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Originally Posted by Thinlómien
I wouldn't say unnecessary; it is one thing again that tells about the Ring's great luring power and its power to make it bearers alter the truth.
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What I meant was the idea of Bilbo's account being a 'lie' was only required if the original version of Riddles in the Dark was left to stand. In the original version Bilbo claimed Gollum had freely given him the Ring - hence he was lying. When the new version was substituted in later editions of TH we have Bilbo telling the truth in his book so there wasn't any 'lie' being told about how he obtained the Ring.
In fact, the original version of how he obtained the Ring fits better with LotR than the revised version.
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Originally Posted by Formendacil
But, at the same time, it also felt to me to be quite in keeping with the later chapters. In particular, any "heavy" air about it seems reminiscent of the last chapters of the books, such as the Battle of the Five Armies.
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The problem is that after the encounter with Gollum the story reverts to the 'older', 'childish' style, so we don't get the slow maturing of Bilbo (& the story) but a kind of 'jerk' forward to the later style, followed by a 'jerk' back.