Philip Jose Farmer had a better handle on it than Delaney or Tolkien.
So, if there's something meaningful in the Hobbitt, you'd best C&P it 'cause otherwise I'll never see it through all that glaze.
Hmmmmmmmmm. Well, the dwarves sent old Bilbo up a tree to see how far they were from the end of the trail. But Bilbo was too thick to realize that they were near the end of the trail. All he saw was trees.