The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again Chapter 8 Quotes
The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again Chapter 8 Quotes
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Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
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. There the Light-elves and the Deep-elves and the Sea-elves went and lived for ages, and grew fairer and wiser and more learned, and invented their magic and their cunning craft in the making of beautiful and marvelous things, before some came back into the Wide World. 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. (8.128)
There's a sense of decline in this passage. While "elves they were and remain, and that is Good People," the fact still remains that the ancient tribes of elves were perhaps more marvelous than these current Mirkwood residents. And what has made the difference in their strength is "the coming of Men" – a.k.a., us. The rise of man has changed the face of Middle-earth. What sense do you get of Tolkien's feelings about the past versus the present? Which characters in The Hobbit seem most oriented towards tradition, and how do these characters keep their traditions alive? What are the traditions of the different races we see in The Hobbit?
Quote 2
In ancient days [the Wood-elves] had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bargained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. If the elf-king had a weakness it was for treasure, especially for silver and white gems; and though his hoard was rich, he was ever eager for more, since he had not yet as great a treasure as other elf-lords of old. His people neither mined nor worked metals or jewels, nor did they bother much with trade or with tilling the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf, though Thorin's family had had nothing to do with the old quarrel I have spoken of. Consequently Thorin was angry at their treatment of him, when they took their spell of him and he came to the senses; and also he was determined that no word of gold or jewels should be dragged out of him. (8.129)
But men remembered little [of the old wealth of Dale and Lake-town], though some still sang old songs of the dwarf-kings of the Mountain, Thror and Thrain of the race of Durin, and of the coming of the Dragon and the fall of the lords of Dale. Some sang too that Thorin son of Thrain would come back one day and gold would flow in rivers, through the mountain-gates, and all that land would be filled with new song and new laughter. But this pleasant legend did not much effect their daily business. (10.9)