Before the Second Age, Eriador, Enedwaith, and even the lands east of the Misty Mountains, were once covered by an unbroken expanse of forest.
Over the subsequent millennia, after the wanton felling by the Numenoreans and countless conflicts during the Dark Years, only scattered remnants of the once dense ancient forests remained, with the northernmost edge of the surviving woods being known as the Old Forest.
In the middle of the Third Age, the Old Forest belonged to the kingdom of Cardolan, whose territory extended east to the Barrow-downs and west to the Brandywine River.
In the year 2340 of the Third Age, a hobbit named Gorhendad Oldbuck left the Shire and settled in the region between the east bank of the Brandywine River and the Old Forest, which would later become known as Buckland.
The hobbits living there cut down some trees to make space for building houses.
They built a tall hedge between their homes and the Old Forest, and it was rumored that the trees in the Old Forest had once tried to cross the hedge and invade Buckland.
The hobbits retaliated by felling hundreds of trees and burning down the overgrown woods, creating a burnt area that remains there to this day.
As a result, the Old Forest's animosity towards the hobbits deepened.
Therefore, in the Shire, many hobbits believed that the trees of the Old Forest were somehow "awake" and harbored ill will towards them.
And Bilbo Baggins was one of those hobbits who believed the Old Forest was "awake"; he shrieked, recounting all the rumors and stories he knew about the Old Forest, strongly opposing Thorin's plan to spend the night there.
But Thorin asked, "Have you personally been to the Old Forest, Master Burglar?"
Then Bilbo was instantly silenced.
His face flushed, and he gesticulated wildly in the air (his frying pan had been taken over by Bofur, who continued cooking with it): "It has nothing to do with whether I've been there or not! Ho, if I had been there, you certainly wouldn't be seeing me alive. It's a dangerous place, why would I go there? No hobbit who values his life would go into the Old Forest! Let alone spend the night!"
"Don't get too agitated, Bilbo, I understand how you feel."
Arthur gently pressed on Bilbo's shoulder, calming him down.
Bilbo heard Arthur's voice and lowered his hands, but his mouth continued to speak.
"Arthur, you have to listen to me on this. Although I am a hobbit who stays at home and has never traveled far, I have read more words than these dwarves have eaten grains of rice! I, as a hobbit, know the situation of the Old Forest better than anyone; in Hobbiton, the Old Forest's bad reputation is known to everyone, even women and children," Bilbo said.
Thorin was not angry at Bilbo's attitude; on the contrary, he said very seriously, "Go on, tell us everything you know about the Old Forest."
Bilbo put his hands on his hips and nodded, "Alright, since you want to know, I'll tell you."
The other dwarves all gathered around, forming a circle around the fire on the grass, eating the breakfast Bofur had fried in the pan, and attentively watching Bilbo.
As for Arthur, Gandalf, Bernal, Millison, and Egon, they stood by their respective mounts.
Bilbo's mouth twitched: "Although I'm not sure why it suddenly turned into this storytelling atmosphere, as long as you listen to my advice and understand the dangers of the Old Forest, that's good."
Then he cleared his throat and began to narrate: "Just the things travelers coming to Hobbiton from outside have said already prove the danger of the Old Forest. Any traveler passing through there, regardless of whether they harbor ill intent, will be violently lashed by branches. The trees move without wind, whisper at night, and sometimes drop branches or heave up roots when people walk by."
"Those terrifying moving trees will also cause people who enter the forest to get lost, leading them deeper into the forest. There are also rumors that the paths in the Old Forest change direction and even monitor the people who enter them. Seemingly peaceful and safe paths will lead people into the most terrifying depths of the forest."
After saying all that, Bilbo felt a bit parched.
Bofur considerately handed him a water skin, and after Bilbo thanked him, he drank deeply with a "glug-glug" sound.
He put down the water skin and looked at Thorin, asking, "That's all. Are you still thinking of spending the night in the Old Forest tonight?"
Thorin shook his head: "No, you have already told me about the dangers, so I do not intend to enter the Old Forest to spend the night."
Bilbo showed a happy smile.
Then Thorin changed the subject: "However, the dangers you mentioned are all due to people entering the Old Forest, and those so-called 'trees' in the Old Forest harbor ill will towards you hobbits. So, today's destination remains the same, still the Old Forest. But we won't go inside; we'll just camp outside."
Bilbo's smile froze on his face, and his entire body stiffened.
Amidst the hobbit's collapsing expression, the dwarves laughed, noisily finished their breakfast, and the company set off again.
The dwarves were very happy; they rode their horses, telling stories or singing.
Bilbo rode on his pony, his face very grim, lost in thought.
Arthur patted Torrent's back, making him move closer to Bilbo, and asked, "Are you still worried about the Old Forest?"
Bilbo was slightly startled by Arthur's sudden question and replied, "Uh, oh! Yes, because every hobbit says it's dangerous there, including my grandparents and my parents; I grew up listening to tales of the Old Forest."
Gandalf also chimed in at this point, saying, "But those are just rumors, after all; you haven't witnessed them firsthand, have you?"
Bilbo retorted, "But those hobbits who went into the Old Forest and never came back are real, Gandalf."
Arthur looked at Gandalf and asked, "You've been to so many places, what do you know about the Old Forest, Gandalf?"
Bilbo heard this and also looked curiously at the old wizard.
Gandalf took a puff from his pipe, then chuckled and said, "I don't know much more than you, Bilbo. The only thing we need to be careful about is not to enter the Old Forest alone at night; the trees there are indeed different from other forests."
Bilbo frowned: "So you actually know there's danger there, then why didn't you stop Thorin?"
Gandalf took another puff from his pipe and said, "If we don't spend the night on the main road outside the Old Forest, then I'm afraid we'll have to reach the Barrow-downs at the deepest part of the night, Bilbo."
Then he asked with a smile, "Do you want to spend the night outside the less dangerous Old Forest, or do you want to spend the night in the Barrow-downs, which are filled with the howls of wights?"
Bilbo said speechlessly, "Do we really have to choose between these two options?"
Arthur spoke up, "Honestly, I admire you hobbits for daring to live near these two places."
"There's nothing strange about it," Bilbo said. "It's been like this for years. As long as you don't actively go into the Old Forest or the Barrow-downs, you won't encounter any danger."
Then he muttered, "But now I'm actually actively going into the Old Forest, that's just crazy."
Arthur chuckled kindly after hearing Bilbo's mutterings. He said, "That's the meaning of adventure, Bilbo. To go to dangerous places you've heard of, to witness with your own eyes how they differ from the rumors, and then to bring those experiences back and tell others. Think about it, when the people of Hobbiton are discussing the dangers of the Old Forest, not one of them has ever been there. And at that moment, you step forward and confidently tell them you've been there, then tell them what happened inside. That feeling is actually quite wonderful."
Bilbo savored the thought for a moment, then nodded. "It does seem to be the case. All right, you've convinced me."
Arthur smiled. "Of course, more importantly, I'm confident I can protect you and the other dwarves. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let Thorin go near the Old Forest like this."
Bilbo shrugged. "Then I'll leave everything to you."
Gandalf also joined in, saying, "And help this old man out too, Arthur."
Arthur merely rolled his eyes at Gandalf's words.
Gandalf needed protection? That was truly a huge joke.
Who was it that wielded the ceremonial straight sword with such vigor during the orc attack earlier?
Thorin's expedition continued, and soon they passed through the hobbit lands. Bilbo had now arrived in an outside world he had never seen before.
The terrain here was very open, the residents were respectable and decent, and the roads were flat, with an occasional inn or two.
Every now and then, dwarves or farmers could be seen strolling by, busy with their livelihoods.
These dwarves did not pay attention to Thorin's company, because although a company of a dozen or so like theirs was not common, there were other similar large companies on the main road.
Moreover, Thorin had pulled up his hood, so the dwarves who passed him did not notice that the one riding on horseback was the King of the Durin dwarves.
The expedition did not attract anyone's attention here, possibly because it was relatively close to Hobbiton, so no strange people appeared.
The expedition continued east along the road, soon arriving at a place where the locals spoke very strangely. In Gandalf's words, they were speaking some variant dialect of the Common Tongue.
These locals also sang songs Bilbo had never heard before.
Of course, Arthur and the others hadn't heard them either.
Then Thorin led the company off the main road and onto a side path.
Bilbo didn't know how long the company had traveled. He only remembered that when the sun was high in the sky, the company stopped again for lunch, and then continued on their way.
Now, they were deep in a wilderness, desolate and uninhabited, with no inns or taverns in sight, and even the road conditions were getting worse.
This made Bilbo Can't help it want to ask Thorin if he had taken the wrong path.
However, he saw that Arthur and Gandalf, on either side of him, did not object, and thinking that it was not his place to say such things, he remained silent.
The sky gradually darkened, from fiery red to twilight to black in less than an hour. The ground was no longer visible ahead, even with torches.
Especially before dark, Thorin had already seen the lush, dark green forest not far ahead, with trees seemingly blocking out the sky, clearly the "Old Forest" Bilbo had mentioned.
And now, in the darkness, that Old Forest appeared even more eerie, causing Thorin to voluntarily halt his horse.
He raised the torch in his hand, looked at both sides of the overgrown road, and pointed to the small, arched hill on his right, saying, "Let's rest there tonight."
"Oh, we can finally rest!" Kili, behind Thorin, cheered happily.
Fili also wanted to do the same, but after a glance from Thorin, he could only swallow his words and look enviously at his brother, who was cheering unrestrainedly.
However, for Arthur, Kili's cheer was nothing, because the dwarves had been noisy all the way, and one more cheer at this point made little difference.
Bilbo also breathed a sigh of relief. With Arthur's help, he awkwardly dismounted from his pony's saddle, almost losing his balance.
He felt his legs were weak, his backside seemed numb, and his legs were trembling.
Bilbo swore that if Arthur's hand hadn't been gripping his arm like a vice, he would have definitely plopped down onto the ground.
"What's wrong with me?" Bilbo asked.
Arthur recalled Torrent to the whistle and replied, "You've been riding a horse for too long, it's a normal phenomenon, no need to be nervous."
Bilbo looked at the still lively dwarves and pointed at them, asking, "Then why are they fine?"
Gandalf had already tethered his horse and walked over, saying with a chuckle, "I think when comparing the physical fitness of a hobbit to dwarves who travel extensively, it's clear the latter will win."
Bilbo sighed. "Alright, I'll need someone to help me pitch the tent. I need to rest my legs."
Arthur smiled. "That's no problem."
Then he turned and called to Millison and Egon, "Our lovely hobbit needs help."
But before Millison and Egon could answer, Bofur's voice came over, "What does he need help with?"
Arthur looked at the dwarf with some surprise. He had actually noticed since setting off this morning that this dwarf seemed to have been intentionally or unintentionally lingering around Bilbo.
Whenever Bilbo had something, Bofur was always able to respond promptly and help.
Arthur smiled at the thoughtful dwarf and said, "His legs are numb from riding, he needs someone to support him. As for the rest, Bilbo can tell you himself."
Egon also came over at this moment, saying loudly, "Then I'll help carry things!"
Bilbo seemed a bit flustered by the overly enthusiastic pair, saying "no need" while being led by Egon and Bofur to rest on the small hill.
Meanwhile, Bernal and Millison both came to Arthur's side. Bernal looked at the distant forest and chuckled, "It seems there are indeed strange things in that Old Forest."
Millison also nodded. "Yes, ever since that forest came into our sight, I've felt many eyes watching us."
Arthur said, "It seems all three of us are right. Although there's still some distance between here and that forest, just in case, Bernal, the first half of the night's watch is yours and Egon's. Millison, you and I will take the second half of the night."