Gandalf's Fire-Cones Attack

Gandalf's Fire-Cones Attack occurs during the company's desperate stand in a forest glade, surrounded by a pack of Wargs and expecting goblin reinforcements. The wizard, perched in a large pine tree at the edge of the clearing, gathers huge pine-cones from the branches and sets them alight with bright blue fire, then hurls them down among the wolves. The first cone strikes a wolf on the back, immediately setting its shaggy coat ablaze and causing it to leap about yelping horribly. Gandalf continues the assault, throwing cones that burst in flames of blue, red, and green, scattering coloured sparks and smoke across the glade. A specially large cone hits the chief wolf on the nose, causing him to leap ten feet into the air and then rush around the circle biting and snapping even at his own pack in his anger and fright. The dwarves and Bilbo shout and cheer from their trees as the wolves, terrified of fire, begin rolling over and over to extinguish the sparks on their backs, while those that are burning run about howling and setting others alight until their own friends chase them away. The commotion fills the forest and draws the attention of the Lord of the Eagles, who is sitting on a pinnacle of rock at the eastern edge of the mountains. Hearing the wolves' voices and suspecting goblin mischief, he sweeps into the air with two of his guards, circling up to look down upon the ring of Wargs. Though he cannot see the people in the trees, he makes out the commotion, the flashes of fire, and the howling, and also spots the glint of moonlight on goblin spears and helmets as long lines of the wicked folk creep down the hillsides. The Lord of the Eagles summons many other eagles, and they fly down towards the ring of wolves and the meeting-place of the goblins. Meanwhile, the fire from Gandalf's cones spreads into the forest, setting alight yellowing bracken, fallen branches, and deep-piled pine-needles, and soon a ring of smoke and flame closes in around the dwarves' trees. The goblins arrive, laugh at the situation, and feed the fire with leaves and dead branches, creating a ring of fire that slowly closes in. Gandalf climbs to the top of his tree, his wand flashing like lightning as he prepares to spring down among the goblins, but at that moment the Lord of the Eagles sweeps down, seizes him in his talons, and carries him away. The other eagles swoop down, seizing the dwarves from the tree-tops, and Bilbo just manages to catch hold of Dori's legs as Dori is borne off last. The eagles carry the company high into the sky, away from the burning forest and the goblins and wolves below, bringing them to safety on a rocky shelf of the mountain. The attack thus serves as a desperate but effective delaying tactic that not only holds off the immediate threat but also signals the eagles, leading to the company's rescue.