I promised to wake old Bombur

Bilbo’s decision to hand over the Arkenstone to Bard and Thranduil in chapter 16 of The Hobbit is momentous, and it is a very wise and courageous act. It reveals a hobbit who has come to think beyond himself, to risk his own safety to help save the lives of his friends.

This is a far cry from the hobbit who left the Shire many months earlier. It is the culmination of Bilbo’s brave acts in Mirkwood and the Mountain up till this point. But I do no think it is the peak. I think this act—giving up the Arkenstone—comes right before the peak of Bilbo’s goodness.

That peak lies within Bilbo’s motives for returning to Thorin and the dwarves. Thranduil offers Bilbo shelter and honour, but the hobbit turns the Elf-king down, saying, “I don’t think I ought to leave my friends like this, after all we have gone through together. And I promised to wake old Bombur at midnight, too!”

Bilbo must know that he is going back to a dangerous situation. Thorin has already threatened (in this same chapter) revenge on anyone who finds the Arkenstone and does not immediately hand it over. But Bilbo’s honour won’t let him stay safely in Dale. To stay would be tantamount to a betrayal, the betrayal Thorin is going to accuse him of anyway.

To stay with Thranduil and Bard is to desert his friends. But even this is not the peak.

The peak of Bilbo’s goodness and his maturity is that he says he must go back so he can wake Bombur.

This is a simple moment, so simple that Peter Jackson totally wrote it and the circumstances that caused this comment out of his film version. But in the midst of all the grand events unfolding, Bilbo’s concern is not for himself. It is not for the dwarves in general, though his desire to return is motivated in part by this.

His concern is particular: He does not want Bombur to get into trouble for his (Bilbo’s) acts, which will surely happen if Bilbo stays in Dale. Bilbo lied to Bombur. He sent Bombur to sleep instead of keep watch on the pretence that Bilbo would keep watch instead. And then Bilbo jumped the wall and ran to the Elves and Men besieging the Mountain.

It’s a small moment. Bilbo gives up the Arkenstone because he wants to save his friends in general from their perceived enemies. But he goes back to save a particular friend from particular trouble. And he must know what going back will cost him the next day when Bard and Thranduil show up with the Arkenstone.

Then on his way out, Bilbo bumps into Gandalf. Peter Jackson gets this all wrong. His Gandalf tries to convince Bilbo to stay in the camp; Tolkien’s Gandalf allows Bilbo to make his decision and sends him on his way with encouragement for the hard times coming.

I have to think that Gandalf in this moment knows everything that has happened and that he approves not only of Bilbo’s acts this night but especially of Bilbo’s sense of honour and loyalty that sends him back into the Mountain.

It’s a wonderful human moment from Bilbo. Too often, our heroes in stories are heroes in grand scale, or in general acts that apply to many, many people. But Bilbo’s concern for one friend in the midst of a looming catastrophe reminds us that good is always specific, always particular. It always impacts individuals.