The chapter's title "A Warm Welcome" is a combination of understatement and irony‹indeed, this is a celebration of heroes and not an imprisonment, but the ruler's warmth is disingenuous. Nonetheless, the river and the waterways are archetypal representations of life's course and we can see that Bilbo has successfully navigated water-logged barrels to safety. Let us take this as an obvious parallel to the more traditional travel-by-ship that the company, led by Thorin, takes at the end of the chapter. We might look at the narrative structure of this short chapter and find a transition of leadership from Bilbo to Thorin and this is a foreshadowing of Thorin's increasingly dominant role in the politics of the group's maneuvers. As another case of foreshadowing: a similar scene appears between Bilbo's nephew, Frodo, and a Thorin-like compatriot in the first novel of the LOTR trilogy. In light of the dominant Ulysses allusions that are attached to Bilbo, the transition from barrels to ships is an interesting development of the shelter theme. Until now, "shelter" has been a condition sought when the group was not in transit. Much like Ulysses' Trojan Horse scheme or his scheme to escape the cave of Polyphemus, Bilbo has successfully offered shelter en route. This is important because Bilbo wants true shelter‹his home‹and this chapter's warm welcome represents a celebration of heroism that pleases Bilbo's company, but leaves him in the symbolic role of shelter-provider (yet nostalgic. Like the archetypal Ulysses (for this hero has appeared in so many distillations), Bilbo never enjoys the warm welcome of home, the upcoming motifs involving "doorsteps," and "keys" are highly ironic, and he is permanently separated from his group in a way that makes him unable to take pleasures in the temporary bright spots of the journey. Chapter Eleven: On the Doorstep

The group makes steady progress down Long Lake, the River Running and towards the Lonely Mountain. The surrounding land is desolate and the travelers have low spirits because there is a long road ahead and it does not seem that they are going to reach the cave‹if they reach‹at the prescribed time (midsummer). They persist through the area called the "Desolation of Smaug" and see the remains of a town called "Dale." Balin remembers the stories of this forefathers' narrow escape from the dragon's destruction and this only re-kindles the dwarves desire to reclaim their stolen jewels and wealth. When they reach the mountain it is clear that Smaug is still alive, for his smoke is all about the place.