After Chapter 5…

… Bilbo has just encountered Gollum and saves his own life by winning the “Riddle War”

• He now has the magical ring• He escapes from Gollum’s cave and safely

gets away from the Goblins

• Bilbo is lost• He is debating in his

mind whether or not to go back into the cave to look for his friends.

• He decides that he should when he hears voices and realizes that he has found the dwarves!

What are the dwarves and Gandalf discussing when Bilbo walks over?

If they should go look for Bilbo and why Gandalf wanted to bring him in the first place

Why is it important that Gandalf and the crew continue on their journey quickly?

The Goblins will be after them shortly. Goblins can smell dwarves' footprints for hours after they have passed.

When the group is walking through the pine woods they encounter the wargs. What are wargs?

Wolves

Why will the ring not save Bilbo from the wargs?

The wargs have a stronger sense of smell than Goblins

Where does the group go to get away from the wargs?

Up the trees

Who was on the same side as the wargs? Who were the wargs allies?

The Goblins

How does Gandalf, the dwarves and Bilbo escape from the trees?

Gandalf lights pine cones on fire and throws them down on the wolves. Their coats immediately start on fire and they spread the fire among the wargs. Eventually they flee looking for water to stop the fire.

What do the Goblins do once they see what is going on?

They light sticks and leaves and start a fire around the trees that the group are in. Flames surround the group.

Who saves the group from the burning trees?

The Lord of the Eagles saves Gandalf – other eagles save the rest of the group

Who/what is Beorn?

He is a skin changer. This means that sometimes he can be a huge black bear and other times he is a black-haired man.

How does Gandalf introduce Bilbo and the dwarves to Beorn? Why does he do it this way?

Gandalf tells them to come in 2 at a time – 5 minutes apart. He does this to build the anticipation of his story and to ensure the group would be welcomed at Beorns as he did not have many friends (and didn’t allow many people in his house) and 15 dwarves were a lot to bring anywhere!

Who took care of the group while they stayed at Beorn’s house? What does this tell us about Beorn?

Animals. He is a big fan of animals and feels close to nature – he doesn’t eat meat either.

What material possessions does Beorn give the group as they set back out on their journey?

Ponies, a horse for Gandalf, food to last for weeks, water, bows and arrows,

What 2 “rules” or “words of wisdom” does Beorn give the group about Mirkwood before they leave?

1. They should not drink or bathe in the black, enchanted river

2. They should not stray from the path

What does Bilbo see following the group as they continue through the forest?

The shadow of a great bear (Beorn)

Why does Gandalf leave the group when they make it to Mirkwood?

He has his own matters to attend to.

Describe Mirkwood

Small path (the dwarves had to walk in a single file line), gloomy, dim/dark, black squirrels, many cobwebs, many trees, leaves, difficult to breath, no fresh air, stuffy

Describe Mirkwood at night. Why couldn’t the group light a fire?

Extremely dark, insect eyes all around, bats flying around. They couldn’t light fires because it caused thousands of moths to fly towards it.

Explain how Thorin and company get across the black, enchanted river

Bilbo sees a boat on the other side. They throw a rope with iron hooks on it and pull it to their side. They throw another iron hook back to the other side and pull themselves across. A few dwarves go across at a time.

What happens to Bombur during this process? How does this affect him the rest of their trip?

Bombur falls in the river and almost drowns. He falls fast asleep and stays asleep for quite some time. He dreams of food. He is a huge burden on the group as they must take turns carrying him.

As the group continues through Mirkwood, they see a red twinkle and torches and fire. What do they do? What happens to them? Who does it end up being?

Although they have been told not to leave the path, the group goes toward the fire because they are starving. It instantly disappears and they are lost and can not find each other. The people feasting end up being the wood-elves.

Describe the fight between Bilbo and the first spider. How does this mark a turning point for Bilbo? (hint – it has to do with his sword)

Bilbo is asleep and the spider starts to wrap his web around him. Bilbo wakes up and starts to beat the spider off with his hands. He then pulled out his sword, cut his legs loose and struck the spider between his eyes. The spider was dead.

This was a turning point because Bilbo finally felt like a different person. He beat off the spider without using his magic ring – he felt fiercer and bolder. It was the point in which he named his sword Sting. (Remember the power of language!)

How does Bilbo save his friends from the spiders?

Bilbo throws stones at the spiders to get them away from his friends who are tied up and hanging in the trees. (He is wearing the ring). He sings and continues to throw stones from different areas. He pulled out his sword, which the spiders saw and led them further in the woods – he silently snuck back and cut the dwarves out of the webs.

When does Bilbo tell the dwarves about his ring?

When the spiders come back and the dwarves are fighting them off with stones, sticks and their swords. Bilbo tells them that he is going to become invisible to get the spiders off of them.

How is this chapter a turning point in the story?

Bilbo gains the respect of the dwarves. Some of them even bow to him. Bilbo also respects himself.

Which dwarf is missing? Where is he?

Thorin. The elf king put him in his dungeon. The king puts him in the dungeon because he refuses to say why the group was in the woods and what they were up to.

Who captures the dwarves? Where do they take them? What happens to Bilbo?

The wood-elves capture the dwarves. They take them to their kingdom and put them in cells. Bilbo puts on his ring and follows closely behind.

One more example of how language is very important – Bilbo says:

“I am like a burglar that can’t get away, but must go on miserably burgling the same house day after day.”

Explain this quote

While searching around, Bilbo notices that the gates are not the only way out of the kingdom. What does Bilbo discover?

A stream flowed underneath the palace that was often used to transport barrels to Long Lake.

How does Bilbo get the keys to the cells from the guards?

The guards drink too much wine and become very tired (they pass out). He then steals the keys.

How does the group get out of the wood-elves kingdom?

They get in barrels and float out in the river.

How doesn’t have anyone to secure the lid on his barrel. How does he decide to get out of the kingdom?

He jumps into the icy water until he can catch up with a barrel. Once he does, he rides on top of the barrel.

Where do the barrels arrive at once the river stops flowing? How do the dwarves get out of the barrels?

The Long Lake

The barrels are pulled on land by the elves and they go up to town to feast as it is dark. Bilbo opens the barrels and the other dwarves help each other out.

Who does the group encounter as they are unloading from the barrels? What happens to them?

Guards from Lake – Town.

The group asks to see the guards master and the guards take them to The Master of Lake-Town

Why did the people in the community think it was a big deal that Thorin and company had come to Lake-Town?

Thorin’s family had ruled the area under the mountain in the past. The towns people were singing songs about him taking back his land from Smaug.

How does the King of Lake-Town respond to this?

He gives up his great chair to Thorin.

How does the King of the wood-elves respond to the news?

He doesn’t believe that the dwarves can beat Smaug and take his treasure

He also states that if they do, the dwarves will not leave Mirkwood with the treasure without first going back through his kingdom. He also sent spies to watch the dwarves.