Treasury

The Treasury of Thror, the vast hoard of gold, gems, and ancient artifacts lying in the deepest hall of the Lonely Mountain, is the magnetic center of The Hobbit—the object of the dwarves' quest, the lair of Smaug, and the source of both wonder and ruinous greed. It is a place of overwhelming splendor and peril, where the desire for treasure transforms characters and drives the narrative toward its climactic battles and moral reckonings.

Location and Description

The Treasury occupies the great bottom-most cellar or dungeon-hall of the ancient dwarves, right at the Mountain's root. It is almost dark, its vastness only dimly guessed, but rising from the near side of the rocky floor is a great glow—the glow of Smaug. There the dragon lies, a vast red-golden creature, fast asleep, with a thrumming coming from his jaws and nostrils. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lie countless piles of precious things: gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light. Behind him, where the walls are nearest, can dimly be seen coats of mail, helms and axes, swords and spears hanging; and there in rows stand great jars and vessels filled with a wealth that cannot be guessed. The hoard includes the spears made for the armies of the great King Bladorthin, each with a thrice-forged head and shafts inlaid with cunning gold, but never delivered or paid for; shields made for warriors long dead; the great golden cup of Thror, two-handed, hammered and carven with birds and flowers whose eyes and petals are of jewels; coats of mail gilded and silvered and impenetrable; the necklace of Girion, Lord of Dale, made of five hundred emeralds green as grass; and, fairest of all, the great white gem found beneath the roots of the Mountain, the Heart of the Mountain, the Arkenstone of Thrain.

The Hoard's Allure and Its Effects

The Treasury exerts a powerful enchantment over those who behold it. When Bilbo Baggins first sees it, his breath is taken away; his heart is filled and pierced with enchantment and with the desire of dwarves, and he gazes motionless, almost forgetting the frightful guardian, at the gold beyond price and count. The dwarves, when they later explore the hall, are similarly overcome: the mere fleeting glimpses of treasure rekindle all the fire of their dwarvish hearts, and when the heart of a dwarf is wakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold and may become fierce. They forget fear and even caution, speaking aloud and crying out to one another as they lift old treasures from the mound or from the wall, caressing and fingering them. Thorin, in particular, is consumed by the lust of the hoard; long hours spent in the treasury make the lust of it heavy on him, and he becomes grim and unyielding, refusing to share any of the treasure with the Lake-men or the Elves, even when winter and siege press upon him. The hoard's power is so great that it can even corrupt those who merely hear of it: the old Master of Lake-town, given much gold for the help of his people, falls under the dragon-sickness, takes most of the gold and flees with it, and dies of starvation in the Waste.

The Arkenstone and the Climax of the Quest

At the heart of the Treasury lies the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain, a gem of unique beauty and value. Thorin names it unto himself above all other treasure, declaring it worth more than a river of gold. Bilbo, finding it while exploring the hall, is drawn by its enchantment and takes it, hiding it even from the dwarves. This act sets in motion the final crisis of the story: Bilbo gives the Arkenstone to Bard and the Elvenking to use as a bargaining chip, hoping to avoid war. When Thorin learns of this, he is stricken with amazement and confusion, then wrath, and he denounces Bilbo as a traitor. The Arkenstone becomes the central object of the siege, and only the sudden arrival of the goblin army forces the quarreling parties to unite against a common foe. After the Battle of Five Armies, the Arkenstone is laid upon Thorin's breast in his tomb beneath the Mountain, where it is to lie until the Mountain falls.

Aftermath and Distribution

After the dragon's death and the battle, the Treasury is divided. Dain, who becomes King under the Mountain, deals the treasure well. A fourteenth share of all the silver and gold, wrought and unwrought, is given up to Bard, who uses it to reward his followers, send gold to the Master of Lake-town, and give the emeralds of Girion to the Elvenking. Bilbo, though offered a rich reward, takes only two small chests, one of silver and one of gold, such as one strong pony could carry, saying that it is a relief to him and that he does not know what he would have done with more. The remaining dwarves of Thorin's company—Balin, Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur—remain with Dain in the ancient halls. The Treasury, once a source of dragon-guarded peril and dwarvish obsession, becomes the foundation for a renewed kingdom, but its memory also serves as a cautionary tale about the corrupting power of gold.