J.R.R. Tolkien

Their astonishment was enormous when Thorin Oakenshield stepped in through the door. 'Who are you and what do you want?' they shouted, leaping to their feet and groping for weapons. 'Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain!' said the dwarf in a loud voice, and he looked it, in spit…

Not far from the mouth of the Forest River was the strange town he heard the elves speak of in the king's cellars. It was not built on the shore, though there were a few huts and buildings there, but right out on the surface of the lake, protected from the swirl of the entering river by a promontory…

All he knew was that the river seemed to go on and on and on for ever, and he was hungry, and had a nasty cold in the nose, and did not like the way the Mountain seemed to frown at him and threaten him as it drew ever nearer. After a while, however, the river took a more southerly course and the Mou…

As soon as the raft of barrels came in sight boats rowed out from the piles of the town, and voices hailed the raft-steerers. Then ropes were cast and oars were pulled, and soon the raft was drawn out of the current of the Forest River and towed away round the high shoulder of rock into the little b…

The sun had set when turning with another sweep towards the East the forest-river rushed into the Long Lake. There it had a wide mouth with stony cliff-like gates at either side whose feet were piled with shingles. The Long Lake! Bilbo had never imagined that any water that was not the sea could loo…

There was no thought of a fight. Even if the dwarves had not been in such a state that they were actually glad to be captured, their small knives, the only weapons they had, would have been of no use against the arrows of the elves that could hit a bird's eye in the dark. So they simply stopped dead…

Inside, the passages were lit with red torchlight, and the elf-guards sang as they marched along the twisting, crossing, and echoing paths. These were not like those of the goblin-cities; they were smaller, less deep underground, and filled with a cleaner air. In a great hall with pillars hewn out o…

But they did not know this, and they we're burdened with the heavy body of Bombur, which they had to carry along with them as best they could, taking the wearisome task in tums of four each while the others shared their packs. If these had not become all too light in the last few days, they would ne…