The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

My dear Frodo:

You asked me once...

...if I had told you everything there was to know about my adventures.

And while I can honestly...

...say I have told you...

...the truth...

...I may not have told you all of it.

I am old now, Frodo.

I'm not the same Hobbit I once was.

I think...

...it is time for you to know...

...what really happened.

It began...

...long ago...

...in a land far away to the east...

...the like of which you will not find in the world today.

There was the city of Dale.

Its markets known...

...far and wide.

Full of the bounties of vine and vale.

Peaceful and prosperous.

For this city lay before the doors...

...of the greatest kingdom in Middle-earth:

Erebor.

Stronghold of Thror...

...King Under the Mountain. Mightiest...

...of the Dwarf Lords.

Thror ruled with utter surety...

...never doubting his house would endure...

...for his line lay secure...

...in the lives of his son...

...and grandson.

Ah, Frodo. Erebor.

Built deep within the mountain itself...

...the beauty of this fortress city was legend.

Its wealth lay in the earth...

...in precious gems hewn...

...from rock and in great seams of gold...

...running like rivers through stone.

The skill of the Dwarves...

...was unequaled, fashioning objects...

...of great beauty...

...out of diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire.

Ever they delved deeper...

...down into the dark.

And that is where they found it.

The Heart of the Mountain.

The Arkenstone.

Thror named it "The King's Jewel."

He took it as a sign, a sign that his right to rule...

...was divine.

All would pay...

...homage to him.

Even the great...

...Elven King, Thranduil.

As the great wealth of the Dwarves grew...

...their store of good will ran thin.

No one knows exactly what began the rift.

The Elves say...

...the Dwarves stole their treasure.

The Dwarves tell another tale.

They say the Elf King refused to give them their rightful pay.

It is sad, Frodo, how old alliances...

...can be broken.

How friendships between peoples can be lost.

And for what?

Slowly the days turned sour...

...and the watchful nights closed in.

Thror's love of gold...

...had grown too fierce.

A sickness had begun to grow within him.

It was a sickness of the mind.

And where sickness thrives...

...bad things will follow.

The first they heard was a noise...

...like a hurricane coming down...

...from the North.

The pines on the mountain creaked and cracked...

...in the hot, dry wind.

Balin, sound the alarm.

Call out the guard. Do it now!

What is it?

Dragon.

Dragon!

He was...

...a firedrake from the North.

Smaug...

...had come.

Such wanton death...

...was dealt that day.

For this city of Men was nothing...

...to Smaug.

His eye...

...was set on another prize.

For dragons...

...covet gold...

...with a dark and...

...fierce desire.

Aah!

No!

Come on.

Erebor was lost.

For a dragon...

...will guard his plunder...

...as long as he lives.

Run for your lives!

Ah! Help us!

Thranduil would not risk the lives of his kin against...

...the wrath of the dragon.

No help came from the Elves...

...that day, nor any day since.

Robbed of their homeland...

...the Dwarves of Erebor wandered the wilderness...

...a once mighty people brought low.

The young Dwarf prince took work where he could find it...

...laboring in the villages of Men.

But always he remembered...

...the mountain smoke beneath the moon...

...the trees like torches blazing bright.

For he had seen dragon fire...

...in the sky...

...and a city turned to ash.

And he never forgave...

...and he never forgot.

Far away, in another corner of the world...

...dragons were...

...only make-believe.

Up they go!

A party trick...

...conjured by Wizards...

...on Midsummer's Eve.

No more frightening...

...than fairy dust.

Bilbo!

And that, my dear Frodo...

...is where I come in.

Bilbo! Bilbo.

It was the beginning of an unlikely friendship...

...that has lasted all my life.

But it is not the start of my story. For me, it began...

Well, it began as you might expect.

In a hole in the ground, there lived...

...a Hobbit.

Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole full of worms and oozy smells.

This was a Hobbit hole.

And that means good food, a warm hearth...

...and all the comforts of home.

Thank you.

What's this?

That is private.

Keep your sticky paws off.

It's not ready yet.

Not ready for what?

Reading.

What on earth are these?

Replies to the party invitations.

Ah. Good gracious. Is it today?

They all say they're coming.

Except for the Sackville-Bagginses, who are demanding you ask them in person.

Are they, indeed? Over my...

- ...dead body. - They'd probably find that...

...quite agreeable.

They seem to think you have tunnels overflowing with gold.

It was one small chest, hardly overflowing.

And it still smells of Troll.

What on earth are you doing?

Taking precautions. You know...

...I caught her making off with the silverware once.

- Who? - Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

She had all my spoons stuffed in her pocket. Ha!

Dreadful woman.

Make sure you keep an eye on her after I'm...

When I'm... When I'm...

When you're what?

It's nothing. Nothing.

You know, some people are beginning to wonder about you, Uncle.

- Huh? - They think you're becoming odd.

Odd? Oh. Hm.

Unsociable.

Unsociable, me? Nonsense.

Be a good lad and put that...

...on the gate.

Do you think he'll come?

Who?

Gandalf.

Oh-ho. He wouldn't miss a chance to let off his Whizpoppers. He'll give us...

...quite a show, you'll see.

Right, then. I'm off. - Off to where?

East-farthing Woods. I'm going to surprise him.

Well, go on, then. You don't want to be late.

He doesn't approve of being late. Oh, no. Not that I...

...ever was.

In those days, I was always on time.

I was entirely respectable.

And nothing unexpected...

...ever happened.

- Good morning. What do you mean?