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Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark
Well that is what "of profits" means.
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of course that's what "of profits means". The point I was trying to make was that, by some legal hairsplitting, Thorin could have interpreted the contract so that, regardless of the actual outcome of the quest, he did not have to, or plan to, give Bilbo one red farthing, that should his avarice get the better of him, he could simply send Bilbo away with empty pockets and not technically have reneged on the terms of the contract. Or in the second case it would translate out to "yes you did your job , but I am taking your whole share to pay me back for having to take you in the first place (sort of a variation of the "your uncle has died and left you a million dollars, however with the taxes and fees you now owe us five million."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark
We have to remember though, Bilbo took but two small chets which was actually a fraction of his total share. Meanin they probably went with "value" to measure the shares, would the arkenstone outweighed the entirety of the horde I doubt it. I always felt while probably worth a fortune it was probably more of a sentimental thing.
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Ah, but remember it would probably be the dwarves who would be the ones assesing the value of the treasure and the shares, so the arkenstone is "worth" whatever THEY say it is. It's a bit like trying to define the value of the crown jewels of England as based soley on their bullion content and per carat gem value. As for the two small chests, yes, it is far less than what Bilbo's share actually was as per contract, but the question is is it less, equal to or more than what Bilbo would have actually gotten
had Thorin still been alive. Bilbo is riding away with those chests in a world where Dain is now King under the Mountain, who has gotten through a terrible battle, has nearly had his whole kingdom wiped out as soon as it was reclaimed and has just SEEN what the consequences of excessive greed ultimately got his cousin. Would Thorin have come to the same conclusion had he lived through the battle, or more to the point, had the battle not actually ocurred or been so devatstating to the Dwarves?