4

Darkness and Light

In many ways, chapter 4 is where the adventure part of Bilbo’s adventure truly gets started. Yes, the journey from the Shire to the borderlands was uncomfortable. And yes, the business with the trolls was unfortunate.

But the early parts of Bilbo’s story do not carry a sense of true peril until the goblins get involved. That’s the first time we begin to feel the tension of potentially lethal consequences. Down in the tunnels beneath the mountains, with hordes of furious goblins shrieking and chasing Thorin and Company, we begin to think even Gandalf will have to work some serious magic to come through alive.

So how will poor, easily terrified Bilbo handle the situation?

Baby Steps

My grandson Brogan is taking his first steps; it’s a very up-and-down experience. On the one hand, the steps themselves are nothing to write home about. The child stumbles forward a few paces, wobbles, loses his balance, stumbles a bit more, then falls into his mother’s arms.

On the other hand, they’re a landmark accomplishment. They are his first steps! They’re a definitive sign that he is moving out of one development stage and starting another. And they’re a sign that, in time, he will master the skill of walking and adopt a whole new method of moving around.

That’s basically what happens in Bilbo’s first encounter with the goblins.

After Thorin and Company escape from the storm and take refuge in a small cave, everyone, including the hobbit, goes to sleep. But Bilbo doesn’t sleep peacefully. He dreams that a crack opens in the back of the wall, and the floor of the cave tilts upward so that he begins sliding toward the blackness.

When he wakes, he finds that part of his dream has come true: a door has opened up in the cave’s back, and he sees the tails of their ponies disappearing into it. In response, he yells.

On the one hand, Bilbo’s actions can’t really be considered heroic. He woke up, he saw something, and he yelled. Anyone could do that, right?

On the other hand, what’s significant about this incident is that Bilbo does something. He takes action! During his previous encounters with danger, he was paralyzed by fear. In chapter 1, he was thrown into paroxysms of terror by the imagined presence of a dragon. And when the trolls hid themselves in the woods to capture the dwarves one by one, Bilbo, controlled by dread, did absolutely nothing to warn his friends.

This time, however, Bilbo does give a warning. And not just a frightened croak—he gives as loud a yell as a hobbit is able to give—and we’re told that hobbits are indeed able to create a surprising amount of noise for their size. In other words, Bilbo gave his best effort.

Small step, but a positive one, and it represents bigger things to come.

Here’s another interesting tidbit: Tolkien makes it a point to mention that even Gandalf may have been in trouble had it not been for Bilbo. The hobbit’s cry woke the wizard, and so he was able to kill several goblins with a flash, thereby evading capture.

This shows that Bilbo was now working as part of Gandalf’s team. He was contributing to the cause rather than passively standing by. Like Gandalf, Bilbo was now serving as an Agent of Divine Rescue.

Literary Corner: Flames of Wrath

Speaking of Gandalf, I want to highlight one of Tolkien’s more effective uses of symbolism in The Hobbit.

I mentioned earlier that within the story, Gandalf functions as an Agent of Divine Wrath—he’s a storm of righteous anger against the forces of evil. This can be seen clearly in his treatment of the goblins. From the moment several of these creatures try to seize the wizard in the cave, all the way up to their attempted ambush in the tunnels below, Gandalf slays them without mercy.

One of the destructive tools he uses, the sword Glamdring, also functions as a symbol of the wizard’s divine wrath. We see this for the first time when the sword flashes with its own light as it slays the Great Goblin.

Tolkien explains that Glamdring burned with a rage causing it to glow whenever goblins are about. He also alerts us that the sword gleamed with bright blue flame for delight in the destruction of the Great Goblin.

Swords aren’t conscious beings, of course—even in this particular fairy story. But Glamdring’s blue fire is a visual representation of Gandalf’s righteous anger, and of the triumph of light over darkness. The same can be said of Thorin’s sword, Orcrist, which also burns with an inner light in the presence of evil creatures. (And of Bilbo’s little sword, Sting, as we’ll see.)

Actually, all of Gandalf’s attacks on the goblins involve some form of fire or flame. He kills the first ones with “a terrific flash like lightning.”[1] When the Great Goblin attacks Thorin, Gandalf sends up a tower of blue glowing smoke that scatters piercing white sparks down onto the goblins. He uses Glamdring with its blue fire against the Great Goblin and several others. And in chapter 6, when Gandalf and the dwarves are trapped in trees by the wargs, the wizard lights pinecones with a magic fire and throws them down to set the wolves aflame.

Believe it or not, this symbolism is straight from the Bible.

In the ancient world, fire was often associated with divinity. (Think of Prometheus, of Greek mythology—he stole fire from Zeus and brought it to humankind.) This connection was regularly incorporated by the authors of Scripture, who used fire as a symbol for the one true God.

Here are a few examples:

How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your wrath burn like fire?

Psalm 89:46 (one of several instances in the Psalms)

I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.

Ezekiel 1:27 (from the prophet’s vision of God)

The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

Revelation 1:14 (from John’s vision of Jesus)

And of course, the clearest connection comes near the Bible’s beginning:

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:24

This is yet another intentional link Tolkien forged between his Christian beliefs and his sub-created realm. He took a symbolic element that’s common in the Scriptures and used it as a building material for his Secondary World.

Character Profile: The Goblins

Every good story needs a villain, and for most of The Hobbit, it seems Smaug the dragon will serve as primary antagonist. When all is said and done, however, it’s the hordes of hideous goblins (also called orcs) that prove the biggest threat to the forces of good in Middle-earth.

Incidentally, the same is true in The Lord of the Rings. While the Black Riders, Shelob the spider, and other creatures do make things uncomfortable for Frodo and the champions of good, it’s the vicious legions of goblins at Sauron’s command that collectively make victory seem impossible until the very last moment.

So let’s take a minute to explore (1) the history of the goblins in Tolkien’s world, and (2) their specific role in Bilbo’s adventure.

THE HISTORY OF THE GOBLINS

Genesis 1 makes plain that everything God made was originally good. There were no flaws until sin entered the world to bring chaos and destruction. One of the main principles we can glean from these assertions is that nothing was created to be evil. Evil exists only as a distortion of what used to be good.

While the circumstances are a bit different in Middle-earth—the world’s genesis was knocked askew earlier in the process, when Melkor’s self-will disrupted the song of creation—Tolkien clearly follows the scriptural template for sin and malevolence. In his world too, evil exists only as a corruption or privation of something that was once good.

The goblins are probably the best example of this principle in action.

The Silmarillion provides the clearest details on how they were brought into being, telling us that the forefathers of all the orcs/goblins in Middle-earth were actually elves—beings of light twisted and corrupted by Melkor over generations until they became servants of darkness.

I like Tolkien’s choice of words in describing this process: the “Orcs [were made] in envy and mockery of the Elves.” That’s an excellent depiction of how evil operates in our world, both in Scripture and in everyday life.

THE GOBLINS’ ROLE IN THIS SEGMENT OF THE STORY

The goblins serve a few purposes in Bilbo’s story, some more obvious than others.

At the most basic level, goblins are evil’s primary foot-soldiers. This is quickly made apparent by their actions, but Tolkien also highlights their evil nature through the imagery of light and dark: The goblins live in tunnels under the mountains, they can see well in pitch-darkness, and they don’t like the sun.

This imagery, which continues throughout The Hobbit, is also a primary theme in Tolkien’s other works. As you read, keep an eye out for other creatures that dwell in darkness, and especially for the times when Bilbo and his friends are forced to endure long periods of time without the light of day.

Of course, this contrast is used regularly in Scripture to represent the disparity between good and evil. Here are just a few examples:

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;

wisdom and power are his. . . .

He reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what lies in darkness,

and light dwells with him.

Daniel 2:20, 22

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness.

Luke 11:34

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

John 3:19

On a deeper level, Tolkien’s goblins reflect humanity’s capacity for destruction—especially our ability to destroy en masse, that is, to destroy each other as well as the world around us, through industrialization and technology.

The narrator informs us that goblins are cruel and bad-hearted. They don’t make any lovely or beautiful things, although they do make many clever ones. In fact, we’re told that the goblins probably invented many of the machines and engines now troubling the world—especially those ingenious devices able to kill large numbers of people at once.

Remember that Tolkien wasn’t writing an allegory, so the goblins are not personifications of industrialization or the horrors of armed conflict. Rather, they are sub-creations that Tolkien intended to be evil. Therefore, he gave them characteristics that matched what he considered to be evil in the world around him.

When considering this point, recall that Tolkien was involved with The Silmarillion after the mass carnage of World War I; he also finished writing The Hobbit on the brink of World War II, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy after the advent of the atomic bomb. More, he was a lover of trees and flowers and the unspoiled beauty of nature. It’s no surprise, then, that the evil species in his stories should be connected to bombs, tanks, and other “advances” able to transform a beloved countryside into muddy trenches and dead bodies.

THE GOOD PART OF EVIL

You’re probably familiar with the term oxymoron. This figure of speech combines two words or ideas that, at first glance, are contradictory. “Jumbo shrimp” is a common example. So is “passive-aggression” and “freezer burn.”

Though not a strict oxymoron, here’s another to consider: “good out of evil.” Doesn’t that sound rather silly at first? But it’s a doctrine straight from the pages of Scripture.

The Bible has a lot to say about God’s sovereignty (although it doesn’t always use that word). God not only created the universe, but He is in control over all that happens in it. He is sovereign over everything—including evil.

That’s one of the ideas He communicated through the prophet Isaiah:

I am the Lord,

and there is no other.

I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the Lord, do all these things.

Isaiah 45:6–7

This is one of the themes present in Job’s inspiring story:

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

Job 2:9–10

It’s not just that God is aware of evil and has the power to stop it if He chooses. Both are true, but what the Bible also makes clear is that God views evil in the world as another tool He can utilize to accomplish His purposes.

That’s what Joseph wanted his brothers to understand when they were feeling distraught about selling him into a life of slavery:

Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.

Genesis 50:19–21

That’s also what Paul makes plain in Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Tolkien was highly appreciative of this reality, which is oft-reflected throughout his many stories—starting with The Silmarillion creation account:

Then Ilúvatar spoke, and he said: “Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Ilúvatar, those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.”[2]

This idea that Providence can weave evil actions into the song of good is also present in The Hobbit, most visibly with the goblins. In fact, the goblins reflect this pattern in at least three distinct ways.

First, the goblins produce suffering. This makes sense, of course, for evil actions often produce suffering. But remember that both The Hobbit and the Bible view suffering as one of the best ways to experience moral and spiritual growth (see chapter 1 of Part II). If Bilbo hadn’t suffered at goblin hands, he would not have been prepared to face the spiders in Mirkwood. And if he had not faced the spiders, he would not have been prepared to face Smaug.

Second, the goblins force a change in plan. Evil actions often produce unintended consequences. Again, one example would be spiritual growth. But the presence of evil in the world can also compel people to make decisions they wouldn’t otherwise choose to make. For example, many people returned to church and renewed their faith in Christ after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In The Hobbit, the goblins’ actions under the Misty Mountains and in the forest beyond forced Gandalf to seek help from the eagles and from Bard the Bowman. Both became critical pieces in the victory over the goblins in the Battle of Five Armies.

Third, the goblins initiated their own doom. One of the most compelling themes in The Lord of the Rings is that evil is self-destructive—the evil actions of evil beings ultimately brings about the destruction of those beings. This is true in The Hobbit as well. For instance, the Great Goblin’s scheme of waylaying travelers in the mountain eventually produces his demise when he attempts to snare Gandalf.

In these ways and more, the Creator can be appropriate evil to accomplish good. We will see all three taking place in chapter 5.