Q: Why Does Bilbo Play no Role in the Battle of Five Armies?
ANSWER: Bilbo is not a warrior. The Hobbit is not a warrior’s tale or a war story — it is a children’s adventure and as such it does not deal directly with the horrors of war. Battles and wars might be exactly the kind of stuff that boys like Tolkien’s sons might enjoy reading about but as a former soldier who had seen the realities of war J.R.R. Tolkien may have been reluctant to glorify war for children. He knew they might grow up to face that kind of terror anyway.
That said, Bilbo does actually play a small part in the battle. He stands with the Elven-king and is one of the first people to see the Eagles of the Misty Mountains approaching. If nothing else he has the unsatisfying purpose of being among the first to announce the arrival of help.
Of course, Bilbo’s role as reporter/autobiographer would also be important. Were it not for his diary few if any details of the battle might have reached Gondor. So simply as a traveling diarist Bilbo had an important function in documenting the battle and helping future generations understand its significance and impact.
Still, some teachers might ask their students to compare and contrast Bilbo’s minimal participation in the Battle of Five Armies with the roles that Frodo and Sam have in various battles, or with Merry and Pippin’s deeds in Gondor’s battles. How is it, one might ask, that Bilbo gets knocked on the head by a falling rock — missing out on the greatest battle of his generation — and yet Merry and Pippin get to participate in two of the greatest battles of THEIR day?
These are certainly thoughtful questions. As a writer Tolkien was able to explore the different roles traveling hobbits (who were not known for being adventurous!) might fulfill in great battles. Each important hobbit participated in a different way, and I think that is truly a creative aspect to Tolkien’s fiction. He was able to differentiate between so many characters with similar backgrounds that readers are able to argue over which characters they most prefer.
Of course, it should be noted that not all of Tolkien’s characters are so distinctive. One of the criticisms directed at The Hobbit is that there are so many Dwarves in Thorin’s band that it seems like several of them were added just so Bilbo could be the lucky fourteenth member of the expedition. If that is a flaw in Tolkien’s story-telling, it may also partially explain why Bilbo played so small a role in the battle. Tolkien wasn’t really trying to tell a story about a great battle — rather, he just needed to get to the battle and then get Bilbo through it as quickly as possible.
The Battle of Five Armies was not really part of Bilbo’s story — it was part of other people’s stories, and Bilbo was just “sort of there” to move the main tale along to the more important aftermath (his reconciliation with Thorin).
In any event, I think that is probably the best answer I can provide for this question. I am sure other people can do at least as well if not better.
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