ch formed a calm bay.” (Tolkien 190). Esgaroth has deteriorated some over the years because of the dragon which has made his home in the Lonely Mountains nearby. The Lonely Mountains is the final setting of our story. The land laid out before the Lonely Mountains is verydesolate. There are no trees or bushes and little grass. All of the animals and men that lived here have left the area for fear of the dragon. Into the entrance of the mountain flows the river from Long Lake. Inside the great mountain are many great rooms made by dwarves of old. Among many grand rooms there are a great feasting and a council hall and another that houses all the gold and treasures the dragon has collected over the years. The setting of The Hobbit laid down the foundation for the story. Traveling through these settings, the colorful characters bringthe story to life.There are six major characters through The Hobbit and each one play a crucial role. The most important of these characters is Gandalf. Gandalf is described as, “ . . . an old man with a staff. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which a white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots.” (Tolkien 4). Gandalf may not look like much, but he is a very powerful wizard. Throughout the story he helps to save himself and his friends from danger and sudden death. Even though he is very helpful, he can also be “ . . .extremely random and unpredictable . . . ” (Lion and Johnson 5). In these ways he shows how human he really is. The next major character, which Gandalf has brought into the story, is Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit. A hobbit is “ . . . a short human-like person . . . ” (Gardner 1). They have hairy feet with leathery soles so they do not have to wear shoes and they are generally quite fat. Another characteristic of hobbits is that they love to eat, rest, and smoke pipes. B...
