Bombur Falls into the Stream
Bombur Falls into the Stream is a pivotal misadventure during the dwarves' crossing of Mirkwood, one that transforms the company's most physically burdensome member into an even greater liability and deepens the psychological toll of the forest journey. The event occurs immediately after the company has successfully crossed the enchanted black stream that Beorn had warned them never to drink from or bathe in. A hart, charging out of the gloom, bowls over the dwarves and springs over Bombur as he has only one foot on the far bank. He stumbles, thrusts the boat away, and topples backward into the dark water, his hands slipping off the slimy roots at the edge while the boat spins off and disappears. The dwarves fling a rope with a hook toward him; his hand catches it, and they pull him to shore. He is drenched from hair to boots, but that is not the worst of it. When they lay him on the bank, he is already fast asleep, one hand clutching the rope so tightly that they cannot pry it from his grasp, and he remains in that enchanted slumber despite all their efforts to wake him. The enchanted stream, which carries a great drowsiness and forgetfulness, has worked its magic on Bombur fully. For the next several days, the dwarves must carry his heavy, slumbering body through the forest in turns of four each, while their packs grow lighter as food runs out. Bombur sleeps on with a smile on his fat face, as if he no longer cares for the troubles that vex them, and when he finally wakes, he has forgotten everything that happened since the party at Bilbo's house, remembering only a beautiful dream of a woodland feast with a king crowned with leaves. His waking brings no relief, for he weeps when he learns there is nothing to eat, and his constant wailing and complaints about his legs further fray the company's nerves. The incident marks a low point in the Mirkwood journey, accelerating the hunger and despair that will soon drive the dwarves to abandon the path and fall into the hands of the Wood-elves and the spiders.
