Of Bilbo and the Dwarfs

Bilbo Baggins was a Hobbit and therefor supposed to be inclined to being a bit of a homebody and never do anything so out of character as going off on adventures with Wizards and Dwarfs and fighting Spiders and Dragons but that is exactly what he did to his everlasting amazement. But how did these events get set in place. It all begins with one of the great rings of power that was given to the Dwarf Thror and the magic of the ring helped to increase the wealth of the Dwarfs and they became rich and prosperous, unfortunately such news of their wealth came at last to be heard of by Dragons for Dragons are great, powerful and wicked creatures and loved gold and shiny jewels and so the Dradon Smaug came to the home of the Dwarfs, (Erebor) in the Lonely Mountains and their he slew a great many of the Dwarfs and the others fled and that day Smaug became the new King under the mountain and he guarded his wealth in a great hall and suffered no one to take it. What do Dragons do with their great wealth? Do they buy pleasure or power? Do they build great palaces? No. they merely possess it and use it not but derive great pleasure from looking at it and the counting and cataloging of it, a terrible waste indeed but than again they are Dragons and who is to argue with them. Years later Thror decided to return to the mountains and left the magic ring with his son Thrain. Now Thrain possessed the ring for many years but the ring was slowly working it's magic on him. The rings did not have the same effect on Dwarfs as they did on Men. The Dwarfs were made of sterner stuff and could not be held slaves to the ring and pass into spectres such as the Ringwraiths. What it did was to magnify the Dwarfs desire for wealth and this often as not led to their deaths and destruction thus it was that the ring led Thrain to seek to return to the Iron Mountains and there regain the treasure of the Dwarfs from Smaug the dragon. On the journey he took two other dwarfs Balin and Dwalin ( they would be part of the 13 dwarfs that accompanied Bilbo to the Dragon) but along the journey Thrain was captured by Orcs and taken to Saurons fortress where it was discovered that he possessed one of the rings that Sauron so wanted back. The ring was taken from him and he was slowly tortured and eventually died in Saurons dungeon. Befor he died a strange meeting took place,Gandalf the wizard had come to Saurons dungeons looking if he could discover if it was truly Sauron taking shape again in Middle Earth. Gandalf came upon a dying Thrain and was given two objects by him firstly a map and secondly a key then Thrain died, Gandalf escaped the dungeons of Sauron. It was years later that Gandalf began to worry that Sauron could use the power of the Dragon against Middle Earth and decided it must be eliminated. In Bree at the inn called The Prancing Pony Gandalf was approached by none other that Thorin Oakenshield the heir of Thrain and a meeting was set up which eventually led to the plan of 13 Dwarfs under the command of Thorin to return to the lonely mountains and slay the dragon Smaug and reclaim their stolen treasure. At first Thorin Oakenshield wanted to gather a great Dwarven army and assault Smaug with them but Gandalf counseled differently he said " Your plans are those of a king but your kingdom is gone, you will have to try something simpler and yet bolder,indeed something desperate". and then he made a most unusual suggestion.Thorin Oakenshield was a bit of a pompous ass if the truth be told and when Gandalf advised him to contract for a burglar and more specifically a Hobbit he snorted in indignation and stated he found Hobbits of little worth but Gandalf at last convinced him. Gandalf explained that Dragons ever guarded their gold against the attack of Dwarfs and could smell a Dwarf easily(Dragons had a great sense of smell) and Smaug had never smelled a Hobbit before. and that Hobbits were possessed with the natural ability of great stealth a pretty good talent to possess if you are to be employed as a burglar. Thorin eventually agreed to this but reluctantly so and more than anything didn't really want to anger a Wizard(who does). Bilbo had been noticed by Gandalf some years before and had made a favorable impression on him and it was Bilbo that Gandalf suggested so that one evening a Wizard and 13 Dwarfs came to visit him unexpectedly one early Spring night and that as they say was how it all came about. I am sure you remember their little adventure so I will stop here and let them begin their journey that didn't quite turn out as they had hoped for, mostly