7

A Blessed Rest

The Christian doctrine of the Sabbath is taken directly from Scripture:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 20:8–11

The idea is as simple as it is practical: The God who made us intended our lives to be governed by regular patterns of work and rest—specifically, six days of the former followed by one day of the latter.

Houses of Rest

J. R. R. Tolkien followed a similar pattern with his characters during their adventures in The Hobbit. Yes, even in the wild lands beyond civilization’s borders, the Sabbath holds sway. And that is the primary theme of chapter 7.

Actually, we’ve already seen one chapter at least partially dedicated to the theme of rest: chapter 3, where Thorin and Company took shelter in the House of Elrond. That chapter was also written with a keen eye toward the elves and their history (discussed earlier).

In the house of Beorn, however, rest and restoration take center stage. There, a brief stay allows Bilbo and his friends, who’ve just finished a harrowing confrontation with the goblins in the mountains, to recuperate. It also permits them to resupply and prepare themselves for the ominous, arduous journey through the evil forest of Mirkwood.

Again, this pattern—work and rest—continues throughout the story.

After many miserable weeks in Mirkwood, the group is given a reprieve in the halls of the wood elves (though it does come with prison bars). Then, surviving being half-killed in barrels after escaping incarceration, Bilbo and the dwarves are treated like kings by the men of Esgaroth, resupplied and refreshed before the end of their journey and the confrontation with Smaug.

Getting back to chapter 7, it’s also interesting to note what Tolkien included (and excluded) in his ideal vision of rest. Beauty is a key element, for example. Beorn’s house is surrounded by flowerbeds and green fields contrasting with rock and stone. It’s an idyllic scene that perhaps even reflects the garden of Eden.

Food, excluding a certain type, also is a vital factor at Beorn’s. There is bread and butter and honey and clotted cream, not to mention nuts, fruit, and pleasant drink. Beorn would not be considered a vegan by any stretch, but it’s telling that nothing on his menu made death necessary to feed life.

Other facets of rest include telling stories, singing songs, smoking pipes, and, of course, sleeping snuggled up in blankets next to a fire, as Bilbo seems to do most often throughout this chapter.

Not found anywhere near Beorn’s restful house are the machinations of industrialization. Everything is natural, from tables and chairs to servers and cooks. There are no instruments of gold or silver, no appliances or contraptions, no jarring noise.

All of this provides an intriguing window into Tolkien as a person, revealing his likes and dislikes through the window of story.

Literary Corner: Why Gandalf Had to Leave

One of the more distressing moments in the story, both for Bilbo and for us, comes when Gandalf takes his leave of the humble company. We are warned about his eventual departure at the beginning of chapter 7, but it still lands like a blow when the wizard rides away with the hobbit and the dwarves perched on the menacing doorstep of Mirkwood.

We readers have appreciated Gandalf’s unique personality from the start, including his actions and his wit. It’s clear to us that Bilbo and the dwarves would never have come this far without his help, and so we can’t help but feel anxious for their safety as they prepare to move on without him.

Within the realm of Tolkien’s larger mythology, we know Gandalf had to leave the company in order to join with the other wizards and drive Sauron (also called the Necromancer) out of his stronghold in Mirkwood. Gandalf says as much himself in The Hobbit chapter 19, and a few more details in the last section of The Silmarillion reveal that Sauron, anticipating this move, actually used the opportunity to sneak into his old fortresses in Mordor.

Still, we wonder: How can Thorin and Company possibly make it alone?

In reality, that’s rather the point—they need to make it on their own. Or, more specifically, Bilbo needs to make it on his own.

The hobbit was intended to be, is destined to become, a hero. But he has limited opportunity to become what he was created to be as long as Gandalf is around to fix problems and get everyone out of sticky situations. Gandalf left to make room for Bilbo’s growth—for Bilbo to become a “new creation.”

What is more, Tolkien is following centuries of literary tradition by moving Gandalf out of the way and allowing Bilbo to flourish.

Many authors use old, wise, and powerful characters as mentors for budding heroes or heroines. At some point, however, the mentor must be removed so that his or her charge can actualize potential.

The relationship between Merlin and King Arthur was an early example of this phenomenon. A more recent example would be Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, and there have been many more in between, including Gandalf.

This is the point: Bilbo can only earn his stripes by overcoming adversity on his own in order to become what he was created to be.