namesake iron as well as copper and perhaps a vein or two of silver. Apparently the Iron Hills were a harder place, sufficient to the needs of the dwarves there, but not wealthy like the Lonely Mountain. All the Dwarves of the Iron Hills seemed discomfited by Erebor: by the boundless gold, the mines of mithril and jewels. Hobbits are forgiving creatures, kind to a fault but Bilbo had not forgiven yet.ĭain did not seem at ease when he came, either. If it could not be Thorin, then yes: Fili, Kili but with all of them gone, that the kingship of Erebor had gone to this stern-faced ruler of the Iron Hills, who had not come with Thorin from the beginning. In Bilbo’s heart, there was only one King under the Mountain. He seemed fair and honorable in his dealings with Men and Elves. He had proved himself a great warrior in the Battle of the Five Armies. He didn’t know what to think of this gruff Dwarf from the Iron Hills. Almost anyone who came to pay respects came while Bilbo was there.īut Dain seemed to come less to honor Thorin than to study Bilbo. To be fair to Dain, Bilbo spent much time at Thorin’s graveside. Certainly he was never there when Bilbo arrived. As far as he knew, Dain did not come at other times. At first, Bilbo thought that perhaps Dain thought that he would steal the Arkenstone again, and that was why he came so often to Thorin’s grave when Bilbo was there.
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