J.R.R. Tolkien reads “Riddles in the Dark” from The Hobbit
What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
“
| — | Gollum, “Riddles in the Dark,” The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien |
Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went still himself. He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thought passed in a flash of a second. He trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.
“
| — | “Riddles in the Dark,” The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien |
