13

The Seeds of Greed

Many things in this world can be measured without much difficulty—if you have the right instrument for the measuring.

Small distances can be calculated with a tape measure. Large distances can be measured with lasers and reflective lenses. If you want to find out how fast someone is driving, use a radar gun. If you want to determine how heavy something is, take your pick from any number of specialized scales designed for everything from a single bacteria to an elephant.

Other elements and aspects are not so easily quantified. For instance, one of the driving, behind-the-scenes questions in The Hobbit is how to measure a person’s—or a hobbit’s—moral character.

We readers can see that Bilbo Baggins has seen moral growth throughout his journey, but perhaps we look for a way to determine just how much he’s been changed. Has he matured a little since the sudden party in Bag End? Has he been moderately reshaped? Is he a totally new creature?

Thus far Tolkien has used fear—or, more precisely, he has used Bilbo’s reactions to fear—as a plumb rod to gauge the hobbit’s development. When we set Bilbo against that rod during his contacts with Smaug, we can definitively say that he has been profoundly changed. In fact, we can say he has conquered his tendency to be controlled by fear and has become a truly heroic figure.

And so Tolkien’s instrument for measuring moral character now changes, starting in chapter 13. From this point he will use money, of all things, as a way to establish the moral fiber of different characters—including Bilbo.

Smaug’s huge hoard of plunder becomes a shining scale that pegs one as greedy or generous, as foolish or wise, as morally deficient or morally strong.

Three Assessments

In later chapters, Tolkien will use Smaug’s vast trove to evaluate the quality of other, more minor characters such as Bard the Bowman, the Master of Lake-town, Thranduil (king of the wood elves in Mirkwood), and more.

To start things off, though, he utilizes chapters 12 and 13 to reveal the mettle and motives of Smaug, the dwarves, and Bilbo.

ASSESSING SMAUG

Not surprisingly, Smaug the dragon scores a zero on his character assessment. He is the personification of malice, cruelty, cunning, and greed.

The irony is that Smaug has absolutely no use for money. He purchases nothing; he needs no kind of savings or means of investment. For all intents and purposes, the dragon is a beast that lives off the land.

Similarly, there’s no evidence within the story that Smaug is fond of the treasure over which he has so long presided. There are no mentions of appreciating a particular jewel’s beauty or even feeling happy about the quantity of riches in which he’s immersed—only that he broods over every detail of his plunder and has complete, ongoing awareness of its inventory.

What Smaug does radiate is a burning desire to possess. In his extreme greed he ravaged the kingdom under the mountain and the town of Dale, then piled the wealth of others in titanic heaps for an elaborate bed within his lair. His pleasure stems only in knowing that he possesses it while others do not.

These traits result in one of the few moments throughout Tolkien’s entire legendarium where he risks breaking the story’s spell to make a moral point.

When Smaug discovers the golden cup is missing, he bursts through the gate in wrath. The dragon’s state is described as the kind of rage only seen when rich people who have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something they’ve long possessed but seldom used. For Tolkien, such a tone is almost preachy, and it shows how strongly he felt about the matter.

Once again he reflects the sentiments of several biblical authors, including James:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

James 5:1–6

The hoarding of wealth, abominable at any time, is especially so in the presence of others in need. Unfortunately, some of the characters we have appreciated thus far are about to display Smaug-like attitudes and actions.

ASSESSING THE DWARVES

If Thorin and the dwarves had a “life verse,” I’m afraid it would be this:

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:9–10

Yes, the dwarves have been “decent enough fellows” during their adventures from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain. They’ve exuded stiffness and grumpiness at times, sure, along with a bit of haughtiness on Thorin’s part. But Bilbo has called them his friends, and we readers feel the same way.

Yet from the moment they encounter Smaug’s treasure, things change. To start, the word foolish becomes appropriate to describe their actions.

When they can stand the darkness and heat of the tunnel no longer, Thorin and Company make a desperate escape attempt, passing down into Smaug’s lair. Amazingly, they find no waiting dragon. But instead of blessing Providence for their luck and hastily retreating, they fall into temptation and a trap when they see the treasure. Utterly mesmerized, they linger a long while in the most dangerous place imaginable.

Some of the dwarves begin stuffing their pockets with gold and jewels. Others wander around the tremendous lode, reminiscing about artifacts they remember from times long ago. Fili and Kili grab harps and strike up a tune!

Bilbo finally puts an end to the madness by reminding them that they don’t know where Smaug is, and he could return at any moment. Only then do the dwarves gradually, grudgingly leave the treasure to save their own lives.

Yet the damage has been done. In the days ahead, the planted seeds of greed will reap terrible consequences—including “ruin and destruction.” Some dwarves will even find themselves literally “pierced” with griefs.

ASSESSING BILBO

If you’ve paid attention, you probably noticed a pattern developing with the “three assessments” in this section. Smaug is at one end of the spectrum as the personification of greed; the dwarves are toward the middle as decent beings corrupted by the love of money; so Bilbo must be at the other end of the spectrum, generous and devoid of avarice—right?

While that’s the eventual reality, things don’t look promising at the start.

In chapter 12, Bilbo caught the first glimpse of Smaug’s treasure after descending the tunnel and winning the victory over his fear. He was blown away. In fact, there were “no words left to express his staggerment.”[1]

This is understandable, given the hoard’s immensity. But what happens inside Bilbo’s mind and heart when he sees it is disconcerting to say the least. He ruminates on the “lust” and “glory” of such treasure, and his heart is “filled and pierced” with the “desire of dwarves.”[2] This is all bad news, of course, and the word pierced should catch our attention given what we read from 1 Timothy 6.

But just as disturbing is the way Bilbo stands motionless as he gazes at the treasure, almost forgetting the terrible dragon just a few feet in front of him! Indeed, Bilbo’s fear of Smaug decreasing because of his desire for the treasure is a foreshadowing of the dwarves’ foolishness in chapter 13.

Two things are clear in this encounter. First, Bilbo is experiencing a legitimate temptation. Having just conquered his fear, the hobbit is beset by a new peril—a new chance to make the right choice and grow stronger or make the wrong choice and fail both himself and his friends.

Second, Tolkien is setting up a comparison between Bilbo and his companions. The hobbit and the dwarves have the same initial reaction to the treasure—amazement, desire, and a thoughtless lack of awareness. Over time, however, Bilbo and the dwarves will take entirely different views (and actions) when it comes to the pull of wealth.

In fact, Bilbo begins to separate from the dwarves as soon as chapter 13, when the company escapes through the vacant lair. While the dwarves are just getting warmed up with grabbing for jewels and reminiscing about long-forgotten riches, the hobbit’s desire for amassing spoils quickly fades.

Remember: He pulls the dwarves out of their folly by reminding them that Smaug could return at any moment. And instead of gathering gold to carry, he muses that he would give up a whole stack of precious goblets if he could get a drink of something cheerful from one of Beorn’s wooden bowls.

These examples show that Bilbo is reestablishing a proper priority when it comes to riches, and this will serve him well in the days to come.

THE ARKENSTONE

Bilbo does stuff one jewel into his pocket in chapter 13: the Arkenstone.

Described by Thorin as the “heart of the mountain” and one of the most striking gems ever discovered, Bilbo comes across it while exploring the main hall seeking any signs of Smaug’s whereabouts. He finds no dragon, of course, but is instead drawn forward by a strange, dim light.

After discovering the Arkenstone, Bilbo’s arm suddenly shoots out as if drawn by some enchantment of the jewel. He even closes his eyes while he pockets the stone—as if he doesn’t want to see what his hand is doing.

At this point, there’s no doubt the hobbit intends to keep the Arkenstone for himself. He reasons that Thorin said he could choose from the treasure for his one-fourteenth share, and he wants the Arkenstone more than all else combined.

The problem is that Bilbo knows Thorin feels the same way. And he even thinks to himself that trouble will come of his actions when eventually he tells the dwarves what he did.

The entire episode is puzzling. The frequent mention of Bilbo being “drawn” to the stone and experiencing its “enchantment” makes it seem like outside forces are at work—we get the impression that his taking of the jewel is a key moment but can’t yet say whether the results will be for good or evil.

We are left with questions: Does Bilbo’s taking of the Arkenstone mean that the “seeds of greed” are growing in his heart as well as in the dwarves’? Do the outside forces working upon Bilbo represent Providence or something more sinister? Is Bilbo right that there will be consequences for his actions?

All these queries and more will be addressed in the chapters to come.

The Twisting of the Dwarves

Before turning to Smaug’s fate, I want to make one thing clear on the dwarves’ predilection toward greed and love of money. Namely, that their penchant is not a natural condition; it’s not who the dwarves were created to be.

I understand that it’s easy to assume otherwise. The dwarves are connected with money and covetousness so often throughout Tolkien’s mythology that we can begin to feel like they have no choice in the matter. Even when dwarves commit despicable acts in the name of greed, there is a part of us that may think, That’s just what dwarves do. They can’t help it.

Thoughts like these are incorrect, however, because they are inconsistent with the earliest history of the dwarves as a race within Middle-earth.

As I mentioned in chapter 10, the dwarves were originally created by Aulë, a member of the Valar. This angel-like being had a love of mining and smithwork, and he created the dwarves because he wanted to share his knowledge with others who could emulate and refine his craft.

However, in The Silmarillion, Tolkien emphasizes that Aulë’s moral character takes delight in making rather than hoarding things.[3]

He was more likely to be generous with treasure than to keep it for himself. Therefore, he did not impart any measure of greed or covetousness into the earliest dwarves. Nor did those dwarves learn such qualities from his example or teaching.

Rather, the faults demonstrated by later generations—including that of Thorin and Company—are the result of a gradual corruption arising from the love of money. Like all demonstrations of evil in Middle-earth, their greed was caused by the twisting of something originally created to be good.

This twisting will play prominently in the final events of The Hobbit, and will include major consequences for those who choose to wallow in their corruption rather than resisting evil and striving to once again become who they were created to be.