The Side-door or Secret Door was a secret entrance to the Dwarven kingdom of the Lonely Mountain located on the western side of the mountain, from a shelf on the outside. It opened on to a long tunnel that led down to the Bottommost Cellar.
Description
The Side-door was made as if to look like a rock face on the mountain and didn't look like a natural rock surface and all indications were that it was a constructed thing. Instead, its surface was flat and smooth and there were no signs that it was a door at all. The door was five feet high with a keyhole about three feet from the ground.[1]
History
The Side-door was created sometime during the reign of Thrór with the support of his son Thráin. Their reason for creating it was unknown but literature points toward a means of escape. According to Thorin, Thrór and Thráin were the only ones who knew about it and used it to escape when Smaug attacked and claimed the mountain and all its wealth.[2] The door could only be opened with a key, and then only on the last light shone upon it on Durin's Day. When Thorin and Company reached it, they recognized it for what it was and the Dwarves eager to get inside attempted to force it open without success.[1]
As a ray of moonlight struck the door, a piece of rock would flake off to reveal the key-hole, allowing the door to be opened. Bilbo passed through the door and down to Smaug.[3] Anticipating that Smaug would find out how he got in, the Dwarves shut the side-door to the outside and retreated down the tunnel just in time before Smaug attacked the entrance, smashing the rock face to bits, destroying the side-door and everything around it with lashings of his great tail, and sealing them in the mountain.[3]
Translations around the World
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Kant-deurtjie |
| Albanian | Dyer anësore |
| Amharic | የጎን በር |
| Arabic | باب جانبي |
| Armenian | Կողքի դուռը |
| Azerbaijani | Yan qapı |
| Basque | Alboko ate |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | бакавыя дзверы |
| Bengali | পাশের দরজা |
| Bosnian | Bočna vrata |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Странична врата |
| Burmese | ဘေးထွက်တံခါးကို |
| Cambodian | ចំហៀងទ្វា |
| Catalan | Porta lateral |
| Cebuano | Kilid sa pultahan |
| Chinese | 侧门 |
| Czech | Boční dveř |
| Croatian | Bočna vrata |
| Danish | Sidedør |
| Dutch | Zijdeur |
| Esperanto | Flanka pordo |
| Estonian | Küljeuks |
| Fijian | Yasana Na katuba |
| Filipino | Gilid-pinto |
| Finnish | Sivuluukku |
| French | Porte latérale |
| Galician | Porta lateral |
| Georgian | გვერდითი კარი |
| German | Seitentür |
| Greek | Πλευρά-πόρτα |
| Gujarati | સાઇડ બારણું |
| Hausa | Ƙofar gefen |
| Hebrew | הדלת הצדדית |
| Hindi | बगली दरवाजा |
| Hungarian | Oldal ajtó |
| Icelandic | Hlið hurð |
| Indonesian | Pintu samping |
| Irish Gaelic | Doras taobh |
| Italian | Porta laterale |
| Japanese | サイドドア |
| Javanese | Lawang sisih |
| Kannada | ಪಕ್ಕ ಬಾಗಿಲು |
| Kazakh | Бүйір есік (Cyrillic) Büyir esik (Latin) |
| Korean | 사이드 도어 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Каптал эшик |
| Laotian | ປະຕູຂ້າງຄຽງ |
| Latvian | Sānu durvīm |
| Lithuanian | Šonines duris |
| Luxembourgish | Säitentor |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Странични врат |
| Malaysian | Pintu sampingan |
| Maltese | In-naħa tal-bieb |
| Marathi | साइड-दरवाजा |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | хажуугийн хаалга |
| Nepalese | साइड ढोका |
| Norwegian | Sidedøren |
| Pashto | د غاړې دروازه |
| Persian | درب سمت |
| Polish | Boczne-drzwi (Side-door)
Tajemne Drzwi (Secret Door) |
| Portuguese | Porta lateral |
| Punjabi | ਸਾਈਡ ਦਰਵਾਜ਼ |
| Romanian | Usa laterala |
| Russian | Боковая дверь |
| Scottish Gaelic | Doras taobh |
| Serbian | Бочна врата (Cyrillic) Bočna vrata (Latin) |
| Sesotho | Lehlakore monyako |
| Sindhi | پاسي جي دروازي |
| Sinhalese | සයිඩ් දොර |
| Slovak | Bočné dvere |
| Slovenian | Stranska vrata |
| Spanish | Puerta lateral |
| Sudanese | Samping panto |
| Swahili | Mlango wa upande |
| Swedish | Sidodörren |
| Tamil | பக்க கதவு |
| Telugu | సైడ్ డోర్ |
| Thai | ประตูด้านข้าง |
| Turkish | Yan kapı |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Бічні двере |
| Urdu | طرف دروازہ |
| Uzbek | Йон эшик (Cyrillic) Yon eshik (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Cửa bên |
| Welsh | Drws ochr |
| Yiddish | זייַט טיר |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Hobbit, Chapter XI: "On the Doorstep"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter I: "An Unexpected Party"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Hobbit, Chapter XII: "Inside Information"