Middle-Earth Tours

Tour 2: The Places of Middle-Earth

The Lair of the Great Goblin
He knew something unexpected might happen, and he hardly dared to hope that they would pass without fearful adventure over those great tall mountains with lonely peaks and valleys where no king ruled. They did not. All was well, until one day they met a thunderstorm -- more than a thunderstorm, a thunder-battle. --The Hobbit, "Over Hill and Under Hill"

Soon Fili and Kili came crawling back, holding on to the rocks in the wind. 'We have found a dry cave,' they said.--The Hobbit, "Over Hill and Under Hill"
The Mountain-Path, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Great Goblin, by Alan Lee

Riddles in the Dark, by Alan Lee
Riddles in the Dark, by
Michael Hague
But Bilbo simply could not think of any question with that nasty wet cold thing sitting next to him, and pawing and poking him....
    'Ask us! ask us!' said Gollum.
    Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself; he gripped on his little sword; he even felt in his pocket with his other hand. There he found the ring he had picked up in the passage and forgotten about.
    'What have I got in my pocket?' he said aloud.--Hobbit, "Riddles in the Dark"
There was a hissing and cursing almost at his heels at first, then it stopped. Gollum was defeated. He dared go no further. He had lost: lost his precious. The cry brought Bilbo's heart to his mouth, but still he held on. Now faint as an echo, but menacing, the voice came behind:
    Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates, it, we hates it for ever!'
    Then there was a silence. But that too seemed menacing to Bilbo. 'If goblins are so near that he smelt them,' he thought, 'then they'll have heard his shrieking and cursing. Careful now, or this way will lead you to worse things."--The Hobbit, "Riddles in the Dark"
Gollum, by Ted Nasmith
Bilbo at the Gate, by Alan Lee

Full-size versions of these pictures are on display at Rolozo Tolkien and the official LotR movie site