Those of you who have read 'The Hobbit' will remember this chapter - Gollum's grand debut! But for the people who haven't - 'Riddles in the Dark' is the 5th chapter of 'The Hobbit'. Bilbo Baggins, lost and seperated from the dwarves and Gandalf, stumbles into some of the deeper caverns under the Misry Mountains. There he finds the Ring, and starts the whole mess that will be the War of the Ring. Eventually, he "meets" Gollum by the little lake where Gollum lives. Gollum proposes that they have a Riddle competiton - since he is not feeling particularly hungry. If Bilbo fails to answer one of Gollum's riddles, Gollum will eat him. And if Gollum fails to answer one of Bilbo's riddles, Gollum will show him the way out. Bilbo eventually cheats, by asking a question that isn't a riddle, and Gollum discovers that his "precious" is lost. He puts two and two together and realises that his precious his what is in Bilbo's pocket - the precious being the Ring. But, as we all know, the Ring makes you invisible, so Bilbo wears it, and follows Gollum to the exit.

Bellow are the riddles that made up the Riddle Competition, and Gollum's little song from 'The Two Towers'.
Gollum's Riddles

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than tress
    Up, up it goes,
    And yet never grows?

A: Mountain

Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.

A: Wind



It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
    And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
    Ends life, kills laughter.

A: Dark

Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.

A: Fish

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slay king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.

A: Time
Bilbo's Riddles

Thirty white horses on a red hill,
     First they champ,
     Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.

A: Teeth (but we has only six)

An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
�That eye is like to this eye�
Said the first eye,
�But in a low place,
Not in a high place.�

A: Sun on the daisies.

A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.

A: Eggses





No-legs lay on one-leg, two-legs sat near on three-legs, four-legs got some.

A: Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, and cat has the bones
Gollum�s Song

The cold hard lands
they bites our hands,
     they gnaws our feet.
The rocks and stones
are like old bones
     all bare of meat.
But stream and pool
is wet and cool:
     so nice for feet!
And now we wish �
Alive without breath;
as cold as death;
never thirsty ever drinking;
clad in mail, never clinking.
Drowns on dry land,
thinks an island
is a mountain;
thinks a fountain
is a puff of air.
So sleek, so fair!
 
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