Editing Thorin Oakenshield (section)

== Analysis ==

Shippey writes that in chapters 6–8 of ''The Hobbit'', Tolkien explores "with delight that surly, [[wikt:illiberal|illiberal]] independence often the distinguishing mark of [[Old Norse]] heroes".<ref name="Shippey 2005">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=The Road to Middle-Earth |date=2005 |edition=Third |orig-year=1982 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0261102750 |pages=90–91}}</ref> The philosophers Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson contrast the way Tolkien introduces hobbits, as "plain, quiet folks who never do anything unexpected", with how Thorin would have "introduce[d] himself, with [[aristocratic]] titles and songs of ancient lineage. We do not open the book to read of the wrath of Thorin the way we learn of the wrath of [[Achilles]] in the opening lines of ''[[The Iliad]]''."<ref name="Bassham Bronson 2012 p67">{{cite book |last1=Bassham |first1=Gregory |last2=Bronson |first2=Eric |title=The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You've Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33HUiYwuBxQC |year=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-40514-7 |pages=67}}</ref> 

The Tolkien scholar [[Paul H. Kocher]] writes that Tolkien characterises Dwarves as having the "[[Cardinal sins|cardinal sin]] of 'possessiveness'",<ref name="Kocher 1974">{{cite book |last=Kocher |first=Paul |author-link=Paul H. Kocher |title=Master of Middle-earth: The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien |title-link=Master of Middle-earth |date=1974 |orig-year=1972 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0140038779 |page=26}}</ref> seen sharply when Bard the Bowman makes what Bilbo feels is a fair offer for a share of Smaug's treasure, and Thorin flatly refuses, his "dwarfish lust for gold fevered by brooding on the dragon's hoard".<ref name="Kocher 1974"/>

The [[Jesuit]] John L. Treloar, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', suggests that Tolkien, a Catholic, explores the [[seven deadly sins]] in his Middle-earth writings. He states that in ''The Hobbit'', both Smaug and Thorin exemplify [[avarice]], but respond to it differently. In his view, Smaug is evil and lets avarice destroy him, whereas Thorin, sharing the general weakness of Dwarves for this particular vice, nevertheless has sufficient good will to free himself of it at the time of his death.<ref name="Treloar 1989">{{cite journal |last1=Treloar |first1=John L. |title=The Middle-earth Epic and the Seven Capital Vices |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=1989 |volume=16 |issue=1 (59) |pages=37–42 |jstor=26812105}}</ref>

Bassham and Bronson compare Thorin's deathbed "conversion" from his [[greed]] and [[pride]], as he reconciles himself with Bilbo, to [[Ebenezer Scrooge]]'s "big moral transformation" from grumpy [[miser]]liness to generosity and cheerfulness in [[Charles Dickens]]'s 1843 novella ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''.<ref name="Bassham Bronson 2012 p14">{{cite book |last1=Bassham |first1=Gregory |last2=Bronson |first2=Eric |title=The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You've Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33HUiYwuBxQC |year=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-40514-7 |pages=14–15}}</ref>