Where were Gandalf and Hannah? Of that neither the Dwarves and Bilbo nor the Goblins had any idea, and the Goblins did not wait to find out. It was deep, deep, dark, such as only Goblins that have taken to living in the heart of the mountains can see through. The passages there were crossed and tangled in all directions, but the Goblins knew their way, as well as you do to the nearest post-office; and the way went down and down, and it was horribly stuffy. The goblins were very rough, and pinched unmercifully, and chuckled and laughed in their horrible stony voices; and Bilbo was more unhappy even than when the troll had picked him up by his toes. He wished again and again for his nice hobbit-hole. Not for the last time.
Now there came a glimmer red of light before them. The Goblins began to sing, or croak, keeping time with the flap of their feet on the stone, and shaking their prisoners as well.
Clap! Snap! the black crack!
Grib, grab! Pinch, nab!
And down, down to Goblin-town
You go, my lad!Clash, crash! Crush, smash!
Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!
Pound, pound, down underground!
Ho, ho! my lad!Swish, smack! Whip crack!
Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat!
Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,
While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,
Round and round far underground
Below, my lad!It sounded truly terrifying. The walls echoed to the clap, snap! And the crush, smash! And to the ugly laughter of their ho, ho! my lad! The general meaning of the song was only too plain; for now the Goblins took out whips and whipped them with a swish, smack!, and set them running as fast as they could in front of them; and more than one of the Dwarves were already yammering and bleating like anything, when they stumbled into a big cavern.
It was lit by a great red fire in the middle, and by torches along the walls, and it was full of Goblins. They all laughed and stamped and clapped their hands, when the Dwarves (with poor little Bilbo at the back and nearest to the whips) came running in, while the goblin-drivers whooped and cracked their whips behind. The ponies were already huddled in a corner; and there were all the baggages and packages lying broken open, and being rummaged by goblins, and smelt by goblins, and fingered by goblins, and quarreled over by goblins.
I am afraid that was the last they ever saw of those excellent little ponies, including the jolly sturdy little fellow that Elrond had leant to Gandalf, since a horse was not suitable for the mountain-paths. For Goblins eat horses and ponies and donkeys (and other much more dreadful things), and they are always hungry. Just now however the prisoners were thinking only of themselves. The Goblins chained their hands behind their backs and linked them all together in a line and dragged them to the far end of the cavern with Bilbo tugging at the end of the row.
There in the shadows on a large flat stone, surrounded by piled up skulls and trophies form enemies to make a throne, sat a tremendous Goblin with a huge head and an equally large goiter, and armed Goblins were standing round him carrying the axes and bent swords that they use. Now Goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make clever ones. They can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled Dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually very untidy and dirty. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes, tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well, or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and slaves have to work till they die for want of air and light. They did not hate Dwarves especially, no more than they hated everybody and everything, and particularly the orderly and prosperous; in some parts wicked Dwarves had even made alliances with them. Anyway, Goblins don't care who they catch, as long as it is done smart and secret, and the prisoners are not able to defend themselves.
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A Long Strange Journey
FanfictionThis is the story of a young English girl named Hannah, a survivor of the London Blitz, and her adventures in Middle-Earth. (prequel/companion to One Geek to Rule Them All)