The Hobbit – Chapter 5
by J. R. R. Tolkien
(Ballantine Books Edition, New York, 1982)
Chapter 5 – Riddles in the Dark
 When Bilbo wakes up, no one is around. He begins crawling around trying to find his way. “….suddenly
his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point
in his career, but he did not know it.” (pg. 68)
 Bilbo isn’t sure what to do, so he decides to sit and think about smoking his pipe. “….in slapping all his
pockets and feeling all round himself for matches his hand came on the hilt of this little sword….” “Now
he drew it out. It shone pale and dim before his eyes. ‘So it is an elvish blade, too; and goblins are not
very near, and yet not far enough.” He felt somewhat comforted. “It was rather splendid to be wearing a
blade made in Gondolin for the goblin-wars….” (pg. 69)
 Bilbo realizes the only thing to do is to go forward. The tunnel seemed to last forever. “Suddenly without
any warning he trotted splash into water!” (pg. 70) He decides not to go into the water since he can’t swim
and doesn’t know what may be lurking in the pool.
 “Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. He was….as dark as
darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face….with large feet….[and] long fingers….” (pg.
71) He “….lived on a slimy island of rock in the middle of the lake. He was watching Bilbo now from the
distance….” (pg. 72)
 Gollum gets into his boat and approaches Bilbo. “The hobbit jumped nearly out of his skin when the hiss
came in his ears, and he suddenly saw the pale eyes sticking out at him.” (pg. 72)
 Bilbo asks Gollum who he is. Bilbo gives Gollum his name and tells him he is lost. “[Gollum] was
anxious to appear friendly….until he found out more about the sword and the hobbit, whether he was
quite alone really, whether he was good to eat, and whether Gollum was really hungry. Riddles were all he
could think of.” (pg.73)
 Gollum and Bilbo agree to a riddle contest. “If precious asks, and it doesn’t answer, we eats it, my
preciousss. If it asks us, and we doesn’t answer, then we does what it wants, eh? We shows it the way out,
yes!” Gollum says. (pg. 74)
 After trading several riddles, Bilbo asks Gollum, “What have I got in my pocket?” (pg. 78) It isn’t really a
riddle, but Gollum tries three answers but is wrong each time. Bilbo wins the contest.
 Gollum leaves in his boat back to his island. He tells Bilbo he needs to get something before he can show
him the way out. “[Bilbo] thought [Gollum] was just making an excuse and did not mean to come back.”
(pg. 80)
 “Gollum did mean to come back. He was angry now and hungry. And he was a miserable wicked
creature, and already he had a plan. He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring.” (pg. 80) “[Gollum]
wanted it because it was a ring of power, and if you slipped that ring on your finger, you were invisible;
only in full sunlight could you be seen, and then only by your shadow, and that would be shaky and faint.”
(pg.81)
 Gollum screams when he can’t find the ring. “’Losst it is, my precious, lost, lost! Curse us and crush us,
my precious is lost!’” (pg. 82)
 “Utterly miserable as Gollum sounded, Bilbo could not find much pity in his heart….” (pg. 82)
 Gollum believes Bilbo has the ring. “As suspicion grew in Gollum’s mind, the light of his eyes burned
with a pale flame.” “….now the light in Gollum’s eyes had become a green fire, and it was coming swiftly
nearer.” “….such a rage of loss and suspicion was in his heart that no sword had any more terror for him.”
(pg. 83)
 Bilbo runs as fast as he can away from Gollum. “He put his left hand in his pocket. The ring felt very
cold as it quietly slipped on to his groping forefinger. Terrified he tried to run faster, but suddenly he
struck his toes on a snag in the floor, and fell flat….” “….Gollum passed by, taking no notice of him,
cursing and whispering as he ran.” (pg. 83)
 Bilbo doesn’t understand what has happened. “Perhaps if he followed him, Gollum might lead him to
some way of escape without meaning to.” (pg. 84)
 Gollum continues to talk to himself as he searches for Bilbo. “But it doesn’t know what the present can
do, does it?” “It knows a way in, it must know a way out, yes. It’s off to the back-door. To the back-door,
that’s it.” (pg. 85)
 Bilbo hurries after Gollum. “His head was in a whirl of hope and wonder. It seemed that the ring he had
was a magic ring: it made you invisible!” (pg. 85)
 Gollum leads Bilbo to the back-door thinking he is following Bilbo there. Bilbo feels disappointed when
he can’t get out. “He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must
fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him.” (pg. 86)
 Bilbo thinks, however, it wouldn’t be fair since he’s invisible, and Gollum is unarmed. “Gollum had not
actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden
understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart….” (pg. 87)
 Bilbo leaps over Gollum and runs down the tunnel. He hears Gollum’s scream. “[Gollum] was defeated.
He had lost: lost his prey, and lost, too, the only thing he had ever cared for, his precious.” (pg. 87)
 Bilbo eventually comes to around a corner and sees “….a glimpse of light. Not red light, as of fire or
lantern, but a pale out-of-doors sort of light.” (pg. 88)
 Bilbo blinks in the light and suddenly notices “….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.”
 The goblins see Bilbo because the ring had slipped off his finger. He reaches into his pocket again; the
ring slips back on his finger, and he disappears.
 Bilbo hides behind a barrel of drink until he can escape through the door. He gets stuck at first but does
eventually get through the door even though he loses his buttons. The goblins search for him outside, but
he gets away thanks to the ring.