The hobbit.
Chapter 1 opens as the wizard Gandalf visits the hobbit Bilbo Baggins and invites him to join in an adventure. Bilbo declines, reluctant to leave the safety and comfort of his hobbit-hole. The next day, he is visited by dwarves who believe Bilbo can be of use to them in their journey to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their ancestral treasure, now in the possession of Smaug the dragon. Bilbo realizes that Gandalf had represented him to the dwarves as a burglar. He reluctantly agrees to go, but he changes his mind the next morning. Gandalf urges him to join them, however, and they depart — a band of fourteen.
Chapters 2 through 10 depict Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves traveling out of the hobbit-lands toward the Lonely Mountain far to the east. As the landscape becomes less hospitable and the group faces hunger, bad weather, and attacks from hostile creatures, Bilbo often thinks fondly of home and questions his decision to come on this journey. In the Lone-lands, the travelers encounter trolls who capture the dwarves and tie them up in sacks, planning to roast and eat them later. They are rescued by Gandalf and Bilbo, who produces a key he found nearby. The key unlocks the trolls' secret cave, where the travelers find gold and weapons, to which they help themselves. They travel on to the valley of Rivendell at the edge of the Wild, and stay at the home of Elrond, a hospitable elf leader. Elrond translates the runes on the swords that Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield, king of the dwarves, took from the trolls' cave; they are ancient swords called Orcrist and Glamdring that come from dragon plunder or the Goblin-wars. Elrond also translates Thorin's map, which clarifies the importance of Durin's Day, the first day of the dwarves' New Year.. After two weeks, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves resume their journey. Approaching the Misty Mountains, they take shelter from a storm in a cave that turns out to be the Great Goblin's cavern. The Goblins capture Bilbo and his companions and take their ponies. Using Glamdring, Gandalf kills the Great Goblin and frees Bilbo and the dwarves. The travelers try to find their way out of the cave as the Goblins retreat, but Bilbo falls on his way out and loses consciousness.
