Bilbo Rescues the Dwarves from Spiders
Bilbo Baggins rescues his twelve dwarf companions from the giant spiders of Mirkwood, a turning point that transforms him from a reluctant tagalong into a respected leader and earns him the dwarves' lasting gratitude.
The Spider's Web and the First Kill
After the dwarves blundered into the Wood-elves' feast and were scattered in the dark, Bilbo found himself alone. While he sat with his back to a tree, thinking of bacon and eggs, a great spider crept up and began to bind him with strong sticky threads. He woke just in time to feel its hairy legs struggling to wind the abominable ropes around him. He beat the creature off with his hands until he remembered his sword, drew it, and cut himself free. Then he attacked, sticking the blade right into the spider's eyes. It leaped and danced in horrible jerks until he killed it with another stroke. The killing of the giant spider, all alone in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, much fiercer and bolder in spite of his empty stomach. He wiped his sword on the grass and gave it a name: Sting.
Locating the Prisoners
Setting out to explore, Bilbo slipped on his ring and crept stealthily through the forest. He soon noticed a place of dense black shadow ahead, made by spider-webs one behind and over another. Huge spiders sat in the branches above him. Standing behind a tree, he listened to their thin creaking and hissing voices. They were talking about the dwarves. One said it had been a sharp struggle but worth it, and that the dwarves would make fine eating when they had hung a bit. Another said they were not as fat as they might be, having been feeding none too well of late. A fourth urged killing them now and hanging them dead. Then one of the fat spiders ran along a rope to a dozen bundles hanging in a row from a high branch. Bilbo was horrified to see a dwarvish foot sticking out of the bottoms of some bundles, or here and there the tip of a nose or a bit of beard or hood. The spider went to the fattest bundle—poor old Bombur—and nipped hard at the nose that stuck out. A muffled yelp came from inside, and a toe shot up and kicked the spider straight and hard. The enraged spider fell off the branch, catching itself with its own thread just in time.
The Stone-Throwing Diversion
Bilbo saw that the moment had come. He had nothing to shoot with, but he found many stones lying in what appeared to be a dry watercourse. He was a pretty fair shot with a stone, having spent much of his youth throwing at rabbits and squirrels, and later at quoits, darts, bowls, and ninepins. He picked up a smooth egg-shaped stone that fitted his hand cosily. As the spider reached Bombur again, Bilbo threw. The stone struck the spider plunk on the head, and it dropped senseless off the tree, flop to the ground, with all its legs curled up. The next stone went whizzing through a big web, snapping its cords, and taking off the spider sitting in the middle of it, whack, dead. A commotion arose in the spider-colony. They could not see Bilbo, but they could guess the direction from which the stones were coming. As quick as lightning they came running and swinging towards the hobbit, flinging out their long threads till the air seemed full of waving snares. Bilbo slipped away to a different place. The idea came to him to lead the furious spiders further and further away from the dwarves. He threw more stones, then dancing among the trees began to sing a song to infuriate them and bring them all after him, and also to let the dwarves hear his voice. He sang: "Old fat spider spinning in a tree! Old fat spider can't see me! Attercop! Attercop! Won't you stop, stop your spinning and look for me?" He sang another verse calling them "Lazy Lob and crazy Cob" and taunting them that they could not trap him. The spiders were frightfully angry. No spider has ever liked being called Attercop, and Tomnoddy is insulting to anybody. Off Bilbo scuttled to a fresh place, but several spiders had run to different points and were busy spinning webs across all the spaces between the tree-stems. He found the last space between two tall trees closed with great strands of double-thick spider-rope. Out came his little sword. He slashed the threads to pieces and went off singing. The whole lot of them came hurrying after him, hairy legs waving, nippers and spinners snapping, eyes popping, full of froth and rage. He led them into the forest until he had gone as far as he dared, then quieter than a mouse he stole back.
Cutting Down the Bundles
Bilbo had precious little time before the spiders returned. The worst part was getting up to the long branch where the bundles were dangling. A spider had luckily left a rope hanging down; with its help, though it stuck to his hand and hurt him, he scrambled up—only to meet an old slow wicked fat-bodied spider who had remained behind to guard the prisoners and had been busy pinching them to see which was the juiciest to eat. Before the spider knew what was happening, it felt his sting and rolled off the branch dead. Bilbo's next job was to loose a dwarf. If he cut the string which hung him up, the wretched dwarf would tumble thump to the ground a good way below. Wriggling along the branch, he reached the first bundle. By the tip of a blue hood and a long nose, he guessed it was Fili. He managed by leaning over to cut most of the strong sticky threads that bound him round, and with a kick and a struggle most of Fili emerged. Bilbo laughed at the sight of him jerking his stiff arms and legs as he danced on the spider-string under his armpits, just like a toy bobbing on a wire. Fili was got onto the branch, and then he did his best to help the hobbit, though he was feeling very sick and ill from spider-poison and from hanging most of the night and the next day. Between them they started to haul up first one dwarf and then another and slash them free. In this way they rescued Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Dori, and Nori. Poor old Bombur was so exhausted that he just rolled off the branch and fell plop onto the ground, fortunately onto leaves. But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch when the spiders began to come back, more full of rage than ever.
The Battle and the Ring's Secret
Bilbo went to the end of the branch nearest the tree-trunk and kept back those that crawled up. He had taken off his ring when he rescued Fili and forgotten to put it on again, so now the spiders saw him and spluttered and hissed that they would eat him and leave his bones and skin hanging on a tree. While this was going on, the other dwarves worked at the rest of the captives, cutting at the threads with their knives. Suddenly Bilbo noticed that some of the spiders had gathered round old Bombur on the floor, tied him up again, and were dragging him away. He gave a shout and slashed at the spiders in front of him. They quickly gave way, and he scrambled and fell down the tree right into the middle of those on the ground. His little sword darted to and fro, shining with delight as he stabbed at them. Half a dozen were killed before the rest drew off and left Bombur to Bilbo. He shouted to the dwarves on the branch to come down. Down they scrambled or jumped or dropped, eleven all in a heap, most of them very shaky and little use on their legs. There they were at last, twelve of them counting poor old Bombur, who was being propped up on either side by his cousin Bifur and his brother Bofur; and Bilbo was dancing about and waving his Sting; and hundreds of angry spiders were goggling at them all round and about and above. The battle began. Some of the dwarves had knives, some had sticks, and all could get at stones; Bilbo had his elvish dagger. Again and again the spiders were beaten off, and many were killed. But it could not go on for long. Bilbo was nearly tired out; only four of the dwarves were able to stand firmly, and soon they would all be overpowered like weary flies. Already the spiders were beginning to weave their webs all round them again from tree to tree. In the end Bilbo could think of no plan except to let the dwarves into the secret of his ring. He was rather sorry about it, but it could not be helped. He told them he would disappear and draw the spiders off, and they must keep together and make in the opposite direction. He slipped on his ring and vanished to the great astonishment of the dwarves. Soon the sound of "Lazy Lob" and "Attercop" came from among the trees away on the right. That upset the spiders greatly. They stopped advancing, and some went off in the direction of the voice. Balin, who had grasped Bilbo's plan better than the rest, led an attack. The dwarves huddled together in a knot, and sending a shower of stones they drove at the spiders on the left and burst through the ring. Away behind them the shouting and singing suddenly stopped. Hoping desperately that Bilbo had not been caught, the dwarves went on. They were sick and weary, and could go no better than a hobble and a wobble, though many of the spiders were close behind. Things were looking pretty bad again when suddenly Bilbo reappeared and charged into the astonished spiders unexpectedly from the side. He shouted, "Go on! Go on! I will do the stinging!" He darted backwards and forwards, slashing at spider-threads, hacking at their legs, and stabbing at their fat bodies if they came too near. The spiders swelled with rage and spluttered and frothed and hissed out horrible curses, but they had become mortally afraid of Sting and dared not come very near. So curse as they would, their prey moved slowly but steadily away. At last, just when Bilbo felt that he could not lift his hand for a single stroke more, the spiders suddenly gave it up and went back disappointed to their dark colony.
Aftermath and New Respect
The dwarves noticed that they had come to the edge of a ring where elf-fires had been. Some good magic seemed to linger in such spots, which the spiders did not like. There they lay for some time, puffing and panting. Very soon they began to ask questions. They had to have the whole vanishing business carefully explained, and the finding of the ring interested them so much that for a while they forgot their own troubles. Balin in particular insisted on having the Gollum story, riddles and all, told all over again, with the ring in its proper place. From this point the dwarves changed their opinion of Mr. Baggins very much and began to have a great respect for him, as Gandalf had said they would. They knew only too well that they would soon all have been dead if it had not for the hobbit, and they thanked him many times. Some of them even got up and bowed right to the ground before him, though they fell over with the effort and could not get on their legs again for some time. Knowing the truth about the vanishing did not lessen their opinion of Bilbo at all; for they saw that he had some wits, as well as luck and a magic ring—and all three are very useful possessions. In fact they praised him so much that Bilbo began to feel there really was something of a bold adventurer about himself after all, though he would have felt a lot bolder still if there had been anything to eat.
