Time! Time!

Time! Time! is the answer to the final riddle posed by Gollum during the riddle-game in the dark tunnels beneath the Misty Mountains. The cry, uttered by Bilbo Baggins in a moment of sheer panic, becomes the solution to Gollum's most difficult riddle and secures Bilbo's escape from being devoured. This moment is a turning point in Bilbo's adventure, demonstrating the power of luck and quick thinking in the face of mortal danger.

The Riddle and Its Context

The riddle-game between Bilbo and Gollum is a contest of wits with life-or-death stakes. Gollum, a small slimy creature who lives by the dark water, proposes the game: if Bilbo answers Gollum's riddles, Gollum will show him the way out; if Bilbo fails, Gollum will eat him. After several exchanges, Gollum, growing angry and hungry, asks his hardest riddle: "This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down." Poor Bilbo sits in the dark, thinking of all the horrible names of giants and ogres from tales, but none of them have done all these things. He has a feeling the answer is quite different and that he ought to know it, but he cannot think of it. As Gollum begins to get out of his boat and paddle to the bank, Bilbo's tongue seems to stick in his mouth; he wants to shout out "Give me more time! Give me time!" But all that comes out with a sudden squeal is: "Time! Time!"

The Significance of the Answer

Bilbo is saved by pure luck, for that is indeed the answer to the riddle. Gollum is disappointed once more, and now he is getting angry and tired of the game. The answer "Time! Time!" is not a product of clever deduction but a desperate, instinctive cry that happens to be correct. This moment highlights the role of fortune in Bilbo's journey, a theme that recurs throughout his adventure. The riddle itself, which describes time as an all-consuming force that devours everything, gnaws iron, and grinds stones to meal, is a profound and ancient concept, and Bilbo's accidental solution underscores his growing, if still unwitting, connection to the larger world and its deep truths.

Aftermath and Consequences

Gollum, disappointed and now angry, does not go back to his boat. He sits down in the dark by Bilbo, making the hobbit dreadfully uncomfortable and scattering his wits. Gollum demands one more question, but Bilbo, with the nasty wet cold thing sitting next to him, cannot think of any question. In desperation, he feels in his pocket and finds the ring he had picked up in the passage and forgotten about. He asks aloud, "What have I got in my pocket?" Gollum, thinking it is a riddle, is frightfully upset and protests that it is not fair. Bilbo sticks to his question, and after three failed guesses, Gollum is defeated. This leads to Gollum's attempt to kill Bilbo, Bilbo's discovery of the ring's power of invisibility, and his eventual escape from the goblin tunnels. The cry of "Time! Time!" thus sets off a chain of events that culminates in Bilbo's acquisition of the ring and his reunion with the dwarves, fundamentally altering the course of his adventure.