The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on October 23:
- Smaug searches the mountain (1341)
- Bilbo returns to Smaug’s chamber (1341)
- Smaug smashes the secret door (1341)
- Smaug attacks Lake-town (1341)
- Lake-town in the aftermath (1341)
- Elrond’s third day in his battle to save Frodo (1418)
- Gandalf and the hobbits make their way home from Rivendell (1419)
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October 23, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Smaug searches the mountain (1341)
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
“Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth, but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession; and Smaug was no exception.
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 207-209 The Hobbit)
2. Bilbo returns to Smaug’s chamber.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
“Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, almost dead and dark, with scarcely a snore more than a whiff of unseen steam, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance.”
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 212-218 The Hobbit)
3. Smaug smashes the secret door.
(determined from text)
“…[Bilbo] grew ever more uneasy. “Shut the door!” he begged them. “I fear that dragon in my marrow. I like this silence far less than the uproar of last night…”
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 221-222 The Hobbit)
4. Smaug attacks Lake-town.
(determined from text)
“… there was still a company of archers that held their ground among the burning houses. Their captain was Bard, grim-voiced and grim-faced…
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 235-238 The Hobbit)
5. Lake-town in the aftermath.
(determined from text)
“…down the wind came the voices of the people of Esgaroth lamenting their lost town and goods and ruined houses…”
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 238-240 The Hobbit)
October 23, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Elrond’s third day in his battle to save Frodo.
(not from the appendices)
“Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly….”
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 292 FotR)
October 23, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Gandalf and the hobbits make their way home from Rivendell.
(not from the appendices)
“At length they came to Weathertop… …Frodo begged them to hasten….”
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 331 RotK)
