The Hobbit

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The following passages have been ‘tagged’ based on the following categories:

  • GARMENTS, JEWELRY, ARTIFACTS (such as common tools, tableware, containers, belts, pouches, &c.), LIGHTING, FURNITURE, Warfare-related (WEAPONS, ARMOR, TACTICS, other MILITARY matters—troop strength &c.), FOOD (cooked) & DRINK, ARCHITECTURE, ECONOMICS &LIVELIHOODS (including LIVESTOCK), FLORA (including herbs & foraged foods), FAUNA (including non-working animals), MATERIALS (fabrics, metals, & wood—including TREES), CULTURAL/SOCIAL, TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION, PHYSICAL descriptions


The Hobbit, Chapter 1: An Unexpected Party:

“It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats - the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill - The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it - and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond…” ARCHITECTURE; FURNITURE; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“All that the unsuspecting Bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a staff. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which a white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots.” GARMENTS; WIZARDS; 3A

“It was a dwarf with a blue beard tucked into a golden belt, and very bright eyes under his dark-green hood. As soon as the door was opened, he pushed inside, just as if he had been expected. He hung his hooded cloak on the nearest peg, and ‘Dwalin at your service!’ he said with a low bow.” GARMENTS; CULTURAL; DWARVES; 3A

“Instead there was a very old-looking dwarf on the step with a white beard and a scarlet hood… he caught sight of Dwalin's green hood hanging up. He hung his red one next to it, and "Balin at your service!" he said with his hand on his breast.” GARMENTS; CULTURAL; DWARVES; 3A

“"A little beer would suit me better, if it is all the same to you, my good sir," said Balin with the white beard. "But I don't mind some cake-seed-cake, if you have any." "Lots!" Bilbo found himself answering, to his own surprise; and he found himself scuttling off, too, to the cellar to fill a pint beer-mug, and to the pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon for his after-supper morsel.” FOOD; DRINK; ARTIFACTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“It was two more dwarves, both with blue hoods, silver belts, and yellow beards; and each of them carried a bag of tools and a spade…‘What can I do for you, my dwarves?’ he said. ‘Kili at your service!’ said the one. ‘And Fili!’ added the other; and they both swept off their blue hoods and bowed. ‘At yours and your family's!’ replied Bilbo, remembering his manners this time. GARMENTS; ARTIFACTS; CULTURAL; SHIRE; DWARVES; HOBBITS; 3A

“Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin were their names; and very soon two purple hoods, a grey hood, a brown hood, and a white hood were hanging on the pegs, and off they marched with their broad hands stuck in their gold and silver belts to join the others.” GARMENTS; JEWELRY; DWARVES; 3A

“A big jug of coffee bad just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones, when there came a loud knock.” FOOD; DRINK; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Then they hung up two yellow hoods and a pale green one; and also a sky-blue one with a long silver tassel. This last belonged to Thorin” GARMENTS; DWARVES; 3A

“I hope there is something left for the late-comers to eat and drink! What's that? Tea! No thank you! A little red wine, I think, for me." "And for me," said Thorin. "And raspberry jam and apple-tart," said Bifur. "And mince-pies and cheese," said Bofur. "And pork-pie and salad," said Bombur. "And more cakes-and ale-and coffee, if you don't mind," called the other dwarves through the door. "Put on a few eggs, there's a good fellow!" Gandalf called after him, as the hobbit stumped off to the pantries. "And just bring out the cold chicken and pickles!"” FOOD; DRINK; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“By the time he had got all the bottles and dishes and knives and forks and glasses and plates and spoons and things piled up on big trays, he was getting very hot, and red in the face, and annoyed.” ARTIFACTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“…they went back, and found Thorin with his feet on the fender smoking a pipe. He was blowing the most enormous smoke-rings, and wherever he told one to go, it went-up the chimney, or behind the clock on the mantelpiece, or under the table, or round and round the ceiling; but wherever it went it was not quick enough to escape Gandalf. Pop! he sent a smaller smoke-ring from his short clay-pipe straight through each one of Thorin's.” ARTIFACTS; ARCHITECTURE; MATERIALS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

"Now for some music!" said Thorin. "Bring out the instruments!" Kili and Fili rushed for their bags and brought back little fiddles; Dori, Nori, and Ori brought out flutes from somewhere inside their coats; Bombur produced a drum from the hall; Bifur and Bofur went out too, and came back with clarinets that they had left among the walking-sticks Dwalin and Balin … came back with viols as big as themselves, and with Thorin's harp wrapped in a green cloth. It was a beautiful golden harp, and when Thorin struck it the music began all at once…” CULTURAL (Music); GARMENTS; DWARVES; 3A

“"Indeed I will," said Thorin, and he fastened [Thrain’s key] upon a fine chain that hung about his neck and under his jacket.” GARMENTS; DWARVES; 3A


The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton:

“Up jumped Bilbo, and putting on his dressing-gown went into the dining-room.” GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, walking-stick or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out... and found he had come without a pocket-handkerchief!” GARMENTS; ARTIFACTS; ECON; CULTUAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton:

“‘Now scuttle off, and come back quick, if all is well. If not, come back if you can! It you can't, hoot twice like a barn-owl and once like a screech-owl, and we will do what we can.’” FAUNA; ERIADOR; TROLLSHAWS; 3A

“‘Don't talk to yerself!’ said Tom. ‘But if you wants to sit on the last one, sit on him. Which is he?’ ‘The one with the yellow stockings,’ said Bert. ‘Nonsense, the one with the grey stockings,’ said a voice like William's.” GARMENTS; DWARVES; 3A At least two of the dwarves in Thorin’s company wore stockings?!'

“So they carried out the pots of coins, and such food as was un-touched and looked fit to eat, also one barrel of ale which was still full. By that time they felt like breakfast, and being very hungry they did not turn their noses up at what they had got from the trolls' larder. Their own provisions were very scanty. Now they had bread and cheese, and plenty of ale, and bacon to toast in the embers of the fire.” DRINK; FOOD; TROLLSHAWS; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 4: Over-hill and Under-hill:

“"The summer is getting on down below," thought Bilbo, "and haymaking is going on and picnics. They will be harvesting and blackberrying, before we even begin to go down the other side at this rate." And the others were thinking equally gloomy thoughts, although when they had said good-bye to Elrond in the high hope of a midsummer morning, they' had spoken gaily of the passage of the mountains, and of riding swift across the lands beyond.” ECON; FOOD; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes, tongs, and also instruments of torture, [goblins] make very well” ARTIFACTS; WEAPONS; ORCS; 3A

“There in the shadows on a large flat stone sat a tremendous goblin with a huge head, and armed goblins were standing round him carrying the axes and the bent swords that they use.” WEAPONS; GOBLIN-TOWN; ORCS; 3A From the earliest, it seems that orcs characteristically associated with scimitars or curved blades.

“…the goblins…put out their torches and they slipped on soft shoes, and they chose out their very quickest runners with the sharpest ears and eyes.” GARMENTS; GOBLIN-TOWN; ORCS; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 5: Riddles in the Dark:

“After some time he felt for his pipe. It was not broken, and that was something. Then he felt for his pouch, and there was some tobacco in it, and that was something more. Then he felt for matches and he could not find any at all, and that shattered his hopes completely. Just as well for him, as he agreed when he came to his senses. Goodness knows what the striking of matches and the smell of tobacco would have brought on him out of dark holes in that horrible place. Still at the moment he felt very crushed. But in slapping all his pockets and feeling all round himself for matches his hand came on the hilt of his little sword - the little dagger that he got from the trolls, and that he had quite forgotten; nor do the goblins seem to have noticed it, as he wore it inside his breeches.” ARTIFACTS; GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Bilbo blinked, and then suddenly he saw the goblins: goblins in full armour with drawn swords sitting just inside the door, and watching it with wide eyes, and watching the passage that led to it.” ARMOR; WEAPONS; ORCS; 3A

“Whistles blew, armour clashed, swords rattled, goblins cursed and swore and ran hither and thither, falling over one another and getting very angry. There was a terrible outcry, to-do, and disturbance.” CULTURAL; ORCS; 3A Orcs using whistles for communication??

“[Bilbo] gave a terrific squirm. Buttons burst off in all directions. He was through, with a torn coat and waistcoat, leaping down the steps like a goat, while bewildered goblins were still picking up his nice brass buttons on the doorstep.” GARMENTS; MATERIALS; FAUNA; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 6: Out of the Frying-Pan Into the Fire:

“As they went on Bilbo looked from side to side for something to eat; but the blackberries were still only in flower, and of course there were no nuts, nor even hawthorn-berries. He nibbled a bit of sorrel, and he drank from a small mountain-stream that crossed the path, and he ate three wild strawberries that he found on its bank, but it was not much good. They still went on and on. The rough path disappeared. The bushes, and the long grasses, between the boulders, the patches of rabbit-cropped turf, the thyme and the sage and the marjoram, and the yellow rockroses all vanished…” FLORA; FAUNA; RHOVANION; HOBBITS; 3A

“Fili and Kili were at the top of a tall larch like an enormous Christmas tree. Dori, Nori, On, Oin, and Gloin were more comfortable in a huge pine with regular branches sticking out at intervals like the spokes of a wheel. Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin were in another. Dwalin and Balin had swarmed up a tall slender fir with few branches and were trying to find a place to sit in the greenery of the topmost boughs. Gandalf, who was a good deal taller than the others, had found a tree into which they could not climb, a large pine standing at the very edge of the glade.” TREES; RHOVANION; 3A

“In spite of the dangers of this far land bold men had of late been making their way back into it from the South, cutting down trees, and building themselves places to live in among the more pleasant woods in the valleys and along the river-shores. There were many of them, and they were brave and well-armed, and even the Wargs dared not attack them if there were many together, or in the bright day. But now [the Wargs] had planned with the goblins’ help to come by night upon some of the villages nearest the mountains.” ARCHITECTURE; CULTURAL; ECON; RHOVANION; MEN; 3A

“The Lord of the Eagles would not take them anywhere near where men lived. “They would shoot at us with their great bows of yew," he said, "for they would think we were after their sheep.” WEAPONS; TREES; LIVESTOCK; RHOVANION; MEN; 3A

“Oin and Gloin had lost their tinderboxes. (Dwarves have never taken to matches even yet.)” ARTIFACTS; CULTURAL; DWARVES; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 7: Queer Lodgings:

“…at last the hobbit opened his eyes again. The earth was much nearer, and below them were trees that looked like oaks and elms, and wide grass lands, and a river running through it all.” TREES; RHOVANION; 3A

“Very few people live in these parts, unless they have come here since I was last down this way, which is some years ago.” “[Beorn] lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses…he does not eat them; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees, and lives most on cream and honey.” TREES; LIVESTOCK; FOOD; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“After a while they came to a belt of tall and very ancient oaks, and beyond these to a high thorn hedge… They soon came to a wooden gate, high and broad, beyond which they could see gardens and a cluster of low wooden buildings, some thatched and made of unshaped logs: barns, stables, sheds, and a long low wooden house. Inside on the southward side of the great hedge were rows and rows of hives with bell-shaped tops made of straw.” TREES; ARCHITECTURE; ECON; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“Soon they reached a courtyard, three walls of which were formed by the wooden house and its two long wings.” ARCHITECTURE; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“Standing near was a huge man with a thick black beard and hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles. He was clothed in a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe.” ARTIFACTS; GARMENTS; MATERIALS; PHYSICAL; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“As for Bilbo he could easily have trotted through his legs without ducking his head to miss the fringe of the man’s brown tunic.” GARMENTS; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“Then baa-baa-baa! was heard, and in came some snow-white sheep led by a large coal-black ram*. One bore a white cloth embroidered at the edges with figures of animals; others bore on their broad backs trays with bowls and platters and knives and wooden spoons, which the dogs took and quickly laid on the trestle tables. These were very low, low enough even for Bilbo to sit at comfortably. Beside them a pony pushed two lowseated benches with wide rush-bottoms and little short thick legs for Gandalf and Thorin, while at the far end he put Beorn’s big black chair of the same sort (in which he sat with his great legs stuck far out under the table). These were all the chairs he had in his hall, and he probably had them low like the tables for the convenience of the wonderful animals that waited on him. What did the rest sit on? They were not forgotten. The other ponies came in rolling round drum-shaped sections of logs, smoothed and polished, and low enough even for Bilbo; so soon they were all seated at Beorn’s table, and the hall had not seen such a gathering for many a year.” LIVESTOCK; ARTIFACTS; FURNITURE; CULTURAL; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“The light of the torches and the fire flickered about them, and on the table were two tall red beeswax candles.” LIGHTING; FURNITURE; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“…Beorn did not appear to care for [gold, silver, jewels, smith-craft]: there were no things of gold or silver in his hall, and few save the knives were made of metal at all. They sat long at the table with their wooden drinking-bowls filled with mead.” CULTURAL; MATERIALS; DRINK; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“For [Bilbo] there was a little mattress of straw and woolen blankets.” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“At last Gandalf pushed away his plate and jug—he had eaten two whole loaves (with masses of butter and honey and clotted cream) and drunk at least a quart of mead…” ARTIFACTS; FOOD; DRINK; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“‘If you lived near the edge of Mirkwood, you would take the word of no one that you did not know as well as your brother or better.’” CULTURAL; RHOVANION; MIRKWOOD; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“…he would lade them with food to last them for weeks with care, and packed so as to be as easy as possible to carry—nuts, flour, sealed jars of dried fruits, and red earthenware pots of honey, and twice-baked cakes that would keep good a long time, and on a little of which they could march far. The making of these was one of his secrets; but honey was in them, as in most of his foods, and they were good to eat, though they made one thirsty.” (132). FOOD; MATERIALS; TRAVEL; CULTURAL; RHOVANION; MIRKWOOD; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

““I will provide you with skins for carrying water, and I will give you some bows and arrows.”” ARTIFACTS; WEAPONS; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“So they rode now for two more days, and all the while they saw nothing save grass and flowers and birds and scattered trees, and occasionally small herds of red deer browsing or sitting at noon in the shade.” FAUNA; RHOVANION; MIRKWOOD; 3A Red deer are basically European elk, but considering the high summer setting, is it possible that these are a smaller (whitetail-sized) animal, with the ‘red’ denoting their summer coats?

The Hobbit, Chapter 8: Flies and Spiders:

“They tried shooting at the squirrels, and they wasted many arrows before they managed to bring one down on the path. But when they roasted it, it proved horrible to taste, and they shot no more squirrels.” FAUNA; MIRKWOOD; 3A

“"Come here Fili, and see if you can see the boat Mr. Baggins is talking about." Fili thought he could; so when he had stared a long while to get an idea of the direction, the others brought him a rope. They had several with them, and on the end of the longest they fastened one of the large iron hooks they had used for catching their packs to the straps about their shoulders. Fili took this in his hand, balanced it for a moment, and then flung it across the stream.” ARTIFACTS; TRAVEL; DWARVES; 3A ????

“The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk. If they have a fault it is distrust of strangers. Though their magic was strong, even in those days they were wary. They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise. For most of them (together with their scattered relations in the hills and mountains) were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West. … In the Wide World the Wood-elves lingered in the twilight of our Sun and Moon but loved best the stars; and they wandered in the great forests that grew tall in lands that are now lost. They dwelt most often by the edges of the woods, from which they could escape at times to hunt, or to ride and run over the open lands by moonlight or starlight; and after the coming of Men they took ever more and more to the gloaming and the dusk. Still elves they were and remain, and that is Good People. In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood on its eastern side there lived at this time their greatest king. Before his huge doors of stone a river ran out of the heights of the forest and flowed on and out into the marshes at the feet of the high wooded lands. This great cave, from which countless smaller ones opened out on every side, wound far underground and had many passages and wide halls; but it was lighter and more wholesome than any goblin-dwelling, and neither so deep nor so dangerous. In fact the subjects of the king mostly lived and hunted in the open woods, and had houses or huts on the ground and in the branches. The beeches were their favourite trees. The king's cave was his palace, and the strong place of his treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies.” CULTURAL; ARCHITECTURE; ECON; MIRKWOOD; ELVES; 3A It would be interesting to learn if these woodelves lived on flets or talan like those of Lothlorien?

The Hobbit, Chapter 9: Barrels Out of Bond:

“…suddenly out sprang the light of many torches all round them, like hundreds of red stars. Out leaped Wood-elves with their bows and spears and called the dwarves to halt. There was no thought of a fight. Even if the dwarves had not been in such a state that they were actually glad to be captured, their small knives, the only weapons they had, would have been of no use against the arrows of the elves that could hit a bird's eye in the dark.” WEAPONS; MIRKWOOD; ELVES; DWARVES; 3A It seemed as though Thorin's company lost all gear in the goblin-tunnels? Where then, did they get these knives then? Beorn?

“There stood barrels, and barrels, and barrels; for the Wood-elves, and especially their king, were very fond of wine, though no vines grew in those parts. The wine, and other goods, were brought from far away, from their kinsfolk in the South, or from the vineyards of Men in distant lands. Hiding behind one of the largest barrels Bilbo discovered the trapdoors and their use, and lurking there, listening to the talk of the king's servants, he learned how the wine and other goods came up the rivers, or over land, to the Long Lake. It seemed a town of Men still throve there, built out on bridges far into the water as a protection against enemies of all sorts, and especially against the dragon of the Mountain. From Lake-town the barrels were brought up the Forest River. Often they were just tied together like big rafts and poled or rowed up the stream; sometimes they were loaded on to flat boats. When the barrels were empty the elves cast them through the trapdoors, opened the water-gate, and out the barrels floated on the stream, bobbing along, until they were carried by the current to a place far down the river where the bank jutted out, near to the very eastern edge of Mirkwood. There they were collected and tied together and floated back to Lake-town, which stood close to the point where the Forest River flowed into the Long Lake.” DRINK; ECON; TRAVEL; MIRKWOOD; ELVES; 3A

“Very soon there was a fine commotion in the village by the riverside; but Bilbo escaped into the woods carrying a loaf and a leather bottle of wine and a pie that did not belong to him. The rest of the night he had to pass wet as he was and far from a fire, but the bottle helped him to do that, and he actually dozed a little on some dry leaves, even though the year was getting late and the air was chilly.” FOOD; DRINK; MATERIALS; ARTIFACTS; TRAVEL; MIRKWOOD; ELVES; 3A

the Hobbit, Chapter 11: On the Doorstep: “They had brought picks and tools of many sorts from Lake-town, and at first they tried to use these. But when they struck the stone the handles splintered and jarred their arms cruelly, and the steel heads broke or bent like lead.” MATERIALS, ARTIFACTS, LAKETOWN, MEN, 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 12: Inside Information:

“Behind him where the walls were nearest could dimly be seen coats of mail, helms and axes, swords and spears hanging; and there in rows stood great jars and vessels filled with a wealth that could not be guessed.” ARMOR; WEAPONS; EREBOR; DWARVES; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 13: Not At Home:

“Now the dwarves took down mail and weapons from the walls, and armed themselves. Royal indeed did Thorin look, clad in a coat of gold-plated rings, with a silver hafted axe in a belt crusted with scarlet stones. "Mr. Baggins!" he cried. "Here is the first payment of your reward! Cast off your old coat and put on this!" With that he put on Bilbo a small coat of mail, wrought for some young elf-prince long ago. It was of silver-steel which the elves call mithril, and with it went a belt of pearls and crystals. A light helm of figured leather, strengthened beneath with hoops of steel, and studded about the brim with white gems, was set upon the hobbit's head.” ARMOR; WEAPONS; GARMENTS; EREBOR; SHIRE; DWARVES; HOBBITS; 3A

“"I would give a good many of these precious goblets, thought, "for a drink of something cheering out of one Beorn's wooden bowls!"” MATERIALS; ARTIFACTS; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

“…they rested for a while and had such a breakfast as they could, chiefly cram and water. (If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys).” FOOD; TRAVEL; RHOVANION; LAKE-TOWN; MEN; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 14: Fire and Water:

“… three quarters of the people of the town had at least escaped alive; their woods and fields and pastures and cattle and most of their boats remained undamaged; and the dragon was dead.” ECON; LIVESTOCK; RHOVANION; LAKE-TOWN; MEN; 3A

“So it was that Bard's messengers found [the Elvenking] now marching with many spearmen and bowmen…” WEAPONS; RHOVANION; MIRKWOOD; ELVES; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 15: The Gathering of the Clouds:

“The next morning early a company of spearmen was seen crossing the river, and marching up the valley. They bore with them the green banner of the Elvenking and the blue banner of the Lake…” (264). WEAPONS; RHOVANION; LAKE-TOWN; MIRKWOOD; MEN; ELVES; 3A

“Then Thorin seized a bow of horn and shot an arrow at the speaker. It smote into his shield and stuck there quivering.” WEAPONS; ARMOR; RHOVANION; LAKE-TOWN; EREBOR; MEN; DWARVES; 3A This bow comes from Erebor’s armory? Horn = composite bow? Assuming the speaker is a Man from Lake-town.

The Hobbit, Chapter 17: The Clouds Burst:

“About midday the banners of the Forest and the Lake were seen to be borne forth again. A company of twenty was approaching. At the beginning of the narrow way they laid aside sword and spear, and came on towards the Gate. Wondering, the dwarves saw that among them were both Bard and the Elvenking…” WEAPONS; RHOVANION; MIRKWOOD; LAKE-TOWN; ELVES; MEN; 3A

“Dain had come. Each one of his folk was clad in a hauberk of steel mail that hung to his knees, and his legs were covered with hose of a fine and flexible metal mesh, the secret of whose making was possessed by Dain’s people… In battle they wielded heavy twohanded mattocks; but each of them had also a short broad sword at his side and a round shield slung at his back. Their beards were forked and plaited and thrust into their belts. Their caps were of iron and they were shod with iron, and their faces were grim.” WEAPONS; ECON; PHYSICAL; ARMOR; RHOVANION (Iron Hills); DWARVES; 3A

“"Fools!" laughed Bard, "to come thus beneath the Mountain's arm! They do not understand war above ground, whatever they may know of battle in the mines. There are many of our archers and spearmen now hidden in the rocks upon their right flank. Dwarf-mail may be good, but they will soon be hard put to it.” WEAPONS; ARMOR; RHOVANION; LAKE-TOWN; MEN; DWARVES; 3A

“The elves were the first to charge. Their hatred for the goblins is cold and bitter. Their spears and swords shone in the gloom with a gleam of chill flame, so deadly was the wrath of the hands that held them. As soon as the host of their enemies was dense in the valley, they sent against it a shower of arrows, and each flickered as it fled as if with stinging fire. Behind the arrows a thousand of their spearmen leapt down and charged.” WEAPONS; RHOVANION; MIRKWOOD; ELVES; 3A

“Just as the goblins were recovering from the onslaught and the elf-charge was halted, there rose from across the valley a deep-throated roar. With cries of "Moria!" and "Dain, Dain!" the dwarves of the Iron Hills plunged in, wielding their mattocks, upon the other side; and beside them came the men of the Lake with long swords. WEAPONS; RHOVANION; LAKE-TOWN; IRON HILLS; MEN; DWARVES; 3A

“Wolf and rider fell or fled before them. Thorin wielded his axe with mighty strokes, and nothing seemed to harm him.” WEAPONS; RHOVANION; EREBOR; DWARVES; 3A

“Day drew on. The goblins gathered again in the valley. There a host of Wargs came ravening and with them came the bodyguard of Bolg, goblins of huge size with scimitars of steel.” WEAPONS; ORCS; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 18: The Return Journey:

“But weariness left their enemies with the coming of new hope, and they pursued them closely, and prevented most of them from escaping where they could. They drove many of them into the Running River, and such as fled south or west they hunted into the marshes about the Forest River; and there the greater part of the last fugitives perished, while those that came hardly to the Wood-elves' realm were there slain, or drawn in to die in the trackless dark of Mirkwood. Songs have said that three parts of the goblin warriors of the North perished on that day, and the mountains had peace for many a year.” MILITARY; MISTY MTNS; RHOVANION; ORCS; 3A ‘Three parts’ is an archaic way of saying three-fourths.

“Anyway by mid-winter Gandalf and Bilbo had come all the way back, along both edges of the Forest, to the doors of Beorn’s house; and there for a while they both stayed. Yule-tide was warm and merry there; and men came from far and wide to feast at Beorn’s bidding. The goblins of the Misty Mountains were now few and terrified, and hidden in the deepest holes they could find; and the Wargs had vanished from the woods, so that men went abroad without fear. Beorn indeed became a great chief afterwards in those regions and ruled a wide land between the mountains and the wood; and it is said that for many generations the men of his line had the power of taking bear’s shape, and some were grim men and bad, but most were in heart like Beorn, if less in size and strength. In their day the last goblins were hunted from the Misty Mountains and a new peace came over the edge of the Wild.” CULTURAL; TRAVEL; RHOVANION; BEORNINGS; MEN; 3A

The Hobbit, Chapter 19: The Last Stage:

“[Bilbo] mopped his face with a red silk handkerchief-no! not a single one of his own had survived, he had borrowed this one from Elrond…” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; RIVENDELL; ELVES; 3A