소나무 아래, 불립문자

곧삭제 예정, 유용, 정리 [무료LIVE] 월 300만 원 버는 블로그 수익화 방법｜구글 애드센스｜애드센스팜 알파남

Songchoen 송천 — Thu, 7 May 2026 21:52:06 +0900

#곧삭제 예정, 유용, 정리 [무료LIVE] 월 300만 원 버는 블로그 수익화 방법｜구글 애드센스｜애드센스팜 알파남

키워드

트레픽

돈되는 키워드

돈되는 트레픽

이것이 굉장히 중요하다.

#AI에게 사람냄새 나게 써죠

이런것들이 중요하다.

카카오톡 업데이트 복구 방법

밀라노 올림피 무료 다시보기

소상공인 바우처 신청방법

민생회복 지원금

정부 지원금

기름값 지원금

고유가 지원금인데, 어른신들은 기름값 지원금

외부유입이 있어야 한다.

처음에는 그냥 썻따.

이런글들의 공통점은?

두번째 블로그도 만들었다. 저작권, 신고등....

워드프레스로 넘어갔다.

애드포스트 봇

승인용글 작성해줘

4시간 간격, 20개씩 올려라.

광고가 보이는가?

네이버 아이디는?

예약발행이 있다.

미디어 설정, 등록

에드센스 블로그

유튜브

돈이 되는 시장에서 일을 해야한다.

스트레스 안받는, 덜 받는 일을 해야 한다.

왜 돈이 안되는가?

에드센스 승인은 되었는데...돈되는 키워드를 알아야 한다.

지식IN

많이 본 키워드

이렇게 쓰면 안들어 온다. 왜? 검색해서 들어온다.

연관 검색어

제목의 검색은?

메인 키워드 + 자동검색 키워드

사진이 엄청 중요하지 않다. 적당히 만들어라.

양식을 모아주는 싸이트

허브 싸이트를 만들어서....광고비를 받는다.

카카오톡 다운로드,

알집 다운로드,

한글 다운로드,

인스타그램 30~40개

지금이 황금기이다.

언론사? 처럼 운영.

유용, 행집욕부, 짜않투않, 하해안어, 졸일원다, 무슨 뜻인지 아시는분?

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 5 May 2026 05:45:43 +0900

#유용, 행집욕부, 짜않투않, 하해안어, 졸일원다, 무슨 뜻인지 아시는분?

1.행집욕부

2.짜않투않

3.하해안어

4.졸일원다

행집욕부 : 행복에 집중하기, 욕심 부리지 않기

짜않투않 : 짜증내지않기! 투덜대지않기!

하해안어 : 하기 싫어도 해야지. 안하면 어쩔거야?

졸일원다 : 졸려도 일어나야지. 원래 다 졸려!

1. Focus on Happiness

Abbreviation: 행집욕부 (Haeng-Jip-Yok-Bu)
Full Phrase: 행복에 집중하기, 욕심 부리지 않기
Meaning: Focus on happiness, and don't be greedy.

2. No Complaining (Checked)

Abbreviation: 짜않투않 (Jja-Anh-Tu-Anh)
Full Phrase: 짜증내지 않기! 투덜대지 않기!!
Meaning: Don't get annoyed! Don't grumble!!

3. Just Do It (Checked)

Abbreviation: 하해안어 (Ha-Hae-An-Eo)
Full Phrase: 하기 싫어도 해야지. 안 하면 어쩔 거야?
Meaning: Even if you don't want to, you have to do it. What are you going to do if you don't?

4. Wake Up

Abbreviation: 졸일원다 (Jol-Il-Won-Da)
Full Phrase: 졸려도 일어나야지. 원래 다 졸려!
Meaning: Even if you're sleepy, you have to get up. Everyone is sleepy!

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유용, 아이폰 17 Pro Max 구매, 대기중, 룰루랄라

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 4 May 2026 05:55:38 +0900

유용, 바이럴 쇼츠란 ?, Viral Shorts ?

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 4 May 2026 05:55:13 +0900

#유용, 바이럴 쇼츠란 ?, Viral Shorts ?

바이럴 쇼츠(Viral Shorts)란 짧은 시간 내에 대중 사이에서 폭발적으로 공유되고 확산되는 1분 내외의 세로형 단편 영상을 의미합니다. 유튜브 쇼츠, 틱톡, 인스타그램 릴스 등이 대표적인 플랫폼입니다.

단순히 조회수가 높은 것을 넘어, 알고리즘의 선택을 받아 수많은 사람의 '피드'에 끊임없이 노출되는 것이 특징입니다.

1. 바이럴 쇼츠의 핵심 특징

바이럴이 일어나는 영상들은 대개 다음과 같은 공통점을 가집니다.

강력한 초반 3초 (The Hook): 시청자가 영상을 넘기기 전, 단 3초 안에 시선을 사로잡는 시각적 요소나 호기심을 자극하는 멘트가 배치됩니다.
높은 시청 지속 시간: 영상이 끝날 때까지 시청자가 이탈하지 않아야 합니다. 특히 영상이 끝났는지 모를 정도로 자연스럽게 반복되는 '무한 루프' 구조가 흔히 사용됩니다.
공유 및 저장 가치: "나만 보기 아깝다" 혹은 "나중에 다시 봐야지"라는 생각이 들게 만드는 정보성, 공감대, 혹은 극적인 반전이 포함됩니다.
알고리즘 최적화: 시청자의 체류 시간과 '좋아요', 댓글 등의 반응률을 바탕으로 플랫폼이 더 많은 사람에게 영상을 추천하며 확산이 가속화됩니다.

2. 주요 유형

콘텐츠 성격에 따라 여러 형태로 나뉩니다.

유형	설명
정보 요약형	복잡한 뉴스, 주식 이슈, 지식 등을 핵심만 골라 1분 안에 설명하는 형태
스토리텔링형	감동적인 실화나 자극적인 사연을 몰입감 있게 전달하는 형태
챌린지/트렌드형	유행하는 챌린지나 음악(BGM)을 활용하여 대중의 흐름에 올라타는 형태
비주얼 임팩트형	AI 기술을 활용한 화려한 영상미나 압도적인 풍경으로 시선을 끄는 형태

3. 바이럴을 만드는 팁

성공적인 쇼츠 제작을 위해 고려해야 할 실무적인 포인트들입니다.

자막의 활용: 쇼츠는 소리를 끄고 보는 시청자가 많기 때문에, 가독성 좋은 자막을 중앙이나 상단에 배치하는 것이 필수입니다.
빠른 호흡: 설명이나 장면 전환을 최대한 타이트하게 편집하여 지루함을 느낄 틈을 주지 않아야 합니다.
시청자 반응 유도: 영상 마지막에 "여러분은 어떻게 생각하시나요?" 같은 질문을 던져 댓글 참여를 유도하면 알고리즘 점수에 유리합니다.
고화질 비주얼: 최근에는 고성능 그래픽이나 AI 렌더링을 활용해 실사보다 더 실사 같은 고품질 영상을 제작하여 시각적 충격을 주는 방식도 큰 인기를 끕니다.

바이럴 쇼츠는 현재 가장 적은 비용으로 가장 빠르게 채널의 인지도를 높이고 구독자를 확보할 수 있는 강력한 도구로 평가받고 있습니다.

바이럴 쇼츠 제작 핵심 전략

3초 후킹(Hooking): 시청자가 넘기기 전 첫 3초 안에 시선을 사로잡는 강렬한 비주얼이나 질문을 던져야 합니다.
시청 유지율 극대화: 끝까지 보게 만드는 반전이나 결말을 뒤에 배치하여 알고리즘 점수를 높이는 것이 중요합니다.
트렌드 활용: 현재 유행하는 챌린지, 배경음악(BGM), 또는 논란의 여지가 있는 주제를 다루면 바이럴 확률이 높아집니다.
자막과 편집: 모바일 시청 환경에 맞춰 크고 가독성 좋은 자막을 사용하고, 빠른 화면 전환으로 지루함을 없애야 합니다.

️ AI를 활용한 쇼츠 제작 도구

최근에는 AI를 활용해 롱폼 영상을 쇼츠로 변환하거나 대량으로 제작하는 방식이 인기입니다.

Vrew (브루): AI 음성 인식으로 자막을 자동 생성하며, 텍스트만으로 영상을 만드는 기능이 강력합니다.
Opus Clip: 긴 영상을 넣으면 AI가 바이럴 가능성이 높은 구간을 찾아 자동으로 쇼츠로 편집해 줍니다.
필모라 14 (Filmora): '스마트 숏클립' 기능을 통해 영상의 핵심을 분석하고 바이럴 점수를 체크해 주는 기능을 제공합니다.
Canva (칸바): 다양한 숏폼 템플릿을 제공하여 초보자도 디자인 퀄리티가 높은 영상을 쉽게 만들 수 있습니다.

바이럴을 부르는 콘텐츠 아이디어

정보 제공: "절대 모르면 손해 보는 팁 3가지"와 같은 요약 정보.
공감 및 유머: 일상에서 누구나 겪는 상황을 재치 있게 표현한 '썰' 콘텐츠.
비교 콘텐츠: "광고 vs 실제", "비싼 제품 vs 가성비 제품" 등의 명확한 비교.
스토리텔링: 몰입감 있는 내레이션과 함께 궁금증을 유발하는 미스터리나 감동 스토리.

유용, 쿠팡 파트너스 최종 승인 가이드, 블로그 활동 시 유의사항, 초보자 활동 가이드

Songchoen 송천 — Sat, 2 May 2026 05:53:23 +0900

#유용, 쿠팡 파트너스 최종 승인 가이드, 블로그 활동 시 유의사항, 초보자 활동 가이드

1.최종 승인, 블로그 활동 가이드

2.블로그에서 활동하시는 경우, 운영하고 있는 블로그 링크를 웹사이트 목록에 등록.

3.유의사항은 대가성 문구를 꼭 기재해 주세요.

"이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."

4.대가성 문구는 콘텐츠 이용자가 인식하기 쉽게 표기되어야 해요.

5.이런 표기는 안돼요.

경제적 대가성을 명확히 전달하는 표현이라고 보기 어려운 문구,

배경과 유사한 색상으로 쓰여져 식별이 어려운 대가성 문구/이미지,

본문, 테그 사이에 작성하는 경우,

광고가 아닌 것으로 가장한 문구

6.소정의 수수료를 지급받을 수 있음과 같은 조건부, 불확정적 표현은 경제적 이해관계 명시에 적합하지 않음.

7.블로그에 위젯을 등록해서 활동할 때 상품 링크, 이벤트/프로모션의 경우 위젯으로 사용 시 대가성 문구를 필수 기재해야 합니다.

8.외부 공개 불가 컨텐츠를 유의하세요.

9.최종 승인 전 체크 사항

나의 블로그 주소가 잘 등록되었나?

모든 파트너스 활동 게시물에 대가성 문구를 작성했나요?

쿠팡 파트너스 링크가 잘 연결되고 있나요?

10.판매금액 15만원을 달성할 경우, 별도의 신청 절차 없이 자동으로 최종승인 검토 대상이 됩니다.

11.최종 정리

쿠팡 파트너스 최종 승인을 위한 블로그 활동 가이드

이 가이드는 쿠팡 파트너스 활동을 블로그에서 할 때 반드시 지켜야 할 사항들을 안내합니다.

1. 블로그 주소 등록 필수

활동하는 블로그의 정확한 채널 주소(예: [blog.naver.com/아이디](https://blog.naver.com/아이디))를 웹사이트 목록에 등록해야 합니다.
대표 도메인(예: [m.blog.naver.com/Recommendation.naver](https://m.blog.naver.com/Recommendation.naver))으로 등록하면 활동 확인이 불가능합니다.

2. 대가성 문구 표기 (매우 중요)

표기 위치: 게시물의 제목 또는 첫 부분에 경제적 이해관계를 명확히 밝혀야 합니다.
권장 문구: "이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."
주의 사항:
- 배경색과 비슷한 색상으로 글씨를 쓰거나, 이미지에 넣어 식별이 어렵게 만들면 안 됩니다.
- 본문이나 태그 사이에 숨기듯 작성해서는 안 됩니다.
- '내돈내산' 등 광고가 아닌 것처럼 속이는 문구를 사용하면 안 됩니다.
- '소정의 수수료를 지급받을 수 있음'과 같은 불확실한 표현은 사용할 수 없습니다.
- 블로그에 위젯(상품 링크, 이벤트/프로모션 배너 등)을 사용할 때도 대가성 문구를 반드시 기재해야 합니다.

3. 외부 공개 불가 콘텐츠 주의

쿠팡 파트너스에서 제공하는 리포트의 일부 통계 지표(노출수, 클릭수, 클릭률(CTR) 및 관련 그래프, 노출율 등)는 외부에 공개해서는 안 됩니다.
수익이나 구매 건수는 공개할 수 있지만, 위 지표들은 캡처 이미지 등에서 삭제해야 합니다.

4. 최종 승인 전 체크사항

내 블로그 주소가 잘 등록되었나요? (내 정보 관리 > 웹사이트 목록 추가하기)
모든 파트너스 활동 게시물에 대가성 문구를 작성했나요?
쿠팡 파트너스 링크가 잘 연결되고 있나요? (단순 쿠팡 링크 사용, 클릭 오류, 타 계정 링크 사용 여부 확인)

5. 최종 승인 절차

조건: 판매금액 150,000원을 달성하면 별도 신청 없이 자동으로 최종 승인 검토 대상이 됩니다.
확인: 최종 승인 심사 시 활동 내역 확인을 위해 활동 페이지와 스크린샷이 빠짐없이 등록되었는지 확인하세요.
결과 확인: 파트너스 홈페이지 로그인 후 우측 상단 아이디 옆의 상태 표시(심사 대기중, 승인 완료, 승인 반려 등)로 확인할 수 있습니다.
경고: 약관 위반 활동 적발 시 수익금 지급 중지 및 회원 자격 상실 등의 불이익을 받을 수 있습니다.

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제주삼다수 그린, 500ml, 120개 - 국산생수 | 쿠팡

현재 별점 4.9점, 리뷰 955650개를 가진 제주삼다수 그린, 500ml, 120개! 지금 쿠팡에서 더 저렴하고 다양한 국산생수 제품들을 확인해보세요.

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"이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."

유용, 쿠팡 파트너스 최종 승인 가이드, 초보자 활동 가이드

Songchoen 송천 — Fri, 1 May 2026 05:05:19 +0900

#유용, 쿠팡 파트너스 최종 승인 가이드, 초보자 활동 가이드

#쿠팡 파트너스 최종승인 가이드

1.최종승인은 회원님의 채널을 검증하는 과정으로 승인을 위해서는 활동 채널을 꼭! 등록해주세요.

2.활동 페이지 등록 방법

3.최종 승인 상태는 어떻게 확인하나요?

4.티스토리가 있어서 그런지 바로 녹색이 나왔다.

#와이프가 샀다는데, 조립식이라 망설이고 있어요.

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코지블럭 뱀부 원목 수납장 - 수납장 | 쿠팡

현재 별점 4.5점, 리뷰 198개를 가진 코지블럭 뱀부 원목 수납장! 지금 쿠팡에서 더 저렴하고 다양한 수납장 제품들을 확인해보세요.

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코지블럭 뱀부 원목 수납장 - 수납장 | 쿠팡

현재 별점 4.5점, 리뷰 198개를 가진 코지블럭 뱀부 원목 수납장! 지금 쿠팡에서 더 저렴하고 다양한 수납장 제품들을 확인해보세요.

www.coupang.com

"이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."

눈이 부셔서, 눈이 부시지 않아서, 눈이 적당해서, 모든 날이 좋았다. 선그라스가 있어 더 좋았다.

Songchoen 송천 — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:44:04 +0900

눈이 부셔서, 눈이 부시지 않아서, 눈이 적당해서, 모든 날이 좋았다. 선그라스가 있어 더 좋았다.

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100% 고글 슬렌데일 자전거 야구 골프 스포츠 선글라스 100퍼센트 100프로(57), 3. 소프트택트화이...,

쿠팡에서 100% 고글 슬렌데일 자전거 야구 골프 스포츠 선글라스 100퍼센트 100프로(57), 3. 소프트택트화이..., 1개 구매하고 더 많은 혜택을 받으세요! 지금 할인중인 다른 선글라스 제품도 바로 쿠

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[자체제작] 바반투 닥치고명상 SHUT UP AND MEDITATE 피그먼트 반팔티 면티셔츠 2 COLOR - 티셔츠 | 쿠팡

쿠팡에서 [자체제작] 바반투 닥치고명상 SHUT UP AND MEDITATE 피그먼트 반팔티 면티셔츠 2 COLOR 구매하고 더 많은 혜택을 받으세요! 지금 할인중인 다른 티셔츠 제품도 바로 쿠팡에서 확인할 수 있습

www.coupang.com

"이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."

유용, 쿠팡 파트너스 가입하기 도전, 부업의 세계로 들어간다.

Songchoen 송천 — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:05:31 +0900

유용, 쿠팡 파트너스 가입하기 도전, 부업의 세계로 들어간다.

쿠팡 파트너스는 쿠팡의 상품을 내 채널(블로그, SNS 등)에 소개하고, 구매가 발생하면 결제 금액의 3%를 수익으로 받는 제휴 마케팅 프로그램입니다.

쿠팡 파트너스는 블로그, SNS 등에 쿠팡 상품 링크를 공유하고, 해당 링크를 통해 24시간 내 구매가 발생하면 판매 금액의 3%를 수수료(수익)로 받는 제휴 마케팅입니다. 쿠팡 아이디로 쿠팡 파트너스 사이트에 가입 후, 상품 링크를 생성하여 활동 채널에 게시하면 됩니다.

1단계: 회원가입 및 채널 등록

쿠팡 파트너스 공식 사이트에 접속하여 쿠팡 아이디로 로그인합니다.
사업자 유형(대부분 '개인')을 선택하고 연락처를 입력합니다.
웹사이트 목록: 상품 링크를 올릴 블로그 주소나 SNS(인스타그램, 유튜브 등) 주소를 등록합니다.
추천인 코드를 입력하면 한 달간 수익의 1%를 추가로 더 받을 수 있습니다.

2단계: 상품 링크 생성

상품 링크: 특정 상품을 검색해 [링크 생성] 버튼을 누르면 나만의 짧은 URL이 만들어집니다.
간편 링크: 쿠팡의 특정 이벤트 페이지나 검색 결과 전체를 링크로 바꿀 때 사용합니다.

3단계: 홍보 및 수익 창출

자연스러운 리뷰: 단순 링크 나열보다는 본인의 실제 사용 후기를 작성해 신뢰도를 높이세요.
필수 문구 삽입: 게시물 하단에 "이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."라는 문구를 반드시 적어야 합니다.
최종 승인: 링크를 통한 누적 판매 금액이 15만 원을 넘으면 쿠팡 측에서 검토 후 최종 승인을 해줍니다.

수익 높이는 팁

트렌드 반영: 여름엔 선풍기, 겨울엔 가습기처럼 계절에 맞는 상품을 공략하세요.
플랫폼 다변화: 네이버 블로그 외에도 지식인, 워드프레스, 인스타그램 등 여러 채널을 활용하면 유리합니다.

가입 과정 중 막히는 단계가 있거나 추천인 코드 활용법이 궁금하신가요? 알맞은 홍보 전략을 더 자세히 알려드릴 수 있습니다.

1. 가입 절차 (초기 설정)

가입: 쿠팡 파트너스 웹사이트에서 가입 (기존 쿠팡 ID 사용 가능).
정보 입력: 개인/사업자 유형 선택, 이메일 및 전화번호 등록.
채널 등록: 활동할 블로그, 유튜브, 인스타그램 등의 URL 등록.
추천인 코드: 가입 시 추천인 코드(예: AF8084386)를 입력하면 30일간 1%의 추가 커미션(총 4%)을 받을 수 있습니다.

2. 활동 방법 (링크 공유)

상품 선정: 판매하고 싶은 상품 검색.
링크 생성: 상품 검색 후 '링크 생성' 버튼을 눌러 고유 URL 생성.
홍보: 블로그 포스팅, SNS 게시글에 링크 삽입.
필수 문구: "이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."라는 문구를 명시해야 합니다

3. 수익 정산 및 팁

수익률: 판매 금액의 3%.
정산: 최종 승인 후, 월간 확정된 수익이 1만 원 이상일 때 익월 25일에 지급.
최종 승인: 가입 후 링크를 통해 15만 원 이상의 구매가 발생해야 최종 승인 및 정산이 가능.
팁: 전문성 있는 블로그, 상품 리뷰 위주의 콘텐츠가 수익화에 유리.

주의사항: 직접 자신의 링크를 클릭해 구매하는 것은 불이행 사유가 될 수 있으며, 허위 사실 유포나 스팸성 링크 도배는 제재받을 수 있습니다.

1.회원가입 합니다.

기존의 쿠팡 아이디로도 가입이 가능하다고 합니다.

2.개인, 법인/개인 사업자로 본인에 맞는 부분으로 진행합니다.

3.전 개인으로, 필수만 선택했습니다.

4.연락처를 입력합니다.

5.본인의 블로그나 유튜브, 틱톡, 인스타, 쓰레드 등등의 주소를 올립니다.

※주의사항,

등록하지 않은 채널은 부정행위로 간주가능, 불이익

최대 3000만원/월

예시보기

6.드디어 가입완료. 참쉽요잉~.

티스토리가 있어서 그나마 바로 파트너승인이 된것 같다.

7.가입은 다 했는데, 이제 뭘 해야 할지 모르겠다.

상품 링크를 만들어야 하나?!

수익이 나면 이렇게 보이나 보다.

8. 다음 어떻게 하는지 아시는 분 댓글로 좀 알려주세요.

왕초보를 도와 주세요.

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제주삼다수 그린, 500ml, 120개 - 국산생수 | 쿠팡

현재 별점 4.9점, 리뷰 955650개를 가진 제주삼다수 그린, 500ml, 120개! 지금 쿠팡에서 더 저렴하고 다양한 국산생수 제품들을 확인해보세요.

www.coupang.com

"이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."

유용, 인스타 그램 카드뉴스 올리는 법

Songchoen 송천 — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 07:50:03 +0900

유용, 인스타 그램 올리는 법

인스타그램은 미국 기업 메타(Meta)가 운영하는 이미지 및 동영상 중심의 소셜 네트워크 서비스(SNS)입니다. 전 세계적으로 가장 영향력 있는 소셜 미디어 중 하나로, 일상 공유부터 비즈니스 마케팅까지 폭넓게 활용되고 있습니다.

주요 서비스 및 특징

피드(Feed): 사진과 영상을 업로드하여 영구적으로 게시할 수 있는 메인 공간입니다.
스토리(Stories): 24시간 동안만 공개된 후 사라지는 가벼운 소통 기능입니다.
릴스(Reels): 숏폼 비디오(짧은 영상) 콘텐츠를 제작하고 공유하는 기능입니다.
다이렉트 메시지(DM): 개인 혹은 그룹 간에 메시지를 주고받는 채팅 기능입니다.
해시태그(#): 관심 있는 주제를 검색하거나 자신의 콘텐츠를 노출시키는 핵심 도구입니다.

활용 팁

퍼스널 브랜딩: 꾸준한 업로드와 자신만의 스타일 구축을 통해 영향력을 넓힐 수 있습니다.
비즈니스 계정: 제품 판매(Shop) 기능이나 광고를 통해 브랜드 가치를 높일 수 있습니다.
접근성 기능: 시각 장애인을 위한 '대체 텍스트' 설정 등을 통해 더 많은 사람과 소통이 가능합니다.

1. 첫 페이지(커버)에 모든 승부를 거세요

사람들은 피드를 아주 빠르게 넘깁니다. 0.5초 안에 멈추게 하려면 다음 두 가지 중 하나가 필요합니다.

강렬한 비주얼: 고대비의 어두운 톤(Tenebrism 스타일 등)으로 시선을 확 끌거나, 질감이 느껴지는 독특한 아트워크를 사용해 보세요.
자극적인 질문/헤드라인: "나만 몰랐던...", "~하는 법 3가지" 처럼 뒷내용이 궁금해서 견딜 수 없게 만들어야 합니다.

2. 가독성을 위한 '덜어내기'

카드뉴스는 책이 아닙니다. 스마트폰의 작은 화면에서 읽힌다는 점을 잊지 마세요.

1슬라이드 1메시지: 한 장에 너무 많은 정보를 넣지 마세요. 핵심 문장 하나와 이를 보조하는 이미지나 도표면 충분합니다.
폰트 계층화: 제목은 크고 두껍게, 본문은 읽기 편한 고딕 계열로 구분하세요. (최소 폰트 크기는 30pt 이상 권장)

3. 스토리텔링의 구조 (7~10장 구성)

단순 나열보다는 흐름이 있는 구성이 체류 시간을 늘려줍니다.

도입(1장): 문제 제기 또는 호기심 유발
전개(2~8장): 핵심 정보 전달 (점진적으로 깊이 있는 내용)
결말(9장): 내용 요약 및 한 줄 정리
액션(10장): "도움이 됐다면 저장!", "더 궁금하면 프로필 링크 클릭!" 같은 CTA(Call to Action)

4. 시각적 일관성 (브랜딩)

여러 장을 넘길 때 이질감이 없어야 전문적으로 보입니다.

컬러 팔레트: 2~3가지 메인 컬러를 정해서 반복 사용하세요.
텍스트 배치: 제목이나 페이지 번호의 위치를 고정하면 안정감을 줍니다.
이미지 스타일: 실사면 실사, 일러스트면 일러스트로 스타일을 통일하세요. 만약 AI 생성 이미지를 활용한다면 특유의 질감이나 조명 톤을 전 페이지에 걸쳐 일정하게 유지하는 것이 좋습니다.

5. 인스타그램 알고리즘 활용 팁

저장과 공유 유도: "나중에 다시 볼 정보"라는 인식을 주면 저장 수가 올라가고, 이는 알고리즘에 의해 더 많은 사람에게 노출되는 결과로 이어집니다.
마지막 장에 반응 유도: 질문을 던져 댓글을 유도하세요. (예: "여러분은 A와 B 중 무엇을 더 선호하시나요?")

#싸이즈 규격

1. 추천 규격: 세로형 (Portrait)

인스타그램 피드에서 가장 넓은 면적을 차지하여 시선을 사로잡기 가장 좋은 사이즈입니다.

해상도: 1080 x 1350 px
비율: 4:5
장점: 화면을 꽉 채우기 때문에 텍스트가 많은 카드뉴스에서 가독성이 가장 뛰어납니다.

2. 표준 규격: 정방형 (Square)

가장 클래식한 사이즈로, 제작이 간편하고 피드 격자(Grid)에서 잘릴 염려가 없습니다.

해상도: 1080 x 1080 px
비율: 1:1
장점: 이미지 구성이 쉽고 어느 기기에서나 안정적으로 보입니다.

제작 시 주의할 핵심 팁

구분	내용
권장 파일 형식	JPG 또는 PNG (텍스트가 많다면 선명한 PNG 추천)
프로필 그리드 고려	세로형(4:5)으로 올려도 프로필 메인 피드에서는 1:1(중앙 부분)로 보입니다. 중요한 제목이나 로고는 상하단 여백을 두고 중앙에 배치하세요.
세이프 존(Safe Zone)	상단과 하단 약 250px 정도는 UI 요소(아이콘, 댓글창 등)에 가릴 수 있으니 핵심 정보는 피해서 배치하는 것이 좋습니다.

추가 조언: 카드뉴스는 첫 장에서 시선을 끌지 못하면 옆으로 넘기지 않습니다. 첫 장(커버)에는 가장 강렬한 임팩트나 핵심 질문을 담고, 마지막 장에는 '저장'이나 '팔로우'를 유도하는 CTA(Call to Action)를 꼭 넣어보세요!

#9장으로 만드는것이 가장 보기 좋네요.

인물, 하정우 프로필, 초대 AI 미래 기획 수석 비석관, 부산 북구 갑 출마 유력

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 23:29:23 +0900

주요 프로필

직책: 대통령실 인공지능(AI)미래기획수석 (최연소 수석)
경력: 네이버 클라우드 AI 이노베이션 센터장, 국가전략기술 특별위원회 위원 등
합류 사유: 국가 AI 전략의 중요성과 실행 기회를 위해 현실적인 처우보다 공적 가치를 선택했습니다. (엄지척~)

하정우 청와대 인공지능(AI)미래기획수석이 6·3 국회의원 재보궐선거 출마를 위해 2026년 4월 28일 공식적으로 사퇴했습니다.

이재명 대통령은 하 수석의 사직안을 재가하며 그의 결정을 존중한다는 뜻을 밝혔습니다.

️ 출마 관련 주요 정보

출마 지역구: 부산 북구 갑 (전재수 의원의 부산시장 후보 확정으로 공석이 된 지역구)
소속 정당: 더불어민주당 입당 예정 (이르면 4월 29일 인재영입식 진행 전망)
주요 경력: 네이버 Cloud AI 이노베이션 센터장 출신으로, 청와대 초대 AI미래기획수석을 역임한 IT 전문가입니다.
선거 구도: 국민의힘 한동훈 전 비상대책위원장 등과의 '빅매치'가 예상되며 부산 지역 최대 승부처로 떠오르고 있습니다.

사퇴 배경 및 쟁점

전략적 등판: 정청래 민주당 대표의 영입 제안('삼고초려') 끝에 출마를 결심한 것으로 알려졌습니다.
비판 여론: 임명된 지 약 10개월 만의 사퇴를 두고, 국가 AI 정책의 '골든타임'을 강조하던 본인의 발언과 배치된다는 비판이 보수 언론을 중심으로 제기되기도 했습니다.
공직자 사퇴 시한: 6·3 재보궐선거 출마를 위한 공직자 사퇴 시한(5월 4일)을 일주일 앞두고 결단을 내렸습니다.

인물 프로필

성명: 하정우 (1977년생)
학력: 서울대학교 대학원 컴퓨터공학 박사
경력: 네이버클라우드 AI 혁신센터장 출신으로, 이재명 정부의 초대 AI미래기획수석으로 발탁된 민간 전문가입니다.

사상초등학교(졸업)
사상중학교(졸업)
구덕고등학교(졸업)
서울대학교 공과대학(컴퓨터공학 / 학사)
서울대학교 대학원(컴퓨터공학 / 석사)
서울대학교 대학원(컴퓨터공학 / 박사)

주요 경력:

삼성SDS 연구원
네이버 랩스·클로바 AI 리서치 소장
디지털플랫폼정부위원회 초거대 공공 AI TF 팀장
대통령비서실 AI미래기획수석비서관

최근 주요 동향

사의 표명 및 수리: 2026년 4월 27일 사의를 표명했으며, 4월 28일 이재명 대통령이 이를 재가했습니다.
정계 진출: 다가오는 6·3 재보궐선거에서 부산 북구 갑 지역구 출마를 위해 공직 사퇴 시한에 맞춰 물러난 것으로 알려졌습니다.
인재 영입: 이르면 4월 29일 더불어민주당 인재 영입식을 통해 정식 입당 절차를 밟을 예정입니다.

출마 예정 지역 정보

하정우 전 수석은 본인의 고향인 부산 지역, 그 중에서도 북구 갑 출마가 유력시되고 있습니다.

하정우 인공지능(AI)미래기획수석의 연봉은 약 1억 4,000만 원~1억 5,000만 원 수준으로 추정됩니다.

연봉 현황 및 배경

현재 급여: 대통령실 수석비서관(차관급 공무원)의 연봉 체계를 따릅니다. 2025~2026년 기준 정무직 공무원 연봉에 해당합니다.
포기한 연봉: 네이버 클라우드 센터장 재직 당시 받았던 수억 원대의 연봉과 스톡옵션(주식) 권리를 포기하고 공직에 입문했습니다.
보유 주식: 공직자윤리법에 따라 3,000만 원 초과 주식은 매각 또는 백지신탁해야 하므로, 기존 네이버 주식 등에 대한 경제적 이익을 포기한 것으로 알려졌습니다.

재산 구성 요약

총액: 약 42억 5,366만 원 (2026년 3월 정기 재산 공개 기준)
주요 자산:
- 부동산: 배우자와 공동 소유한 경기도 성남시 분당구 수내동 아파트 (약 16억 5,000만 원 상당)
- 주식: 약 7억 5,000만 원 ~ 8억 8,000만 원 규모 (네이버 상장주식 및 비상장주식 업스테이지 포함)
- 예금: 약 5억 원 이상

자산 변동 및 세부 내역

재산 증가: 2025년 9월 최초 임명 당시 약 28억 6,000만 원을 신고했으나, 2026년 3월 공개 자료에서는 약 42억 5,000만 원으로 증가했습니다.
보유 주식: 네이버 AI 랩 소장 출신으로 네이버 주식 약 2,500여 주와 비상장주식인 업스테이지 1만 주 등을 보유한 것으로 알려져 있습니다.
최근 동향: 2026년 4월 말, 부산 북구 갑 지역구 출마설과 함께 대통령실 수석직 사퇴 소식이 보도되었습니다.

참고: 배우 하정우(본명 김성훈)의 경우 부동산 자산만 400억 원 이상으로 추정되나, 공직자인 하정우 수석과는 별개의 인물입니다

#멋진 앞날을 응원합니다.

선거준비를 하시려면,

크리에이터 콤보 액션캠이 제일 필요하실것 같습니다.

그래서 추천 합니다.

https://link.coupang.com/a/eznkEW

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 크리에이터 콤보 액션캠 - 액션캠 | 쿠팡

쿠팡에서 DJI Osmo Pocket 4 크리에이터 콤보 액션캠 구매하고 더 많은 혜택을 받으세요! 지금 할인중인 다른 액션캠 제품도 바로 쿠팡에서 확인할 수 있습니다.

www.coupang.com

"이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다."

유용, 디오라마, Diolama 는 무엇인가?

Songchoen 송천 — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 21:42:45 +0900

#유용, 디오라마, Diolama 는 무엇인가?

디오라마(Diorama)는 풍경화나 그림 배경 앞에 축소 모형을 배치하여 역사적 사건, 자연 풍경, 도시 경관 등 특정 장면을 3차원으로 재현한 축소 모형 예술입니다. 단순히 모습을 줄인 모형과 달리, 작가의 재해석과 스토리가 담긴 입체 공간을 연출합니다.

디오라마(Diorama)는 19세기에는 이동식 극장 장치를 의미했으나, 현재는 3차원의 실물 또는 축소 모형을 말한다. 경우에 따라서는 박물관에 전시되거나 취미로 제작되기도 한다. 예를 들면, '모형 군용 차량', '미니어처', '피겨 모형', '모형 비행기', '스케일 모델' 등이 있다. SBS TV의 순간포착 세상에 이런일이에 소개된 기차 모형, 곤충 등도 디오라마로 분류되기도 한다.

주요 특징

어원: '관통하여 보다'라는 뜻의 그리스어에서 유래했습니다.
구성: 평면적인 배경 그림과 입체적인 축소 모형을 결합합니다.
연출: 조명이나 음향을 더해 실제 같은 생동감을 주기도 합니다.
용도: 역사적 전투, 자연 풍경, 도시 경관 등을 기록하거나 전시할 때 사용합니다

1. 디오라마의 주요 특징 및 사용 예시

박물관/과학관 전시: 역사적 전투 장면, 공룡 시대, 자연 생태계 등을 생생하게 보여줄 때 사용.
취미 및 피규어: 건담 프라모델(건프라), 기차 모형 주변에 배경과 건물(베이스)을 꾸며 사실감을 더하는 용도.
모델하우스 및 도시 계획: 아파트 단지나 미래 도시 전경을 축소하여 보여주는 용도.
영학/촬영 세트: 특수 촬영용으로 작은 무대를 만들어 실제처럼 보이게 하는 장치.

2. 디오라마의 동의어 및 유사어

미니어처 장면 (Miniature Scene): 작은 규모로 꾸며진 입체적인 장면.
축소 모형 (Scale Model): 실제 크기를 비율에 맞게 줄인 모형.
3차원 재현 (3D Representation): 입체적인 공간 구현.

3. 파노라마(Panorama)와의 차이점
파노라마가 실제 환경과 유사하게 실물을 배치하여 전체를 보여준다면, 디오라마는 배경을 그림으로 하고 앞부분에 축소 모형을 배치하여 훨씬 작고 구체적인 장면을 재현한다는 점이 다릅니다.

유용, 미드저니 V8, [ 치열한 전쟁, 생성형 AI ], #소이랩라이브 #soylab #soylablive #미드저니 #컴피유아이 #SEEDREAM #생생정보통

Songchoen 송천 — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 21:01:53 +0900

#유용, 미드저니 V8, [ 치열한 전쟁, 생성형 AI ], #소이랩라이브 #soylab #soylablive #미드저니 #컴피유아이 #SEEDREAM #생생정보통

#2K

https://alpha.midjourney.com/home

Midjourney

About We're a community-funded research lab of 60 people known for building the most beautiful AI models in the world. We believe that we are all midjourney: that we have a rich past behind us and an unimaginable future ahead — and the question we want t

alpha.midjourney.com

#runway

#중간에 보다 끊어졌다. 휴...

유용, AI를 이기기 위한 생각

Songchoen 송천 — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 07:20:45 +0900

온통 AI에 휘둘려 있다.

하지만,

진정한 AGI는 나타나지 않았다.

지금은 그냥 AI라 부르는 정도다.

모든 것에 다 AI를 붙여 놓았다.

좀 더 AGI에 가까운 것들이 나타나고 있다.

새로운 기술에 적응해서 따라가야 한다.

하지만, 그러면서도 AI에 휘말리지 않기 위해서는

AI가 지금 할 수 없는 것들에

눈을 돌려야 한다.

사람만이 할 수 있는 일. 그것은 무엇일까?

그것은 깨어나는 것이다.

깨어나게 하는 것이다.

사람만이 할 수 있는 일에 집중하는 것이다.

더불어 사람들을 깨어나게 만드는 것이다.

그것이 무엇인가?

그것이 무엇인지 찾아내고 실천하는 것이 지금 세상에서 해야 할 일이다.

본인만의 가치를 찾아내는 것이다.

남에게,

AI에게 의존하지 않는 삶,

그것이 다이다.

유용, 유튜브 보이스 보정 수정, 순서대로 하면 됨. Audacity

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:33:11 +0900

#유용, 유튜브 보이스 보정 수정, 순서대로 하면 됨. Audacity

#음성보정기준

편안하게 들을수 있어야 한다.

오디오 볼륨의 갑작스러운 변화가 없어야 한다.

1. 노멀라이즈 (Normalize)

한 줄 정의: 가장 큰 소리를 기준으로 전체 볼륨을 적정 수준까지 키우거나 줄이는 기능입니다.
언제 쓸까? 녹음된 소리가 전반적으로 너무 작을 때, 품질 손상 없이 안전하게 볼륨을 확보하고 싶을 때 사용합니다.
특징: 소리의 '비율'은 그대로 유지하면서 크기만 키웁니다.

2. 리미터 (Limiter)

한 줄 정의: 소리가 특정 데시벨(dB) 이상 절대 넘지 못하게 '천장'을 치는 기능입니다.
언제 쓸까? 갑자기 크게 소리 지르는 부분이나 툭 튀어나온 '피크' 때문에 귀가 아픈 것을 방지할 때 필수입니다.
특징: 소리가 깨지는(클리핑) 것을 막아주는 최종 수비수 역할을 합니다.

3. 음량 정규화 (Loudness Normalization)

한 줄 정의: 사람의 귀로 느끼는 '체감 음량'을 일정하게 맞추는 기능입니다.
언제 쓸까? 유튜브나 스포티파이 같은 플랫폼의 표준 규격(-14 LUFS 등)에 맞춰 소리 크기를 일정하게 만들 때 사용합니다.
특징: 단순히 물리적인 피크를 맞추는 '노멀라이즈'보다 훨씬 과학적으로 소리 크기를 맞춰줍니다.

4. 자동 더킹 (Auto Ducking)

한 줄 정의: 내 목소리가 나올 때 배경음악 볼륨을 자동으로 줄여주는 기능입니다.
언제 쓸까? 배경음악과 나레이션이 같이 나올 때, 목소리가 잘 들리게 하려고 배경음악 볼륨을 일일이 조절하기 귀찮을 때 유용합니다.
특징: 라디오 DJ처럼 자연스럽게 음악이 깔리는 효과를 낼 수 있습니다.

5. 증폭 (Amplify)

한 줄 정의: 지정한 데시벨(dB)만큼 소리를 단순히 키우거나 줄이는 기능입니다.
언제 쓸까? 특정 구간이 너무 작아서 그냥 확 키우고 싶을 때 사용합니다.
주의: 너무 많이 키우면 소리가 찢어질 수 있으니 조심해야 합니다.

6. 컴프레서 (Compressor)

한 줄 정의: 큰 소리는 압축해 줄이고, 작은 소리는 상대적으로 키워서 전체적인 소리 편차를 줄이는 기능입니다.
언제 쓸까? 목소리를 훨씬 단단하고 선명하게 만들고 싶을 때, 들쭉날쭉한 볼륨을 평평하게 다듬고 싶을 때 씁니다.
특징: 전문적인 나레이션 느낌을 주는 일등 공신입니다.

녹음 음성 보정

아직 까지는 잘 안된다.

이렇게 하니 된다. 드디어.

유용, 목소리 괜찮은 것

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:47:21 +0900

Mail

Alessio Multilingual

Hyunsu Multilingual

Jorge Multilingual

Hyunsu (현수)

Femail

Arabella Multilingual

#공백포함 3550자 약 7분

유용, Qwen3 TTS 사용법, 진행중

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:09:51 +0900

경쾌하고 활기찬 어조로 말하다
50대 중저음 아나운서 어조로 말하다

speak in a cheerful and lively tone
speak in a low-to-mid-50s tone

신뢰감 있고 차분한 뉴스 앵커의 느낌입니다.

speak in a professional and calm tone
speak in a low-to-mid pitch tone

옵션 2. 무게감 있는 중저음 강조

울림이 깊고 권위 있는 목소리를 원할 때 적합합니다.

speak in a steady and authoritative tone
speak in a low-to-mid resonance tone

옵션 3. 지적이고 세련된 내레이션 톤

다큐멘터리나 격식 있는 프레젠테이션에 어울리는 톤입니다.

speak in a clear and polished tone
speak in a low-to-mid register tone

#클론한 보이스를 업로드하여 저장해두고 계속 쓴다.

https://github.com/QwenLM/Qwen3-TTS

GitHub - QwenLM/Qwen3-TTS: Qwen3-TTS is an open-source series of TTS models developed by the Qwen team at Alibaba Cloud, support

Qwen3-TTS is an open-source series of TTS models developed by the Qwen team at Alibaba Cloud, supporting stable, expressive, and streaming speech generation, free-form voice design, and vivid voice...

github.com

#다운로드

https://huggingface.co/collections/Qwen/qwen3-tts

Qwen3-TTS - a Qwen Collection

We’re on a journey to advance and democratize artificial intelligence through open source and open science.

huggingface.co

https://github.com/DarioFT/ComfyUI-Qwen3-TTS

GitHub - DarioFT/ComfyUI-Qwen3-TTS: A ComfyUI custom node suite for Qwen3-TTS, supporting 1.7B and 0.6B models, Custom Voice, Vo

A ComfyUI custom node suite for Qwen3-TTS, supporting 1.7B and 0.6B models, Custom Voice, Voice Design, Voice Cloning and Fine-Tuning. - DarioFT/ComfyUI-Qwen3-TTS

github.com

#결론...

짧은 문장은 잘된다.

20분 텍스트를 넣었더니 목소리가 섞인다.

긴 텍스트는 나누어서 하라고 한다. 하지만...잘 될지 모르겠다.

유용, 영어에 다시 도전하다면? 이것으로 할란다.

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:13:39 +0900

#유용, 영어에 다시 도전하다면? 이것으로 할란다.

Before you continue, understand that the story you are about to read is NOT the original text. It is a special adaptation for beginner English learners. The story is the same, but the language has been edited. Continue at your own peril... The road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, And I must follow, if I can.
The Hobbit Or “There and Back Again”. By J.R.R. Tolkien Learning English through reading - for beginners. Read by Joshua Cashill Chapter One About Hobbits Many ages ago, before man recorded his history, it was the time of Middle Earth, when man lived together with elves, dwarves, wizards, goblins, dragons and...
Hobbits. In the lands of Middle Earth, in a region known as the Shire there was a village named Hobbiton. There, in a hole in the ground, lived a Hobbit. It was not a dirty, wet hole, filled with insects and a bad smell. It was also not a dry hole with sand on the floors and nothing to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
Everyone knows that Hobbits are small, quiet creatures. They live small, quiet lives in comfortable homes underground. They never, ever visit the world outside. And they certainly never go on adventures! But this is the story of a very special Hobbit, a Hobbit who went on an adventure - and what an exciting adventure it was! His name was Bilbo Baggins.
What is a Hobbit, after all? Before we continue, it is important to explain what exactly a Hobbit is. Hobbits are a little people. They are half the size of us Big People, which is what they call us. They are smaller and shorter than the Dwarves. Dwarves have very long beards. Hobbits do not have beards. Hobbits are timid and they do not like to be around us Big People.
They have very little or no magic at all. The only magic they have is the ordinary kind of magic that helps them disappear quickly and quietly when Big People like you and me appear. We make a noise like elephants, and the Hobbits can hear us from very far away. Hobbits are generally fat in the stomach. They like to wear clothes with bright colors (mainly green and yellow).
They do not wear shoes, because their feet have strong natural bottoms. And on the top of their feet, they have thick brown hair that is like the hair on their heads (which is curly). They have happy faces, and they like to laugh loudly and often (especially after dinner, which they eat twice a day when they can).
Now you know enough about Hobbits to continue the story. One beautiful Wednesday morning, Bilbo Baggins was standing in his garden in front of his Hobbit hole. He was smoking a very long pipe made of wood when Gandalf appeared. Gandalf! The last time Bilbo had seen Gandalf, he was a young Hobbit. So, the only thing Bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a long wooden stick that he used to help him walk.
He had a tall blue hat with a point at the top. His cloak was long and gray. He wore a silver scarf around his neck, and over everything was his long, white beard that came all the way down below his waist. On his feet he wore large black boots. “Good Morning!” said Bilbo, and he meant it - the day was beautiful and warm.
But Gandalf looked at him in a confused way. “What do you mean?” he said. “Do you wish me a good morning; or do you mean that the morning is good; or do you mean that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning that you can be good on?” “All of them at the same time,” said Bilbo. “And it is a very fine morning to smoke a pipe outside, too.
If you have a pipe, sit down and I will give you some of my tobacco! There’s no hurry, we have all day!” Then Bilbo sat down on a seat by his door and blew a beautiful gray ring of smoke that floated up into the air and flew away over The Hill. “Very pretty!” said Gandalf. “But I do not have time to blow smoke-rings this morning.
I am looking for someone to come on an adventure with me, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.” “I imagine that it would be difficult - in this area! We Hobbits are simple and quiet folk and we do not want any adventures.” They are very uncomfortable things! They make you late for dinner! I don’t understand why anyone likes them,” said our Mr.
Baggins. He blew another smoke ring that was bigger than the first one. Then he took out his morning letters from his pocket, and began to read, pretending not to see the old man. Bilbo had decided that he wanted the old man to go away. But the old man did not move. He stood there, holding his stick and looking at the Hobbit without saying anything, until Bilbo became very uncomfortable and even a little angry.
“Good morning!” he finally said. “We don’t want any adventures here, thank you! You can look over The Hill or across The Water for adventurers.” This is how Bilbo decided to end the conversation. “You do use good morning for many things!” said Gandalf. “Now you mean that you want me to go away, and that the day will not be good until I am gone.
” “That is not what I mean, not at all, my dear sir! Let me see, I don’t think I know your name?” “But I know your name, Mr. Bilbo Baggins. And you do know my name. But you don’t remember that I belong to it. I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me!” “Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Forgive me! You are the mysterious wizard who used to tell such wonderful stories at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and of princesses and treasure! The man who used to make excellent fireworks! I remember those! They were the most extraordinary fireworks in all the land!”
“I am happy to see you remember something about me. You seem to have nice memories of my fireworks, and that is a good thing. So, because of that, I will give you what you asked for.” “I’m sorry. Forgive me, but I haven’t asked for anything!” “Yes, you have! Twice now. You asked for me to forgive you! And so I will give you my forgiveness.
In fact I will give you even more - I will give you this adventure. It will be very amusing for me, and very good for you - and profitable too, if you return from it.” “Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not today. Good morning! But please come to tea - any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Come tomorrow! Goodbye!” Bilbo turned around and went into his Hobbit home as quickly as possible without seeming rude.
Wizards after all are wizards, and you do not want to make them angry. “Why did I ask him to come to tea?” he asked himself. He had just eaten breakfast, but he needed some more cake after his encounter with the wizard. He was feeling very nervous! After Bilbo entered his home, Gandalf was still outside the door, laughing quietly to himself.
After some time, with the point of his staff he marked Bilbo’s beautiful green door with a strange symbol. Then he walked away. At that same time Bilbo ate his second piece of cake and was feeling like he had escaped adventures. Chapter 2 An Unexpected Party The next day Bilbo forgot completely about Gandalf.
Just before tea-time, there was a very loud ring on his front door bell, and then he remembered! Gandalf! He quickly prepared some tea and cake, and ran to the door. “I am so sorry to keep you waiting!” is what he was going to say, but when he opened the door, he saw that it was not Gandalf at all. It was a Dwarf with a long, blue beard, and very bright eyes.
On his head was a dark green hood. As soon as Bilbo opened the door, the Dwarf came inside, as if he had been invited. “Dwalin at your service!” he said, leaning forward in a low bow. He took off his hood and hung it on the wall in the corridor. “Bilbo Baggins at your service!” said the hobbit. He was too surprised to ask any questions.
They looked at each other for a moment. Soon the silence became uncomfortable and Bilbo said, “I am just about to have some tea; would you like to have some with me.” Bilbo sat down at the table with Dwalin. He was not sure what to say to the Dwarf. What would you do, if an uninvited Dwarf came into your home without an explanation? Suddenly there was another ring at the door, a much louder ring than the first ring.
“Excuse me!” said the hobbit, and he went to answer the door. “So you are finally here!” That was what he was going to say to Gandalf this time. But it was not Gandalf. Instead there was a very old-looking Dwarf with a white beard and a red hood. He also came inside as soon as Bilbo opened the door, like he had been invited too! “I can see they have started to arrive already,” he said when he saw Dwalin’s green hood hanging on the wall.
He hung his own red hood next to it. “Balin at your service!” he said in a loud voice. “Thank you!” said Bilbo, trying to catch his breath. It was not the correct thing to say, but ‘they have started to arrive’ had made him very confused. He liked visitors, but he liked to know them before they arrived, and he preferred to invite them himself.
But Bilbo thought he was a very good host to his guests and said, “Come inside, and have some tea!” “I would prefer some beer, if you do not mind, my good sir,” said Balin with the white beard. “And I would love some cake, if you have any.” “Lots!” Bilbo answered in surprise. He ran to fill a glass of beer and get some cake he had just made.
He was going to eat it after dinner. When he got back Balin and Dwalin were talking at the table like old friends (as a matter of fact they were brothers). Bilbo put the beer and the cake down in front of them. Suddenly, there was a loud ring at the bell again, and then another! “It must be Gandalf this time,” he thought as he hurried to the door.
But it was not. It was two more dwarves. Both had blue hoods, silver belts, and yellow beards. Each of them carried a bag of tools and a shovel. As soon as Bilbo opened the door, they stepped inside. Bilbo was not surprised at all. “What can I do for you, my Dwarves?” he said. “Kili at your service!” said one.
“And Fili!” said the other; and they both took off their blue hoods and leaned forward in a low bow. “At your service, and your family’s!” answered Bilbo. He remembered to be polite this time. “Dwalin and Balin are here already, I see,” said Kili. “Let’s join the crowd!” “Crowd!” thought Mr. Baggins. “I don’t like the sound of that.
I need to sit down for a moment and think.” Soon the bell began to ring again, and in came Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin! Bilbo showed them to the dining room where all the other Dwarves were sitting and talking and eating his food and drinking his tea and beer. Suddenly, there was a loud KNOCK on his door! Bilbo ran down the corridor.
He was very angry, and very confused. This was the strangest day he could remember. He opened the door and they all fell into the corridor, in a large pile! More dwarves! Four more dwarves! And there was Gandalf behind all of them. He was holding his staff and laughing. He had made a large hole on the beautiful door with his staff.
He had also knocked out the secret symbol that he had put there the morning before. “Let me introduce Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and especially Thorin! Now we are all here!” said Gandalf. Everyone asked for something different to eat and drink, and Bilbo realized that he would not have any food for his breakfast tomorrow.
At this moment, Bilbo was feeling very confused. It seemed like the adventure Gandalf had spoken about was already in his house! Bilbo was becoming annoyed. The Dwarves ate and drank and talked at the table while Thorin, a very important-looking Dwarf, spoke to Gandalf. Thorin was smoking a pipe and blowing enormous smoke rings wherever he wanted them to go.
Bilbo sat and watched him - he loved smoke rings - and then he felt embarrassed because he had been so proud of the smoke rings he had blown in his garden yesterday morning. “Now it’s time for some music!” said Thorin. “Bring out the instruments!” The youngest Dwarves, Fili and Kili, ran to get their instruments.
They came back with viols as big as themselves, and with Thorin’s harp. It was a beautiful golden harp, and when Thorin played it the music began. The Dwarves sang in deep voices about their ancient homes in caverns far away. They sang of a great kingdom under the Lonely Mountain far to the East. They sang of treasure and gold and jewels.
Then the Dwarves sang of the great tragedy - the destruction of Smaug, the evil dragon that came and stole their gold and killed their people. They sang about their desire to return to the Lonely Mountain and take back their kingdom and their gold. As Bilbo listened, something strange woke up inside him. The melody and words transported Bilbo away into distant lands under mysterious skies, far away from his Hobbit-hole under The Hill.
He wanted to go there and see the mountain the Dwarves were singing about. He wanted to explore the caves and caverns and feel the Dwarvish gold in his fingers. He wanted to carry a sword instead of a walking stick. He looked out his window at the stars in the sky. He thought of the treasure under the mountain far away.
Suddenly in the fireplace the fire burned bright and hot - probably just a piece of wood changing position - and he thought of the fire from the terrible dragon from their song. The dragon that stole the Dwarves’ gold. He felt afraid, and very quickly he was plain Mr. Baggins of Hobbiton again. The music stopped suddenly and Thorin began to speak, “Gandalf, Dwarves, and Burglar Baggins…” Bilbo was surprised at Thorin’s words and asked, “What do you mean when you say ‘burglar’ Baggins?” “If you prefer, you can say ‘expert treasure hunter’,” answered Thorin.
Well, yes, I prefer that,” Bilbo said, but he was still confused. Thorin continued, “We are here tonight in the house of our friend, this most excellent Hobbit.” Thorin then lifted his glass of beer and said, “May the hair on his toes never fall out.” The other Dwarves and Gandalf all raised their glasses and said at the same time, “Hear, hear!” “We shall soon start on our long journey,” said Thorin.
“A journey from which some of us, or perhaps all of us may never return.” When Thorin said “may never return”, Bilbo began to feel a shout of fear building up inside him, and soon it came out like the whistle of a boiling pot of tea. All the Dwarves jumped up in surprise! They knocked over the table. Gandalf raised a hand and calmed everyone in the room.
Soon Thorin continued. “I believe all of us know what our objective is.” “All of us?” asked Bilbo. “It is not well known to me.” “Really? Then we must inform our burglar. We Dwarves will return to Lonely Mountain far to the East, beyond the Misty Mountains and past the Forest of Mirkwood, and we will take back what Smaug the dragon stole from us.
Smaug came in the night and killed my people and forced my grandfather, King Under the Mountain, to run for his life. He burned down the town of Dale and stole my people’s gold. He is still there in the mountain, sleeping on a vast pile of our gold and jewels.” “Curse the Dragon Smaug!” all the Dwarves yelled.
As all the Dwarves yelled, the poor little Hobbit was so terrified that he fell to the floor and began shaking like a jelly. He continued calling out, “Hit by lightning, hit by lightning!” over and over again; and that was all he would say for some time. So the Dwarves took him and put him on the sofa in another room with a glass of water nearby, and they went back to the living room to talk about their business.
“Mr. Baggins can become very excited sometimes,” said Gandalf, as they sat down again. “but he is one of the best thieves - one of the best - as brave as a knight when you need him the most.” After relaxing for a few moments and after drinking the water that was next to him on the sofa, Bilbo returned silently to the door of his living room and this is what he heard the Dwarves saying: “Do you think he is right for our adventure? Gandalf says he is very brave, but one scream like that in a moment of excitement will wake up the dragon and all his relatives, and kill us all!
I think he sounded more afraid than excited. I have my doubts. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar!” When he heard these words, the adventurous side of Bilbo came out. He suddenly felt that he would go without bed and breakfast if people thought he was brave. Many times later, the calm, timid side of Bilbo regretted what he did next: “Pardon me,” he said, “but I heard what you said about me.
I do not understand very well what you all are talking about, or why you are calling me ‘burglar’. But I think I am correct to believe that you think I will not be good for your adventure. Well, I will prove to you that I will be good for you. Tell me what you want me to do and I will try it. Even if I have to walk from my peaceful Hobbit home to the East of East and fight the terrible fire dragons of Morgoth.
” Gandalf interrupted Bilbo and said to Thorin and the Dwarves, “Do you see? Brave and fierce like a knight! There are thirteen of you Dwarves, and thirteen is a very unlucky number. Mr. Baggins will be the fourteenth member of your party. Fourteen is a much luckier number.” “A very splendid lucky number you have chosen for us, Gandalf,” Thorin said ironically.
“I will not argue anymore!” said Gandalf. “I chose Mr. Baggins and that should be enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, then he is a Burglar. Or he will be when he needs to be. There is more in him than you can see, and a lot more than he knows himself. You may (possibly) all live to thank me for my decision.
Now Bilbo, my good Hobbit, get the lamp so we have some light!” In the light of the lamp, Gandalf placed a map with many words and markings on it. “This was made by Thror, your grandfather, Thorin. It is a plan of the Mountain. You can see here there is a marking that shows a secret entrance.” “I’m sure Smaug has discovered this entrance.
He has lived there for so many years,” said Thorin in a disappointed voice. “The passage is much too small for Smaug, even when he was a young worm. But it is big enough for a Burglar to enter!” Gandalf said, looking at Bilbo. Bilbo almost fainted again from the thought of going into a secret passage to confront Smaug the dragon.
“Also,” continued Gandalf, “there is a key that goes with the map, a small and interesting key. Here it is!” he said, and handed the key to Thorin. It was made of silver. “Keep it safe!” “I will,” said Thorin, and he put the key on a chain he wore around his neck and under his jacket. “Now things are beginning to look more hopeful.
This key will allow us to enter the secret passage without Smaug knowing we are there.” “That is why I thought of burglary - especially when I remembered the existence of a secret door,” said Gandalf. “And here is our little Bilbo Baggins, the burglar, the chosen and selected Burglar. So now let’s continue and make some plans.
” “But I must know, Gandalf, how you got the map,” said Thorin to the Wizard. “Your grandfather Thror was killed, you remember, in the mines of Moria by Azog the Goblin.” “Curse his name, yes,” said Thorin. “But before he died, he gave this map to his son Thrain, your father. He tried to return to Lonely Mountain, but his adventure ended before he arrived there.
I found him a prisoner in the dungeons of the Necromancer. Your father gave the map and the key to me there.” “We must consider the power and danger of the Necromancer,” said Thorin. “Do not be absurd, Thorin! He is an enemy who is more powerful than all the Dwarves together. The one thing your father wanted was for you to read the map and use the key.
Do not worry about the Necromancer right now. The dragon and the mountain are tasks that are big enough for you!” “Hear, hear!” said Bilbo, and he accidentally said it out loud. “Hear what?” all the Dwarves said, looking towards Bilbo. He was so embarrassed that he answered, “Hear what I have to say!” “What do you have to say?” they asked.
“Well, I think you should go East and have a look around. After all, there is a secret door, and dragons must sleep sometimes, I imagine. If you sit next to the door long enough, I am sure you will think of something. And well, I think we have talked long enough for one night, if you understand what I mean.
What about bed, and an early start? I will give you a good breakfast before you go.” “Before we go, I suppose you mean,” said Thorin. “Aren’t you the Burglar? And isn’t sitting next to the secret door your job? Not to mention getting inside the door? But I agree about bed and breakfast. I like six eggs with my ham, when starting on a journey.
” After all the others had ordered their breakfasts without even saying “please” (which annoyed Bilbo very much), they all got up. The hobbit had to find room for all of them. He filled all his rooms and made beds on chairs and sofas. Finally, he went to his own little bed feeling very tired and not very happy.
One thing he decided before falling asleep was that he was not going to wake up to make all their breakfasts. He was feeling the timid side of his Hobbitness, and he was not so sure that he was going on any journey in the morning. As he lay in bed he could hear Thorin singing to himself in the bedroom next to him: Far over the Misty Mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away ere break of day, To find our long-forgotten gold.
Bilbo went to sleep with that song in his ears, and it gave him very uncomfortable dreams. It was long after the break of day, when he finally woke up. Chapter 3 Roast Mutton Or cooked sheep to you and me. Bilbo woke up suddenly. As he walked to the kitchen, he realized that his nightmares from the night before were not bad dreams at all! What a terrible mess there was in the kitchen! Not only had the Dwarves left without waking Bilbo up, they had used every bowl and plate and cup and glass for breakfast, and they did not wash anything!
He was relieved that they were gone, but he also felt a little disappointed. “Don’t be silly, Bilbo Baggins!” he said to himself. “Just imagine, you climbing mountains and fighting dragons! And at your age!” He began to eat some cake, which helped him forget the adventures from the night before. Suddenly, Gandalf appeared! “My dear Hobbit, what are you doing here?” Gandalf said.
“Did you not see the message?” “What message?” said poor Mr. Baggins, very confused all over again. “Confusticate and bebother all Hobbits!” Gandalf said in frustration. He walked over to the living room table and picked up a note that was left there. It was written on Bilbo’s own paper, which was very expensive! This is what the message said: Thorin and Company to Burglar Baggins, good morning! We thank you for your hospitality.
And we accept your professional assistance on our journey. Terms: cash when the job is finished, but only one fourteenth of the total, if any. All traveling expenses are guaranteed. Funeral expenses, if necessary, will be paid by our representatives. We did not think it was necessary to wake you up, so we have left already in order to make all necessary preparations.
We will wait for you at the Green Dragon Inn, in Bywater at 11:00 am sharp. Please be punctual. Sincerely, Thorin and company. “You have only ten minutes to get to the Green Dragon Inn,” said Gandalf. “But -,” said Bilbo. “There is no time for it,” said the Wizard. “But -,” said Bilbo again. “No time for that, either! Fly, you fool!” Until the day he died, Bilbo had no idea how he left his comfortable Hobbit home, without a hat or walking stick or any money.
He threw Gandalf his house keys and he ran as fast as his furry little feet could run down the road, past the big Mill, across The Water, and then on for another mile to Bywater, just as the clock was marking eleven. And to make matters worse, he realized he had left without a pocket handkerchief! The Dwarves were waiting for Bilbo when he arrived, out of breath and confused all over again.
There were many ponies, and each of them carried all kinds of baggage - food, tools and other important equipment. There was also a very small pony, especially for Bilbo. “Up you go, Mr. Burglar! Let us begin our journey!” said Thorin, as this very unexpected party began walking down the path towards Lonely Mountain, far away to the East.
Soon, Gandalf arrived on a beautiful white horse. He brought many things from Bilbo’s home, including a lot of pocket handkerchiefs and Bilbo’s pipe and tobacco. Bilbo was very happy. After that, the party traveled along the path very happily, singing songs and telling stories. And Bilbo began to think that adventures were not such terrible things.
For the first few days of their journey, they traveled through familiar lands, where people were friendly and sang songs that Bilbo recognized. But soon, they entered the Lone-lands, where there were no people, no inns, and the roads were more difficult to travel. The hills around them began to get bigger and bigger, and on some of them there were old castles that did not look very comfortable.
It began to rain and it did not stop for many days. Travel became miserable - it was cold and wet. But even with the difficult conditions, the party continued eastward towards the Misty Mountains. “I’m sure the rain has made all our food and dry clothing wet,” thought Bilbo. “I haven’t even burgled yet, but I’m tired of burgling and everything that has to do with it! I wish I was at home in my nice hole next to the fire under a warm blanket!” It was not the last time Bilbo wished that! Night was falling as the party needed to stop and find a dry place to sleep.
The Dwarves, and especially the Hobbit, were anxious to begin cooking dinner. But it was not until that moment that they realized that Gandalf was not with them. So far he had come all the way with them, but the group was not sure if he was part of the adventure or only keeping them company for a while. But Gandalf had eaten the most food, talked the most, and laughed the most.
But now he simply was not there! They decided to make camp right where they were, in a wet patch under some trees. It was impossible to light a fire with all the rain. “What a perfect time for a Wizard to be helpful,” complained Thorin. Lighting suddenly cracked in the night, and one of the ponies ran away in terror! Fili and Kili tried to run after it and catch it, but the poor animal jumped into a river and drowned, with most of the food they had for the night, and the breakfast for the next day.
“We have lost the pony, and dinner,“ said Kili when he and Fili returned without the beast. “And breakfast,” said Fili. “But we saw a light in the distance. Maybe we should go and see what it is.” The Dwarves argued about this decision for some time - some saying it was too dangerous in this area so close to the mountains, and others saying that maybe there might be some food and protection from the weather.
Thunder sounded again and it began to pour even more than before. “There are fourteen of us, after all,” said Thorin. “And we have a burglar with us.” That decided the matter. So, the Dwarves, Hobbit and remaining ponies all walked off, wet and miserable, in the direction of the light. Suddenly the red light was very bright through the trees.
“Now it is the Burglar’s turn,” said Thorin. “Go and discover as much as you can about the light. See if there are people there and if it is safe,” he said to Bilbo. “Now, hurry and come back quickly if all is well! If not, come back if you can! If you can’t, hoot twice like a barn-owl and once like a screech-owl and we will try to help you.
” Thorin gave the Hobbit a push and Bilbo ran off towards the light, before he could explain that he did not know how to hoot like any owl! But Hobbits can move perfectly quietly in the forest. They are very proud of this ability. And not even an owl would have heard Bilbo on this night! So, naturally, he was able to walk right next to the fire and this is what he saw: Three very large persons sitting around a very large fire.
They were cooking lamb on long pieces of wood and licking their fingers. What a wonderful smell there was! There was also a barrel of good drink near the fire and they were drinking out of large cups. But they were trolls, obviously trolls. Even Bilbo could see that: their large faces, their size, and the shape of their legs, not to mention the way they were talking, which was very rude and not appropriate for dinner parties.
“Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don’t look like mutton again tomorrow, Bert” said one of the trolls. “Aye, Tom, never a stinking bit of manflesh for a long time,” said another troll. “What were William a-thinking to bring us to this here region, anyway?” said Bert, and hit the arm of William, who was taking a drink from his cup.
William choked and coughed. “Shut you mouths, you swine! All you do is complain like a couple of goblin pups. Eat your mutton, and shut your gobs!” said William. Now Bilbo was no fool. He had read a lot about trolls - in the comfort of his Hobbit hole in Hobbiton, of course, and he knew that trolls would eat him or a Dwarf or a man faster than a Hobbit could blink an eye.
But he did not want to return to the Dwarves with nothing - he was a “burglar” after all! So while Bert and Tom went to get more drink, Bilbo snuck up to William and put his little hand in his big pocket, and closed his fingers around a money bag. He thought, “I did it! This is the beginning of a fine career as a Burglar!” As Bilbo pulled the heavy money bag out, William turned around and grabbed Bilbo by the neck, before he could escape.
“Oi, who are you?” “Blimey, Bert, look what I caught me here!” said William. “What is it?” aid the others, as they came into the light of the fire. “How am I supposed to know. What are you?” asked William. “Bilbo Baggins, a bur…a Hobbit!” said poor Bilbo, shaking in terror, and wondering how to make a noise like an owl before they ate him.
“A burrahobbit?” they said, a bit confused. Trolls are not the smartest creatures on Middle Earth. “What’s a burrahobbit doing in my pocket?” asked William. “Hey, fellas, maybe there be more of them around, and we’s can make a pie. Oi, you? Are there any more of you urrahobbits sneaking ‘round here?” asked William as he picked Bilbo up by the toes.
“Yes, lots,” cried Bilbo, before he remembered not to talk about his friends. “No! None at all, not a single one,” he said immediately after. “What d’you mean, ‘lots and none at all’?” asked William. “I say we roast ‘em alive right now!” Bert looked at Bilbo and said, “We can pull him into pieces and eat him raw!” Tom shook his head and said, “No, let’s sit on him and turn him into a jelly?” The trolls, as trolls will often do, began to argue about the many ways to cook and eat a Hobbit.
They began fighting and rolling around on the ground around the fire, and when William dropped Bilbo, he had time to find a place to hide. Bilbo did not go far, though. He was too scared and in too much pain to run away. While the trolls were fighting and Bilbo was resting, the Dwarves heard the noises and came to investigate.
They walked right into the light of the fire. The moment Tom saw the Dwarves, he gave a tremendous howl! Now, if you did not know it, trolls absolutely detest Dwarves. When Tom screamed, William and Bert stopped fighting immediately and before the Dwarves knew what happened, the trolls had captured them and put each and every one of them in a dirty sack.
At that moment, Gandalf returned! But no one saw him. The trolls had just decided to roast the Dwarves now and eat them later. But a voice said, “Let’s not roast them, it will take too long.” Bert thought it was William and said, “Don’t start the argument again, William, or it will take all night!” William looked angrily at Bert and said, “Who’s arguing?” “You’re arguing’!” Bert replied to William “Liar!” Screamed William, and they all started fighting again.
“Stop it!” yelled Tom. “The night is about to end and dawn comes early here. Let’s eat them!” Then a voice said loudly, “Dawn take you all and turn you to stone!” At that moment the light from the rising sun came over the hill and the trolls raised their hands to cover their faces and were about to scream.
But they never made a sound: the trolls were turned to stone where they stood. Birds came in the dawn and sat on their stone heads and sang a morning song. Trolls, as you probably know, must be out of the sun before the day starts or they return to the elements they are made from, and never move again. That is what happened to Bert and Tom and William.
They turned to stone in the sunlight. “Excellent!” said Gandalf, as he came from behind a tree, and helped Bilbo to his feet. Then Bilbo understood. It was the Wizard’s voice that distracted the trolls and caused them to fight until the sun came up and turned them to stone. The unhappy Dwarves were rescued from their sacks.
They thanked Gandalf and suggested that Bilbo not steal from trolls in the future. “Stop complaining!” said Gandalf. “We must find the trolls’ cave. I’m sure we will find something we can use on our journey.” With a key they found on William, they opened the door to a cave they discovered nearby. The smell was terrible when they entered the dark space.
But there was a lot of food and clothing and many other useful things the trolls had stolen and kept in the cave. There were many pots of gold coins and several beautiful swords of various shapes and sizes. Gandalf and Thorin each took one of these, and Bilbo took a small knife in a leather scabbard (it would only be a pocket knife for a troll, but it was like a longsword for a Hobbit!).
“These look like good blades,” said the Wizard, drawing one of the swords from its scabbard and looking at it curiously. “These swords were not made by any troll, or by any ironmaster among men in these parts or in these days. When we can read this ancient writing on the blades, we will know more about them.
” They left the troll cave, with a good amount of gold and food and drink. And because their night had been disturbed, they slept until the afternoon. When they woke up, they buried the pots of gold in a secret location, in case they returned, and prepared to continue their journey. “Where did you go?” Thorin asked Gandalf as they rode their ponies along the road.
“To look ahead,” he answered. “And why did you come back when we needed you the most?” Thorin asked. “Looking behind,” said Gandalf. “What on Middle Earth do you mean, Gandalf?” asked Thorin in frustration. “I went ahead to see what was on the road. It will soon become dangerous and difficult. But I met some friends from Rivendell on the way.
They told me about some trolls that were making trouble near the road. You will reach Rivendell in a few days and we will speak with Elrond, who is master there. But Thorin, please be more careful next time, or this journey will be a very short one!” Thorin looked at Gandalf and said, “Thank you, great Wizard!” Chapter 4 A Short Rest The journey continued for many days, and they began to feel the danger that was all around them.
There was very little food in the bags, and at night, their ponies ate better than they did. One morning they crossed a river that was wide and shallow. The water made a pleasant sound as it flowed over the rocks. Bilbo could not identify exactly what he was feeling, but he sensed a magic that was in the river as they crossed to the other side.
They continued on and Bilbo could see that the mountains were much closer than before. “Is that THE Mountain?” asked Bilbo, looking at a dark peak in the distance. “Of course not!” said Gandalf. “That is only the Misty Mountains. We must go through them or over them or under them to the other side. And after that, we must travel a very long way before we reach the Mountain where Smaug sleeps on our treasure.
” Gandalf was leading the party. “We must pay attention to the road, or we will be lost in the wilderness,” he said. “We need food and supplies, and rest in a safe place before we cross the Misty Mountains.” The Dwarves asked him where they were going and he answered: “We are going towards the beautiful valley of Rivendell where Elrond lives.
I sent a message by my friends. He is expecting us.” “I have found the path!” cried Gandalf. “We are close now.” They all could hear the sound of water falling and the scent of the trees was clean and fresh. And in the distance, they could see the light of fires and torches. It was Rivendell, one of the last homes of the Elves in Middle Earth.
“It feels like Elves,” thought Bilbo as they approached a bridge that crossed a small river. They could hear the voices of Elves now, singing and talking in the darkness. They stayed for fourteen days at that house, and it was difficult for them to leave. Bilbo felt like he could stay there forever and ever, even if he could fly back to his comfortable Hobbit home in the Shire.
But there is very little to tell about their stay with Elrond, the master of the house, and a friend of Gandalf. Elrond’s part in the story of Bilbo’s great adventure is only a small one, but an important one, as you will see. He was a great Elf warrior and leader, a descendant of Men and Elves. He was noble and strong, and as wise as a wizard.
He knew all about ancient writing and languages, and he was able to read the strange symbols on the swords Gandalf and Thorin found in the troll cave. “These are not troll swords,” said Elrond as he examined them. “They are very old. They were made by the High Elves of the West. They were made in the great city of Gondolin for the Goblin wars.
The runes on these swords give their names. Thorin, your sword is called ‘Orcrist, the Goblin-cutter’ in the ancient language of Gondolin. It was a famous blade. This sword, Gandalf, was ‘Glamdring, Enemy-hammer’. The king of Gondolin used it himself. You may need them as soon as you cross the Misty Mountains.
” “But show me your map!” Elrond continued. Thorin gave the map to Elrond and he looked at it for a long time. The moon was shining bright in the night sky and Elrond held up the map and the moonlight came through it. “What is this?” he said. “There are moon-letters here, next to the visible words that identify the secret door.
” “What are moon-letters?” asked the Hobbit, full of excitement. “Moon-letters are magical letters that can only be seen when the moon shines behind them. They were invented by the Dwarves,” explained Elrond. “What do they say?” asked Gandalf and Thorin together. Elrond began to read, “stand by the gray stone when the thrush knocks, and the last light of the setting sun on Durin’s Day will shine on the keyhole.
” “Durin, Durin!” said Thorin. “He was the father of the fathers of the race of Dwarves, and my ancestor: I am his heir. But we have lost the skill to know when Durin’s Day is, except that it is a day between autumn and winter. “Is there any more writing on the map?” asked Gandalf. “None that I can read with this moon,” answered Elrond.
“Perhaps you will learn more on your journey.” The next morning was a perfect summer day, beautiful and warm. The party rode away from Rivendell as the Elves sang and danced. Their hearts were ready for more adventure and they were prepared for the next phase of their journey: to cross over the Misty Mountains.
Chapter 5 Over Hill and Under Hill There were many paths that went up the mountains, and many passes that went over the mountains to the other side. But most of the paths were deceptions and were not safe. And most of the passes were full of evil things and terrible danger. And with the advice of Elrond and the memory of Gandalf, they followed the right path up to the right pass.
But even the plans of wise wizards like Gandalf and good friends like Elrond can go wrong when you travel on dangerous adventures. And this adventure was dangerous and the plans did go wrong. Everything was going well until there was a terrible thunderstorm, like a great battle in the sky! The lightning crashed onto the mountain peaks and the sound of thunder filled the night and rolled into every cave and cavern.
Bilbo had never seen or imagined anything like it. The wind and rain blew in every direction, and the party was cold and wet. “We cannot stay here!” said Thorin. “We will be blown off the mountain by the wind or we will drown in the rain or we will be hit by lightning or we will freeze in the cold!” “Well, if you know a safe place to stay, take us there!” said Gandalf, who was feeling very irritable.
He was quite afraid of the lightning too. The argument ended when Fili and Kili went to look for a safer place. They were the youngest Dwarves and they had the best eyes. It is always better to look for something if you want to find it, even if you find something you were not expecting. Soon Fili and Kili came back.
“We have found a dry cave,” they said, “not far from here on the path. We can all fit inside, even the ponies.” “Have you explored the cave carefully?” asked the Wizard. Gandalf knew that caves in the mountains were usually occupied with something! “Yes, yes!” they said, but everybody knew that they could not have looked too carefully - they had returned too quickly.
“It isn’t that big, and it does not go far back.” That, of course, is the dangerous part about caves: you do not know how far they go back, or what is waiting for you inside. But the wind and rain and lightning were too much for the party. So they followed the path for a short time and there, behind a rock, was a hole in the side of the mountain.
It felt good to hear the sound of the storm outside and not all around them. But the wizard was not going to take any risks. He lit up his staff and with its light they explored the cave from front to back. They lit no fire - Gandalf would not allow it. They made their blankets comfortable and they began to fall asleep.
It was a good thing that Bilbo was with them. He slept badly and had very scary dreams. He dreamed that a hole in the wall at the back of the cave got bigger and bigger, but he could not call out - he could only look. Suddenly he woke up and saw that part of his dream was true. There was a hole at the back of the cave! He was just in time to see the last of the ponies disappearing into it.
He gave a very loud yell, as loud a yell as a Hobbit can give, which is surprising for their size. Out jumped the goblins, big goblins, lots of goblins! The Dwarves and Hobbit were all grabbed and carried back into the hole before they knew what was happening. But not Gandalf! Bilbo’s yell woke him up and when the goblins came to grab him, there was a tremendous flash like lightning in the cave, and several goblins fell dead! The hole at the back of the cave closed with a loud CRACK! and Bilbo and the Dwarves were on the wrong side of it!
Where was Gandalf? The goblins carried them along the passage, deep, deep into the mountain, where goblins like to live. The passages were confusing, but the goblins knew their way, like you know your way to the nearest post office. They took the party down, down into the dark, and laughed in horrible voices as they went.
Bilbo was more unhappy than when the troll had picked him up by his toes. He wished again and again for his comfortable Hobbit-home, and not for the last time. The goblins pushed and pulled and scratched and bit them, and they ran and ran for a very long time until they came into a large cavern, with a huge red fire in the middle.
It was full of goblins! The ponies were already there in a corner, and the goblins were looking through the baggage, smelling it, touching it and fighting over it. It was the last time Bilbo and the Dwarves saw the ponies, including the little teeny pony that was especially for Bilbo. Bilbo and the Dwarves were pushed towards another corner of the cavern and there, in the shadows, sat a tremendous goblin with a huge head.
Armed goblins were standing around him with axes and curved swords. Now goblins are cruel and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make clever things. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers and also instruments of torture they make very well. They can mine and tunnel almost as well as the Dwarves, when they want to, or they use their prisoners to do the work for them until they die from lack of food and water and light.
“Who are these miserable persons?” said the Great Goblin. “Dwarves, and this!” said one of the goblins, pushing Bilbo so that he fell onto the ground. “We found them hiding in our Front Cave.” “What do you have to say for yourselves? Are you spies? Murderers? Friends of Elves? Thieves, I imagine? “Thorin at your service!” he replied.
It was not a very good response to a goblin king, but it was polite enough. “We were looking for protection from the storm. The cave seemed like a convenient place. We had no intention to inconvenience goblins in any way.” That was true! “So you say!” said the Great Goblin. “So you say! What are you doing here in the mountains in the first place, and where are you coming from, and where are you going? In fact, I would like to know all about you.
It will not help you, though, Thorin Oakenshield, I know who you are. Tell me now, or I will prepare something very uncomfortable for you!” Thorin was not sure exactly what to say at the moment, especially when he could not tell the truth to the goblin king. So, he invented a story about visiting relatives on the other side of the Misty Mountains.
“He is a liar, oh Great One!” said one of the goblins. “They killed several of us back in the cave with lightning, and he is carrying this!” The goblin showed the sword Thorin had taken from the troll cave. The Great Goblin knew the sword immediately. He gave a great howl of anger when he saw it, and all the goblin soldiers made a tremendous noise.
The sword had killed hundreds of goblins in the past, when the Elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or killed them on their castle walls. The Elves had named the sword Orcrist, Goblin-cutter, but the goblins just called it “Biter”. They hated it and hated even more anyone who carried it. “Murderers and Elf-friends!” the Great Goblin shouted.
“Cut them! Beat them! Bite them! Chew them! Take them away and throw them in dark holes full of snakes and never let them see the light again!” He was so angry that he jumped off his chair and ran towards Thorin with his mouth open, ready to bite Thorin’s head right off! At that moment, all the lights in the cavern went out.
The large fire turned into a column of blue smoke that rose all the way to the ceiling of the cavern and turned into a hot white light. The light fell in burning particles among the goblins and they began to scream in fear and pain! The smoke from the fire and the burning goblins filled the cavern, making it impossible to see anything.
The goblins began to bite and kick and fight, as if they had all gone mad. Suddenly a sword burned white in its own light. Bilbo saw the sword cut right through the Great Goblin as he stood in the smoke. He was killed instantly and the goblin soldiers all ran away from the sword in terror. The sword went back into its scabbard.
“Follow me quick! They will come after us!” said a voice in the darkness. And before Bilbo understood what was happening, he was running as fast as he could run, at the back of the line of Dwarves, down a dark passage. Soon he could not hear the sound of the screaming goblins. “Run faster, faster!” said the voice.
“I can hear them coming!” They ran for a long time down black passages. Dori, who was at the back of the line next to Bilbo, put the Hobbit on his shoulders and began to run again, on and on in the dark. Then Gandalf lit up his staff. Of course it was Gandalf! He took out his sword again, and again it burned with a bright light.
It burned in anger when there were goblins nearby, and now it was as bright as blue fire after killing the Great Goblin. “Are we all here?” asked Gandalf. Thorin began counting, “two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven; where are Fili and Kili? Here they are! twelve, thirteen - and here’s Mr.
Baggins: fourteen! Well, it could be worse, but it could be much better. No ponies, no food, and we do not know where we are going - and there are many angry goblins who want to eat us. Let’s go!” On they went, as fast as they could. They could hear the goblins getting closer and closer. So they ran faster than ever, and poor Bilbo could not keep up, so the Dwarves took turns carrying him on their backs.
But goblins travel faster than Dwarves in the dark, and these goblins knew the way. The Dwarves heard their yells and cries as they got closer and closer. Soon they could see the red of the goblin torch light behind them, and they were getting terribly tired. “Why, oh, why did I ever leave my Hobbit-hole!” said poor Mr.
Baggins, bouncing up and down on Bombur’s back. “Why, oh, why did we ever bring a Hobbit on a treasure hunt!” said poor Bombur, who was very fat, and having difficulty staying with the party. “Turn around, Thorin, and draw your sword!” shouted Gandalf. The goblins came around the corner and Glamdring and Orcrist were waiting for them.
Many goblins fell dead to these terrible blades! The goblins turned around and ran away. But they did not go far. The bravest and fastest goblins extinguished their torches and took off their iron shoes. These ran forward as quickly and silently as the wind in the dark, and the Dwarves and Gandalf did not hear them whey they came up quietly behind them.
Suddenly, Dori, who was at the back of the line and carrying Bilbo, shouted out! A goblin grabbed him and he fell, and the Hobbit rolled off his shoulders into the darkness, bumped his head on a rock and remembered nothing more. Chapter 6 Riddles in the Dark When Bilbo woke up, he was not sure if his eyes were open or closed.
It was as dark as dark could be! There was no one anywhere near him. Imagine how scared he was! He could not hear anything, he could not see anything, and he could not feel anything except the cold stone floor. He got up very slowly and began to crawl until he touched the wall of the tunnel. There was no sign of goblins, and there was no sign of the Dwarves.
And he was not sure which direction they were traveling when he fell. He took a guess and began crawling in that direction. He crawled for a long time in the dark, until his fingers touched something. It felt like a tiny ring of cold metal on the floor of the tunnel. It was a very important moment in his career, but he did not realize it at the moment.
He put the ring in his pocket, almost without thinking about it. It certainly did not seem very useful to him at that moment. Then he sat down on the cold floor. He was miserable. He thought about cooking bacon and eggs in his comfortable kitchen in his comfortable Hobbit-hole. He was very hungry, after all.
But thinking just made him hungrier and more miserable. After some time, he continued down the passage, passing many tunnels on one side and then on the other side. But he walked quickly past these passages - there might be goblins in them! On and on he went, until suddenly, in the dark, he stepped - SPLASH - into water! It was as cold as ice! Bilbo could not swim, so he did not go into the water.
He also imagined dark slimy things with big eyes moving in the water. There are strange things living in underground lakes. Things that swam in ages and ages ago and never left. Even in the tunnels and caves the goblins made, there are other things living in them that came in from the outside to live in the dark.
And deep down here by the black water lived Gollum. No one knows where Gollum came from. And no one knew who or what he was. He was Gollum. His body was as dark as darkness, with two big round pale eyes. His face was thin. He lived on a small island in the middle of the lake - it was in fact a lake, very deep and very cold - and he used a little boat to move quietly to and from his island.
He ate raw fish that he caught with his long fingers. And he ate raw goblins, too, when he could find them. He grabbed them in the dark from behind and choked them! Gollum was in his little boat, and he was watching Bilbo from a distance. He could see that Bilbo was not a goblin. His big round pale eyes were like telescopes in the darkness.
So, while Bilbo was sitting miserable and confused on a rock near the lake, Gollum approached him silently from the water. “It’s not a fishes, is its, my precioussss? No, but it’s a fat feast, a tasty bite it would be for us, gollum!” hissed Gollum. When he said “gollum” he made a horrible sound in his throat.
That is how he got his name, but he always called himself “my precious”. Bilbo almost jumped out of his own skin when he heard the sound, and he suddenly saw the large round pale eyes looking at him in the darkness. He remembered his little sword and drew it. “Who are you?” said Bilbo, pushing his sword in front of him.
“What iss he, my preciousss?” whispered Gollum. (he always spoke to himself because he never had anyone else to speak to). This is what Gollum wanted to know. He was not very hungry at the moment, only curious. If he had been hungry, he would have grabbed him first and whispered questions after. “I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins.
I have lost my dwarves and I have lost my wizard, and I have lost my way.” “What’s he gots in his handses?” said Gollum, looking at the sword, which he did not quite like. “A sword, a blade which comes from Gondolin!” “Sssss,” said Gollum, and he became very polite. Gollum was trying to appear friendly, at least for the moment, so he said, “Praps ye sits here and talks with it, my preciousss.
It likes riddles, does it?” He wanted to find out more about the Hobbit, if he was really alone or if he was good to eat. Gollum could only think of riddles. They were the only game he could remember playing with other creatures. Before he came down, down into the dark under the mountain. “Ok,” said Bilbo, who was very nervous and wanted to agree.
He wanted to find out more about this creature, if he was really alone, if he was good or bad, or if he was a friend of the goblins. “You ask first,” he said. He could not think of a riddle in his anxious condition. So Gollum hissed: “What has roots that nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up, up it goes, but it never grows?” “Easy!” said Bilbo.
“Mountain, I imagine.” “Does it guess easy? It must have a competition with us, my preciouss! If precious asks, and it doesn't answer, we eats it, my preciousss. If it asks us, and we doesn't answer, then we does what it wants, eh? We shows it the way out, yes!” “All right!” said Bilbo. He did not want to disagree.
But he was having difficulty thinking of riddles to save him from being eaten! So he thought of this one to gain some time: “A box without hinges, key, or lid, but golden treasure inside is hid.” Bilbo thought this was a very easy riddle, but it was very difficult for poor Gollum. He hissed to himself, and cried and spit.
Bilbo became impatient after some time. “Well, what is it?” he said. “Give us a chance; give us a chance, my preciouss-ss-ss.” “Well,” said Bilbo, after giving him a long chance, “what is your guess?” But suddenly Gollum remembered stealing from bird nests long ago, and sitting next to the river teaching his grandmother to suck -”Eggses!” he hissed.
“Eggses it is!” Then he asked: “It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt, it cannot be heard, it cannot be smelt. It exists behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter.” Bilbo of course had heard that kind of riddle before. And the answer was all around him, anyway.
“Dark!” he said without having to put on his thinking cap. He continued with his next riddle. “An eye in a blue face, saw an eye in a green face. ‘That eye is like this eye” said the first eye, but in a low place, not in a high place.’” “Ss, ss, ss,” said Gollum. He had been underground for so long that he could not remember that kind of thing.
Bilbo thought Gollum was not going to be able to answer. But suddenly, Gollum remembered a time ages and ages ago when he lived with his grandmother in a hole near a river. “Sss, sss, my preciouss,” he said. “Sun on the daisies it means, it does.” These “above ground” riddles were beginning to bore Gollum.
They reminded him of days when he was less lonely and cruel. They also made him hungry. So his next riddle was more difficult and more unpleasant: “This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to meal; slays king, ruins town, and beats high mountain down.
” Poor Bilbo sat in the dark thinking of all the horrible names of all the terrible creatures he knew, but none of them had done all of those things. He had a feeling that the answer was easy. He also thought that he should know it, but he could not think of it. He began to get frightened, and that is bad for thinking.
Gollum began to get out of his boat. Bilbo could see his eyes coming towards him. He was terrified! He wanted to shout out: “Give me more time! Give me more time!” But the only word that came out in a frightened yell was: “Time! “Time! Time!” Bilbo was saved by pure luck. For that of course was the answer: “time.
” Gollum was disappointed again, and now he was getting angry. He was also getting tired of the game. He was becoming very hungry. Gollum sat close by Bilbo, looking at him. And Bilbo became terribly uncomfortable and completely unable to think! “It's got to ask uss a quesstion, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss.
Jusst one more quesstion to guess, yes, yess,” said Gollum. But Bilbo simply could not think of any question with Gollum sitting so close to him, pressuring him. Bilbo thought and thought. “Ask us! Ask us!” said Gollum. Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself. He held his little sword in one hand and, by accident, felt in his pocket with his other hand.
And there, in the bottom of his pocket was the ring he had picked up in the passage. He had completely forgotten about it! “What do I have in my pocket?” he asked out loud. He was only talking to himself, but Gollum heard him and thought it was a riddle, and he became very upset. “Not fair! Not fair!” he hissed.
“It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?” Bilbo realized what had happened. But he could not think of a better question, so he continued, “What do I have in my pocket?” “S-s-s-s-s,” hissed Gollum. “It must give us three guesses, my preciouss, three guesses.
” “Very well! Guess away!” said Bilbo. “Handses!” said Gollum. “Wrong,” said Bilbo, who was lucky and had just taken his hand out of his pocket. “Guess again!” “S-s-s-s-s,” said Gollum. He was more upset than ever. He thought of all the things he kept in his own pockets: fishbones, goblins’ teeth, a bit of bat wing, and other nasty things.
He tried to think of what other people kept in their pockets. “Knife!” he said at last. “Wrong!” said Bilbo, who had lost his own knife a long time ago. “Last guess!” Gollum was obviously having difficulty controlling himself. He hissed and spit and jumped up and down and wriggled and squirmed. But he did not want to waste his last guess.
“Come on!” said Bilbo. “I am waiting!” He tried to sound courageous and confident, but he did not know how the game was going to end, even if Gollum guessed right or wrong. “Your time is up!” he said. “String, or nothing!” yelled Gollum. It was not really a fair answer, making two guesses at the same time.
“Both wrong,” said Bilbo. He was very relieved that the game was over. He stood up and held out his little sword. He understood that even evil creatures were afraid to cheat at the riddle game. But Bilbo did not think he could trust this slimy thing to keep a promise, and he was right not to trust him. Gollum did not attack immediately.
He could see the sword in Bilbo’s hand. He sat there whispering to himself. Finally, Bilbo could not wait any longer. “Well?” he said. “What about your promise? I want to go. You have to show me the way.” “Iss that what we said, precious? Show the little nassty Baggins the way out, yes, yes. But what has it got in its pocketses, eh? Not string, precious, but not nothing.
Oh no! gollum!” “It’s none of your business,” said Bilbo. “A promise is a promise.” “Angry it is, impatient, my preciousss,” hissed Gollum. “But it must wait, yes it must. We can't go up the tunnels so quickly. We must go and get some things first, yes, things to help us.” “Well, hurry up!” said Bilbo, relieved that Gollum was going away.
He thought Gollum was making an excuse to leave and was not going to come back. What was Gollum talking about? What useful thing could he have in his house on the dark lake? But Bilbo was wrong. Gollum was coming back. He was angry now, and hungry. And he was an evil, miserable creature. He had a plan. On his island in the lake there was a place where he hid some of his personal things.
And one of the things was a very beautiful, very wonderful object. He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring. It was a ring of power, and if you put that ring on your finger, you became invisible! You could be seen only in full sunlight. But only because of your shadow, and that was weak and blurry. But who knows how Gollum found the ring, ages ago in the old days when there were many powerful rings in the world? Maybe even the Master of the rings did not know.
Gollum used to wear the ring at first, until it made him tired. And then he kept it in a small bag at his waist, until it irritated him. Now he usually hid it in the hiding place on his island. He liked to look at it. He could not be far from it for very long. And sometimes he put the ring on when he was hungry and did not want to eat fish anymore.
He was invisible, and he was safe. But goblins were not. Only a few hours before meeting Bilbo, Gollum had caught a small goblin-pup. How the creature squeaked! There was still a bone or two left for Gollum to gnaw later. But he wanted something soft and fat right now. “We will be very safe, we will, my precsiousss,” he hissed to himself.
“It won’t see us, will it? No. It won’t see us. And its nasty little sword will not hurt us.” That was how Gollum’s evil mind worked. He moved quickly towards his boat and pushed off into the lake. Bilbo thought that was the last time he would ever see him. But he waited for a while. He still did not know how to find his own way out, after all.
Suddenly he heard a terrible screech. It made Bilbo very scared. Gollum was cursing and screaming somewhere off in the distance. He was on his island, looking for his ring that was not there. “Where is it? Where iss it?” Bilbo heard him crying. “Losst it is, my precious, lost, lost! ”What's the matter?” Bilbo called.
“What have you lost?” “It mustn’t ask us,” screamed Gollum. “Not its business, no, gollum! It's losst, gollum, gollum, gollum.” “Well, so am I,” cried Bilbo, “and I want to get unlost. And I won the game, and you promised. So come and let me out, and then you can continue looking!” Bilbo was becoming annoyed at the delay and said, “Come, you never guessed my last question, and you promised to show me the way out.
” “Never guessed!” said Gollum. Then suddenly out of the darkness Bilbo heard a loud hiss. “What has it got in its pocketses? Tell us that. It must tell first.” Bilbo had no patience anymore. “Answers were to be guessed not given,” he said. “But it wasn't a fair question,” said Gollum. “Not a riddle, precious, no.
” “Oh well, if you want ordinary questions,” Bilbo replied, “then I asked one first. What have you lost? Tell me that!” “What has it got in its pocketses?” The sound was much louder and closer now. And Bilbo could now see two small points of light looking at him from the darkness. As Gollum became more suspicious, the light in his eyes burned in anger.
“What have you lost?” Bilbo continued. But now the light in Gollum’s eyes was a green fire, and it was coming closer and closer. Gollum was in his boat, coming back to the shore where Bilbo was waiting. He was so angry because he could not find the ring, and his heart was so full of suspicion that he was not scared of the sword Bilbo was holding.
Bilbo did not understand why the creature was so angry, but he realized that Gollum was going to murder him. Just in time, he turned and ran back up the passage, feeling the wall with his hand. “What has it got in its pocketses?” he heard the hiss loud behind him, and the splash as Gollum jumped from his boat.
“What do I have in my pocket?” Bilbo asked himself, as he ran up the dark passage. He put his hand in his pocket. The ring was very cold as it quietly slipped onto his finger. The hiss was close behind him. He turned around and saw Gollum’s eyes coming up the passage. They were like small green lamps. Bilbo was terrified! He tried to run faster, but suddenly he hit his toes on a rock in the floor, and he fell on his stomach with his little sword under him.
Bilbo prepared himself for the attack, but before he could do anything - catch his breath, stand up, move his sword, Gollum passed by. He did not even look at Bilbo. He continued running up the passage, hissing and whispering. Bilbo stood up. His body hurt. His sword was glowing in the dark - goblins were nearby.
He put the sword in its scabbard, and he began to follow Gollum carefully. What else could he do? “Curse it! Curse it! Curse it!” hissed Gollum. “Curse the Baggins! It's gone! What has it got in its pocketses? Oh we guess, we guess, my precious. He found it, yes he must have.” Suddenly Gollum sat down and began to cry, a sound that came from his throat.
It was a horrible sound to listen to. Bilbo stopped and stayed close to the tunnel wall. Soon Gollum began to talk again. He seemed to be having an argument with himself. “We can’ts go back to look for it, no. We doesn't remember all the places we visited. We won’ts find it anyway. The Baggins has it in its pocketses; the nassty cheater has found it, we says.
We guesses, precious, only guesses. We can't know until we find the nassty creature and squeezes it. But it doesn't know what it can do, does it? It’ll just keep it in its pocketses. It doesn't know, and it can't go far. It's lost, the nassty thing. It doesn't know the way out. It said it doesn’t know.” But it knows a way in, it does.
If it knows a way in, it must know a way out, yes. It's going to the back-door. The back-door, that's it. The goblinses will catch it then. But if it has our precious, then goblinses will get it, gollum! They’ll find it, they'll find out what it does. One of the goblinses will put it on, and then no one will see him.
He'll be there but not seen. Not even our eyeses will notice him; and he'll come sneaking and catch us, gollum, gollum!” “So let's stop talking, precious, and make haste. Hurry, hurry! If the Baggins went that way, we must go quick and see. Go! Not far now. Make haste! Hurry!” With a jump, Gollum got up and started running very quickly.
Bilbo ran after him, carefully at first. He was afraid he was going to trip again and fall and make a loud noise. He was full of hope, though. It seemed that the ring was a magic ring - it made you invisible! He had heard of magic rings, of course. But it was hard to believe that he had really found one, and by accident.
They ran on and on. Bilbo was behind him, moving as silently as a Hobbit can. Suddenly, Gollum stopped at the entrance to a passage on the right side of the tunnel. “Here's the passage!” he said. He looked in, and then stepped back. “But we mustn't go in, precious, no we mustn't. Goblinses down there. Lots of goblinses.
We smells them. What shall we do? Curse them and crush them! We must wait here, precious, wait a little and see.” So, Gollum had brought Bilbo to the way out after all, but Bilbo could not get in! Gollum was sitting in front of the opening to the passage and blocking it! Bilbo could see the glow of his eyes as his head moved from side to side in the darkness.
Bilbo was right behind him, and suddenly Gollum became very still, and he sniffed the air. His eyes became a bright green. He made a terrible hissing sound. He could not see the Hobbit, but now he was alert. And he had other powerful senses he could use in the darkness: hearing and smell. Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and he became perfectly still himself.
He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness. He must fight. He must kill the horrible creature in front of him. Gollum was going to kill him for sure. But Bilbo was a very fair Hobbit, as most Hobbits are. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had never really threatened to kill him, or tried to kill him yet.
And he was miserable, alone, lost. Suddenly Bilbo understood. He imagined how this poor creature lived, day after day, age after age, alone, with only the darkness and goblins around him. All these thoughts came into Bilbo’s mind in a flash. And with one final decision, he found new strength and he jumped! It was not an impressive jump for a man, but it was a jump in the dark - over Gollum’s head, two meters forward and one in the air! He did not know it, because it was very dark, but he almost broke his skull on the low entrance to the passage.
Gollum turned and threw his hands out and tried to grab what he could not see! But he was too late. He caught nothing! Bilbo landed and ran quickly down the tunnel. He did not turn around to see what Gollum was doing. There was a terrible scream from behind him, filled with hatred and despair. Gollum was defeated.
He had lost. He lost his prey, he lost his dinner, and he lost the only thing he ever loved in his cruel and miserable life, his precious. Bilbo felt terrible for the poor creature, but he continued on. He heard a voice from behind him, very far away, like and echo: “Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!” Then there was silence.
Bilbo took out his little sword and it glowed blue - there were goblins nearby! The passage went on for a long time still. But the passage turned left and there, in the distance, Bilbo could see a very pale light. Not the light of a fire or torch - it was the light of the sun! Bilbo began to run, as fast as his legs could carry him! He turned the last corner and suddenly he came running right into an open space where the light was very bright.
The light was coming through a large stone door that was open just a little. Bilbo blinked his eyes. After being in the dark for so long, this light was very bright! And then he saw the goblins! Lots of goblins wearing armor and carrying swords. They were all looking at the door and waiting. They were also watching the passage that came to it.
They were alert and ready for anything. The Goblins saw Bilbo before he saw them. Yes, they saw him. Maybe it was an accident, or maybe it was the final cruel trick of the ring, but it was not on his finger. The goblins yelled with anticipation and they all ran towards him. Bilbo felt a strong sense of fear and finality.
He did not even take out his sword. He just put his hands in his pockets… And there was the ring, in his left pocket, and it slipped onto his finger. All the goblins stopped suddenly. They could not see him anymore. He had disappeared. They all yelled even more, but in anger this time. There was terrible confusion as they all tried to decide what to do.
Bilbo was terrified, but he thought to himself, “I must get to the door, I must get to the door!” So he gathered all his courage and ran straight for the opening in the door. The place was full of goblins and he was knocked over by a goblin who did not understand what he bumped into! Bilbo got up on his hands and knees and crawled as fast as he could between the legs of the goblin captain.
He stood up and ran for the door. The door was still open, but just a little. Biblo tried, but he could not move it. He tried to squeeze through the opening. He squeezed and squeezed, but he was stuck! It was terrible! His buttons caught on the edge of the door. He could see outside into the open air: there were some stairs going down into the trees.
The sun came out from behind a cloud and was bright on the door. Suddenly one of the goblins inside shouted: “There’s a shadow by the door. Something is outside!” Bilbo's heart jumped into his mouth. He gave a terrific push. Buttons burst off in all directions. He was through! His coat and waistcoat were torn and buttonless, but he was free! He jumped down the stairs like a goat as the confused goblins were still picking up his beautiful buttons.
Of course they came after him, yelling and shouting and hunting him through the trees. But goblins do not like the sun: it makes them weak and scared. They could not find Bilbo now with the ring on, running quick and quiet, and staying out of the sun under the trees. So soon they went back confused and frustrated to guard the door.
But Bilbo had escaped. Chapter 7 Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire Bilbo had escaped the goblins, but he did not know where he was. And he did not know where his friends were. He was alone and it was getting dark. The sun was beginning to go down and Bilbo realized, “Good heavens! I have gone all the way through to the other side of the Misty Mountains! Oh, where oh where are Gandalf and the Dwarves? I hope they are not back in the mountain, prisoners of the goblins!” Bilbo continued down the mountain, miserable and hungry.
While he walked, an uncomfortable thought was growing inside him, “Now that I have the magic ring, shouldn’t I go back into those horrible, horrible tunnels and look for my friends?” The idea terrified him. But in the end, he made up his mind that it was his responsibility, his duty to go back and look for them.
As he turned around to go back up the mountain, he heard voices! He stopped and listened. It did not sound like goblins, so he continued forward very carefully and very quietly. In a safe place hidden by large rocks, there were people talking. He moved even closer to the sound. Suddenly, between two big rocks, he could see a head with a red hood on top - it was Balin! Bilbo could have jumped up and down in happiness, but he did not.
He still had the ring on. Balin was looking straight at him, without seeing him! “I will give them a surprise they will remember,” he thought. He crawled into some bushes near the group and listened. Gandalf was arguing with the Dwarves. They were discussing and debating what to do now. The Dwarves were unhappy.
Gandalf was telling the Dwarves that they could not continue on their journey and leave Bilbo in the hands of the goblins. They must go back and discover if he was alive or dead, and try to rescue him if they could. “After all, he is my friend,” said the wizard, “and he is a good little Hobbit. I feel responsible for him.
And I wish you had not lost him, Dori.” “Good heavens! Do not blame me! We were fighting the goblins in the dark! You almost cut off my head with your sword, and Thorin was swinging Orcrist everywhere. You gave one of your bright flashes of light and then you shouted ‘follow me everybody!’ and everybody should have followed you.
There was not time to count everyone with all the confusion. And here we are - without our burglar, confusticate him!” “And here’s your burglar!” said Bilbo, walking into the middle of the group, and taking off his ring. How the Dwarves jumped in surprise! They all shouted with happiness to see their lost friend.
Gandalf was as surprised as any of them, but happier than all of them to see Bilbo again. Bilbo’s reputation went up considerably after his surprising appearance. No one doubted that Bilbo was a first-class burglar now. The Dwarves wanted to know all about Bilbo’s escape. He told them everything, except the part about finding the ring.
They were very impressed with his heroic jump and escape through the goblin door. “What did I tell you?” said Gandalf laughing. “There is more to Mr. Baggins than you realized.” He looked at Bilbo in a suspicious way as he said those words. Bilbo wondered if Gandalf guessed the part of the story he did not tell them.
As the party talked in excitement, the wizard reminded them of the danger they were in. “We must leave this place immediately,” he said. “The goblins will come after us as soon as it is dark. They can smell our footsteps for many hours after we have passed. We are still high up in the mountains. We must go down.
Let’s go!” They went on for a long distance, down valleys and across mountain streams. They came to a very steep hill, covered in small rocks. As they descended the hill, the rocks began to move! They were soon slipping and sliding down the rocky hill at a great speed! When they all arrived safely at the bottom of the hill, Gandalf said, “Well! That fall has moved us down a good distance, and it will be difficult for the goblins to follow us down this hill quietly.
” They continued down the mountain for a long time. “Please, can we stop?” asked Bilbo. “My toes are hurting, and my legs cannot move! And my stomach is as empty as my pockets!” “A little further,” said Gandalf. Suddenly, they heard a terrifying sound - a howl in the darkness down the hill! Then the first howl was answered by another howl, much closer on their right.
Then, there was another howl, even closer to their left! “Wargs!” cried Gandalf. “Escaping goblins to be caught by wargs!” he said. It became a very popular proverb after that, but we know it today as “out of the frying pan, into the fire”. “Climb up the trees, quick!” cried Gandalf. Luckily, wargs cannot climb trees.
The Dwarves and Bilbo all ran to find safety in the trees. It was a very funny thing to see: a forest of trees full of Dwarves with long beards blowing in the wind! Gandalf was alone in a large pine that looked like a Christmas tree, with the wizard as the decoration! But what about Bilbo? He was too small to climb any of the trees! And the wargs were getting closer and closer! “You’ve forgotten the burglar again, my dear Dwarves!” yelled Gandalf.
Dori climbed down from his tree and let Bilbo climb up his back and stand on his shoulders. Bilbo was finally able to grab a branch and pull himself into the tree. Then, Dori jumped up to grab the lowest branch himself. Only just in time! A warg jumped at his legs and almost bit him. In a minute there was a whole pack of angry wargs surrounding the trees.
The Dwarves were trapped! For the moment they were safe. But trees become very uncomfortable very quickly when you are trapped in one, especially when you are surrounded by wargs! More and more kept coming. After searching and smelling, the wargs had located each and every tree that had a Dwarf, Hobbit or Wizard.
They left warg guards at the foot of each one. The party was unlucky: they were trapped in an area of the forest that appeared to be a meeting place for wargs. In the middle of the evil pack there was a large gray wolf. He spoke to the other beasts in the terrible language of the wargs. They answered him in a horrible noise of growls and howls.
Gandalf understood the language. This is what he heard… The Wargs and the goblins often helped each other to do horrible things in the region. The goblins often used the wargs to attack men in the area, and take them prisoner back to the goblin caves, or eat them. The goblins sometimes rode the wargs like men ride horses.
And by chance, this night was a night that the wargs were going to meet the goblins to attack human villages at the foot of the mountain. But the goblins were late. The wargs were angry and confused. They were expecting the goblins, but found the Dwarves instead! But they were not going to leave now. They were going to wait for the goblins.
Goblins, after all, can climb trees, or cut them down! So you can understand why Gandalf began to feel afraid. He was a powerful wizard, but he was a wizard stuck in a tree! But, of course, he was not going to let the wargs do what they wanted. He gathered some of the large pine cones from the branches of the tree he was in.
He touched a pine cone with his staff and it burned bright with blue flames. He threw it burning, down into the group of wolves! It hit one of the wolves on the back, and immediately the wolf's fur caught fire! He ran around in circles, jumped up and down and yelped horribly! Gandalf threw another pine cone, and then another! One with blue flames, another with red flames, and another with green flames! They exploded on the ground in the middle of the wolves and colored fire flew everywhere! Gandalf hit their wolf chieftain on the nose and he cried in pain.
The Dwarves and Bilbo shouted and cheered. Very soon, many of the wolves were burning. They ran around, bumping into other wolves and setting them on fire too. But the wolves were not the only things that were burning. Soon, some of the trees near the Dwarves began to burn - it was summer, after all, and the leaves were dry.
“What is going on in the forest tonight?” said the Lord of the Eagles. He was circling high over the mountains, and he could see the fires burning. The Lord of the Eagles could see a rabbit moving in the grass from two kilometers in the sky, even at night. He could not see the people in the trees, but he could see the wargs and the fire far below.
He could also see the goblins. They were coming down the mountain in long lines, holding bright spears. Eagles are not kind birds. They do not love goblins, and they are not afraid of them. But if they saw them in the mountains or in the trees, the eagles would attack the goblins, and make them go back into their caves.
Eagles did not eat the goblins - they did not taste good. But goblins hated the eagles. Goblins could not climb the mountains to kill the eagles, so they were afraid of them. Tonight the Lord of the Eagles was curious. He called his eagle guards to fly with him towards the fire on the mountain. They circled slowly down, down, down towards the ring of the wolves.
Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves were lucky that night. The circle of trees where they were hiding was beginning to burn. And the fire was getting closer and closer to them. Suddenly, the goblins arrived, yelling and screaming. They thought the wargs were in a great battle with the humans who live near the mountains.
But when they discovered what was happening, some of them sat down and laughed! Goblins are not afraid of fire, and they had a plan. They picked up burning branches and burning leaves and placed them near the trees where the Dwarves were hiding. Soon, there was smoke and fire everywhere. Bilbo’s eyes were burning, and he could feel the heat from the fires.
Gandalf climbed to the top of his tree. He held his staff high in the air, and lightning came from it. He was going to jump down into the middle of the wargs and goblins. He would certainly die, but he would kill many wargs and goblins in his final moments. But, he never jumped. Just at that moment the Lord of the Eagles came down from above, picked up Gandalf in his talons, and flew away.
The goblins and wargs howled in anger. Gandalf spoke quickly to the Lord of the Eagles, and his cry was loud in the night! His guards flew down like black shadows and attacked the goblins and the wargs! Other eagles flew to the trees and picked up the Dwarves. Poor Bilbo was almost abandoned again! At the last moment Bilbo grabbed Dori’s legs.
Dori was the last to be taken away. Up, up they flew, above the screaming goblins, above the howling wargs, away from the smoke and fire. Bilbo was hanging from Dori’s legs. His arms were almost breaking! Soon, the light from the fire was far, far below them. They were high in the night sky. Bilbo never forgot that flight, hanging onto Dori’s legs.
He yelled, “my arms, my poor arms!” But Dori cried, “my legs, my poor legs!” Bilbo was not afraid of heights, exactly. But he did not like them, either. So you can imagine how scared he was, when he looked down, down onto the land far below. He did not know if he could hold on much longer. He closed his eyes and imagined what would happen if he let go.
He felt sick. The Lord of the Eagles would not take them close to where men lived. Men used their bows and arrows to kill the eagles, to protect their sheep. “We will not leave you here, near the villages of men,” the Lord of the Eagles said to Gandalf. “Do not worry,” replied Gandalf. “Take us where and as far as you want.
We are very obliged to you for your help.” Morning was coming as the eagles finally left Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves. Some of the eagle guards had returned to their homes in the mountains and brought food for the party. The adventure of the Misty Mountains was over. The tired adventurers found a safe place to rest for the morning.
Bilbo dreamed of his little Hobbit home far away in the Shire. He dreamed of his little kitchen. He dreamed of his little garden. He dreamed of his soft, comfortable bed. And not for the last time. Chapter 8 Flies and Spiders After sleeping most of the morning, Bilbo and the Dwarves woke up to realize where in the world they were.
The Eagles had taken them far to the north. They were right on the border of Mirkwood Forest! Gandalf explained to the party that they would have to cross the forest if they wanted to get close to the Lonely Mountain. There was no other way around, he said. To the north were the Iron Hills. They were full of goblins.
To the south was the Necromancer - a creature too powerful even for Gandalf! There was no other way to go but through! It was a journey of many days. And the party did not have a lot of food and their ponies were lost in the goblin caves in the Misty Mountains. “Gandalf, why do you keep talking about going into Mirkwood Forest as if you were not coming with us?” asked Thorin.
“Because I am not coming with you, my good Dwarf!” answered Gandalf. “I have important business to the south. The Necromancer has been causing problems. I must see if I can help.” “You are leaving us?” cried Bilbo. “How will we survive without you?” Gandalf looked at Bilbo and smiled. “I am trusting you to take care of the Dwarves now, my dear Burglar Baggins.
I think you will be very useful to them. If I can, I will join you on the other side. But this is your adventure now - yours and the Dwarves’. I am confident you will be just fine.” The Dwarves grumbled and complained. But Gandalf told them to stop acting like little Dwarflings. “Listen to me now. You must follow the trail through Mirkwood.
“Whatever you do, do not leave the trail!” The forest is full of danger. Good-bye and good luck to you!” Gandalf turned and began walking south. “And remember, do not leave the trail!” Those were his final words. The entrance to the trail was an arch made by two large trees. Their branches connected over the path.
The path was dark. It was also very narrow - they had to walk in a single-file line under the branches. After a while, they looked back. They could not see the entrance. They could only see the dark trees and dark shadows. There were strange noises in the forest. On both sides of the path, they could hear things moving in the leaves.
They could hear branches cracking in dark places off the track. But the worst things they saw were the spider webs. The threads were very thick, like rope. They were in the trees on either side of the path. Bilbo could only imagine what kind of creature made them. Very quickly they began to hate the forest.
They hated it as much as they hated the dark tunnels of the goblins. They could not see the sky, and there was no wind under the branches. The forest was still and dark. It bothered the Dwarves and the Hobbit very much, and they were used to tunneling under the ground! The nights were the worst part about the forest.
They were so black that you could not see your hand in front of your nose! They could see nothing! Well, that is not exactly true: they could see the eyes. When it was Bilbo’s turn to watch at night, he could see the eyes shining in the darkness all around them. Sometimes he could see pairs of yellow or red eyes.
They would look at him from a little distance, and then disappear. “Insect eyes,” he thought, “they are too big to be animal eyes.” The days and nights passed with no end in sight. They did not have much food left, and they did not know how much longer they would survive. One night, with their stomachs growling in hunger, Balin, who was leading the party along the path, called out: “What was that? I thought I saw a light shining in the forest.
” A long distance off the path they saw a red glow in the dark. Another point of light appeared, then another next to it. It seemed clear to them that the lights were torches and fires burning under the trees. Then they could smell the delicious smell of cooking meat! The Dwarves wanted to run off the path into the forest, but Bilbo reminded them about the warning Gandalf gave them: “Whatever you do, do not leave the trail!” They argued for a moment.
Then Thorin said, “A feast would be no good, if we did not return from it alive. But without food, we will not survive much longer!” Hunger decided it for them. They all left the path and walked into the dark forest together, towards the distant lights. They crawled for a long time through the dark. Finally they came close to an open space in the trees - a clearing.
They heard voices and laughter. There were many people in the clearing. Elves! There were forest Elves having a feast! Full of hunger, the party ran forward into the ring of light. Suddenly, the lights went out and the forest was black as black. The Elves were gone, and Bilbo and the Dwarves were lost in the black night.
They could not even find each other, it was so dark! Bilbo ran around in the dark calling out the names of the Dwarves! “Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Thorin Oakenshield!” The others were also calling out, but their cries began to move further and further away.
And soon their cries for their friends turned into cries for help and cries of fear! Soon, all their cries disappeared into the distance. Bilbo was left alone in complete silence and in complete darkness. That was one of Bilbo’s most miserable moments. He decided there was nothing to do but wait until the morning to look for his friends.
So he sat down in the dark with his back against a tree and fell asleep. Soon, and not for the last time, he started to dream about his little Hobbit hole far, far away. In his hunger he began to dream of delicious eggs and toast and butter. Suddenly, he felt something touch him! Something like a strong sticky string was against his hand.
He tried to move, but his legs were already covered in the same stuff. So when he stood up, he fell over! Then the giant spider, that had been tying him up in its web, came from behind a tree. It jumped at Bilbo! He could only see the creature’s eyes, but he could feel its strong legs trying to wrap the horrible sticky threads round and round him.
He was lucky that he woke up at that moment. Soon he would have been covered with the sticky thread. But Bilbo was ready to fight! He used his hands to beat the creature away - it was trying to poison him, like small spiders poison flies before they eat them. Then Bilbo remembered his little sword. He drew it out and the spider jumped back! Bilbo had time to cut his legs free.
Now it was his turn to attack! He came at the massive spider and struck it with his sword right in the eyes. The spider made a terrible sound. It jumped and danced and threw its legs in horrible movements. Bilbo struck it again with the point of his sword. It fell dead, its legs in the air. His sword was covered in black blood.
Bilbo was alone. No Dwarves. No wizard. No help from anyone else. That was very important to Mr. Baggins. He felt like a different person. He felt much stronger. He felt much more courageous, even with an empty stomach. He looked at his little sword. “I will give you a name,” he said to it, “and I will call you Sting!” He wiped the blood from the sword on the grass and put it back in its scabbard.
“Now,” he said to himself, “I must find the Dwarves!” He did not know where they were exactly, but he guessed. Bilbo put on his ring and went into the dark forest to look for them. He imagined his friends were more or less in the same situation as he had been - caught by spiders! So, he followed the spider webs where they were the thickest and darkest.
His guess was a good one! After walking a long distance, he came to a place in the forest that was darker than dark - the spider webs were so thick that they obscured the light! Suddenly, he saw that there were huge and horrible spiders in the trees above him. Even with the ring on, he was afraid they would discover him.
Then, he saw them - the Dwarves! They were hanging from the branches above him like white bags. They were covered in the sticky spider threads, but he could see parts of their hoods and the tips of their noses. They were motionless. He heard the spiders making a terrible noise, as if they were talking to each other.
And to his amazement, he could understand them! They were talking about the Dwarves! “It was a difficult fight, but it was worth it,” said one spider. “They have nasty thick skins, but I imagine they have good juices inside.” “Yes, they will taste delicious, especially after they hang for a while,” said another spider.
“Kill ‘em, I say,” hissed a third spider, “kill ‘em now and hang ‘em dead for a while.” “I think they are already dead,” said the first spider. “That they are not. I saw one moving just now. They are waking up again from their beautiful spider sleep. Come, I’ll show you.” Then the fat spider ran along a thick spider thread over to the Dwarves.
Bilbo was horrified! The spiders began to prick the hanging dwarves with their hairy legs. The fattest hanging bag - it must have been Bombur - kicked the spider hard. It fell from the branch. “You were right,” laughed one spider, “they are still alive and kicking!” “I’ll put an end to that,” hissed the spider that fell.
It climbed back up the tree and was ready to bite! Bilbo saw that he must do something. He could not climb the trees like a spider, and he did not have anything to shoot with. But he saw that all around him on the ground there were many stones. As a young Hobbit boy, Bilbo was known in the Shire as a good shot throwing stones.
As an older Hobbit, he was also quite good at bowling and darts and other throwing games. So he picked up one of the stones, a nice round stone that fit nicely in his hand. Then, Bilbo threw the stone! It hit the spider right on the head! It fell unconscious off the branch and hit the ground on its back - its legs curled into its fat body.
The next stone went flying through a big spider web, breaking its thick threads. The spider that was in the middle fell from the tree and hit the ground, dead. These attacks caused a lot of commotion in the spider colony. The spiders forgot the Dwarves for a moment and they went to look for whoever was throwing the stones.
They came down from the trees as quick as lightning, crawling and swinging. They could not see Bilbo, but they threw out long threads of sticky rope in his direction. They tried to capture him in their webs! Bilbo moved quickly and quietly to a different place. Then he had an idea: he would lead the angry spiders further and further away from the Dwarves.
He began to call the spiders names to infuriate them, and so the Dwarves could hear his voice. “Attercop! Attercop! You old fat spiders! Stop spinning your webs and come get me! You’ll never catch me!” he called out. It wasn’t very good, but the spiders were furious! As he ran away, he threw more stones at the spiders.
There were dozens and dozens of them in the trees, following him from above. Bilbo moved quickly from one place to another to try to attract the spiders. But other spiders were using their webs to make a fence all around to trap the annoying thing calling them names. Soon, Bilbo would not be able to escape.
He saw this and began to cry, “Lazy lob and crazy cob, come catch the invisible fly! You cannot trap me, you lazy bees!” He took out his little sword and cut the last web that would catch him, and he ran deeper into the forest. Bilbo ran as far away into the forest as he could. The angry spiders followed him.
He had very little time now before the spiders would go back to the Dwarves. He ran back silently to where he saw the Dwarves hanging from the trees. It was quite difficult to climb up the tall tree to rescue them. But he used a thick spider thread like a rope to climb up. It stuck to him and it hurt him, but he succeeded! Bilbo’s next job was to free the Dwarves.
What could he do? They were very high off the ground. If he cut a Dwarf down, they would fall and surely be hurt. “No time!” he thought. He took his little blade and cut the threads that covered the closest Dwarf. Out fell Kili! Bilbo and the Dwarves were lucky. The floor of the forest was covered with a thick layer of dead leaves.
Kili fell hard, but he was not injured! Bilbo worked quickly, and soon there was a pile of spider-poisoned Dwarves lying on the forest floor. Bilbo climbed quickly down the same spider thread and tried to help the Dwarves. “Quickly now,” he said, “there is no time for questions. Here come the spiders. We must fight to escape!” Then the battle began.
The Dwarves were exhausted and sick with poison, but some had knives and some had sticks, and all of them could find stones to throw. And Bilbo had Sting! But there were simply too many spiders! The party was getting tired. In the end, Bilbo could not think of anything. He had only one choice - he must let the Dwarves know about his magic ring.
He was sorry about that, but there was nothing else to do. “I am going to disappear,” he said. “I will lead the spiders away from you. You Dwarves keep together and go in that direction towards the Elf fires from last night.” They did not understand, but Bilbo could not wait any more. He put the ring on his finger and disappeared! Soon the Dwarves could hear Bilbo in the distance calling out to the spiders - calling them fat and calling them lazy.
This made the spiders so angry that they abandoned the Dwarves - who had stones and knives and sticks - and they ran after the voice in the distance. The Dwarves did not have any option. They began to move away from Bilbo’s voice and towards where the Elves had been the night before. But the Dwarves were not fast enough.
Soon they were almost surrounded by several spiders that followed them instead of the voice. The Dwarves had to run for a little and then turn to fight for their lives. They repeated this many times, and they were becoming exhausted. They could not continue for much longer. Suddenly, Bilbo appeared and cut down many of the spiders.
The spiders were scared of the bright blade. They did not follow after the surprising attack. The Dwarves and Bilbo escaped, and they found their way back to the Elf clearing. There was good magic there, and the spiders did not follow them. But the adventurers’ luck was about to run out. Suddenly, out from the trees came a whole company of Elves, armed with swords and shields and spears and bows and arrows.
All the commotion caused by the Dwarves the night before had attracted the spiders, and the Elves had come to discover what was going on. Bilbo quickly put on his ring and disappeared. But the Dwarves were very visible, and now they were prisoners of the Elves of Mirkwood. Elves do not love Dwarves. They pushed and dragged the Dwarves back to their fortress in the forest.
The Elves of Mirkwood lived in caves and caverns under the ground. The caves were like the Dwarven caves, but brighter and not as deep. Bilbo followed them carefully, trying not to be heard. In the enormous cave, close to the edge of Mirkwood on the eastern side, lived the forest Elves’ greatest king. The king’s cave was his palace.
It was also his dungeon. That is where the Elves were taking the poor, exhausted Dwarves. Bilbo was almost left behind again, as the Elves brought the Dwarves into the caves, and the front gate closed behind them. And it is there that the Elf king questioned the Dwarves about their journey. As I said before, the Elves did not love the Dwarves.
Far in the past they were enemies. They went to war against each other because of gold and treasure. Now, this Elf king of Mirkwood loved treasure more than anything. So when he questioned Thorin and the Dwarves about their journey, they refused to answer the Elf king. “If you will not answer my questions, Dwarf, I will let you sit in the dark until you think of an answer,” said the Elf king.
“Take them away! Keep them safe until they are ready to talk.” Then the Elf guards put iron chains on the Dwarves and took them deep into the caves. They gave the Dwarves food and drink. Forest Elves are not goblins, after all. There, in the dungeons below Mirkwood forest, the Dwarves became prisoners of the forest Elves.
Bilbo was alone and scared inside the caves. He was not a prisoner, but he also could not leave! He had his ring on, but the Elves other senses than their eyesight. He found a dark corner to hide, and to think, and finally to sleep. He dreamed, not for the last time, of his comfortable Hobbit home a long, long, long way away to the west.
Chapter 9 Barrel Rider Poor Mr. Baggins! He lived for a very long time in those caves. He was all alone, and he was always hiding. He did not take off his ring, not for a single moment. He slept in remote corners of the caves so the Elves would not find him. He was lonely and miserable. Sometimes the Elves would leave the palace to hunt in the forest.
Bilbo followed them from time to time, but it was a dangerous thing to do. When he was outside the gates, he realized there was nothing he could do! He did not know where he was, and he did not want to get lost in the forest. Most of all, he did not want to abandon the Dwarves. So he stayed in the Elf caves.
He was hungry most of the time. He was invisible, so he was able to steal food and drink when possible. But he was afraid the Elves would discover him. “I am like a burglar who can’t escape. I am forced to burgle the same house day after day,” he thought. “This is the most tedious part of this uncomfortable adventure!” Bilbo was alone and scared, but he did not spend his time in the caves doing nothing.
He was diligent, and soon he knew his way around the caves very well! He watched the guards, and he watched their movements. And finally, after about two weeks, Bilbo managed to discover where each of the Dwarves was kept. He found all of their cells in different parts of the palace. Thorin was the last Dwarf Bilbo found.
He was in a cell deep under the ground. When Bilbo found him, Thorin was desperate. He had lost all hope, and he was going to tell the Elf king everything about their journey. Until he heard Bilbo’s little voice in the keyhole! “Thorin! At last, I have found you!” They talked for a long time. And soon, Thorin decided not to reveal anything to the Elf king.
“I will never share my treasure with these Elves!“ said Thorin angrily. “Tell the other Dwarves, my dear Burglar Baggins, that they should not lose hope. I am sure you will find a way to break us out of these Elvish prison cells!” Bilbo did what he was told - he talked to all of the Dwarves about Thorin’s decision.
They agreed with Thorin about two things: one, that they would never share their portions of the treasure with any Elf! And two, that Bilbo would certainly find a way for all of them to escape. But Bilbo himself was not so sure! So Bilbo sat and thought and thought, until his head was hurting. But he could not think of any great ideas.
He had one invisible ring for himself, which was a wonderful thing. But it was not helpful for all fourteen of them. But of course, as you can imagine, Bilbo did rescue his friends in the end. And this is how it happened: One day, while he was wandering through the caves, Bilbo discovered that the front gates were not the only entrance to the caves.
There was a stream that flowed in the deepest part of the palace. The stream left the palace, and before it flowed into the principal Forest River, there was a watergate! The gate was often open, because there was a lot of traffic and trade that went in and out through the watergate. The Elf king’s cellars were above the watergate.
There the Elf king kept all his food and drink. Especially - wine! Barrels and barrels full of wine, food, fish and other supplies from Laketown, the town of men on the Long Lake near the eastern border of Mirkwood. Laketown was a town that was built on bridges and piers on top of the water on Long Lake. It was built over the water to protect the men from all types of enemies - especially against the dragon of the Lonely Mountain.
The barrels from Laketown were tied together like big rafts and pushed up the river to the Elf king’s palace. When the barrels were empty, the Elves pushed them through trap-doors in the floor of the cellar. The barrels would fall into the stream. The Elves would then open the watergate and the empty barrels would flow along the river back to Laketown.
Bilbo thought a lot about the watergate. And he thought a lot about the barrels. And soon, he had the beginning of a desperate plan! One day, Bilbo discovered something important! The Elf guards were talking about a feast that the Elf king was going to have that night in the palace. “Come with me,” said one guard to another, “I will show you the new barrels of fine wine and delicious food that have arrived from Laketown.
We can try some before the king drinks all the wine during the feast.” An unusual kind of luck was with Bilbo that night. The guards went down into the cellars, with Bilbo close behind them. There, stacked one on top of the other, were dozens and dozens of barrels, full of food and wine for the feast. The Elf king’s guards were not supposed to drink this fine wine, but these guards were friends with the cellar guard.
And soon they were all very drunk from the king’s fine wine! Before long, both the king’s guards and the cellar guard were sleeping at the table. The king’s wine was really a very good, strong wine! This was Bilbo’s chance! In perfect Hobbit silence, Bilbo approached the sleeping guard, and soon he was without his prison keys! What an amazing display of Hobbit burglary! One by one, Bilbo unlocked all the Dwarves from their prison cells.
The last to be freed was Thorin. “Gandalf was right, after all!” cried Thorin. “There is no better burglar in all of Middle Earth! But what do we do now?” Bilbo saw that now was the time to explain his desperate plan. The Dwarves did not like his plan at all. They grumbled and complained, even though there was no other hope for them.
“We will be hurt!” cried some of the Dwarves. “We will all drown in the river!” cried others. Bilbo was very frustrated. “If that is how you will thank me, then come with me,” he said, “and I will return you to your cells in the Elf king’s dungeon!” The Dwarves calmed down considerably after Bilbo said those words to them.
They were ready to listen now. Bilbo and the Dwarves had to act quickly, before the king’s men came to get the food and wine. Bilbo led the Dwarves down to the cellars. And there, still snoring at the table, were the Elf guards. “No time now, my good Dwarves!” said Bilbo. “Into the barrels, as fast as you can!” Bilbo really was a good Hobbit.
Before he put the Dwarves into the barrels, he returned the prison keys back to the prison guard. “That will protect him from some of the trouble he will be in tomorrow,” thought Mr. Baggins. “That guard was a good Elf, after all. And he was very decent to my friends, the Dwarves.” One by one, Bilbo helped the Dwarves climb into the barrels.
These barrels were the ones to be returned that night to Laketown. Finally, after some complaining and grumbling, all the Dwarves were packed into barrels like sardines at the market. Thorin, of course, complained the most - his barrel was, in fact, a barrel full of sardines! Oh, the smell!!! Only a moment after the last Dwarf was in his barrel, the king’s men came to the cellar to push the barrels into the stream, and off to Laketown.
They saw the sleeping Elves and laughed at them. “Here they are!” they yelled. “This is why we did not see them at the feast! Come on, wake up! Help us push the barrels into the stream!” They all laughed and drank one more cup of the king’s fine wine. Then they opened the trap-door and started rolling the barrels down into the cold water below.
It was at that moment that Bilbo realized the weak point in his plan. Of course, he was not in a barrel himself! Soon there would not be any barrels left! The Elves were rolling them through the trap-door and down into the stream. Now the very last barrel was being rolled through the trap-doors! In a desperate move, and not knowing what else to do, poor little Bilbo grabbed the barrel just as it was being pushed through the trap-door! Splash! Bilbo fell into the cold stream below, with the barrel on top of him!
Bilbo did not know how to swim - in fact, most Hobbits do not know how to swim. They do not love the water. But Bilbo did not let go of the barrel! He tried to climb up onto the barrel, but every time he tried, the barrel rolled over and pushed him back into the water. His mouth was full of water, his eyes were full of water and his ears were full of water.
Then suddenly, it became very dark. The Elves had closed the trap-doors! Bilbo was holding on desperately to his barrel in the icy water, all alone. He was all alone because you cannot count thirteen Dwarves packed in barrels as your friends in times like these. Soon, he heard the watergate open and he could see the light of day, and the light of freedom.
One by one, the barrels passed through the watergate and into the Forest River. Bilbo and the Dwarves were free! Once again, luck was with our Mr. Baggins. The barrels began to collect in a curve of the river. There, men from Long Lake were waiting. They tied the barrels together, like large rafts, and began pushing them down the river again.
Bilbo was able to climb onto the top of his barrel. The wind was cold, but he preferred the cold wind to the icy water. Finally, as night came, after many hours of bobbing and rolling and swaying on top of the raft of barrels, Bilbo and the Dwarves arrived at Long Lake. There the men of Laketown pushed the barrels to the shore.
The next day they would bring them to the town and empty them, then fill them up again and return them to the Elf king’s palace. Bilbo, wet and cold, managed to climb off the raft of barrels and find a safe place to sleep for the night. His magic ring made him invisible, but the lake men could easily see his wet footprints! He began to sneeze in loud Hobbit sneezes! Soon, the men protecting the barrels were in a great commotion! But he was able to escape into the woods and sleep behind a tree for the night.
He woke up with the gray morning, and a loud sneeze! He walked silently towards the lake. He was just in time! The lake men were pushing the barrels - with the Dwarves still inside - into the river. At the last moment, Bilbo ran and jumped onto the barrel raft! He had escaped! Scared and anxious for his friends, Bilbo rode the barrels towards Laketown.
Chapter 10 The Secret Door The day became clear and warm as Bilbo and the Dwarves arrived at Laketown in and on their barrels. And there, in the distance, Bilbo finally saw it: Lonely Mountain. The very top of the mountain was visible above the clouds. Bilbo had come very far and he had survived many adventures to see the mountain.
And now he did not like to see it at all. Boats came out from Laketown to pull the barrels towards the town. Soon, men were pulling the barrels from the water. Some men complained about the weight of the barrels. “I thought these barrels were supposed to be empty!” said one Lakeman. After he pulled it onto the pier, he opened it.
To his tremendous surprise, out fell a very unhappy Dwarf. He was wet and bruised and there were sardines in his beard. It was Thorin. There was a great commotion in the town that day! “Who are you and what are you doing here?” the Lakemen asked, after all the Dwarves were removed from their barrels. Bilbo was still wearing his ring.
He found a safe place to watch as the townspeople came to see what the excitement was. “I am Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain!” said the Dwarf in a loud voice. “I have come back. I demand to see the Master of your town!” Then there was great excitement in the town. Some townspeople looked at the mountain, expecting it to turn to gold! Thorin and the Dwarves were taken to the Master of Laketown.
The Master and all the important people of Laketown were at a feast in the Great Hall. When the Dwarves appeared before the Master and his people, they all jumped from their chairs in surprise. But no one was more surprised than the Elves who were sitting at the Master’s table. Those Elves had helped push the barrels down the river to Laketown.
“These Dwarves are prisoners of our king! They must have escaped!” cried the Elves. “Is this true?” asked the Master. The Master did not really believe the Dwarves to begin with. “It is true that we were prisoners of the Elf king,” answered Thorin. “But he had no right to put us in prison.” The Master understood the power of the Elf king, and he did not want to be the Elf king’s enemy.
But the people at the feast, and the people in the town were very happy to see the return of the King Under the Mountain. The Master of Laketown was an intelligent man, and he did not want his townspeople to be angry with him. They were already singing old songs about the return of the King. When the forest Elves heard the happy singing, they began to wonder if their Elf king did not make the wrong decision to put the Dwarves in prison! Thorin explained his objective to the Master of Laketown.
The Master of Laketown and its people were ready to help Thorin and his party. After the feast, the forest Elves returned to the King’s palace. I do not know what happened to the Elf guard who lost his keys to Bilbo, but soon the Elf king knew about Thorin and his efforts to capture the treasure in Lonely Mountain.
“We will see what happens if the Dwarves try to return this way with their treasure!” said the Elf king. At the end of two weeks, Thorin was ready to begin his final journey to Lonely Mountain. For the first time, the Master was surprised and a little frightened. Maybe Thorin was the real, true King Under the Mountain! But the Master was not unhappy to see them leave.
These unexpected guests were very expensive. They had eaten a considerable amount of food and they had drunk a considerable amount of beer while they were staying in Laketown. So, one day, with a cold wind blowing from the north, the party took some boats to the north shore of Long Lake. There they met the horses and ponies the Master had given them.
The Master had also given them supplies of food and tools for the rest of their journey. The Dwarves were very happy and excited to begin the final part of the adventure. The only person who was unhappy was Bilbo. It was a long and difficult journey to Lonely Mountain. It was cold, and the land around the Mountain was empty.
They did not talk and they did not laugh. They all thought about the dragon who was still inside the Mountain. Autumn was almost over, but here, close to the mountain, there were no leaves on the trees. There was no life at all. They had come to the Desolation of Smaug. As the party approached Lonely Mountain, they passed the ruined city of Dale.
Dale was a prosperous town of men. They were allies of the Dwarves before the dragon came. Now the city was empty. They continued north, following the Running River that flowed out of the mountain. But they did not want to go too close to the front gates. From behind a rock, they could see the dark opening to the Mountain.
The front gates. Out of the opening came the River Running. And out of the gates came steam and dark smoke, and a horrible odor. “The dragon is still alive and in the halls under the Mountain. Or I imagine from the smoke,” said the Hobbit. The Dwarves and Bilbo were truly scared now. They were alone in this dangerous place.
No help was coming. None of them had much spirit left to continue the journey. But Bilbo did not have the same feeling as the Dwarves. He often looked at Thorin’s map. And he often read the message of the moon-letters Elrond had read. It was Bilbo that made the Dwarves begin the dangerous search for the secret door on the western side of the Mountain.
For many days they searched. They climbed up and down the steep side of the Mountain, but they did not find any secret door, or any door at all! But at last, as you can imagine, it was Bilbo who found what they were looking for. As he was walking with Fili and Kili further to the south of the Mountain, they saw a large stone that looked like a pillar.
Behind it, Bilbo saw steps, steps going up a path hidden by the rocks. They went up the steps excitedly. In some places the path disappeared! In other places, they rediscovered the path. After a long and dangerous climb, they arrived at an open space on the right side of the path. It was a secluded area, with grass on the ground.
To their left there was nothing - only open air and a long fall. They looked down. Far below, they could see their camp. The space they were in was not a cave. It was open to the sky above. At the far side of the space, there was a high, flat wall. Near the ground, the wall was perfectly smooth. Only Dwarves could have made the wall so smooth and perfect.
But there were no signs of a door post. There were no signs of a doorknob. There were no signs of a keyhole. But they were certain they had found the secret door! They hit the door with their hands. They kicked the door with their strong boots (Bilbo did not kick the door - Hobbits, you remember, do not wear shoes!).
They pushed at the door. They implored the door to open. They spoke fragments of magic spells to try to open the door. Nothing worked. Finally they were tired. They rested on the grass near the wall. Soon it began to get dark. They began the long and dangerous climb down the path to tell the other Dwarves. There was excitement in the camp that night.
The next day, they prepared to move all their equipment and supplies up the dangerous path to the secret door. But Bombur refused to climb the path. “I am too fat to climb the path!” he said. “I am not a mountain goat! I am sure I would fall, and then you would be thirteen again.” So, Bombur stayed at the camp with the horses and ponies.
The Dwarves had brought tools with them - picks and hammers. They used their picks and hammers, banging against the wall. But their tools broke! And their hands were hurt badly! And they were terrified of the loud noises they were making. Bilbo could do nothing to help the Dwarves and the Dwarves were not able to discover the secrets of the door.
So Bilbo did nothing. He sat on the grass and he thought. Then he heard the Dwarves talking. “The last week of autumn begins tomorrow.” said Thorin. “What is our burglar doing for us? Since he has an invisible ring, I think he should use it and go through the front gates to discover what is going on.” “You said sitting on the doorstep and thinking would be my job,” said Bilbo.
“Not to mention getting inside, so I am sitting and thinking.” But I am afraid Bilbo was not thinking much of the job. He was thinking about his comfortable Hobbit hole, far in the distance. As Bilbo sat and thought, he stared at a large gray stone in the center of the grass. There were large snails on the stone.
They crawled slowly along the surface of the rock. The sun was going down and the new moon was coming up. At that very moment he heard a sharp CRACK! There on the gray stone was an enormous bird - a thrush. It was almost black, with a yellow breast with dark spots. Crack! It had caught a snail and was knocking it on the stone.
Crack! Crack! Suddenly Bilbo understood. Quickly Bilbo explained to the Dwarves. He reminded them about the message on the map: “stand by the gray stone when the thrush knocks, and the last light of the setting sun on Durin’s Day will shine on the keyhole.” The sun went lower and lower, and their hopes fell.
The sun sank behind a cloud and then disappeared. The Dwarves could not control their sadness. “We have run out of time!” cried Thorin. Then suddenly, when they had lost all hope, a ray of sunlight passed through the cloud. A finger of red light shined into the secluded area and touched the smooth rock wall.
The old thrush who was watching from the stone made an excited tweet. Then there was a loud crack! A piece of wall cracked from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about one meter from the ground. Quickly, the Dwarves ran to the rock and pushed with all their strength. Nothing happened. “The key! The key!” cried Bilbo.
“Where’s Thorin?” Thorin came quickly. “The key!” shouted Bilbo. “The key that went with the map! Try it now while there is still time!” Then Thorin approached the wall. He took the key from around his neck. He put it in the hole. It fit! He turned it! Snap! The ray of sunlight disappeared. The sun sank, the moon was gone, and the sky was dark.
Now they all pushed together. Slowly, a part of the rock wall began to move inward. And suddenly, where a few moments before there was no sign of a door, now a door one and half meters high and one meter wide was visible in the rock wall. With one more push, the door swung inwards silently. There was a deep, dark hole in the side of the mountain, like an open mouth.
Chapter 11 Inside Information The Dwarves stood in front of the dark door for a long time. Finally, Thorin said, “Now it is time for our dear Mr. Baggins, the most courageous Hobbit in all of Hobbiton, the luckiest burglar of all burglars, to perform the service he agreed to perform. Now it is time for him to earn his reward.
” “If you think I am going to enter this secret passage first, Thorin Okenshield, do not forget that I already helped you in two difficult situations.” said Bilbo angrily, “And they were not included in our contract! I think I already deserve some reward!” “But, like my father used to say, the third time's the charm,” Bilbo continued.
“I trust my luck more now than in the old days (by ‘the old days’ Bilbo meant last spring, before he left his house to go on this adventure!). Now, who is coming with me?” He did not expect everyone to volunteer to help him, so he was not disappointed when the only Dwarf to offer help was old Balin. He said he would follow Bilbo some way into the passage.
But not all the way. He would be prepared to call for help if Bilbo needed it. The stars were shining bright in the night sky when Bilbo and Balin passed the enchanted door and entered the Mountain. The passage was made by the Dwarves - its walls and floor were smooth and straight. It went down very gradually to some distant end below.
The darkness was complete. Balin soon stopped. He wished Bilbo luck, and told him to call out if he needed help. Then Bilbo put on his ring, and began to continue down, down, down into the dark. He did not make a sound. He was terrified. He was a very different Hobbit now than the Hobbit who left Bag End without a handkerchief.
“What a fool you were, Bilbo Baggins!” he said to himself. “Why did I ever accept to come on this journey? I do not need treasure guarded by a dragon. Oh, how I wish this tunnel was the tunnel in my beautiful, safe Hobbit hole back in the Shire!” Bilbo was completely alone. Soon, he thought the air began to feel warm.
Then he thought he saw a soft glow far ahead of him down the tunnel. It was a glow. As we went forward, the glow began to grow and grow, until he could clearly see a red light far ahead. And now, it was getting hot in the tunnel! He began to sweat. And now he could hear a sound. It was like a bubbling noise, mixed with a rumbling sound, like a gigantic cat purring.
The sound grew louder and louder, until it was clear what the sound was. It was the gurgling noise of some vast animal snoring! The snoring sound was coming from the red light in front of him at the end of the tunnel. At this point, Bilbo stopped. Going forward was the bravest thing he ever did. He fought the most difficult battle in that tunnel, alone.
His fear was almost like a living thing. But he continued forward, even though he did not understand the tremendous danger that was waiting for him at the end of the tunnel, in that red, hot light. Bilbo finally came to the end of the tunnel. He put his Hobbit head out into the vast room and looked around.
It was a massive chamber at the bottom of the Mountain. It was almost completely dark, so he could not see how big it really was. But there in front of him, on a huge pile of gold and jewels and treasure, was a red glow. The glow of Smaug! There he was. A giant red-golden dragon, sleeping. The rumbling noise coming from his mouth and nose was very loud.
And smoke came from his nose, too. His giant wings were folded on his back. And under him was a very long and very strong tail, curved under his body. All around him, on all sides and covering the enormous floor of the chamber, were piles and piles of gold and precious things. Bilbo did not have words to describe his feelings.
The gold! The jewels! Bilbo had heard stories and songs about dragon treasure. But he could not comprehend what he saw. His heart was filled with the desire of Dwarves, the greed of Dwarves, the lust of Dwarves for gold and treasure. He almost forgot about the guardian of the gold that was asleep in front of him.
Bilbo stared at the gold for a long time. Then, almost without realizing it, he ran from the safety of the tunnel entrance. He ran across the floor to the closest pile of treasure. Above him the dragon was sleeping. Even sleeping, Smaug was a danger. Bilbo picked up a large golden cup. It was almost too heavy to carry.
He looked up quickly at the dragon. Smaug moved his wing and opened a clawed hand. The sound of his snoring changed. Then Bilbo ran back into the tunnel as fast as he could. But the dragon did not wake up. Not yet. Bilbo ran until he felt like his legs were going to break and his heart was going to explode.
But he did not let go of the cup. He thought, “I have done it! I have done it! This will show the Dwarves! And they said I was more like a grocer than a burglar. Ha! This will change their minds for sure!” And it did change their minds. Balin was very happy to see Bilbo again. To be honest, Balin was also very surprised.
He did not think that he would ever see Bilbo again! But he carried the Hobbit up the tunnel and into the open air. It was midnight and the Dwarves could not control their excitement. The Dwarves were looking at the golden cup. They were very excited to have recovered their treasure. Suddenly there was a vast and terrible rumble from underneath the mountain, like a volcano about to erupt! The secret door was almost closed - they had put a stone to block it from closing - but they could hear the terrible sounds of roaring and crashing coming up the tunnel.
In their excitement and happiness, the Dwarves had forgotten all about Smaug! It is not a prudent thing to exclude a dragon from your calculations. Dragons do not really need gold and treasure. But as a rule, dragons know exactly what they are guarding, especially after guarding it for such a long time. And Smaug was no exception to the rule.
When Bilbo ran up the tunnel, Smaug began to wake up. He went from a delicious dream of violence and death, to a doze, to being wide awake! He could feel a change in the air in his cave. Was it coming from that little hole? Smaug had never liked the little hole. He wondered why he never blocked it. He even thought he had heard banging and knocking sounds coming from the little hole recently.
Smaug lifted his head and sniffed the air. Then he saw that the cup was gone! Thieves! Fire! Murder! Something like this had not happened since the first days when he came to the Mountain! It is impossible to describe his anger. He screamed fire into the dark chamber and the mountain shook like an earthquake.
He crawled quickly out of the dark chamber and up to the front gates. The only thing he wanted was to hunt all around the Mountain until he found and caught the thief. He came out of the Gate. The water from the River Running boiled with his heat. He flew high into the air and landed on the mountain top, breathing fire and smoke! The Dwarves heard the terrible sound of Smaug flying over the mountain.
They stayed very quiet in the open space. They hoped that the dragon would not find them there. They would have been killed, but Bilbo saved them once again. “Quick! Quick!” he yelled. “The door! The tunnel! We cannot stay out here in the open.” They were just about to enter the secret passage when Bifur gave a shout, “My cousins! Bombur and Bofur - they are down with the ponies.
They will be killed! There is nothing we can do!” “Do not be silly!” said Thorin. “Quickly, get the rope. We will pull them up. Hurry!” Those were the most dangerous moments they had been through so far. They could hear the horrible sounds of Smaug’s anger on the mountain above them. At any moment he could fly down and find them.
The Dwarves pulled on the ropes with all their strength. Up came Bofur, and they were still safe. Up came Bombur, and still they were safe. They pulled up their tools and food, and then the danger was there. There was a loud noise, like a wind storm. There was a red light reflecting on the rocks. They entered the tunnel at the last moment.
The dragon came. He came with fire and death! His hot breath burned the grass in the open area. Flames entered the tunnel and the Dwarves could feel the heat. Then darkness came again as the dragon flew past the secret door. The ponies and horses far below screamed and broke their ropes, and they ran away in terror.
The dragon flew down to follow them. He was gone. “Our ponies and horses will certainly die!” said Thorin. “Nothing can escape Smaug once he sees them. We are trapped here. Unless someone wants to go back to Laketown with Smaug on the watch!” They were in the tunnel for a long time. Every now and then they could hear the roar and scream of the flying dragon outside the tunnel entrance.
Smaug guessed that Lakemen had come to the mountain with their ponies and horses. He thought the men had climbed the mountain, but Smaug did not see the secret entrance. Smaug hunted around the Mountain for a long time. But dawn came and he went back to sleep on his golden bed. To rest and to regain his strength.
He would not forget the thief, not for a thousand years. But he could wait. He crawled slowly and silently back into the Mountain. He went back to his chamber and half closed his eyes. They debated for a long time what they were going to do. Were they going to try to escape and return to Laketown? Or were they going to go back down the tunnel and face Smaug with weapons? There was a good chance the first option would end badly.
Smaug could catch them in the open. The second option was certain death. Finally, Bilbo spoke, “I was not hired to kill the dragon. That is your responsibility. But I can put my ring on and sneak back down the tunnel to see what Smaug is doing. ‘Every worm has a weak spot,’ my father always says. But I am sure he was not speaking from personal experience.
” Obviously the Dwarves accepted Bilbo’s offer. They had already begun to respect little Bilbo. Now he was the real leader in their adventure. He came up with ideas and made important decisions that helped everyone in the group. When it was midday, he prepared for another journey down into the Mountain. Bilbo did not like the idea of going back down, but he knew more or less what was in front of him.
But if he had known more about dragons and how dangerous they really were, he might have been more frightened. After all, he thought he might be able to catch the dragon while he was taking a nap. Bilbo always was a hopeful and positive little Hobbit. Bilbo moved silently as he went down the tunnel. And he felt a little proud of himself as he approached the door to Smaug’s chamber.
This time, there was only a very soft red glow. “Old Smaug is tired and asleep,” thought Bilbo. “He can’t see me and he won’t hear me.” Bilbo had forgotten, or he had never heard about a dragon’s sense of smell. He also did not know that dragons can sleep with half an eye open, if they are suspicious. But Smaug certainly looked fast asleep.
He looked dead, in fact, and dark. He was making almost no sound. His snore was almost imperceptible. Bilbo was just about to walk into the chamber when he saw a thin ray of red light coming from under Smaug’s left eye. He was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance! Quickly, Bilbo went back into the tunnel.
Thank goodness for his ring. Then Smaug spoke. “Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air. I hear your breath. Go on then! You may take whatever you want, there is plenty, and to spare!” But Bilbo was not that naive. And if Smaug expected Bilbo to come closer so easily, he was going to be disappointed. “No thank you, O Smaug the Tremendous!” he replied.
“I did not come for presents. I only wanted to look at you and see if you were truly as great as the stories say you are. I did not believe them.” “Do you believe the stories now?” asked the dragon. It is always a good idea to compliment dragons, even if they do not believe your flattery. “The songs and stories do not come close to the reality, O Smaug the Greatest of Calamities,” replied Bilbo.
“You are very polite for a thief, and a liar,” said the dragon. “You seem to know who I am, but I do not know your smell. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?” “Of course you may ask! I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills I have traveled. And through the air. I am the traveler who walks unseen.
” “That I can believe,” said Smaug, “but it is not your real name.” “I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. They chose me for the lucky number.” “Lovely titles!” answered the dragon. “But lucky numbers are not always lucky.” “I am he who drowns his friends and takes them alive again from the water.
I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me.” “These do not sound so believable,” laughed Smaug. “I am the guest of eagles. I am Ring-finder and Luck-wearer; and I am Barrel-rider,” continued Bilbo. He was beginning to be pleased with his riddles. “Ha! That’s better!” said Smaug. “But do not let your imagination run away with you!” This of course is the way to talk to dragons, if you don’t want to reveal your proper name (which is a good thing not to do),
and you don’t want to make them angry at you (which is also a good thing not to do). Dragons love talking in riddles and trying to understand them. Smaug did not understand all of the riddles Bilbo was telling him (but I am sure you know all about Bilbo’s adventures which he was talking about), but Smaug thought he understood enough.
“I thought so last night,” he smiled to himself. “Lake-men, some nasty scheme of those miserable Lake-men, or I’m a lizard.” “Very well, O Barrel-rider!” he said loudly. “You may walk unseen, but you did not walk all the way. Let me tell you I ate six ponies last night and I will catch and eat all the others soon.
In exchange for the excellent meal I will give you one piece of advice for your good: don’t associate with Dwarves more than is good for you!” “Dwarves!” said Bilbo, pretending to be surprised. “Do not lie to me!” said Smaug. “I know the smell (and taste) of Dwarf - no one knows it better than I do. You’ll come to a bad end, if you go with such friends, Thief Barrel-rider.
Go back and tell them that from me.” But he did not tell Bilbo that there was one smell he could not identify at all, the smell of Hobbit; it was outside of his experience and he was very confused by it. “Did the Dwarves give you a good price for the cup you stole last night?” he continued. “Well, did they? They paid you nothing, didn’t they? Well, that’s just like the Dwarves.
And I imagine they are hiding outside, and your job is to do all the dangerous work and take what you can when I’m not looking. Will they give you a fair portion for your trouble? Don’t you believe it! If you get out of here alive, you will be lucky.” Bilbo now began to feel very uncomfortable. While they were talking, Smaug’s eye continued to look for him.
Bilbo was invisible, but each time the light from Smaug’s eye flashed across him, he was terrified! And he felt a powerful desire to run towards Smaug and take off the ring - and reveal himself and tell all the truth to the dragon. In fact, Bilbo was in real danger of coming under Smaug’s dragon-spell. But Bilbo found his courage and he spoke again.
“You do not know everything, O Smaug the Strong,” he said “We did not come here to the Mountain only for the gold.” Smaug began to laugh, Ha! Ha! So, you admit that you are not here alone! Why don’t you just say ‘us fourteen’ and tell me the truth, Mr. Lucky Number?” Bilbo continued, “I say that gold was not the main reason we came.
We came over hill and under hill, by wave and by wind for… REVENGE! O Smaug the unbelievably wealthy, you must understand that you have made some very jealous enemies because of your success.” Then Smaug really did laugh - a terrifying sound that caused Bilbo to fall to the floor. The Dwarves also heard the sound, and they thought for sure that Bilbo had come to a very bad end.
“Revenge!” he cried, and the light from his eyes filled the cavern from floor to ceiling like red lightning. “Revenge! The King Under the Mountain is dead, and where are his people to get their revenge? The Lord of Dale is dead. I ate his people and destroyed their town. Where are his sons and grandsons to take revenge on me? I kill who I want, and no one can stop me.
” “I killed the great warriors of old, and there is no one like them who lives in the world today. I was young and inexperienced when I did that. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows! My armor is like shields, my teeth are swords, my claws are spears, the shock of my tail is like a thunderbolt, my wings are a hurricane, and my breath is death!” A great fireball came from Smaug’s jaws
and illuminated the chamber in a red light. “I have been told,” said a very frightened Bilbo, “that dragons have a weak spot, especially in the region of the - er - chest. But I am sure that a dragon as strong as you are does not worry about such things.” Smaug became silent. “Your information is old,” he yelled.
“I am armored above and below with scales that are as strong as iron and diamonds. There is no sword that can cut me.” “Of course there isn’t,” said Bilbo. “You have no equal in the world today, O Lord Smaug the Impenetrable. It must be magnificent to wear a coat of fine diamonds!” “Yes, it is rare and wonderful,” said Smaug, who was absurdly happy with Bilbo’s compliments.
He did not know that the Hobbit had already seen his belly and chest during his last visit, and wanted to have a closer look. The dragon rolled over onto his side. “Look!” he cried. “What do you think about that?” “Marvelous! Perfect! Impeccable! Amazing!” cried Bilbo out loud, but what he thought inside was, “Old fool! One of your scales is missing! There is a hole in the side of your left breast as big as a dinner plate!” After he had seen that, the only thing Mr. Baggins wanted to do was to get away.
“Well, I really should not take any more of your time, Your Magnificence,” said Bilbo. “I should let you rest. It is difficult, I believe, to catch ponies. It is difficult to catch burglars, too,” he added with some sarcasm. As he said the last words, he ran back up the tunnel as fast as he could. It was not very intelligent to say that to Smaug, because he shot terrific flames after Bilbo in anger.
Bilbo was not far enough up the tunnel to escape without any damage. Luckily, Smaug’s head was too large to fit completely inside the tunnel entrance. But fire and vapor came from his nose and followed Bilbo up the passage. He was nearly cooked like a roast turkey! “Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!” he said to himself, and it became a favorite saying of his later.
“This adventure is not over yet,” he added, and that was true as well. It was almost nighttime when Bilbo came out of the tunnel. The Dwarves were there to help him and doctor his burns as well as possible. But it was a long time before the hair on the back of his head and feet grew back properly again.
The Dwarves were very excited to hear about his encounter with the dragon, especially why he had made so much noise, and how Bilbo had escaped. But the Hobbit was worried and uncomfortable, and he did not tell them very much about his adventure with Smaug. He felt bad about some of the things he said to the dragon, and he did not want to repeat them.
The old thrush was sitting on the rock near the group. He was listening very carefully to everything that Bilbo was saying. Bilbo was in a very bad mood, and threw a rock at the bird. “Go away bird!” said Bilbo angrily. The bird jumped up, flapped its wings, and landed again on the rock, listening carefully again.
“I do not like the look of that bird, and I think he is listening to us!” “Leave him alone!” said Thorin. “They are a magical race of birds. They understand our language. For hundreds of years they were the friends of the Men of Dale and my father and grandfather’s people.” “Well, he will have news to take to Laketown tonight, if that is what he wants,” said Bilbo.
“But I can’t imagine there is anyone in Laketown who can understand his thrush-language.” “Why? What has happened?” cried the dwarves. “Please, tell us what happened!” So Bilbo told them everything he could remember, and he confessed that he had a terrible sensation that the dragon learned too much from his riddles.
“I am sure he knows we came from Laketown and had help from there,” said Bilbo in a worried voice. “And I have a horrible feeling that Smaug will try to hurt the people of Laketown. I wish I had never said that I was a barrel-rider. Even the dumbest creature would think of the men of Laketown.” “Well, it is difficult not to become hypnotized by a dragon,” said Balin, trying to make Bilbo feel better.
“I think you did very well, if you ask me. You discovered a very useful piece of information, about the hole in his scales.” Then they began to talk about how to kill dragons, all the historical and mythical stories they had heard about the different ways to defeat dragons. The general opinion was that it is very difficult to kill a dragon, even when you catch them sleeping.
The whole time they talked, the thrush was listening to them. And without them seeing, the bird opened its wings and flew silently into the night. While they talked, Bilbo became more and more worried and unhappy. He was scared. At last he interrupted them. “I am sure we are very unsafe here,” he said, “and I don’t think we should stay here.
I think the dragon will attack this place soon. He will break all this side of the Mountain to kill us all.” Finally, Bilbo convinced the Dwarves to move inside the tunnel and to close the door, using a stone to keep it open. Soon they began to talk of all the gold and treasure that was down in the dragon’s hall.
But the most beautiful of all the treasure was the great white gem that the Dwarves found at the very bottom of the Mountain. They called it the “Heart of the Mountain”, the Arkenstone of Thrain. “The Arkenstone! The Arkenstone!” cried Thorin in the dark. “It was like a globe with a thousand faces. It shines like silver in the night, like water in the sun, like snow under the stars, like rain on the Moon!” But as they talked, Bilbo became more and more worried.
He kept listening for sounds of the dragon. “Close the door! Please!” he begged them, “I believe the dragon will find us. It is too silent outside, and down in the hall. Shut the door before it is too late!” Something in Bilbo’s voice convinced Thorin to listen to the Hobbit. He got up and kicked the small stone away that was holding the secret door open.
The door closed with a snap! There was no sign of a keyhole. They were trapped in the Mountain! And not a moment too soon. They had moved only a short distance down the tunnel when there was a tremendous noise on the side of the Mountain. It sounded like an explosion of thunder and rock. The walls around them began to crack, and stones fell on their heads from the roof of the tunnel.
I cannot imagine what would have happened if the door had still been open! Because Bilbo convinced them to act, they survived the attack by Smaug. He broke large rocks into small small pieces. With his powerful tail he destroyed the rock wall around the secret door. With his horrible flames, he burned the grass in the open area next to the door.
All of it disappeared in flames and rock. After Bilbo had run away up the tunnel, Smaug left the mountain very quietly. He flew silently into the air and floated in the dark sky. He was trying to see where the tunnel might have an exit on the side of the mountain - the same tunnel that the “thief” had used.
He guessed the location of the exit, but he was furious that he could not find anyone there. He was so angry that he decided to destroy the mountain around the opening to kill the invaders. Smaug felt much better after releasing some of his anger. And he believed now that there would not be any trouble from that tunnel anymore.
But his night was only beginning. There was revenge in the air. “Barrel-rider!” he said. “I do not recognize your smell, but if you are not one of the Lakemen, they helped you in some way. They will see me now and they will remember who the real King Under the Mountain is!” He rose into the air in a cloud of fire and smoke, and flew away towards Laketown.
Chapter 12 Fire and Water The dwarves sat in the darkness and silence for a very long time. They did not speak very much and they did not eat very much. They did not know how long they stayed there. Finally, after what felt like days and days, Thorin spoke, “Let’s try the secret door!” he said. “I must feel the wind on my face soon or I will die.
I prefer to be killed by Smaug in the open air than suffocate in here!” They discovered that part of the tunnel was blocked by broken rocks. The secret door would never open again. “We are trapped!” they shouted. “This is the end. We will all die here.” But somehow, just when the Dwarves were most afraid, Bilbo felt a strong sense of confidence.
“Come on, my good Dwarves!” he said. ‘As long as there is life, there is hope!’ as my father used to say, and ‘Third time pays for all.” I am going back down the tunnel again. I have been there twice already, when I knew there was a dragon at the other end. So I will take the risk and make a third visit, when I am not sure if he is there.
And I think you should all come with me.” The Dwarves were desperate, so they all agreed. Thorin went first, and walked beside Bilbo. Down, down they went. When they got close to the bottom, Bilbo put on his ring and walked forward alone. But he did not need the ring - it was totally and completely dark! In fact, it was so dark that Bilbo did not know it when he came out of the opening of the tunnel.
He put his hand into open air and fell forward into the giant treasure chamber. Bilbo stayed there for a long moment, not moving. He was terrified that Smaug would find him and eat him! But nothing happened. Bilbo could not take it anymore. “Come out, Smaug, you worm!” he shouted in a voice that sounded like a mouse.
“Cook me and then eat me, if you want, if you can catch me!” There was no answer. Bilbo got up but he did not know which direction to go. It was black as night. Bilbo called back to the Dwarves, “A light! I need a light!” So Fili and Kili quickly lit a torch and Bilbo ran back to get it. But Bilbo could not convince the other Dwarves to follow him into the chamber.
Thorin carefully explained that Bilbo was still officially their expert burglar and investigator. So, if he wanted to use a light to explore the chamber, he was welcome to do it. Bilbo looked at the Dwarves in frustration, turned his back to them, and walked towards the piles of treasure. As he climbed the large piles of gold and jewels, the Dwarves could see the little Hobbit holding the little torch.
Then, far in the distance, they saw him stop and bend down, as if to look at something on the floor very closely. But the Dwarves did not know why. It was the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain. That is what Bilbo guessed from the description Thorin gave him. From a distance, Bilbo had seen the gem burning with a white glow.
It pulled him towards it. He looked down at it now, and almost against his own control, he reached his little hand towards it. His hand could not close around it. It was large and heavy. But he lifted it and put it in his deepest pocket. “Now I am a real burglar!” he thought. Bilbo’s little light disappeared into the distance, and the Dwarves did not need any more encouragement.
They were very excited to explore the hall while they had the chance. They did not know where Smaug was, but they were going to take advantage of the opportunity while he was not there. They picked up the gold and filled their pockets. They felt the gems in their hands and observed the magnificent armor and weapons that were still in perfect condition.
The Dwarves completely forgot their fear of the dragon. The ancient desire of the Dwarves, the lust of the Dwarves for gold and treasure was very strong now. And Thorin was looking for one thing, and one thing only - the Arkenstone! But he could not find it, and he did not say anything to anyone about it yet.
Soon Thorin said, “Mr. Baggins! Here is the first payment of your reward! Take off your old coat and put on this!” Thorin placed on Bilbo a small coat of mail - a shirt made of thousands of small rings linked together. It had been made by the Dwarves many ages ago for some young Elf-prince. It was a shirt of Mithril, a material stronger than steel, the color of bright silver.
The Mithril coat also came with a belt of pearls and crystals, and a light helmet decorated with white gems. “I feel magnificent,” he thought. “But I imagine I look quite silly. If the Hobbits back home saw me like this, they would all laugh at me! But I wish I could see myself in a mirror.” But Bilbo kept his head clear of the enchantment of the gold, more than the Dwarves did.
“Thorin!” shouted Bilbo. “What do we do now? We have weapons and armor, but what can they do against Smaug the Horrible? This treasure is not yours yet. We must look for a way to escape this mountain, before our luck leaves us!” With that, the Dwarves spoke together to decide what to do next. Remember, they were so occupied with the gold and treasure that they had not even thought about this obvious question.
After some time, they decided to leave the mountain through the front gates, and walk down to an old defensive tower to the south. There they could see anyone, or anything, that was coming towards the Mountain. They passed out of the Mountain through the front gates. There, in the valley below, was the ancient town of Dale, now destroyed by Smaug and in ruins.
They passed by the town with sadness, and walked for many hours. The night was very dark when they finally reached the defensive tower. There they rested and prepared for what was to come. There was still no sign of Smaug. And what about Smaug? Well, if you would like to hear news about Smaug, we must go back two days into the past, when he destroyed the secret door and flew away in anger towards Laketown.
Most of the people of Laketown were in their homes that night, or walking along the piers and looking at the stars in the clear sky. Lonely Mountain was far to the north, and only the very top of the mountain was visible from Laketown. But the people rarely looked to the north. It was a dark and scary mountain, even in the bright sunshine.
And on this dark night, it was invisible in the black sky. Suddenly, the mountain flashed in a bright red glow that appeared and disappeared quickly. “Look!” said a man. “The lights again! Last night the watchmen saw them flash from midnight until dawn. Something is happening up there.” “Perhaps the King Under the Mountain is forging gold again,” said another man.
“The Dwarves went north a long time ago. Maybe the songs are true and they have taken the Mountain back.” “Which king?” said another man, with a serious voice. “It is more probable that it is the fire from the Dragon, the only King Under the Mountain we have ever known.” “You are always so pessimistic, Bard!” said the others.
“You only talk of tragedies, from floods to poisoned fish. Why don’t you talk about something happy for a change?” Then suddenly there was a bright flash of red light! It was in the hills very close to Laketown. The glow turned the surface of the lake golden in the night. “The King Under the Mountain!” they shouted.
“He has returned! He is turning the lake into gold!” People began to come from their houses to see what was happening. The town was full of excitement and enthusiasm. But the man with the serious voice, Bard was his name, ran to the house of the Master of Laketown. “The dragon is coming, or I am a fool!” he cried.
“Cut the bridges! To arms! To arms!” Then there were warning trumpets in the night. The cheering from the townspeople stopped and their happiness turned to terror. Because of Bard’s quick actions, the town was not completely unprepared for the attack. They could see the dragon approaching from the north, getting bigger and more massive as he came.
The fire he shot as he flew towards Laketown illuminated him like the sun. Every bucket in the town was filled with water to extinguish the fires, every warrior was armed, every archer had their bows and arrows ready to shoot, and the bridge connecting the town to the land was taken down and destroyed. They could hear the dragon as he came closer and closer, the sound of his wings and the roar of his fire was terrible.
The townspeople screamed in fear as the dragon flew over them towards the bridge - but the bridge was not there! Smaug could not easily reach the town. The water of the lake was too deep and too dark, even for the dragon! He knew that if he fell into the cold water, it would extinguish him forever. In frustration, he flew back over the town.
Arrows from the archers flew up and snapped and rattled against his scales, and then fell burning into the lake. The dragon was furious! He was blind and mad with anger! No one had tried to fight him for ages and ages. And the people of Laketown would not have tried, if Bard had not been there to encourage them.
He ran back and forth between the groups of archers, cheering them on and persuading the Master to order them to fight until the last arrow. Smaug circled the town from above. In his anger he breathed fire from his mouth and nose, and turned the trees around the lake the color of blood. Then he came down with great speed, straight through the storm of arrows.
He did not care about the danger. He only wanted to turn the town into burning buildings and black ashes. The houses made of wood began to burn as the fire-dragon passed around the town, over and over again. Hundreds of townspeople threw water when a new fire began to burn. Smaug circled back, and with his powerful tail, he destroyed the Master’s hall.
Flames burned in the night from every part of the town. Again Smaug came down from the dark sky, and another house began to burn and fall. There was not a single arrow that hurt the great beast any more than the bite of an irritating fly. The people were terrified, and many of them began to jump into the lake from every side of the town.
Women and children climbed into boats to try to get to safety. Men dropped their weapons. There was terrible sadness now, where only a few days before they sang happy songs about the return of the Dwarves. Now the men hated the Dwarves. The Master of Laketown climbed into his large boat, trying to save himself from the disaster.
The town was almost deserted, and soon it would burn down to the surface of the lake. That was what Smaug wanted. He did not care if they all got into boats. It would be easier to hunt them later. He would let them starve to death if they decided to stay in the water. Soon he would burn all of the land around the lake - all of their fields and pastures.
Right now he was enjoying the sport of burning Laketown more than he had enjoyed anything for years and years. But there was still a company of archers among the burning buildings. Their captain was Bard, the man with the serious voice and serious face. His friends had made fun of him because of his pessimism, but they did not doubt his courage.
He was a descendant in a long line from Girion, the Lord of Dale. He belonged to a race of proud, strong men that had died defending the Mountain when Smaug arrived so long ago. Bard stood in the middle of the burning flames. He was holding a large bow made of strong wood. All his companions were leaving him in terror.
But he continued to shoot until he had only one arrow left. He pulled his bow back to his cheek to shoot for the last time. Suddenly, out of the dark, something came fluttering by his shoulder. He was surprised, but it was only an old thrush! The bird was not afraid! It sat on his shoulder and began to tweet into his ear, telling him of the news he heard from the Mountain.
Bard could not believe it! He understood the words the thrush was telling him! He was, after all, a man from the race of Dale. “Wait! Wait!” said the thrush to him. “Wait for the moon to appear. Then look for the hole in his left breast when he flies and turns above you!” Then Bard pulled his bowstring back to his ear.
The dragon was circling back, flying low. As he came closer, the moon appeared over the hills and illuminated the great beast. “Arrow!” said Bard. “Black arrow! You are my last arrow. You have never failed me, and I have always recovered you. My father gave you to me, and his father before him. If you were made by the true King Under the Mountain, go now and speed well!” The dragon flew down once more, lower than ever.
As he turned, his underside glowed white as the moon reflected off the gems and jewels that protected him. But not in one place. There was a hole as big as a dinner plate near his left breast. The bow TWANGED! The black arrow flew fast and straight, directly into the hole where his front leg connected to his chest.
It flew so fast that it disappeared, point, shaft and feathers, into the hole in his chest! Smaug gave a tremendous scream that destroyed men’s ears, knocked down trees and crushed stones! The dragon flew high into the dark sky, spitting fire and smoke. He turned over and crashed down to his death! He fell on the town and destroyed it completely.
The lake boiled with his heat. A vast cloud of steam rose into the air, white in the moonlight. There was a terrible noise of water and steam, and then there was silence. And that was the end of Smaug, and of Laketown. But not of Bard. The people of Laketown cried as they watched their town destroyed. But they were actually very lucky.
Only a few were killed by the dragon fire. They had most of their boats, and their fields and pastures were safe. And the dragon was dead. They did not know the significance of that yet. They arrived in groups onto the land, in the cold wind. Their first complaints were against the Master. He was one of the first to run away from the town, while many stayed to protect it.
They were angry with the Master. “He may be a good businessman,” some said, “but he is no good when something serious happens!” And they applauded the courage of Bard and his tremendous shot. “I wish Bard had not died when Smaug crashed onto our town,” they all said. “We would make him a king. Bard the Dragon-killer! But he is dead!” But from the smoke a tall man approached them.
He was soaked with lake water and there was a strong light in his eyes. “Bard is not dead!” he cried. “He jumped into the lake when the dragon fell. I am Bard, from the race of Dale. I killed the dragon!” “King Bard! King Bard!” they all shouted. But the Master was not happy. “Bard is from the line of the men of Dale, not from Laketown,” said the Master.
“Here in Laketown, the people choose a master from the old and wise people of the town. We do not want warriors as our leaders. Let ‘King Bard’ go back to his kingdom - Dale is now free of the dragon because of him. He can return to his home. And anyone who wants to go with him is free to go. The green fields of the lake are much better than the cold stones of the Mountain.
” “We want King Bard!” the people shouted. “We do not want old men and money counters anymore!” “Hurray for King Archer and down with the Money-counter!” The Master had no choice. He was an intelligent man, and decided to wait and see what the future decided for him. But he said this before he sat down again, “Remember who woke the dragon! We would not be in this situation if the Dwarves had not returned to take their gold from Smaug!” “Be silent!” yelled Bard.
“Now is not the time for cruel words. Do you not see? The Dwarves were probably Smaug’s first victims!” But even as he said these words, the power of the Dwarven treasure called to him. Bard knew that with all the gold hidden in the Mountain, they could rebuild Laketown even better than before. But he needed men to help him on his journey.
“Come, people of Laketown!” cried Bard. “We have work to do!” And as Bard began to organize the people in their new camp, he heard them talking about the vast treasure that was waiting in the Mountain, unguarded. But there was much to do, and in the days that followed, many people became sick and died, even though they survived the attack from Smaug.
Bard worked very hard to help the people, but he knew he could not do it alone. So he sent fast messengers into Mirkwood Forest to ask for help from the King of the Elves. But before the messengers reached the King, they found a vast army of Elves coming to Laketown. The Elvenking had received news from other messengers about the death of Smaug.
All the flying creatures in the land, birds and insects, were very excited about the death of the dragon - they were now free to fly without fear! They whistled and tweeted and brought news to all the peoples in the regions around the Desolation of Smaug. “Smaug is dead! Smaug is dead!” they cried! The Elvenking heard it in Mirkwood, and the orcs heard the news in their mountain caverns to the north.
Smaug was dead, and the treasure was unguarded. “Thorin Oakenshield is most likely dead, I fear,” said the Elvenking of Mirkwood. “He should have remained my guest. It is terrible news, though.” But the Elf King had not forgotten the stories about the vast treasures the Dwarves kept in the Mountain. So that is why Bard’s messengers found the Elves already marching to the Mountain, prepared for battle.
But the Elf King was not an evil ruler. He was a good and kind king. So he turned his marching army away from the Mountain and went to the lake to help the homeless Lakemen. They arrived at the new camps next to the lake only five days after the death of Smaug. They were welcomed by the Lakepeople. The Master was not liked, but the people knew he was a good businessman, so he and Bard negotiated with the Elf King for his assistance and soon their plans were ready.
With the help of many skilled Elf carpenters, they began to cut the wood and prepare to rebuild the town, bigger and better than before. But they planned to build it farther to the north, away from the watery grave of Smaug. They were terrified of the place where the dragon fell. His bones remained there for ages after, but no one went into the water to get the gold and diamonds that fell off his decomposing body.
Now, all the warriors of Laketown who were still able, and most of the Elves, prepared to march north to the Mountain. And so eleven days after the death of the dragon and the destruction of the town, the army of Men and Elves entered the region of the desolation of the dragon. Chapter 13 A thief in the Night Smaug was dead.
The Men of Laketown and the Elves of Mirkwood were marching north to the Mountain. But what about Bilbo and the Dwarves? They had no idea what was happening in the south. They had no knowledge that the guardian of the treasure was gone. As Bilbo and the Dwarves waited for any news, suddenly, out of the sky, the old thrush appeared! The same thrush that Bilbo had tried to hit with a rock only two days before.
He fluttered down and sat on a rock near Thorin and began to tweet and chirp. And to their surprise and joy, they understood him. Bilbo, however, was unable to understand everything the bird said, and Balin had to explain the details to him later on. But this is what the old thrush said: “Thorin, King Under the Mountain! Smaug is dead! The guardian of the gold has fallen.
” “Dead! Dead?” shouted the Dwarves. Dead. Then we have been hiding in fear for no reason. And the treasure is ours. They all jumped up and began to dance and shout in happiness. “Yes, he is dead. He fell two days ago. You can return to your Mountain as King, and the treasure is yours - for the moment. But there are many who are coming here.
The news that Smaug is dead has been told all over the land. And there are many who want the unguarded treasure. There is an army of Elves coming from Mirkwood, and the Lakemen are angry and blame the Dwarves for the destruction of their town.” Thorin replied in anger, “Thank you for the news, old thrush! You and your kind will not be forgotten.
But no thief will steal any of our gold, nor will any army try to take it while we are alive. If you would help us, thrush, bring us news of the people as they come closer. Also, I would ask you to send a message to my cousin Dain in the Iron Hills close to here. He has many strong, well-armed and armored Dwarves.
Tell him to come as fast as he can!” “I will not say if your decision is good or bad,” said the thrush, “but I will do what can be done.” Then he flew off into the sky. “Come, Dwarves! Back to the Mountain. We have many things to do in preparation, and we have no time to lose!” “And little food to use!” cried Bilbo.
The Hobbit was always practical when it came to food and comfort. In fact, Bilbo believed that now that the dragon was dead, the adventure for him was basically over. He was very mistaken, and he would have given most of his reward in gold for this whole adventure to come to an end. “Back to the Mountain!” cried the Dwarves.
They did not listen to Bilbo, and Bilbo had no choice at the moment. Back to Mountain he went. Now, you know very well what happened. And you know that the Dwarves still had many days to prepare for the arrival of the armies. So they began to work very hard to prepare the front gates for any attack. They built a high, strong wall that blocked part of the River Running.
Soon the entrance to the Mountain was blocked and flooded. There was only a small space for anyone to approach the front gates. One night, after many days, the Dwarves could see many lights, like little fires, in the valley to the south, around the town of Dale. “The armies are here!” called Balin. “And there are very many of them.
” The Dwarves did not sleep that night. The next day a small company of Men and Elves approached the front gates. Thorin called out to them in a loud voice, “Who are you, and why do you come dressed for war to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King Under the Mountain?” A tall man walked forward and cried, “Thorin! Why have you built a wall to close the front gates? We are not your enemies.
We are happy to see that you survived the dragon. But there are many things we must discuss.” “Who are you and why should we talk?” answered Thorin. “I am Bard. I killed the dragon and released your treasure. Is that not important to you? I am a descendant of Girion of Dale, and much of the gold and wealth that was in Dale is now part of the treasure that Smaug stole.
Also, Smaug destroyed Laketown, and I have come to ask for your support to help its people to rebuild the town. They helped you when you needed assistance, but your presence only brought sadness and destruction, but I know you did not mean for it to happen.” Bilbo thought that what Bard was saying was true and quite fair.
Of course Thorin would agree to talk. But Bilbo did not consider the power the gold had on Dwarves’ hearts. Thorin had spent many hours in the treasure hall, touching and feeling the gold and jewels. He searched mainly for the Arkenstone, but there were many other beautiful pieces there. Thorin finally answered, “The Dwarves will repay the people of Laketown soon, but as long as you stand there with weapons and the threat of war, we will give nothing.
Until you leave your weapons behind, we will consider you our enemies. And we will never talk to the Elf king and his people. I remember how he treated us. They have no place in this debate. Leave now before I send you arrows instead of more words!” “And if you want to speak with us again, return without the Elf-king, and without your weapons!” “The Elk-king is my friend,” said Bard.
“He helped the people of Laketown when they needed it the most. We will give you time to reconsider your words. Think again, before we return.” Some hours later, the company returned to the front gates of the Mountain. “In the name of Laketown and the Forest of Mirkwood,” the speaker shouted, “we ask that Thorin Okenshield, King Under the Mountain, consider what we have requested.
If he refuses, we will call him our enemy. He must give Bard one-twelfth of the treasure, as the killer of the dragon and descendant of Girion of Dale. Also…” Before the man could finish, Thorin took a bow and arrow and shot it at the speaker. The arrow hit his shield and stuck there. “If that is your answer,” the speaker continued, “then consider yourselves our enemies.
The Mountain is surrounded. We will not attack you, but we will also not let you leave. You may stay with your gold and eat that if you are hungry!” Bilbo did not approve of Thorin’s behavior. In fact, he was tired of the Mountain and he did not appreciate that he could not leave now. “This whole place still smells like dragon,” he complained to himself.
So, many long days passed. Thorin now spoke openly about the Arkenstone. He asked the other Dwarves to look for it in the piles of treasure. “It is worth more than a river of gold to me. There is nothing more precious. If anyone finds it and does not give it to me, they will suffer the consequences!” Bilbo was terrified of what Thorin would do if he discovered that Bilbo had the Arkenstone.
But he did not say anything. “I am afraid I must make a decision,” he thought to himself. Time passed. The birds informed Thorin that his cousin Dain was only two days away. Thorin hoped that when the armies of Men and Elves learned that Dain was coming, they would reconsider their position. That night, Bilbo made up his mind.
He could wait no longer. He put the Arkenstone in his pocket, put on his ring, and snuck over the wall in the dark night. He was as silent as a Hobbit could be and no one saw him or heard him. He walked quietly down to the valley towards the fires, and crossed the river to find their leaders. As he was crossing, his foot slipped on a wet rock and he fell with a loud “splash!” into the cold water.
“That was no fish!” said an Elf guard. “There is a spy out there. It might be that strange creature that is with the Dwarves. They say he is their servant!” “Servant?” said Bilbo angrily, then sneezed very loudly. The Elves quickly surrounded him, but they still could not see him. “I am here, if you want me!” shouted Bilbo, and he took off his ring.
The Elf guards captured him quickly and took him to the leaders of their armies. Soon, Bilbo was sitting near a warm fire. Bard and the Elf-king were sitting on the other side of the fire. “I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins,” he said. “I am a companion of Thorin, if you want to know. Things are impossible. And I am tired of this journey.
I do not want anyone to get hurt and I want to go home. But Thorin is prepared to sit on his piles of gold forever.” “Well, let him!” said Bard. “He is a fool, and he deserves to starve.” “That is true,” said Bilbo, “but I have important information for you. Dain, Thorin’s cousin from the north, is only two days away.
He comes with 500 armed Dwarves. Many of them have experience in the Goblin Wars. When they arrive, your situation will become more difficult, I am sure.” “Why are you telling us this?” asked Bard in a serious voice. “Why are you betraying your friends, or are you threatening us?” My dear Bard!” said Bilbo in surprise.
“I only want to prevent more trouble for everyone. I would like to make you an offer!” “Go ahead. We are listening,” replied Bard. “Here it is!” With these words Bilbo took the Arkenstone out of his pocket. The Elvinking, who was accustomed to things of great beauty, stood up in wonder and amazement. Even Bard looked at the stone in silence.
The Arkenstone glowed with a rich, white light. “This is the Arkenstone of Thrain,” said Bilbo, “the Heart of the Mountain; and it is also the heart of Thorin. He values it above a river of gold. I will give it to you. It will help you in your negotiations with Thorin.” Then Bilbo gave the marvelous jewel to Bard.
When the stone left the Hobbit’s hand, he felt a very powerful sense of loss. “I am going back now, before they realize I am gone. I hope this will be useful to you.” As Bilbo was walking through the camp back towards the Mountain, an old man wearing dark clothes stood up and came towards him. “Hello there, Mr. Baggins!” he said happily.
“There really is more to you than anyone expects!” It was Gandalf! Bilbo was happier than he had been for many days. Bilbo wanted to ask Gandalf many questions about his own journeys. “There is no time right now!” said Gandalf. “Things are coming to an end. There are some difficult times in the coming days, but keep your heart positive! You may come through safe and sound.
There is news that even the birds do not know. We will talk soon. Good night!” Bilbo felt confused, but he felt more positive now. He walked quietly back to the gates. Before he got too close, he put his ring back on and climbed up the wall, and climbed into his little bed. He was soon fast asleep. He forgot all about the things that worried him until the morning.
As a matter of fact he was dreaming of eggs and bacon. Chapter 14 The Battle of Five Armies The next day, a group of Men and Elves, with Bard and the Elf King leading them, came to the front gates and called to Thorin. “They have come to talk to me because they know my cousin Dain is coming. They are scared!” “Hail, King Under the Mountain! Have you changed your mind about the gold?” It was Bard who called to Thorin.
“My mind does not change so quickly! The Elves are still here, I see. I demanded that they leave. We have nothing to discuss!” “Is there nothing that will change your mind so you will give us our part of the gold?” asked Bard. “Nothing that you or your friends might have!” answered Thorin. “What about the Arkenstone of Thrain?” asked Bard.
There was an old man in dark clothes next to Bard. He opened a box and took out the jewel. He held it above his head so Thorin could see it clearly. Thorin could not believe his own eyes. No one spoke for a long time. Then Thorin said, “That stone was my father’s, and it is mine! I will not buy from you something that is already mine!” Thorin was confused, and then asked, “How did you get the Arkenstone, thief?” “We are not thieves,” answered Bard.
“We will give you the stone if you give us what is ours.” “Tell me how you got the stone!” yelled Thorin in great anger. “I gave it to them!” squeaked Bilbo, who was standing next to Thorin and very afraid of what the Dwarf would do to him. “You! You!” cried Thorin. Thorin turned and grabbed Bilbo with both hands.
“You miserable Hobbit! You minature - burglar!” he shouted, not knowing what to say. He shook Bilbo like a rabbit. “I wish Gandalf had never chosen you for this adventure!” yelled Thorin. “I hope his beard falls off! And you, you miserable Hobbit, I will throw you off this wall and onto the rocks below!” He began to lift Biblo up and over his head! “Be calm, King Under the Mountain!” yelled the old man that was holding the stone.
“I am Gandalf! And it appears I have arrived just in time! Please do not damage my Burglar. Put him down.” “You are all conspiring against me!” cried Thorin. “I will never trust a wizard or his friends.” He looked at Biblo and asked, “What do you have to say for yourself, you descendant of rats?” “‘Descendant of rats’?” complained Bilbo.
“Thorin Oakenshield, I have saved you and your people many times on this adventure, and this is how you thank me? You said I could take any treasure I wanted - one-fourteenth of the profits! Assume that the Arkenstone was my portion and I used it the way I wanted!” “If that is what you prefer,” said Thorin angrily.
“Now get out of here before I change my mind!” Thorin looked down at Bard and Gandalf and yelled, “I have been betrayed! I will give you a one-fourteenth portion of the treasure in gold and silver - but no gems! That will be the amount I will give to you, and you can divide it however you want. The Hobbit will not get much from it.
Take him away from here, if you want him to live.” “And the gold?” asked Bard. He did not trust Thorin to pay him. “We will deliver that soon.” “And we will keep the stone until you deliver the gold,” answered Bard. “You are not acting very much like a King, Thorin!” yelled Gandalf. “But that may change soon.
” But Thorin was already planning how to use his cousin Dain to recapture the Arkenstone and not pay any gold to anybody! Bilbo climbed down the wall and walked quickly to stand next to Gandalf. “Good-bye!” he yelled to them. “I hope we meet each other again as friends!” “We will return tomorrow at noon to collect our portion of the gold!” cried Bard.
“If you do that with no deception, we will leave, and the Elf King will return to the Forest.” The sun rose the next day and messengers came to the camp with news. “Lord Bard,” said one of the messengers, “a large army of Dwarves is coming from the north!” Dain had arrived. He came with 500 Dwarves armed with heavy war hammers and shields.
Dwarves are shorter than Men, but they are stronger. And the Dwarves from the north are the strongest. Their beards were long and their helmets were made of strong iron. Because the army of Men and Elves was blocking the path of Dain and his army, Dain could not enter the mountain to help Thorin. The Dwarvish army waited some distance away, preparing for battle.
Bard and his men quickly went to the front gates to get the expected gold. When they arrived, there was no gold - only arrows that the Dwarves shot at them from behind the wall. Bard was not surprised. He had heard many stories about the greed and deceit of Dwarves. And he knew that the Men and Elves outnumbered the Dwarven army.
He did not think they would attack. But Bard did not consider the desire for the Arkenstone. It burned very hot inside the mind of Thorin and the Dwarves. And so, with complete surprise and quickness, Dain and his army moved to attack the Men and Elves. Just as suddenly, a powerful storm of black clouds formed in the sky and came over the waiting armies.
Winter thunder sounded on the wind and lightning hit the top of the Mountain. But beneath the black clouds there was another, darker blackness - and it was moving against the wind. It came from the north. The moving cloud was so dense and full of flying creatures that no light passed through. “Stop!” cried Gandalf, who appeared suddenly between the Dwarves and the army of Men and Elves.
“Stop!” he called in a voice like thunder. A flash of lighting came from his staff. “Danger has come. It has come sooner than I expected. The goblins are here! Bolg of the North is coming, Dain! You killed his father in Moria. Look! The bats are flying above his army like a sea of terror. The goblins are riding wolves and Wargs are with them!” The armies were full of confusion.
While Gandalf was speaking, the darkness grew. The Dwarves looked at the sky and the Elves cried out with worried voices. “Come, everyone!” Gandalf cried. “There is still time for us to talk. Dain, Bard and the Elvenking must join forces!” And so a battle that no one had expected began. It was called the Battle of Five Armies, and it was a terrible battle.
This is how it happened. After Gandalf killed the Great Goblin in the Misty Mountains many months before, the Goblins hated the Dwarves even more. They sent messengers to all their cities and colonies, and their leaders determined to take control of the North, to kill the Dwarves and Men who lived in the region around Lonely Mountain.
They began to make weapons and armor. The goblin soldiers marched secretly under the mountains and at night until vast armies formed in the far north under Gundabad, their mountain capital. They were prepared to come south in surprise. Then they heard news about the death of Smaug, and they were very happy.
They marched faster than ever now. And before anyone knew about their plans, they arrived at Lonely Mountain right behind Dain. The birds in the region did not even know they were coming until the goblins began their attack. Goblins were the enemies of all. So the armies of Men, Elves and Dain the Dwarf joined against their common enemy, they forgot their differences for the moment.
There was no time to make a great battle plan or to ask for help. And soon, before they were fully prepared, the bats came in vast clouds. Men, Elves and Dwarves were terrified. And then they could hear the howling! Wolves and Wargs with goblins on their backs came first and attacked! The battle was terrible.
Archers from Laketown were on the side of the mountain shooting arrows into the goblin army. But they were like crawling insects! There were so many of them! It was the most terrifying thing Bilbo had ever seen, but it was the battle that he liked to talk about the most, even though he was not important in it.
As a matter of fact, when the fighting began, he put on his ring and disappeared from sight, but not from all danger! A magic ring like Bilbo’s does not provide total protection against a charge of goblins riding wargs. And it does not protect you from flying arrows or stones, either. But it does prevent your head from being chosen specifically as a target! It was the army of Dain that prevented complete destruction.
They formed a powerful wall of shields and helmets, and pushed the goblins back. But there were too many! The faster goblins riding wargs began to curve around the sides of the Dwarven army. And with them came the bodyguard of Bolg - they were goblins of huge size with scimitars of steel! And as night approached, the bats came! Massive clouds of bats swirled around the heads of Elf and Man and Dwarf, and bit them like vampires! And then, there was a loud shout from the front gates of the Mountain.
They had forgotten Thorin! Out the Dwarves came from the gates and they were wearing bright armor and carrying sharp axes! Wargs and goblins died like flies in front of them. Thorin was invincible in that moment. “To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me! To me Dwarves of Dain!” he yelled, and his voice was like thunder in the valley! The goblins ran away in fear, but there were too many of them.
They returned in greater numbers and many Men and Dwarves fell. And many Elves who should have lived long ages happily in the forest, were killed by the goblins. Finally, the armies were completely surrounded by the goblins. They were forced into a great ring, facing every direction. And Bilbo saw all of this with great sadness.
He was inside the ring of defenders. And Gandalf was there, too. He was sitting on the ground thinking deeply. It appeared like he was preparing some final magic before the end. “It will not be long now before the goblins destroy us,” Bilbo thought. “After all the adventures I have been on. This is the last one.
I think I would have preferred that Smaug keep the treasure, and not these terrible goblins! And all the poor peoples who have died, Elf, Man and Dwarf. All the songs about battle sing that defeat can be glorious. But it seems very uncomfortable to me. I wish I was not part of it.” The dark storm clouds covered the last light of day.
Then suddenly, the clouds opened for a moment, and bright light came through. And in the light Bilbo saw a sight that made his heart jump with joy! There were shapes in the sky. They were small but they were majestic in the final light of the day. It was the eagles! “The Eagles! The Eagles!” he shouted. “The Eagles are coming!” Bilbo’s eyes were not wrong very often.
The Eagles were coming with the wind from the west. There were so many that he could not count them. “The Eagles! the Eagles!” Bilbo cried, and he danced and jumped and waved his arms. No one could see him, but they could all hear him. Soon everyone had seen the Eagles and they all cried with Bilbo, “The Eagles are coming!” “The Eagles!” cried Bilbo one more time, but at that moment a stone came down from above and hit him on his helmet.
He fell down to the ground, unconscious. “The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can...” Chapter 15 The Return Journey When Bilbo woke up, he was completely alone. There was no one near him.
The day was bright, but it was cold. “I wonder what has happened?” he said to himself. “At least I am not one of the fallen heroes. But there is probably still enough time for that!” He looked around and he saw a camp in the distance. He walked slowly towards it. His head was still hurting. He found the tent where the captains of the armies were meeting.
There were guards outside the entrance, and Bilbo said, “Hello! I am here to see Bard.” The guards were surprised! “Who said that?” they asked, “Who is there?” Then Bilbo realized he was still wearing his ring. He took it off, and to their greater surprise, they could now see Bilbo, right in front of them! Gandalf came out of the tent when he heard Bilbo’s little voice.
“Bilbo Baggins!” he cried in happiness. “Well, I am surprised! Alive after all - I am glad! I was not sure if you had survived. The battle was a terrible one. We were almost destroyed. But news of the battle can wait. Come quickly. He wants to see you.” Gandalf brought Bilbo into the tent, and there was Thorin, laying in a bed.
He was wounded with many wounds. There were holes in his armor and his helmet was dented. Thorin looked up as Bilbo came next to him. “Good-bye, good thief,” he said. “I will go now to the halls of waiting, to sit next to my fathers, until the world begins again. Where I am going I do not need any gold or silver.
I leave all that behind. So I would like to take back the things I said and did to you at the gates.” Bilbo knelt on one knee, and was filled with sadness. “Good-bye, King Under the Mountain!” he said. “I wish our journey did not end this way. There is no gold in all of Middle Earth that can fix it. But I am happy that I traveled with you.
It is more than any Baggins deserves.” “No!” said Thorin. “There is more good in you than you know. You have courage and intelligence. If more of us preferred food and comfort over gold and jewels, the world would be a happier place. But sad or happy, I must leave it now. Good-bye!” Bilbo left the tent and found a quiet place to sit.
He cried for a long time. He was tired of his journey. He just wanted to begin the long trip back to his comfortable Hobbit home, far away in the west. Gandalf found him, and explained to him all that had happened. The Eagles suspected that the goblins were forming a vast army in the mountains. And so the Eagles had come together in large numbers, too.
Their leader was the great Eagle of the Misty Mountains. They had followed the goblins from above and arrived at the battle just in time! Dain was now King Under the Mountain. And the goblin army was completely and totally destroyed. There was peace in all the land for many years after the great battle.
Thorin was buried deep under the Mountain, and Bard placed the Arkenstone on his chest. “Here it will rest until the Mountain falls!” he said. Now all the gold was divided as was agreed. Bard received his portion to help the reconstruction of Laketown. And of the thirteen Dwarves, only ten still lived to receive their portions.
Fili and Kili died protecting Thorin with their own bodies. He was their mother’s older brother. The other Dwarves stayed with Dain in the Mountain. And Bilbo received his portion of the gold - one-fourteenth, to be exact. It was more wealth than he could possibly imagine. “I am not sure how I will take this home with me,” he said to Gandalf, when they were preparing Bilbo said good-bye to the Dwarves, and offered to make them tea and cakes if they ever visited him in the Shire again.
Bilbo looked one more time at the Mountain, and said out loud, “Good-bye, Thorin, King Under the Mountain!” And then he and Gandalf began their long journey back to the Shire. They traveled with the Elves as they marched back to the Forest. But they did not go through the Forest. Bilbo refused to go back inside! They traveled to the north of the Forest.
But before they parted ways with the Elvenking, Bilbo offered him a beautiful necklace of pearls and diamonds that was part of his portion of the treasure. “Why are you giving this to me?” asked the Elf king. “To repay you for all the food I ate and wine I drank while I was in your cavern,” replied Bilbo.
The Elf king laughed happily at the gift. It was a long road around the Forest, but it was much safer now that the goblins were crushed. Finally, as spring began, they arrived at the same pass in the Misty Mountains where they were captured by the goblins. They reached the top of the pass during the morning.
The day was bright. Bilbo looked back to the east, and there, far in the distance, he could see Lonely Mountain. He turned and looked far to the west. He could see the green lands where his Hobbit hole waited for him. They came down the mountains safely and stopped for a long time in Rivendell. There they rested and told Elrond the story of Smaug and the great Battle.
And there Gandalf recounted the story of his adventure: Gandalf had gone to the south of Mirkwood Forest, and together with the help of other powerful wizards, they had expelled the Necromancer of Dol Guldur. Bilbo was fascinated. He rested and listened to the singing of the Elves, and before they left, Elrond named him “Elf-friend”! They said their good-byes and continued on their journey.
And before long, Bilbo recognized the forest they were traveling through. “I recognize this place, Gandalf! This is the spot where we were attacked by the trolls!” “Yes, my dear Hobbit! This is the very same place!” And off the path, Bilbo could see the stone statues of Tom, Burt and Bill. They recovered the gold they had hidden long ago, and put it on their ponies.
The ponies were not happy about this! The weather was beautiful as they entered the lands around the Shire. Spring was turning to summer, and Bilbo began to feel the heat. He dried the sweat from his face with a clean red handkerchief. Not a single handkerchief of Bilbo’s had survived the journey. Elrond had given him this one before he left Rivendell.
Soon, they came to the top of a rise in the land, and there, in the distance, Bilbo could see his own Hill. Suddenly, Bilbo said, “The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can.” Gandalf looked at him. “My dear Bilbo!” he said.
“Something is the matter with you! You are not the Hobbit that you were. “They crossed the bridge and walked down the comfortable path right back to Bilbo’s own front door. “My goodness! What is going on here!” he cried. There was a great commotion, and Hobbits of all kinds, respectable and unrespectable, were going in and out of his Hobbit hole.
He had arrived back home in the middle of an auction! The Hobbits of the Shire had decided that Bilbo had gone away on his journey and had died. And since he was not coming back, they would sell all of his belongings, and his Hobbit hole! He had arrived home just in time to prevent this great tragedy! He went into his bedroom, and there were his cousins, the Sackville-Bagginses.
They were measuring his room to see if their furniture would fit! It took a long time to resolve the legal complications. Many Hobbits had bought items that belonged to Bilbo. And he believed that the Sackville-Bagginses had stolen his silverware. Bilbo had to use some of his treasure to buy back his own things! Finally, Bilbo was able to relax and enjoy his comfortable Hobbit home once again.
One evening, many years later, Bilbo was sitting in his study, writing his memoirs. He decided to call his story “There and Back Again, a Hobbit’s Holiday”. Suddenly, there was a ring at his door. It was Gandalf, and a Dwarf. The Dwarf was Balin. “Come in! Come in!” said Bilbo. Soon they were talking about their journey and laughing.
Balin noticed that Bilbo had placed his sword Sting over the fireplace. Bilbo asked about things at the Mountain. Bard had rebuilt the town of Dale. Men from all over the region came to live there again. The desolation was now filled with birds and trees and green fields and pastures. There was profitable trade going up and down the River Running.
There was friendship between Dwarf, Man and Elf. The old Master of Laketown had come to a bad end. Bard had given him much gold to help the Lakepeople, but in his greed, he took most of the gold and ran away. He died of starvation, and his companions all deserted him. “The new Master is intelligent,” said Balin, “and very popular.
He gets most of the credit for the prosperity of Laketown. They are making songs that say that because of him the rivers run with gold.” “So the prophecies from the old songs are true!” said Bilbo. “Of course!” said Gandalf. “Don’t you believe the prophecies? Or do you doubt them because you were responsible for them coming true? You don’t believe that all your adventures and escapes were just pure luck? You are a very good Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, and I like you very much.
But you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” “Thank goodness!” said Bilbo laughing, and blew an enormous smoke ring into the air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIlplTBSIl4&t=199s

https://www.youtube.com/@Ingl%C3%AAsEssencial

Inglês Essencial

Welcome to INGLÊS ESSENCIAL (Essential English)! My name is Joshua Cashill. I am an English teacher. I am American. I was born in New York City (a long time ago!), and I have been living and teaching in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since 1997. Learning English

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유용, ChatGPT가 유튜브를 망치고 있어요... 여기 증거가 있습니다, ChatGPT Is Killing YouTube… Here’s Proof (3)

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:30:37 +0900

#유용, ChatGPT가 유튜브를 망치고 있어요... 여기 증거가 있습니다, ChatGPT Is Killing YouTube… Here’s Proof (3)

전체 번역: "YouTube의 역대 최대 업데이트, 그리고 뷰 급감의 진짜 원인"

YouTube가 역대 최대 업데이트 중 하나를 방금 발표했습니다. 그리고 많은 사람들에게 나쁜 소식입니다. 지난 6개월 동안 플랫폼 전체에 걸쳐 조회수가 급격히 떨어졌는데, 대부분의 사람들이 생각하는 것보다 훨씬 심각한 상황입니다. 이 영상에서는 이 급락이 실제로 무엇 때문에 일어났는지 설명하고, YouTube의 대규모 새 알고리즘 업데이트가 무엇인지 설명한 뒤, 조회수 하락의 영향을 받았다면 무엇을 해야 하는지 보여드리겠습니다.

9월 조회수 급락

몇 달 전, 저는 '9월 조회수 급락'에 대한 영상을 올렸습니다. 모르시는 분들을 위해 설명드리면, 2025년 말 YouTube의 거의 모든 채널이 예상치 못한 큰 조회수 하락을 경험했습니다. 그리고 대부분의 채널에서 조회수는 제대로 회복되지 않았습니다.

제 채널도 마찬가지였습니다. 작년 초만 해도 제 채널은 영상 하나에 수백만 뷰를 기록했습니다. 지금은 많은 영상이 10만 뷰도 안 됩니다. 물론 제 전략이 바뀐 것도 있습니다. 지금은 의도적으로 더 작은 타겟 시청자층을 겨냥하고 있으니까요. 하지만 9월 조회수 급락이 저한테도 확실히 영향을 미쳤습니다.

이 일이 벌어졌을 때, 원인에 대한 추측이 많았습니다. 제 분야의 많은 채널들이 각자 영상을 만들고 리서치를 했습니다. 하지만 수개월 동안 아무도 명확한 답을 찾지 못했습니다. 계절적 변화인지, 플랫폼 변화인지, 아니면 알고리즘을 대규모로 바꾼 건지, 아무도 정확히 짚어내지 못했습니다.

그러다 Ed Lawrence라는 사람의 영상을 보게 됐고, 그제야 모든 것이 맞아떨어지기 시작했습니다. 2025년 9월에 정말 엄청난 알고리즘 변화가 있었던 겁니다. 그리고 그 변화가 생긴 이유는, 지난 몇 년 동안 ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini 같은 AI 툴들이 조용히 YouTube의 시청자 점유율을 대규모로 빼앗아 가고 있었기 때문입니다. 이제 그 어느 때보다 많은 사람들이 YouTube 영상 대신 ChatGPT 같은 AI 툴에서 답을 찾습니다. 그리고 YouTube의 기술 담당자들은 이 사실을 매우 걱정하고 있습니다.

YouTube 콘텐츠의 세 가지 카테고리

배경을 좀 설명드리면, 지난 20년간 YouTube에 올라온 모든 콘텐츠는 세 가지 카테고리로 나눌 수 있습니다. 교육 콘텐츠, 엔터테인먼트 콘텐츠, 정보 콘텐츠. 이 중 교육 콘텐츠가 항상 가장 지배적이었습니다. 전구 교체 방법이든, 수학 방정식 이해든, 비타민 B에 좋은 음식이든, YouTube는 빠르고 심층적인 답을 찾을 수 있는 거의 유일한 곳이었습니다.

하지만 지금은 완전히 새로운 플레이어들이 등장했습니다. 영상 콘텐츠에서 직접 경쟁하지는 않지만, 교육 콘텐츠 분야에서는 엄청난 경쟁자가 됐습니다. YouTube 입장에서는 정말 큰 문제가 생긴 겁니다.

솔직히 물어보겠습니다. 마지막으로 급하게 뭔가 알고 싶었을 때, YouTube에서 영상을 찾으러 가셨나요? 아니면 바로 ChatGPT나 Google AI에게 물어보셨나요? 아마 대부분이 후자였을 겁니다. 이제 모두가 그렇게 하고 있습니다.

Google Trends로 직접 증명해보겠습니다. 제 분야인 'YouTube 성장'을 검색해보면, 지난 1년간 검색량이 최고점 대비 75%나 떨어진 걸 볼 수 있습니다. '지방 빼는 방법' 같은 완전히 다른 분야를 검색해봐도, 10년 전 최고점 대비 현재 절반 이하로 떨어졌습니다. YouTube 최대·최고 수익 분야 중 하나인 '온라인 돈 버는 법'도 2023년 역대 최고점을 찍은 뒤 완전히 급락했습니다. 이건 우연이 아닙니다. 교육 분야 전체에서 이런 현상이 일어나고 있고, 안타깝게도 앞으로 더 심해질 겁니다.

ChatGPT vs YouTube: 정보 접근성 비교

수면이 안 좋아서 수면 패턴을 개선하고 싶다고 해봅시다. YouTube에서 '수면 패턴 고치는 방법'을 검색하면 수많은 결과와 영상들이 뜹니다. 그중 괜찮을 것 같은 영상을 고르면, 15분짜리 영상입니다. 즐길 수도 없는 영상을 15분 동안 봐야 하는데, 그것도 나한테 딱 맞는 답을 얻지 못할 수도 있습니다.

반면 ChatGPT에 똑같은 질문을 입력하면, 20초도 안 되어 엄청 상세한 답을 받을 수 있습니다. 15분짜리 영상이냐, 20초짜리 답변이냐. 게다가 ChatGPT는 개인 정보를 더 입력하면 나만을 위한 맞춤형 계획까지 만들어줍니다. YouTube 영상은 수천 명을 동시에 만족시키도록 설계되어 있어서 개인화가 불가능합니다. ChatGPT는 딱 한 사람, 바로 나를 위해 설계됩니다.

YouTube의 담당자들은 이 문제를 이제 완전히 인식하고 있습니다.

새 알고리즘: '정보 이득(Information Gain)'

그래서 알고리즘이 교육·정보 콘텐츠를 추천하고 밀어주는 방식을 대대적으로 바꿨습니다.

오랫동안 크리에이터들은 서로를 따라 하고 다른 콘텐츠를 복사해서 엄청난 조회수를 올릴 수 있었습니다. 분야에서 잘 되는 영상을 보고, 내 버전으로 만들기만 하면 됐습니다. 저도 작년 초 '영상 업로드 후 해야 할 것들'이라는 영상을 만들었고 잘 됐습니다. 그러자 다른 사람들이 제 구성과 아이디어를 따라 해서 똑같은 썸네일로 영상을 만들었는데, 심지어 저보다 더 많은 조회수를 받기도 했습니다. 직접 따라 했는데도 통했던 겁니다.

하지만 YouTube는 이걸 더 이상 허용하지 않습니다.

2025년 9월에 적용된 알고리즘 변화는 매우 복잡한 AI 소프트웨어가 여러분의 영상 전체를 분석합니다. 제목, 썸네일, 그리고 자막을 통해 영상에서 실제로 말한 모든 단어까지 살펴봅니다. 그리고 여러분의 콘텐츠가 이미 YouTube에 있는 정보를 새로운 것 없이 반복하는 것에 불과하다고 판단되면, 알고리즘은 즉시 그 영상의 노출을 제한합니다.

이것이 이제 '정보 이득(Information Gain)'이라고 불리는 개념입니다. 영상에 새로운 정보 이득이 없으면, 알고리즘의 밀어주기도 없습니다. 그게 전부입니다.

저도 이 변화를 확인해보기 위해 실험을 했습니다. 제 분야에서 성과가 좋은 영상 하나를 찾아서, 작년이었으면 아무 문제 없었을 방식으로 그것을 복제해봤습니다. 결과는 완전히 실패였습니다. 거의 노출이 되지 않았습니다. 제가 설명한 모든 것이 그대로 증명된 겁니다.

YouTube가 이렇게 한 이유는, 사람들이 계속해서 같은 콘텐츠가 YouTube 여기저기서 반복되는 걸 보면, ChatGPT를 쓰게 될 가능성이 훨씬 높아지기 때문입니다. 아무도 똑같은 영상이 천 번 다시 만들어지는 걸 보고 싶지 않으니까요. 지루합니다. 그래서 ChatGPT, Claude 같은 AI와 경쟁하기 위해, YouTube는 이제 새롭고 신선한 가치를 주는 영상만 밀어주는 완전히 새로운 방식을 택해야 했습니다.

크리에이터의 황금 기회

하지만 YouTube의 담당자들은 ChatGPT의 가장 큰 한계도 알고 있습니다. ChatGPT는 결국 개성 없는 AI 컴퓨터 로봇이고, 사람과 제대로 교감할 수 없다는 겁니다. 개성도 없고, 스토리텔링도 없고, 공감대도 없습니다.

바로 여기에 크리에이터로서 여러분의 황금 기회가 있습니다. ChatGPT가 할 수 없는 것을 정확히 파고드세요. 개성, 스토리텔링, 공감대. 이런 요소들을 콘텐츠에 녹여낼 수 있다면, 알고리즘이 영상을 더 많이 밀어줄 뿐만 아니라 시청자와 훨씬 강한 유대감도 쌓을 수 있습니다.

결론

제가 드릴 수 있는 가장 중요한 조언은 이겁니다.

모든 영상에서 완전히 새로운 가치를 제공하는 것을 목표로 하세요. 콘텐츠에 최대한 인간적인 요소를 녹여넣으세요. 그리고 새로운 것이나 독창적인 것을 전혀 추가하지 않은 채로 분야의 대형 채널을 절대 단순히 따라 하지 마세요.

유튜버 참고 포인트:

이 영상은 유튜브 시리즈에 직접적으로 좋은 소식입니다.

정보 이득 관점에서 시리즈 강점 확인: 1998년 IMF 사태와 2026년 현재 매크로를 연결하는 구조, 라이브 시장 데이터 훅 등은 단순 정보 복사가 아닌 새로운 시각과 맥락을 추가하는 방식 → 알고리즘이 원하는 방향과 정확히 일치
스토리텔링 강조: ChatGPT가 대체할 수 없는 것이 바로 스토리텔링과 개성 → 무한돈전 공식의 충격 선언, 반전 예고, 한국 자부심 연결 구조가 오히려 지금 알고리즘에서 더 유리
주의할 점: 비슷한 투자자 채널들과 구성·구조가 너무 유사해지지 않도록, 한국 연결고리라는 독창적 앵글을 매 에피소드에서 더욱 선명하게 드러내는 것이 핵심

원본,

ChatGPT Is Killing YouTube… Here’s Proof

ChatGPT가 유튜브를 망치고 있어요... 여기 증거가 있습니다

YouTube has just released one of their biggest updates yet, and it's bad news for a lot of people. Now, over the last 6 months, there has been a huge crash in views across the entire platform, and it's much worse than most people think. So, in this video, I'm going to explain what really caused this crash.
I'll explain YouTube's massive new algorithm update, and then I'll show you what you need to do if you've been affected by the views drop. Let's get into it. Now, a couple of months ago, I made this video here, which was all about the September view dip. Now, if you don't know what the September view dip is, then basically at the end of 2025, the vast majority of all channels on YouTube saw a big unexpected dip in views.
And for most channels, the views haven't really properly recovered. Now, for me, on my own channel, like this one, I've also seen this. Back early last year, my channel was hitting millions of views per video. Now, on many of them, I get less than 100,000 views. And yes, my strategy has changed. Like, I am now purposely targeting a smaller audience, but the view dip definitely did hit me, too.
But when this happened, there was a lot of speculation on what caused this September view dip. Many channels in my space made their own videos and did their own research on it. But for months, none of us really found an answer. I thought it could have been seasonal changes or some sort of like platform change or could they have actually massively just changed the algorithm? Like none of us could really put our finger on it.
And that was until I saw this video here from a guy called Ed Lawrence. And if you want to check that video out, I'll link it down below. But after watching his video, everything started to click because it became apparent that yes, there was an absolutely massive algorithm change back in September 2025. And that change came into effect because over the last couple of years AI tools like chat GBT, Claude, Gemini, and all of those have been quietly taking over a huge portion of viewership from YouTube.
More people now than ever are turning to AI tools like Chat GBT for answers instead of watching YouTube videos on YouTube. And the tech bros at YouTube are pretty worried about this. Now, to give a bit of backstory for you, over the last 20 years, all of the content ever uploaded onto the YouTube platform can be split into three categories.
Educational content, entertainment content, and information content. Now, the educational side of YouTube was always the most dominant. And if you ever needed help with anything, whether that was like how to change a light bulb or how to understand a maths equation or even like what foods were best for vitamin B, for example, YouTube was one of the only places to go for a quick in-depth answer to your problem.
But fast forward 2020 years, we've actually seen some big new players come into the space. And whilst they aren't directly competing on video content, they are competing massively for educational content. And it's thrown a massive spanet in the works for the guys at YouTube. And I'm going to guess that the last time you yet you had a burning question or you needed help with some specific information, you probably went straight to chat GBT or Google AI to give you an answer instead of going to YouTube, didn't you? Like you didn't go straight to YouTube and watch video
anymore. And that's the thing, everyone is doing this now. Now, just look at this. I can literally prove it to you. Here is Google Trends and it basically shows how popular things are on YouTube and how much they're being searched for and watched. So, if we type in a few different niches, I'm going to show you just how big this drop off has actually been.
So, if we start with my own niche, YouTube growth, and select over the last year, you can already see a huge drop off of people searching for how to grow on YouTube. It had like a high of a 100, which is like the maximum score back earlier on in the year. But now, as of now, today is all the way down here. That's like a 75% decrease in volume for this search term.
But then also, let's type in something completely different like how to lose fat, a completely different niche. And let's look at the data from the last 10 years. Now, again, it's dropped off massively. It went up to 100 back here. And as of now, as of today, it's less than 50. So, it's literally halfed from its peak. And then let's say another niche, uh, the make money online niche, one of YouTube's biggest, most profitable niches.
If we go back all the way to like 2008 when YouTube started, you can see it had a couple of spikes and then it gradually grew to all-time highs in 2023, but over the last three years, it's completely crashed again. This isn't coincidence. This is happening all over the education space on YouTube and unfortunately it's going to keep getting worse.
So now let me show you just how easy it is to get information from chat GBT compared to getting it from YouTube. So for example, let's say your sleep was bad and you needed to improve your sleep schedule on YouTube. You might type in something like how do I fix my sleep schedule? And this is basically what comes up.
So now I have to spend the next few minutes scanning through all of these results and all of these videos to find one that I think will help me best. And once I've selected a video, you'll then see this is like 15 minutes long, which means it's going to take me 15 minutes of watching a video I'm potentially not going to enjoy just to get a generic answer to my personal problem.
And after that 15 minutes, I might not even have found the answer to the information I was after yet. But now let's play the exact same scenario on chat GBT. Now, if I just type in something like, "How do I fix my sleep schedule?" into the prompt box, it's going to take literally less than 20 seconds to get a super indepth answer with a ton of information.
So, the exact same question can be answered in even 15 minutes on a YouTube video or 20 seconds on chat GBT. And now, as you can see down here with Chat GBT, you can go even further to get a personalized plan. All I need to do is give it some more personal information. and the advice is going to be generated uniquely for me and only me.
Whereas the reality is on YouTube, these videos are designed to please thousands of people at once. So nothing is ever personalized. It's all generic. Chat GBT, however, is designed to please just one person at once. And that person being you. So it's always extremely personalized. And the guys at YouTube are now fully aware of this problem.
So the algorithm has had to make a huge huge change on basically how it recommends and pushes educational and informational content. Now for so long creators had been able to copy each other and copy other content on the platform and get a ton of views doing so. Like it was super easy to just get views.
Like all you had to do was look at what videos worked well in your niche, watch it, and then make your own version of it. Like this video here. I made this video early last year about things you need to do after uploading videos and it did really well for me. So naturally, other people in my niche decided to copy my packaging and my video idea and then they all got a ton of views doing so.
Even this guy here got more views than I did on the exact same video and the exact same thumbnail that I made. Like it's crazy. Like even though they directly copied me, it worked. But YouTube no longer allows this anymore. Now, the algorithm change that came in in September now has very complex AI softwares trolling through your entire videos.
It looks at everything from your titles, your thumbnails, and literally every single word spoken in your video through your basically your transcripts. And if it notices that your content is basically just repeating the same information that's already out there on YouTube without actually adding anything new or adding anything unique, then the algorithm will actually just restrict your video immediately.
And this is what's now called information gain. If there's no new information gain in your videos, there is no push by the algorithm. It's as simple as that. And naturally, when I found out about this big change, I wanted to test it to see how much it had actually really changed. So, I thought I'd do a little experiment.
I found a high performing video in my niche, this one here, why YouTube doesn't push your content, and I decided to replicate it in a way that would have been fine just last year. But, as you can see, this video actually bombed. It barely got pushed at all, which literally just proves everything I've just explained to you.
Now, YouTube has basically done this because it knows if people keep seeing the same content pushed everywhere on YouTube, they are much more likely just to use Chat GBT for information instead. Like, nobody wants to see the same video just remade a thousand different times. It's boring. So, to compete with the likes of Chat GBT and Claude, YouTube now has to take a completely new approach of only pushing videos that give new fresh value.
But the guys at YouTube know that the biggest limitation of chat GBT is that it's ultimately just an AI computer robot with no personality and it's not able to engage properly with a human. There's no personality, there's no storytelling, there's no relatability. So your golden opportunity here as a creator making videos on YouTube is to tap into exactly what chat GBT can't.
Those things, personality, storytelling, relatability, that kind of stuff. Now, if you can infuse any of those things into your content, not only will the algorithm push your videos more, but you'll also build a much stronger connection with your audience. So, the biggest advice I can give you here is you need to aim to give brand new value in every video you post.
Infuse the human element in your content as much as possible and never just copy the big channels in your niche without adding anything new or anything unique. Now, if you want even more help with growing your YouTube channel, come and join my YouTube W Academy. We've got over 90 different lectures covering 14 different modules from titles to audience retention to video ideas and much, much more.
Now, the link is down in the description below. Or if you didn't want to, that's fine. Instead, I'd suggest watching this video here. It's about the new strategy dominating YouTube right now. And it's a great way of taking proven winners, but actually recreating them in a brand new unique way to beat this new algorithm change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GAKrgNN8zQ

유용, YouTube가 페이스리스 AI 채널을 금지하나?, YouTube BANS Faceless AI YouTube Channels?, (2)

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:10:13 +0900

유용, YouTube가 페이스리스 AI 채널을 금지하나?, YouTube BANS Faceless AI YouTube Channels?, (2)

"YouTube가 페이스리스 AI 채널을 금지하나?"

안녕하세요. 최근 YouTube가 많은 채널을 삭제하거나 수익 박탈하고 있어서 채널을 잃을까봐, 또는 수익이 박탈될까봐 걱정되시는 분들, 이 영상이 도움이 됐으면 합니다. 저는 2009년부터 YouTube를 해왔고, 현재 성공적으로 운영 중인 페이스리스 채널을 몇 개 보유하고 있습니다. 지금도 모두 수익화가 유지되고 있고요. 이 채널은 불과 몇 달 만에 구독자 10만 명을 달성했습니다. 저는 YouTube 정책이 어떻게 돌아가는지, YouTube가 무엇을 원하는지 이해하고 있습니다. 채널을 잃거나 수익 박탈이 걱정되신다면 끝까지 보시길 권합니다.

본격적으로 시작하기 전에 한 가지 말씀드리고 싶습니다. 이 영상은 스크립트 없이 찍는 영상입니다. 대본을 읽는 게 아니고, 편집도 하지 않을 겁니다. 자막이나 영상 소스도 없습니다. 완전히 날것 그대로 이 문제에 대해 이야기하고, 여러분의 문제를 해결하는 데 도움을 드리려 합니다.

왜 이런 일이 일어나고 있는가

먼저 왜 이런 일이 벌어지는지, 그리고 왜 YouTube 입장에서는 이게 당연한 조치인지 이해하셔야 합니다.

점점 더 많은 사람들이 YouTube로 돈을 벌고 싶어합니다. YouTuber가 되어 수익을 내는 것이 일종의 새로운 아메리칸 드림이 됐습니다. 누구나 원하는 거죠. 그리고 이제 AI의 도움으로 누구나 스크립트를 쓸 수 있고, 영상을 생성할 수 있고, 기본적으로 누구나 영상을 만들 수 있게 됐습니다.

그리고 누구나 서로를 따라 할 수 있게 됐습니다. 그 결과 플랫폼이 매우 비슷하거나 똑같은 콘텐츠로 가득 차게 됩니다. 이건 YouTube 플랫폼 자체에 매우 나쁜 일입니다. 플랫폼이 반복적이 되면 지루해지고, 지루해지면 사람들이 떠납니다. Instagram으로 가고, TikTok으로 가고, YouTube에서 시간을 보내지 않게 됩니다.

그래서 YouTube는 스스로를 보호해야 합니다. YouTube는 진정성 있는 콘텐츠를 원합니다.

'진정성'이란 무엇인가

진정성이란, AI를 이용해 남을 따라 하거나 베끼는 것을 멈추는 것입니다. 대신 AI를 여러분 자신의 창작 과정을 빠르게 하는 도구로 사용해야 합니다.

AI를 어떻게 써야 하고 어떻게 쓰면 안 되는지 예를 들어보겠습니다.

AI로 스크립트를 만들 수 있을까요? 네이기도 하고 아니오이기도 합니다.

ChatGPT나 Gemini, Claude에게 스크립트를 대신 써달라고 프롬프트를 입력하는 방식으로 매번 영상을 만든다면, 결국 '비진정성 콘텐츠'로 타겟팅되어 수익이 박탈됩니다. 왜냐하면 여러분 혼자 그러는 게 아니니까요. 수백, 수천 명이 ChatGPT나 Gemini로 스크립트를 만들고 있습니다. 그러면 그 스크립트들이 서로 너무 비슷해집니다.

예를 들어 역사 영상을 만들고 싶은 사람이 1,000명 있다고 해봅시다. 다들 ChatGPT로 스크립트를 생성하면, 형식도 같고 구조도 같고 문체도 같은 스크립트가 나옵니다. 콘텐츠가 반복적이 되는 거죠.

AI로 스크립트를 만드는 올바른 방법

그렇다면 반복적이지 않고 진정성 있는 스크립트를 AI로 어떻게 만들 수 있을까요? 제가 실제로 하는 방식을 말씀드리겠습니다.

저는 AI에게 스크립트를 써달라는 프롬프트를 입력하는 대신, ChatGPT 안에서 직접 말로 스크립트를 만듭니다. ChatGPT에서 마이크 버튼을 누르고 제가 직접 이야기하는 겁니다. 그리고 ChatGPT에게는 딱 이것만 부탁합니다. 구조를 다듬어라, 반복을 제거해라, 문법을 고쳐라. 영어가 모국어가 아니라서요.

하지만 핵심은, 제 단어, 제 아이디어, 제 정체성은 유지해달라고 요청합니다. 이게 제가 Danny Wyatt 채널의 스크립트를 만드는 방식입니다. ChatGPT와 약 2시간 동안 대화합니다. 지금 제가 여러분께 이야기하는 것과 똑같은 방식으로요. 지금 저는 스크립트 없이 카메라 앞에서 말하고 있잖아요. 스크립트를 쓸 때도 카메라 앞 대신 ChatGPT에게 말하는 겁니다. 그리고 나서 ChatGPT에게 말합니다. "내가 방금 한 말, 고쳐줘. 문법 고치고, 반복 제거하고, YouTube 시청 지속률을 높일 수 있게 다듬어줘. 하지만 핵심 메시지, 나의 정체성, 나의 흐름, 나의 스타일은 유지해줘."

이게 YouTube 스크립트에 ChatGPT를 활용하는 방식입니다. 책을 쓰는 방식과 비슷합니다. 책을 쓰는 많은 사람들이 직접 책을 다 쓰지 않습니다. 핵심 아이디어를 쓰고, 카피라이터가 더 멋지게 다듬어줍니다. 저도 ChatGPT를 똑같이 씁니다. 아이디어를 만들고, 요점을 설명하고, ChatGPT에게 핵심은 유지하면서 더 멋지게 다듬어달라고 하는 겁니다.

두 번째 방법은 AI를 리서치 도구로 쓰는 겁니다. 역사 영상을 만들고 싶다면, AI에게 스크립트를 써달라고 하는 대신 리서치를 부탁하고, 그 리서치를 바탕으로 스크립트는 직접 씁니다. 몇 년 전만 해도 페이스리스 역사 채널 스크립트 하나에 리서치만 3~5일씩 걸렸습니다. 지금은 AI로 몇 분 만에 리서치하고, 검증하고, 그것을 바탕으로 직접 스크립트를 쓸 수 있습니다.

이게 제 생각에 AI를 올바르게 쓰는 방식입니다. AI에게 스크립트를 써달라고 하는 게 아니라, 내 스크립트를 다듬어달라고, 리서치를 도와달라고 하고, 스크립트는 직접 쓰는 겁니다.

YouTube는 빠른 돈벌기 수단이 아니다

한 가지 이해하셔야 할 게 있습니다. YouTube로 돈을 빨리 벌 수는 있습니다만, YouTube는 빠른 돈벌기 수단이 아닙니다. 스크립트 쓰는 과정을 즐겨야 하고, 아이디어를 찾는 과정을 즐겨야 합니다.

YouTube 크리에이터에는 두 종류가 있습니다. YouTube 자체를 즐기는 크리에이터, 그리고 돈을 즐기는 크리에이터. 하지만 돈을 원하면서도 성공한 크리에이터들조차 이 규칙을 존중합니다. 그들도 AI로 과정을 자동화하지 않습니다.

빠른 돈을 위한 지름길을 찾으려 한다면, YouTube는 결국 여러분의 수익을 박탈할 겁니다.

영상이 100% AI로 만들어졌다면, 보이스오버도 100% AI, 스크립트도 100% AI라면, 그 안에 여러분이란 존재가 없는 겁니다. 여러분이 한 건 버튼을 누른 것뿐이에요. 하지만 YouTube는 그런 게 아닙니다. YouTube는 '당신(You)'에 관한 겁니다. 그래서 이름이 YouTube인 거잖아요.

페이스리스 YouTube는 AI 이전부터 존재했다

정말 중요한 사실이 있습니다. 페이스리스 YouTube는 AI가 존재하기 훨씬 전부터 있었습니다. 2015년, 2016년, 2018년에 시작한 훌륭한 페이스리스 채널들이 많습니다. TierZoo처럼 동물의 능력을 다루는 채널이나, VanossGaming처럼 구독자 2천만 명의 게임 채널도 얼굴을 절대 보여주지 않습니다.

페이스리스 YouTube는 스팸이나 사기가 아닙니다. 최근 AI가 페이스리스 YouTube를 스팸스럽고 사기스러운 것처럼 만들어버렸을 뿐입니다. 페이스리스 YouTube는 AI가 생기기 훨씬 전부터 정당한 YouTube 영상 제작 방식이었습니다.

성공적인 페이스리스 채널을 만들고 싶다면, 페이스리스 YouTube가 반드시 AI를 써야 한다는 생각을 버리세요. 지금 당장 마인크래프트를 켜고 마이크에 대고 이야기하면서 게임 채널을 시작할 수 있습니다. 그게 페이스리스 YouTube입니다.

AI를 올바르게 쓰는 또 다른 방법

예를 들어 저는 썸네일에 제 얼굴이 필요할 때마다 직접 카메라를 켜고 사진을 찍는 대신, AI로 다양한 표정의 제 얼굴 사진을 생성합니다. 이렇게 시간을 절약할 수 있죠. 하지만 시청자가 영상을 클릭하면 저를 보고, 제 목소리를 듣고, 제 스크립트를 듣고, 제 스타일을 봅니다. 이 때문에 썸네일 제작이나 리서치, 문법 교정에 AI를 쓰는 건 문제가 되지 않습니다. 더 좋은 콘텐츠를 더 빠르고 저렴하게 만들기 위한 도구로 쓰는 거니까요.

AI는 절대 여러분을 부자로 만들어줄 황금 티켓이 아닙니다. 많은 사람들이 그런 말을 하지만, 그렇지 않습니다. AI는 여러분의 개인 비서, 개인 디자이너, 개인 컨설턴트 같은 겁니다. 제목에 대해 AI와 상담하고, 아이디어에 대해 상담하고, 스크립트 작성을 도움받고, 썸네일이나 영상 에셋 디자인을 도움받는 것. 이게 AI를 쓰는 방식입니다. 모든 걸 자동화해서 AI로만 만든 영상을 찍어내는 게 아닙니다.

그렇게 하면 수익이 박탈됩니다. 왜냐하면 YouTube를 시청하는 건 실제 사람들이고, 그들은 다른 사람이 무언가에 대해 이야기하는 걸 듣고 싶어하기 때문입니다. AI로 스크립트를 쓰고 영상을 만들어도 사람들이 봤던 시기가 잠깐 있었습니다. AI로 만든 건지 아닌지 몰랐을 때요. 하지만 지금은 모두가 알고, 모두가 구분할 수 있습니다.

결론: AI를 얼마나 쓰고 있는가, 자문해보라

AI를 써도 되느냐, 안 되느냐 혼란스러우신 분들이 많습니다. 답은 이겁니다. AI를 써도 됩니다. 하지만 전체 과정을 자동화하는 데 AI를 쓰면 안 됩니다. AI가 모든 걸 다 해주고 여러분은 버튼만 누른다면, 그건 여러분의 창작물이 아닙니다.

채널에서 AI가 차지하는 비율과 여러분이 차지하는 비율을 계산해보세요. 프롬프트 한 줄만 입력한다면 여러분의 채널에 여러분이 차지하는 비율은 2~3%에 불과합니다.

한 줄 요약: YouTube에서 최대한 인간답게 있으세요.

어닝인사이드 참고 포인트:

"말로 먼저 만들고, AI로 다듬는다"는 방식은 현재 송천님의 스크립트 작업 방식과 방향이 같음 — Claude가 초안을 드리고 직접 최종 수정하시는 구조가 이미 올바른 방향
역사/인물 분석 기반의 전설의 투자자 시리즈는 이 크리에이터가 말하는 '진정성 있는 페이스리스 콘텐츠'의 전형적인 사례
AI 보이스(TTS)는 이 영상에서도 직접 문제 삼지 않음 — 문제는 스크립트·아이디어까지 100% AI인 경우

원본,

(293) YouTube BANS Faceless AI YouTube Channels? - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adJ8H6Mm0I0

Transcript:
(00:00) Hi there. If you're afraid of losing your channel or getting your channel demonetized because it recently YouTube has been deleting or demonetizing a lot of channels in this video, I'm going to try and help you understand how you can protect your channel because I've been on YouTube since 2009. I run a few faceless YouTube channels that are very successful and they're still monetized today.
(00:18) I grew this channel over here to over 100,000 subscribers in just a few months and I understand how the policy works and I understand what YouTube wants. So, if you're afraid of losing your channel or getting demonetized, you might want to watch this video until the end. Now, before I start talking about the YouTube demonetization I want you to understand that this video is not scripted. I'm not reading from a script.
(00:34) I'm not going to edit this video. There's going to be no text or footage on this video. It's going to be a completely raw video where I talk about this issue and I'm going to try and help you solve your issue. So, first of all, you have to understand why this is happening and why it actually makes sense from YouTube's point of view to actually demonetize this channel.
(00:51) So, more and more people want to create YouTube channels because they want to make money with YouTube, right? Being a YouTuber and making money with YouTube has become this new American dream. Everybody wants it. And now because of AI and with the help of AI, everyone can write scripts, everyone can generate footage and basically anyone can create videos.
(01:09) And everyone can copy each other and because of this the platform gets filled with content that's very similar or identical. And that's actually very bad for the platform itself for YouTube because if the platform becomes repetitive, it becomes boring and if it becomes boring, people leave. They go on Instagram, they go on TikTok.
(01:24) They don't spend time on YouTube anymore. So, YouTube has to protect itself. YouTube wants authentic content. So, what does authentic mean? Well, it means you need to stop using AI to inspire from others. You need to stop using AI to copy others. Instead, you have to use AI to speed up the process of your art, of your creation.
(01:45) So, I want to give you a quick example of how to use AI and how not to use AI. So, for example, let's say you want to use AI to create your script. Can you use AI to create your script? Well, yes and no. So, first of all, you can't prompt ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude to write the script for you. If you're going to do that for each one of your videos, in the end, you are going to get targeted as inauthentic content and YouTube will demonetize you.
(02:09) Why does this happen? Well, because you're not the only one doing this. There are hundreds or thousands of people using ChatGPT or Gemini to create the script. And what happens, those scripts look very similar. So, let's say you want to make videos about history, but there are 1,000 people who want to make videos about history.
(02:24) And if you're all going to be using ChatGPT to generate the script, the scripts are going to be very similar to each other. They're going to have the same form, the same structure, the same format, the same language. So, the content gets repetitive. So, how can you actually use AI to create a script that is not repetitive, that is authentic? Well, let me tell you how I do it for my channel.
(02:41) So, instead of actually writing a prompt to generate the script for you, what I do, I literally talk the script myself inside ChatGPT. So, on ChatGPT, you can press a button where you activate your microphone and I create the script myself talking to ChatGPT. And all I ask ChatGPT to do is to fix the structure of it, remove repetition and fix the grammar of it because English is not my first language.
(03:03) But at the core, I ask ChatGPT to keep my words, to keep my ideas, to keep basically my identity. And that's how I create the scripts for Danny Wyatt. I basically spend 2 hours talking with ChatGPT. It's basically the exact same thing I'm doing right now. Right now, I don't have a script. Right now, I'm talking in front of the camera.
(03:19) But when I want to write a script, instead of talking in front of the camera like this, I talk to ChatGPT. And everything I just talked to you right now, I talked to ChatGPT. And then I tell ChatGPT that everything I just talked to fix it. Fix the grammar, remove repetition just to increase retention on YouTube, but keep the core message. Keep my identity. Keep my flow.
(03:38) Keep my style. And that's how I use ChatGPT to write scripts for YouTube. It's basically the same way how people write books. You know, a lot of people who write books, they don't actually write the books themselves. They write the main idea, but then they have like copywriters who actually make it sound nicer. I use ChatGPT the exact same way.
(03:54) I create the idea, I explain my point, and then I ask ChatGPT to make it look nicer, but keep the core idea. That's the first way you can use AI to help you write scripts faster and easier. The second way you can use AI to write scripts is basically by using AI to research the ideas for you. Basically, let's say you want to make a video about history, instead of asking AI to literally write the script for you, you ask AI to research things and based on that research, you write the script yourself. Like a few years ago, writing
(04:19) a script for a faceless history YouTube channel took a lot of time. You had to do a lot of research. Only the script would take around three to four to five days of research, sometimes even more. But now with AI, you can actually do the research in a couple of minutes and then verify the research and if the research is valid, then you can write yourself a script based on that research.
(04:38) In my opinion, this is how you use AI as a tool to help you speed up the process of writing a script. You don't have it write the script for you. You have it fix your own script. You have it do the research for you, but you're still writing the script yourself. Because you have to understand that if you want to do YouTube, YouTube is not like a fast way to make money.
(04:56) YouTube can make you money fast, but you also have to enjoy the process. You need to enjoy the process of actually writing scripts. You need to enjoy the process of actually talking in front of the camera or creating an idea. Because you have to understand there are two types of creators on YouTube. There's the creators who actually enjoy YouTube and then there's the creators who enjoy money.
(05:14) But the thing is the creators who enjoy money and are successful, they too respect those rules. They're not using AI to speed up the process. So, even if you want to be one of those people who just wants money from YouTube, you still have to play the game right. If you're trying to find shortcuts just to make quick money on YouTube, YouTube will most likely demonetize you in the end.
(05:30) You have to learn how to enjoy writing scripts. You have to enjoy finding ideas and being excited when you find an idea for your channel because that's the whole point. That's the whole game. That's the fun of YouTube, creating all those things. Because if you don't enjoy it and you just try to find shortcuts, as I've said, YouTube will find a way to demonetize you.
(05:48) If your video is created 100% with AI. If your voiceover is 100% AI. If your script is 100% AI, then there's nothing of you there. All you did was to be the person pushing the buttons. But YouTube is not about that. YouTube is about you. That's why it's called you. So, if you want to make YouTube, you need to put you yourself in there, right? And as I said, yes, you can use AI, but you have to use it as a tool to speed up the process.
(06:13) Don't use it to write the script. Don't use it to generate the entire footage in your video. Yes, you can generate footage with AI inside your video. Use it just when you want to explain something visually. And don't just use AI footage. Use stock footage as well. There's like royalty-free stock footage on Pexels or Storyblocks, right? What you really, really, really have to understand is that faceless YouTube existed way before AI existed.
(06:39) There are plenty of faceless YouTube channels who started in 2015, 2016, 2018 before AI existed. And these are awesome popular channels. For example, TierZoo who like creates these videos about animals and how powerful they are. Or like very many big gaming channels who have 20 million subscribers like VanossGaming who never show their face.
(06:58) So, faceless YouTube is not like this spammy, scammy thing. It's just AI recently has transformed faceless YouTube into this kind of like scammy, spammy thing. But faceless YouTube has been a legit way of making YouTube videos and YouTube money for a very long time, way before AI existed. So, if you want to create a faceless YouTube channel that is successful, you need to remove this idea that you have to use AI to create it.
(07:20) Faceless YouTube channels have existed way before AI was created. So, please remove this idea from your head that faceless YouTube it's about AI and AI automation because it's not. For example, I can literally just start playing Minecraft right now, take my microphone, record the footage and talk in the microphone and make a faceless gaming channel.
(07:37) That is what faceless YouTube is. How else can you use AI to speed up the process? Well, on Danny Wyatt on this channel, for example, instead of always opening my camera and taking a photo of me whenever I need a face for a thumbnail, I actually use AI to generate different photos with my face with different expressions, right? And this saves me a lot of time.
(07:52) But then when viewers click on my video, they see me. They hear my voice. They listen to my script. They see my style. And because of this, using AI to speed up the process of creating the thumbnail or helping me research my script or structure my script and fix grammar gets ignored because I'm using AI as a tool to just help me make better content faster and cheaper.
(08:13) I'm not using it to basically automate everything and make as much money as I can because that's that's not what you wanted to use AI for. AI will never be your golden ticket to becoming rich. I know a lot of people talk about that, but AI will never be your golden ticket to become rich. AI it's kind of like your own personal assistant, your personal designer, your personal consultant, right? And you can basically use AI like this.
(08:36) You consult with AI about your titles, about your ideas. You let AI assist you in writing your script and then you use AI to help you design thumbnails or design specific assets for your video. But you're not using it to just automate everything and have like one video that was completely created with AI.
(08:52) Because if you do that, you are going to get demonetized and it's not going to work because in the end the people who watch YouTube are real people and they want to listen to other people talk about things. Yes, there was like a very small window where you can use AI to write scripts for you, make the videos and people watched because people didn't know if it was made with AI or not.
(09:12) But now everyone knows and everyone can tell if a video was made with AI or not. So, I guess this is why this answer is so confusing to people because a lot of you are confused about AI. Are you allowed to use AI or are you not allowed to use AI? So, the answer is yes, you are allowed to use AI, but you're not allowed to use AI just to automate the entire process because if AI does everything for you and you're the one just pushing the buttons, no, it's not really your creation.
(09:36) There are a lot of people who are creating music with AI and they think it's their music, but at the end of the day, it's not really their music. So, what you have to do is calculate the percentage of how much AI is inside your channel and how much of you is inside your channel. Because if you're just push a button, if you just type a prompt, then probably the channel only has around 2% or 3% of you and 97% of of you and 30% of AI, or even more of you, right? So, the short answer is be as human as you can on YouTube.
(10:07) Now, if you want to learn more about YouTube and YouTube algorithm and how to succeed on YouTube, you might want to watch this video over here for me because inside this video I show you how I got over 100,000 subscribers in less than 6 months, all the strategies, all the tips. So, if you want to learn how to grow faster on YouTube, you might want to watch this video over here.
(10:22) So, click on this video.

유용, 다 끝났다. 유튜버들...그러나.... 유튜브가 얼굴 없는 AI 유튜브 채널을 종료한다고?, YouTube ENDS Faceless AI YouTube Channels?, (1)

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:59:55 +0900

#유용, 다 끝났다. 유튜버들...그러나.... 유튜브가 얼굴 없는 AI 유튜브 채널을 종료한다고?, YouTube ENDS Faceless AI YouTube Channels?, (1)

"YouTube가 페이스리스 AI 채널을 끝내나?"

자, YouTube와 Google은 지구상에서 AI에 가장 많이 투자하는 기업 중 하나입니다. 최고 수준의 AI 영상 생성기인 Google VO를 보유하고 있고, 크리에이터 스튜디오 안에서 크리에이터들이 직접 쓸 수 있는 AI 툴도 개발 중입니다. 그런데 AI에 이렇게 막대한 투자를 하는 회사가 왜 AI 콘텐츠를 단속하려는 걸까요?

최근 이런 트윗들을 보게 됐습니다. 한 트윗은 이렇게 말했습니다. "YouTube 팀, 제 채널이 '비진정성 콘텐츠'로 수익 박탈을 당했는데 저는 아무 잘못도 하지 않았어요. 비주얼은 직접 다 만들었고, AI 보이스만 사용했어요. 영어 원어민이 아니라서요. 이의 신청 방법도 모르겠어요." 그리고 그 채널은 그렇게 사라져버렸습니다. 또 다른 트윗은 이렇게 말했습니다. "YouTube 팀, 저희 채널이 이의 신청 후에도 '재사용 콘텐츠'로 수익 박탈됐어요. 다른 사람의 콘텐츠를 단 한 번도 올린 적이 없는데요."

정말 많은 분들이 저한테 이런 질문을 남기고 있어요. 왜 YouTube가 AI 콘텐츠를 탄압하는 것처럼 보이냐고요. 솔직히 말이 안 되는 상황입니다. YouTube는 지구상에서 AI 기술에 가장 많이 투자하는 기업 중 하나잖아요. AI를 사랑해야 하는 거 아닌가요? 저는 이걸 'AI 패러독스'라고 부릅니다.

이걸 이해하면 YouTube에서 지금 무슨 일이 벌어지고 있는지, 그리고 앞으로 여러분의 채널을 보호하기 위해 무엇을 해야 하는지 정확히 알 수 있습니다.

먼저 YouTube 측이 직접 뭐라고 말하는지 살펴봐야 합니다. 지금 우리가 가진 첫 번째 데이터는, 채널이 부당하게 정지되거나 삭제됐다고 주장하는 사람들의 트윗과 제보들입니다. YouTube가 모든 AI 채널을 무차별적으로 때리는 것처럼 보이는 거죠. 두 번째 데이터는 YouTube와 Google이 AI에 엄청난 투자를 하고 있다는 사실입니다. 그런데 거의 아무도 주목하지 않는 세 번째 데이터가 있습니다. 바로 YouTube CEO가 직접 한 말입니다. 이건 잠시 후에 다루겠습니다.

우선 지금 어떤 유형의 채널들이 피해를 받고 있는지 살펴보겠습니다. 제가 직접 목격한 바로는 몇 가지 카테고리로 나뉩니다.

첫 번째 카테고리는 아무 잘못도 하지 않은 채널들입니다. 무섭게도, 제 커뮤니티 안에서도 아무 잘못이 없다고 하는 채널들을 직접 봤습니다. 저는 그 사람들을 믿을 이유가 충분합니다. 제가 최선의 전략을 다 알려줬는데도 채널이 피해를 입었습니다. 다만 한 가지는 인정해야 합니다. 제 커뮤니티에서 삭제된 채널들이 이의 신청을 했을 때, 잘못이 없던 채널들은 모두 복구됐습니다. 그래도 애초에 이런 일이 일어나지 말았어야 했죠.

왜 이런 일이 벌어지는 걸까요? 가장 큰 이유 중 하나는 YouTube가 이제 AI를 이용해 플랫폼을 직접 심사하기 때문입니다. 작년에 YouTube는 심사 시스템을 강화하겠다는 성명을 발표했습니다. 새로운 규정이 생긴 게 아니라, 채널을 모니터링하는 범위와 시스템의 정확도를 높이겠다는 겁니다. YouTube는 서버 비용을 높이고 광고주를 화나게 만드는 스팸 콘텐츠를 대량으로 올리는 수천 개의 채널에 계속 시달리고 있기 때문입니다. 광고주는 YouTube의 핵심 비즈니스 모델이니까요.

그런데 AI가 완벽하지 않다는 건 다들 아시잖아요. 저도 제 사업에서 정말 많이 활용하지만 완벽하지 않습니다. 그래서 이 AI 심사 과정에서 무고한 채널이 가끔 걸려드는 겁니다. 삭제됐다가 이의 신청 후 복구되긴 하지만, 그 과정 자체가 문제입니다. 계정 삭제를 검토하는 인간 팀이 있어야 하지 않을까 싶은데, 하루에 수천 개의 스팸 계정을 상대하는 입장에서는 현실적으로 어려울 수도 있다는 걸 압니다.

두 번째 카테고리는 Reddit 스토리 채널들입니다. 복수 스토리, Reddit 이야기 등을 AI 봇으로 대량 제작해 마구 올리는 채널들이 많습니다. YouTube가 싫어하는 이유는 첫째, 오리지널 콘텐츠가 아니고, 둘째, 원래 Reddit 글을 쓴 사람들로부터 소송을 당할 수 있기 때문입니다. 이런 채널이 삭제되면 원 작성자들의 허락을 받았다는 증거가 없는 한 복구는 거의 불가능합니다.

또 실화인 척하는 AI 생성 스토리도 마찬가지입니다. 실제로 어떤 트루크라임 채널이 이것 때문에 삭제됐는데, 사람들이 Denver Post에 실제로 일어나지도 않은 범죄에 대해 문의 전화를 넣는 일까지 생겼습니다. 스토리 콘텐츠 자체는 괜찮습니다. 하지만 실화라고 주장하면 안 되고, 특히 실존 인물이 등장할 경우에는 더욱 그렇습니다.

다음은 AI로 생성한 유명인 콘텐츠입니다. 그들이 실제로 하지 않은 말이나 행동을 만들어내면 YouTube는 해당 인물과의 법적 문제를 우려해 조치를 취합니다.

AI 생성 영화 예고편 채널들도 삭제됐습니다. 저작권 캐릭터가 등장하는 가짜 트레일러를 진짜처럼 만든 경우인데, Disney, Sony 같은 대형 스튜디오가 YouTube에 압력을 넣는 건 당연한 일입니다.

그렇다면 아무도 주목하지 않는 YouTube CEO의 발언은 무엇이었을까요? 그는 AI가 놀라운 도구라고 하면서, YouTube 직원들에게 "AI를 전면적으로 도입하겠다"는 내용의 메모를 보냈습니다. 채널들이 삭제되고 있다는 얘기와는 완전히 다른 결입니다. 도대체 어떻게 된 일일까요?

사실 여러 가지 힘이 동시에 작용하고 있는 겁니다. 한쪽에는 광고주들과 현재 수익 구조가 더 엄격한 심사를 요구하고 있고, AI가 잘못 사용될 경우 저작권 침해로 이어질 수 있다는 우려가 있습니다. 다른 한쪽에는 YouTube를 소유한 Google이 Google VO, Nano Banana 2 같은 최첨단 AI 모델에 막대한 투자를 하면서 AI가 미래라는 걸 알고 있습니다. 그래서 CEO는 내부적으로 AI를 적극 밀고 있고, 인터뷰에서도 "책임 있는 AI 활용"을 강조하고 있습니다.

그렇다면 책임 있는 AI 활용이란 무엇이고, 어떻게 채널을 보호할 수 있을까요? 사실 매우 간단합니다. 콘텐츠가 가치를 제공해야 합니다. '가치'가 주관적으로 들릴 수 있지만 그렇지 않습니다. 가치는 교육적이거나 오락적인 것입니다.

예를 들어 ChatGPT로 스크립트를 그냥 뽑아내는 대신, 여러 참고 영상을 입력해 그것들의 장점을 분석하고 YouTube 스크립트 작성 베스트 프랙티스를 적용해 완전히 오리지널하게 작성해주는 툴을 활용하는 것이 좋습니다. 그러면 AI 스크립트 특유의 평범한 느낌을 피할 수 있습니다.

또 하나의 강력한 팁은 AI 아바타를 채널의 얼굴로 만드는 것입니다. Zinny Studio, Captain Workout, Yellow Dude 같은 채널들이 좋은 예입니다. 저도 Stickman Matt라는 새 채널을 시작했는데, 페이스리스 채널이지만 '얼굴' 역할을 하는 캐릭터가 있습니다. 이렇게 하면 브랜드 IP를 구축할 수 있고, 뭔가를 판매하기도 훨씬 쉬워지며, 시청자와의 유대감도 쌓을 수 있습니다. 그리고 채널 안전에도 도움이 된다고 생각합니다.

AI는 대체재가 아니라 도구라고 생각하세요. 작업 속도를 높이는 데 AI가 도움이 된다면 마음껏 쓰세요. 하지만 저작권을 침해하는 콘텐츠를 만드는 데 사용한다면 절대 안 됩니다.

YouTube의 입장에서 생각해보세요. 작은 YouTube 오너라고 상상하고, 플랫폼과 광고주 모두에게 최선인 영상을 만들겠다는 마인드로 콘텐츠를 제작하세요. 그렇게 하면 YouTube는 여러분에게 놀라운 비즈니스가 될 수 있습니다.

제가 2014년에 YouTube를 시작할 때도 남의 영상을 가져다 재업로드하는 사람들이 있었습니다. 그때는 불공평하다고 생각했습니다. 그런데 지금 그 채널들은 모두 사라졌고, 저는 여전히 그때 채널들을 운영하고 있습니다. 규칙을 지키는 것이 결국 장기적으로 최고의 투자였던 셈입니다.

AI를 쓰든 안 쓰든, 진정으로 가치 있는 콘텐츠를 만드세요. 그러면 어떤 정책 업데이트가 와도 걱정할 필요가 없습니다. 그게 지금 실제로 통하는 방식입니다.

유튜버 관점 핵심 체크포인트:

AI 보이스 자체는 문제없음 (본인 수천 명 학생 포함 문제 없었음)
금융 교육 + 역사적 사실 기반 콘텐츠 = YouTube 선호 유형
"지금 이 주식 사세요" 류 표현은 자동 심사 트리거 가능 → 현재 슬로건 방향 유지가 오히려 안전
YouTube 약관을 Claude에 붙여넣고 기획안 사전 검토 활용 가능 (영상 직접 언급)

원본

YouTube ENDS Faceless AI YouTube Channels?

유튜브가 얼굴 없는 AI 유튜브 채널을 종료한다고?

(293) YouTube ENDS Faceless AI YouTube Channels? - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnGnIWUvIQ

Transcript:
(00:00) So, YouTube and Google are one of the biggest investors in AI on the planet. They have Google VO, which is one of the best AI video generators, and they're building AI tools for creators to use directly within the creator studio. So, why would a company that is investing so much in AI be cracking down on AI content? Now, here's some tweets I came across recently, like this one, that said, "Hey, team YouTube, my channel was demonetized for inauthentic content, but I didn't do anything wrong.
(00:29) I create all my visuals and I only used an AI voice because I'm not a native English speaker. I don't know how to properly appeal. And their channel was gone just like that. Here's another one that says, "Hey team YouTube, our channel got demonetized for reused content after an appeal. We never once uploaded other people's content.
(00:46) " And I've seen so many different people asking me about this and leaving comments on my videos asking why is YouTube going after AI content, it seems. And it really doesn't make sense because YouTube is one of the biggest investors in AI technology on the planet. Wouldn't they love AI? And this creates what I'm calling the AI paradox.
(01:06) And if you understand this, you can understand exactly what's going on with YouTube and then what you should be doing going forward in order to protect your channel. So the first thing we should really look into to understand what's going on here is to look into what YouTube themselves are saying. Because our first data point is that we're seeing all these tweets and people saying that their channels have wrongly been terminated or banned.
(01:28) And it seems like YouTube is just going after all of these channels. And is that really happening? And our second data point is that YouTube and Google are investing super heavily into AI. But there's a third data point that almost nobody is talking about, and it's what the YouTube CEO himself has been saying, and I'll go over that in just a second.
(01:46) But first, let's take a look at the types of channels that are getting hit right now. From what I've personally seen, the types of channels that are getting affected, that are getting banned off of YouTube, and that are having problems right now fall into a couple different categories. And the first category are channels that did absolutely nothing wrong, which is scary because there are specific channels that I've seen within my community that tell me they've done nothing wrong.
(02:12) And I have no reason not to trust these people. I show them all the best tactics for what to do. And yet, still, channels have been affected. However, I will say that the channels that have been affected within my own community, when they've appealed getting banned off of YouTube, they've all got their channels back, the ones that weren't doing anything wrong.
(02:30) So, I do have to give it to YouTube for giving them their channels back. However, this shouldn't have even happened in the first place. So, why is this happening? Well, a couple things are going on. One of the biggest things is that YouTube is now using AI to moderate YouTube. And last year they actually put out a statement about this about how they're increasing their moderation systems.
(02:52) It doesn't mean there's any new rules on YouTube whatsoever, but what it does mean is that they're increasing the scope at which they're monitoring channels and they're improving their systems for doing so. And that's because YouTube frequently gets attacked by thousands of different channels that are all creating spam content on the platform, which drives up server cost for YouTube.
(03:14) That's spam content nobody wants to see and that makes advertisers angry at YouTube which YouTube wants to avoid at all costs because advertisers are their main business model and so YouTube is now using AI to moderate the platform. However, as we all know AI is not perfect and as incredible as it is at so many different things, I use it so much within my own businesses now.
(03:37) It's not perfect. So, some channels occasionally have gotten swept up in this whole AI moderation thing and they've gotten banned for no reason. However, the ones that I've seen personally at least that have gotten banned, they have been able to get their channels back, but they've had to appeal.
(03:54) However, they shouldn't have had to go through that in the first place. So, it's kind of messed up. There should probably be humans reviewing this, at least in my personal opinion. I don't run a company as big as YouTube. I have no idea what goes into that. Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but it it's nice to imagine, you know, investing in a team to review the account deletions, but I understand if you're getting targeted by thousands of spam accounts a day, maybe it's not possible, but it would be nice to see.
(04:19) So, that's the first category of channels that are getting affected. The second category are Reddit story channels. I've seen a lot of channels doing like revenge stories, Reddit stories, and so forth, and they put together these AI bots to mass- prodduce these types of videos, and then just upload them to YouTube like crazy.
(04:37) YouTube doesn't like this because, first of all, it's not original content. YouTube could face a lawsuit from the people who wrote those original Reddit threads, and it just introduces a whole lot of problems for YouTube. So, they just want to ban those accounts. And if you're running a channel like that and you do get banned, you're not probably going to be able to get that channel back.
(04:57) Unless you can prove that you got permission from those people who wrote those Reddit threads to include them in your videos. This also goes for AI generated stories that pretend that they're real stories. Like there was a true crime channel that was doing this that also got banned off of YouTube because people were actually contacting the Denver Post asking about some crime that took place that never even really happened.
(05:22) Now, it's totally fine to do stories on YouTube. However, you can't be saying that they're real stories, especially when they involve real people. And that brings me to the next type of content, which is celebrity content generated with AI. If you're making people say or do things that they never did, then YouTube's going to have a problem because they might face problems from those actual people.
(05:42) And so, as you can tell, YouTube just wants to keep a great relationship with their advertisers because they want to keep their multi-billion dollar platform. And understanding this is going to allow us to then keep our own channels safe. And there was also some AI generated movie trailer channels that also got deleted because they were using copyrighted characters within their fake movie trailers.
(06:03) people thought they were real trailers. And obviously Disney and Sony and all these big movie studios aren't going to like that. So they're going to pressure YouTube to delete those types of channels. And so what is the YouTube CEO said about AI that nobody's focusing on right now? Well, what he said was that AI is an incredible tool.
(06:22) And he put out essentially a memo to all of the YouTube employees basically saying that YouTube is going to be going allin on AI, which is very different rhetoric compared to all of these people who are saying that their channels are getting affected and banned and all these things. And then you have the YouTube CEO coming out saying, "We're going all in on AI." It just doesn't make sense.
(06:44) So, what actually is going on here? Well, what's going on is that there's multiple different forces at play. You have the force from advertisers and from the way that YouTube is currently making money, pushing to have stricter moderation, and they don't like, you know, things that infringe on copyright, which AI has the tendency to do a lot, especially if you're using it in the wrong ways.
(07:09) But then you've also got the other pressure of Google, which owns YouTube, and Google owns Google VO, which are some of the best, most state-of-the-art models out there. They also own Nano Banana 2, which is the best AI image generator out there. So, they're trying to go all in on AI, investing in the infrastructure, and they realize that AI is the future.
(07:27) And that's why the YouTube CEO is sending internal memos within YouTube talking about how AI is an incredible thing. He's also done some interviews talking about AI as well. People have asked him about the role of it and everything else and he's really just pushing for responsible AI use from what I've seen. And so that begs the question, what is responsible AI use? And how can we prevent our channels from being banned? Because at the end of the day, the only reason it's good to know all of this stuff is because we can then use it to
(07:56) build a huge business off of YouTube like I've been able to do. I've made over $10 million in the past 10 years off of YouTube and I've been doing YouTube since I was 14 years old. It's completely changed my life. And so, as part of this channel, I'm trying to give back as much as I can and help as many people as possible start their dream businesses with YouTube, which is why it's really good you're watching this video right now, because this is going to help you keep your channel safe.
(08:21) Now, before I show you how to do that, there's one more type of channel that is probably going to surprise you that's getting affected a lot on YouTube. Now, I've talked about this in some past videos, so you may have already heard this, but essentially, I almost lost my own channel because of this, the channel that you're watching right now.
(08:38) And the type of content is the make money online niche. So, while all this stuff with AI is also happening, you've also got niches like the make money online niche, which you would wonder, how in the world is that a problem? And there's tons of channels that have got banned like how to AI, which was making a million dollars per year, got completely wiped off the platform.
(08:58) So, why? And why did I almost lose my channel? Well, it's because, at least in my personal opinion, I don't have absolute confirmation on this, but I'm pretty sure this is the reason. What I think is going on is that agencies like the FTC are putting pressure on YouTube to moderate things like the make money online niche because there's a lot of people claiming things.
(09:17) There's people who are selling scams on YouTube. And so they've probably made their AI systems better at detecting keywords like make $200 a day online and keywords similar to that and then they're automatically moderating those types of videos. And a lot of very genuine channels have got swept up in this.
(09:36) If you just titled your video wrong, you could get your channel deleted, which is very scary. Like that channel, How to AI. Now, I had two of my videos get strikes on them from this, and luckily, I've been able to keep them due to the fact that I've kind of changed my strategy a little bit. And I'm making sure to position my videos more so now in a way of like how to build a real business on YouTube and more so tutorial-based videos rather than general how to make money online types of videos.
(10:04) So, if you're doing a video within that niche, be very careful with it. And you can do it in a very genuine good way. A really good thing to do as well is to make a custom AI based off of the YouTube terms and service. Just copy paste them into an AI like chat GPT or Claude. You can make a Claude project and do this and then you can just ask it like, "Hey, I'm thinking of doing these video ideas and here's my potential thumbnails.
(10:27) Will these potentially be a problem according to the terms of service?" And then you can get an answer for that. And so those are all the types of content that are being affected. And then going back to the original tweets that we looked at at the beginning of this video, there's really no way of me verifying whether or not those tweets were because of an AI voiceover due to the fact that I have thousands of students who run AI voiceover channels.
(10:51) In fact, most of my channels, every single channel except this one right here are AI generated voiceovers. And I've never had a problem because of that. And neither have any of my students. So, it's very likely that those tweets we went over in the beginning of this video are either doing something wrong or they didn't do anything wrong and they just got swept up and everything and after they appeal, they might even get their channels back and it might not even be an issue at all. So, keep that in mind.
(11:15) And now, like I promised, I'm going to show you the path forward, what you absolutely need to be doing in order to keep your channel safe. Number one, avoid any of the banned niches on YouTube. I made a video on my channel going over niches that might as well be banned. And they're basically niches that are producing content that isn't friendly to advertisers, which as we've discussed, YouTube does not like whatsoever.
(11:37) It's stuff like violence, AI generated, copyright infringement characters, Reddit story channels, stuff like that. And I go over a few more in that video if you want to check it out later. But as long as you just ask yourself, you know, would an advertiser want to put an ad on this type of video? And this even includes things like you wouldn't even expect like swearing for instance.
(11:56) It's something that I recommend not doing in your videos to make sure that your videos go to the limited inventory because 90% of advertisers only put ads on what's called the limited inventory. And that excludes videos that include swearing or references to weapons or anything else that could potentially be non-advertiser friendly.
(12:16) All of that content is called the expanded inventory. and you don't want your content landing there because it's pretty hard for advertisers to find that. But a pro tip, if you ever run ads on YouTube, put it on the expanded inventory. You'll get a lot more people for a lot less money, but you run the risk of your ads being shown on some questionable videos.
(12:35) And big brands may not want that. So, make sure don't swear in your videos, don't have violence, don't use AI in a wrong way. And this probably is making you wondering like, how can I use AI in the right way? and how can I make sure that my channel doesn't get flagged or banned or anything else. And it's actually very simple.
(12:52) You just need to make sure that your content is providing value. Now, value sounds subjective, I know, but it's actually not. Value can be educational or entertainment. And the way that you can do this is by using AI tools that provide value. For instance, instead of using chat GPT to generate a script, use something like my tool that I made called Tube Magic where you can put in multiple different videos as context links and then it'll take all the best aspects of those videos.
(13:19) It'll run them through all of the best practices then for writing YouTube scripts and then it'll write it all in an original way. So, you'll have an amazing script for your video that beats using chat GBT where it's just going to sound like every other AI script out there. Another really pro tip, which is going to help keep your channel safe, is to have an AI avatar be the face of your channel.
(13:41) Channels like Zinny Studio, Captain Workout, and Yellow Dude are great examples of this. And I'm even starting a new channel called Stickman Matt, which is also a great example of this, where they're faceless channels, but there is a character who is the quote unquote face of the channel. And this allows you to build brand IP. It allows you to sell something a lot easier and it allows you to build a connection with your viewers.
(14:04) And I believe this will help keep your channels safe. And when it comes to AI, think of AI as a tool and not a replacement. If AI helps you in your process get things done faster, by all means use it. But if you're using it to generate stuff that's going to infringe on copyrights, don't use it. AI, like everything else, is a tool.
(14:21) And remember the forces that are at play. YouTube wants to go all in on AI, but they need to keep their advertisers happy as well. So, put yourself in YouTube's shoes when you're producing content. Pretend you're a tiny owner of YouTube. So, you want to look out for this platform and you want to make videos that are in the best interest of the platform and of the advertisers.
(14:41) And if you do that, YouTube can give you an incredible business and an incredible life like it has for me. And even when I started YouTube, you know, back in 2014, there was people who were making questionable videos back then who were always infringing on the rules. I saw like, you know, compilation videos where people would just steal other people's videos and re-upload them.
(15:01) And I thought to myself, man, this isn't fair. They're getting millions of views and they're barely doing any work. I'm having to sit here. I'm having to, you know, do original human voiceovers and write a script and follow fair use and they're not doing any of it. Lo and behold, all of those channels are now gone. They've been banned.
(15:15) And I'm still running my channels from back in 2014 to this day because I've taken the time and I've followed the rules and it turned out to be a great long-term investment for me. Obviously, it's made me incredibly wealthy at a very young age. And I'm just saying this to say that it's a really good idea to build a channel that provides so much value that you never have to worry about a policy update.
(15:37) So, build something you're genuinely proud of, whether you're using AI or not. Use it as a tool. Don't use it as a replacement. That is what is working right now. And I'm not sitting here to defend every single, you know, decision that YouTube makes or anything else like that. Obviously, they're going to make mistakes as any huge company is going to.
(15:54) And YouTube is comprised of a lot of different people who are doing a lot of different things. But as an overall company, their goal is to make money and provide shareholder value. And the way that they do that is with advertisers. So, keep the advertisers happy, you'll keep your channel safe, and you'll build a real business with YouTube.
(16:12) And I'm just saying this to help you out with your channel as well. I want you to build a huge business. It's one of the most rewarding things that you can do. And if you're currently worried about your channel, use this as a wakeup call and make sure that you're on the right side of this. And if you want my team and my help for helping you run your channel, where we can help you make your videos, structure everything correctly, and monetize correctly to build a real long-term business on YouTube, you can book a call for my program, Tube Accelerator, down at the
(16:35) link in the description. We'll help you do all this. We'll help run it all for you. But if you just want the information and you want to learn how to structure your channel correctly, how to run it, how to monetize it before you're ever even monetized and how to do all this whole process when it comes to generating AI videos and uploading them and monetizing them.
(16:54) I do have a completely free training on YouTube. It's basically a free course. It's my gift to you. You can check it out next to me right here. And in this video, I'm going to show you all of those things and some additional bonus things and some new updates for this year which are incredibly important to watch.
(17:08) I'll be going over those at the end of this video. But the most important thing is going to be the symbiotic system, which I'll explain exactly what that is.

번역해줘

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnGnIWUvIQ

#모든 분들에게 도움이 되기를 빕니다.

유용, VEO3 카메라 움직임(Camera Movement) 명령어2

Songchoen 송천 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:53:11 +0900

#유용, VEO3 카메라 움직임(Camera Movement) 명령어2

Sora / Kling / Runway — 금융 영상 후크용

Cinematic shot of a trading floor in Seoul, slow dolly in toward a glowing stock ticker screen, shallow depth of field, warm amber lighting, dramatic atmosphere, 4K, photorealistic

서울의 트레이딩 플로어를 영화 같은 장면으로 촬영하고, 천천히 돌리로 빛나는 주식 티커 화면으로 이동 하며, 얕은 심도, 따뜻한 호박색 조명, 극적인 분위기, 4K, 사진처럼 사실적인 느낌

차트·그래프 급등 장면

A stock chart surging upward on screen, tilt up shot starting from the baseline, camera boom up following the rising graph, financial data overlay, cinematic lighting

화면에 주가 차트가 위로 치솟고, 기준선에서 시작하는 틸트 업 샷, 상승 그래프를 따라 카메라 붐이 올라가고, 금융 데이터 오버레이, 영화 같은 조명

전설의 투자자 인물 소개

Close-up portrait of an elderly investor in a suit, slow orbit around subject, depth of field blur, dramatic side lighting, cinematic push in to eye level, 4K

정장을 입은 노년 투자자의 클로즈업 초상, 피사체 주위를 천천히 도는 궤도, 피사계 심도 흐림, 극적인 측면 조명, 시네마틱한 눈높이 밀림, 4K

탭 두 개로 정리했습니다.

영상 편집 탭 — 패닝·틸트·달리·줌 등 기본기부터 돌리줌(버티고 효과), 오비탈까지 실제 편집에서 쓰는 기법들을 정리했습니다.

AI 영상 생성 탭 — Sora, Kling, Runway 등에서 통용되는 영어 프롬프트 키워드와, 금융 유튜브 영상 분위기에 맞는 실전 예시 3개를 담았습니다.

유튜브 금융 교육 영상에서 자주 쓰는 조합: 줌 인(핵심 수치 강조) → 패닝(차트 이동 흐름) → 달리 아웃(전체 맥락 전환)

탭 두 개로 정리했습니다.

영상 편집 탭 — 패닝·틸트·달리·줌 등 기본기부터 돌리줌(버티고 효과), 오비탈까지 실제 편집에서 쓰는 기법들을 정리했습니다.

AI 영상 생성 탭 — Sora, Kling, Runway 등에서 통용되는 영어 프롬프트 키워드와, 금융 유튜브 영상 분위기에 맞는 실전 예시 3개를 담았습니다.

유용, ComfyUI, LTX-2.3 스타일 전환에 대해서 알려줘

Songchoen 송천 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:05:05 +0900

# Trigger Word
zhuanchang

If needed, place the trigger word near the end of the prompt so the base prompt still clearly describes:
- subject
- scene
- camera movement
- transformation behavior
- atmosphere

# Prompting Guide
For best results, prompts should usually contain:
1. Shot description
   Example: close-up, medium shot, wide shot, low-angle, tracking shot.
2. Subject and environment
   Describe the character, object, or scene as clearly as possible.
3. Motion or transformation process
   Explain what changes over time: identity, style, object form, scene layout, or camera trajectory.
4. Visual details
   Add texture, lighting, color, material, and spatial cues.
5. Ending trigger
   Add zhuanchang when you want the LoRA behavior to activate more strongly.

## LTX-2 Prompting Tips

1. Core Actions: Describe events and actions as they occur over time
2. Visual Details: Describe all visual details you want to appear in the video
3. Audio: Describe sounds and dialogue needed for the scene

## Report LTX-2 Issues
To report any issues when running this workflow, [go to GitHub](https://github.com/Lightricks/ComfyUI-LTXVideo/issues)

## Model Links (for Local Users)

checkpoints

- [ltx-2.3-22b-distilled-fp8.safetensors](https://huggingface.co/Lightricks/LTX-2.3-fp8/resolve/main/ltx-2.3-22b-distilled-fp8.safetensors)

text_encoders

- [gemma_3_12B_it_fp4_mixed.safetensors](https://huggingface.co/Comfy-Org/ltx-2/resolve/main/split_files/text_encoders/gemma_3_12B_it_fp4_mixed.safetensors)

loras

- [ltx2.3-transition.safetensors](https://huggingface.co/valiantcat/LTX-2.3-Transition-LORA/resolve/main/ltx2.3-transition.safetensors)

## Model Storage Location

```
ComfyUI/
├── models/
│   ├── checkpoints/
│   │   └── ltx-2.3-22b-distilled-fp8.safetensors
│   ├── text_encoders/
│   │   └── gemma_3_12B_it_fp4_mixed.safetensors
│   └── loras/
│       └── ltx2.3-transition.safetensors
```

LTX-2.3은 Lightricks에서 2026년 초에 발표한 최신 비디오 생성 모델로, 이전 버전에 비해 스타일 전환(Style Transfer & Transition) 및 제어 능력이 비약적으로 상승했습니다.

스타일 전환을 구현하는 핵심 방법 4가지를 정리해 드립니다.

1. Video-to-Video 스타일 변환 (Redesign)

기존 비디오의 구도는 유지하면서 화풍만 바꾸는 기능입니다. LTX-2.3에서는 VAE(변분 오토인코더)가 재설계되어, 원본의 디테일을 뭉개지 않고도 정교하게 스타일을 입힐 수 있습니다.

작동 방식: 입력 비디오와 함께 새로운 스타일 프롬프트를 입력하면, 캐릭터의 움직임은 유지한 채 '사이버펑크', '유화', '3D 애니메이션' 등으로 스타일을 완전히 바꿉니다.
장점: LTX-2.3 특유의 4배 커진 텍스트 커넥터 덕분에 "1950년대 누아르 영화 스타일" 같은 복잡한 스타일 지시어도 정확하게 반영됩니다.

2. 스타일 전용 LoRA 활용

LTX-2.3은 최대 3개의 LoRA(미세 조정 모델)를 동시에 중첩해서 사용할 수 있습니다.

스타일 고정: 특정 작가의 화풍이나 웹툰 스타일로 학습된 LoRA를 적용하여 일관된 출력을 얻습니다.
커스텀 스타일: LTX-2.3-Transition-LORA 같은 전용 모델을 사용하면, 비디오 중간에 A 스타일에서 B 스타일로 자연스럽게 변하는 스타일 모핑(Morphing) 효과를 줄 수 있습니다.

3. LTX Studio의 'Style Elements' 기능

플랫폼 기반(LTX Studio)으로 사용하신다면 가장 직관적인 방법입니다.

Elements 저장: 마음에 드는 비디오나 이미지에서 스타일만 추출해 'Element'로 저장할 수 있습니다.
즉시 전환: 복잡한 프롬프트 없이 저장해둔 스타일 카드를 선택하는 것만으로 프로젝트 전체의 톤앤매너를 순식간에 교체할 수 있어 작업 효율이 매우 높습니다.

4. Image-to-Video를 통한 스타일 가이드

사용자님이 직접 제작하신 디지털 아트(Digital Noir나 Tenebrism 스타일 등)를 첫 프레임(First Frame)으로 넣고 비디오를 생성하는 방식입니다.

일관성 유지: LTX-2.3은 입력 이미지의 조명, 질감, 색감을 끝까지 유지하는 능력이 강력해졌습니다.
팁: 이미지의 '고대비' 특성을 프롬프트에 명시하면 모델이 그 스타일을 비디오 전체의 물리 엔진에 반영하여 더욱 입체감 있는 결과물을 만듭니다.

사용자님을 위한 하드웨어 팁

사용 중이신 **RTX A4500(20GB VRAM)**은 LTX-2.3 기본 모델(약 24GB~32GB 권장)을 돌리기에 약간 타이트할 수 있습니다. 다음 설정을 권장합니다:

PolarQuant Q5 버전 사용: 최근 공개된 5비트 양자화 모델을 사용하면 품질 저하 거의 없이 VRAM 사용량을 16~18GB 수준으로 낮춰 로컬에서도 쾌적하게 스타일 전환 작업을 하실 수 있습니다.
ComfyUI 워크플로우: LTX-2.3-Multifunctional 노드를 사용하면 스타일 전환, 립싱크, 업스케일링을 하나의 워크플로우에서 관리할 수 있어 편리합니다.

현재 구상 중인 특정 아트 스타일(예: 디지털 누아르)을 비디오로 구현하고 싶으신가요? 상황에 맞는 더 구체적인 프롬프트 작성법이 필요하시면 말씀해 주세요!

자동화 First, Last 폴더를 2개 만들었다. 자동으로 하나씩 들어가도록 한다.

유용, 4K HDR (60FPS)는 영상의 해상도, 색 표현력, 그리고 부드러움

Songchoen 송천 — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:14:58 +0900

유용, 4K HDR (60FPS)는 영상의 해상도, 색 표현력, 그리고 부드러움

#주의#

초반 10분정도, 계속 시청하지 않으실거면 클릭 하지 마세요. 중도 이탈하면 도움이 안됩니다.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHTLbQH1VPQ

#주의#

초반 10분정도, 계속 시청하지 않으실거면 클릭 하지 마세요. 중도 이탈하시면 도움이 안됩니다.

4K HDR (60FPS)는 영상의 해상도, 색 표현력, 그리고 부드러움을 나타내는 세 가지 핵심 지표가 결합된 고사양 표준입니다. 각 항목이 의미하는 바를 쉽게 풀어드리면 다음과 같습니다.

1. 4K (해상도: 화질의 선명도)

의미: 화면을 구성하는 점(픽셀)의 개수입니다. 가로 약 4,000개의 픽셀을 가졌다는 뜻으로, 정확히는 3840 x 2160 해상도를 말합니다.
체감: 기존 FHD(1920 x 1080)보다 4배 더 선명합니다. 화면이 클수록 픽셀이 깨지지 않고 정밀한 묘사가 가능해집니다.

2. HDR (색상 및 명암비: 밝기의 범위)

의미: High Dynamic Range의 약자로, 밝은 곳은 더 밝게, 어두운 곳은 더 어둡게 표현하여 실제 눈으로 보는 것과 유사하게 만드는 기술입니다.
체감: 단순히 밝아지는 것이 아니라, 어둠 속에서도 사물의 형체가 뚜렷하게 보이고 태양광이나 불빛의 강렬함이 생생하게 느껴집니다. 색감이 훨씬 풍부해집니다.

3. 60FPS (프레임 속도: 움직임의 부드러움)

의미: Frames Per Second의 약자로, 1초당 60장의 사진을 보여준다는 뜻입니다.
체감: 일반적인 영화(24FPS)나 TV 방송(30FPS)보다 훨씬 매끄럽습니다. 스포츠 경기, 액션 게임, 또는 빠른 카메라 워킹이 있는 영상에서 잔상 없이 부드러운 움직임을 확인할 수 있습니다

요약: 4K HDR (60FPS)가 주는 경험

이 세 가지가 합쳐지면 **"엄청나게 선명하고(4K), 눈부실 정도로 생동감 넘치는 색상을(HDR), 끊김 없이 아주 부드러운 화면(60FPS)"**으로 감상할 수 있다는 것을 의미합니다.

참고: 이 사양을 제대로 즐기려면 재생 기기(스마트폰, 모니터, TV)와 영상 소스, 그리고 이를 전송하는 케이블(HDMI 2.0 이상)이 모두 해당 사양을 지원해야 합니다.

유용, 캡컷 PC버전 키프레임 설정, 상세 가이드

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:17:33 +0900

캡컷 PC버전 키프레임 설정 — 상세 가이드

1단계 — 클립 선택

타임라인에서 움직임을 줄 영상 클립 클릭
클립 테두리가 노란색으로 활성화되면 선택 완료

2단계 — 재생 헤드 시작 지점으로 이동

타임라인 상단 흰색 세로선(재생 헤드) 을 마우스로 드래그
또는 키보드 ← → 방향키로 프레임 단위 이동
움직임을 시작할 위치에 정확히 놓기

3단계 — 키프레임 추가

오른쪽 패널 기본(Basic) 탭에서

위치(Position)   X [  0  ]  Y [  0  ]  ◇
크기(Scale)          [ 100% ]           ◇
회전(Rotation)       [  0°  ]           ◇

각 항목 오른쪽 ◇ 버튼 클릭 → ◆ (채워진 다이아몬드) 로 바뀌면 키프레임 추가 완료
줌에는 Scale ◇, 패닝/틸팅에는 Position ◇ 클릭

이 시점의 수치가 "시작 상태" 로 저장됨

4단계 — 끝 지점으로 이동

재생 헤드를 움직임이 끝날 위치로 드래그
구간이 길수록 움직임이 천천히 진행됨

5단계 — 끝 상태 수치 입력

원하는 효과에 따라 수치 변경

효과 변경 항목 예시

줌인	Scale ↑	100% → 120%
줌아웃	Scale ↓	120% → 100%
패닝(좌→우)	Position X ↑	0 → 150
패닝(우→좌)	Position X ↓	0 → -150
틸팅(아래→위)	Position Y ↓	0 → -150
틸팅(위→아래)	Position Y ↑	0 → 150

수치 입력 후 Enter 누르면 자동으로 두 번째 키프레임 생성

수치를 바꾸는 순간 캡컷이 자동으로 끝 키프레임을 추가해줌

6단계 — 확인

키보드 Space bar 로 재생
시작~끝 사이에서 화면이 자연스럽게 움직이면 완료
타임라인 클립 하단에 ◆ 점 2개가 보이면 키프레임 정상 적용

키프레임 수정 / 삭제

작업 방법

수치 수정	해당 키프레임 위치로 이동 → 수치 다시 입력
개별 삭제	키프레임 위치로 이동 → ◆ 버튼 다시 클릭 → ◇ 로 돌아오면 삭제
전체 삭제	오른쪽 패널 항목 옆 ◆ 버튼 우클릭 → 모든 키프레임 삭제

자주 하는 실수

클립을 선택하지 않은 상태에서 키프레임 버튼이 안 눌릴 때 → 클립 다시 클릭
키프레임을 한 지점에만 추가하면 움직임 없음 → 반드시 시작·끝 두 곳 필요
줌아웃 시 검은 여백 → 시작 Scale을 110% 이상으로 설정 후 줄이기

모건스탠리, 마이크 윌슨, Morgan Stanley, ProfileMike WilsonChief U.S. Equity Strategist & Chief Investment Officer

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:54:28 +0900

#모건스탠리, 마이크 윌슨, Morgan Stanley, ProfileMike WilsonChief U.S. Equity Strategist & Chief Investment Officer

Introduction

마이크 윌슨은 모건 스탠리의 미국 주식 전략가이자 최고투자책임자(CTO)입니다. CIO 겸 글로벌 투자위원회 의장으로서 마이크는 최고 수준의 연구를 활용하여 기관 및 자산 관리 고객 모두에게 시장에 대한 독특한 관점을 제공합니다. 그는 1989년 투자은행가로 이 회사에 입사했습니다. 1995년부터 2012년까지 마이크는 모건 스탠리 기관 주식 부서에서 북미 주식 콘텐츠 유통 책임자를 포함한 다양한 직책을 역임했습니다. 2012년에는 자산관리 부문 CIO로 임명되었습니다. 마이크는 미시간 대학교에서 경영학 학사(BBA)를, 노스웨스턴 대학교 켈로그 경영대학원에서 MBA를 취득했습니다.

How have you progressed and evolved through your time at Morgan Stanley?

중서부에서 뉴욕으로 와서 모건 스탠리에서 일하게 된 것은 문화적으로 저에게 엄청난 변화였습니다. 하지만 어릴 때 이사를 많이 다녔기 때문에 변화는 저에게 매우 자연스러운 일이었습니다. 사실, 25년이 지난 지금도 제가 여기 있다는 게 아이러니하게 느껴집니다. 제가 오래 머문 이유는 회사가 제 경력 동안 다양한 일을 허락해주었고, 심지어 요청까지 해줬기 때문입니다. 투자은행가, 영업사원, 트레이더, 전략가, 제품 관리자 등 다양한 일을 해왔습니다. 여러 면에서 저는 같은 회사에 있으면서도 여섯, 일곱 번의 매우 다른 경력을 쌓았습니다.

Were there any special elements of your experience that prepared you for this role?

다른 회사에서는 이렇게 다양하고 흥미로운 경험을 누릴 수 없었을 것 같아요. 모건 스탠리는 개인으로서 성장하는 데 필요한 책임과 지원을 제공합니다. 그 결과 제 기술 세트를 발전시킬 수 있었습니다. 저는 짧은 시간 안에 트레이더가 되는 법을 배웠고, 정식 교육도 받지 않아도 꽤 괜찮은 대중 연설가가 되었습니다. 실습 경험만큼 좋은 교사는 세상에 없습니다. 모건 스탠리는 인재로 위험을 감수하고 새로운 경험을 제공할 준비가 되어 있습니다. 이것이 모건 스탠리의 매우 독특한 특성으로, 회사와 그 안의 개인들이 번영할 수 있도록 돕는다고 생각합니다.

What do you consider among your greatest accomplishments?

수년간 제가 키워온 젊은이들의 수가 매우 자랑스럽습니다. 젊은 전문가들을 멘토링하는 시간을 갖는 것은 그들의 생산성을 높일 수 있지만, 더 중요한 것은 그들의 경력과 삶을 바꿀 수 있다는 점입니다.

그런 맥락에서, 저는 항상 함께 일하는 사람들에게 모든 것을 설명하는 데 시간을 내어 노력해 왔습니다. 그들은 왜 과제나 프로젝트를 하는지 설명을 받을 자격이 있습니다. 그들이 우리가 제공하려는 고객들에게 미칠 수 있는 영향을 이해하면 그들의 노력에 대한 더 큰 감사를 느낄 수 있습니다. 모건 스탠리는 훌륭한 젊은 인재로부터 직접적인 혜택을 받고 있습니다. 우리는 심지어 많은 인재가 매우 성공적인 고객이 되기 때문에 회사를 떠나는 사람들로부터 이익을 얻기도 합니다. 이 전 동료들과 마주칠 때마다 개인적으로 항상 매우 보람 있는 경험이 됩니다.

Introduction

Mike Wilson is Chief U.S. Equity Strategist and Chief Investment Officer for Morgan Stanley. As CIO and Chair of the Global Investment Committee, Mike offers a unique perspective on markets to both institutional and wealth management clients, leveraging best-in-class research. He began his career with the firm in 1989 as an investment banker. Between 1995 and 2012, Mike held various positions within Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Equity Division, including the Head of Content Distribution for North American Equities. In 2012, he was appointed CIO of Wealth Management. Mike holds a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

How have you progressed and evolved through your time at Morgan Stanley?

Coming to New York from the Midwest to work at Morgan Stanley was a massive change for me culturally. However, I moved a lot as a child and so change was very normal for me growing up. In fact, it seems ironic that I am still here 25 years later. I have stayed so long because the firm has allowed me—even asked me—to do many different things during my career. I’ve been an investment banker, a salesman, a trader, a strategist and a product manager. In many ways, I’ve had six or seven very different careers while remaining at the same firm.

Were there any special elements of your experience that prepared you for this role?

I don’t think I could have enjoyed such a diverse and interesting experience at other firms. Morgan Stanley provides the responsibility and support necessary to grow as an individual. As a result, I have been able to evolve my skill set. I learned how to be a trader in a short period of time, and I’ve become a pretty good public speaker without any formal training. There truly is no better teacher in the world than hands-on experience. Morgan Stanley is willing to take risks with its talent and provide these new experiences. I think that is a very unique trait of Morgan Stanley that helps the firm, and the individuals within it, thrive.

What do you consider among your greatest accomplishments?

I am very proud of the number of young people I have developed over the years. Taking the time to mentor young professionals can make them more productive, but more importantly, you can change their careers and their lives.

Along those lines, I’ve always taken the time to explain everything to those who work alongside me. They deserve an explanation for why they are working on assignments and/or projects. It gives them a greater appreciation for their hard work if they understand the impact it might have on the clients we are trying to serve. Morgan Stanley benefits directly from great young talent. We even benefit from talent that leaves the firm because many of them become very successful clients. When I cross paths with these former colleagues, it’s always very rewarding personally.

유용, GPT-SoVITS, 현시점 오픈소스 TTS 중 가장 자연스럽고 강력한 성능을 자랑하는 도구

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:26:24 +0900

#유용, GPT-SoVITS, 현시점 오픈소스 TTS 중 가장 자연스럽고 강력한 성능을 자랑하는 도구

https://github.com/RVC-Boss/GPT-SoVITS/blob/main/docs/ko/README.md

GPT-SoVITS/docs/ko/README.md at main · RVC-Boss/GPT-SoVITS

1 min voice data can also be used to train a good TTS model! (few shot voice cloning) - RVC-Boss/GPT-SoVITS

github.com

https://github.com/RVC-Boss/GPT-SoVITS/wiki/GPT%E2%80%90SoVITS%E2%80%90v2%E2%80%90features-(%E6%96%B0%E7%89%B9%E6%80%A7)

GPT‐SoVITS‐v2‐features (新特性)

1 min voice data can also be used to train a good TTS model! (few shot voice cloning) - RVC-Boss/GPT-SoVITS

github.com

GPT-SoVITS는 현시점 오픈소스 TTS 중 가장 자연스럽고 강력한 성능을 자랑하는 도구 중 하나입니다. 특히 한국어 지원이 매우 훌륭하고, 단 1분 내외의 목소리 샘플만으로도 해당 인물의 목소리를 거의 완벽하게 복제할 수 있다는 게 큰 장점이죠.

현재 2026년 기준으로 V3 버전까지 출시되어 성능이 더욱 향상되었습니다. 설치 및 ComfyUI 활용 방법을 정리해 드릴게요.

1. GPT-SoVITS 설치 방법 (독립 실행형)

목소리를 직접 학습(Fine-tuning)시키거나 정교하게 뽑아내려면 독립적인 WebUI를 설치하는 것이 가장 좋습니다.

A. 간편 설치 (Windows용)

GitHub 저장소(RVC-Boss/GPT-SoVITS)의 Release 페이지에서 7z 또는 zip 형태의 **통합 팩(Prezip)**을 다운로드합니다.
압축을 풀고 go-webui.bat 파일을 실행하면 브라우저에서 제어창이 열립니다.
- 참고: 사용 중이신 RTX A4500은 VRAM이 20GB로 넉넉하므로, V3 모델 학습(약 14GB 필요)도 무리 없이 가능합니다.

B. 수동 설치 (Git 사용)

만약 Python 환경을 직접 관리하고 싶다면 다음 과정을 따릅니다.

Bash

git clone https://github.com/RVC-Boss/GPT-SoVITS.git
cd GPT-SoVITS
pip install -r requirements.txt
# FFmpeg가 설치되어 있어야 합니다.

2. ComfyUI에서 사용하기

질문하신 대로 ComfyUI에서도 당연히 사용 가능합니다. ComfyUI-GPT_SoVITS라는 커스텀 노드를 설치하면 됩니다.

설치 방법

ComfyUI Manager를 실행합니다.
Custom Nodes Manager에서 **"GPT_SoVITS"**를 검색하여 설치합니다. (AIFSH 제작 노드가 가장 유명합니다.)
설치 후 ComfyUI를 재시작하면 노드 목록에 추가됩니다.

활용 워크플로우

입력: 텍스트(Prompt)와 참조용 음성(Reference Audio, 약 5~10초)을 넣습니다.
출력: 생성된 음성이 Audio 출력 노드로 나옵니다.
장점: 영상 제작을 자동화할 때, 자막 텍스트를 그대로 TTS 노드에 연결하고 생성된 오디오를 비디오 생성 노드와 합쳐 "원클릭 영상 제작" 파이프라인을 구축할 수 있습니다.

3. 효과적인 사용 팁 (학습 vs 제로샷)

제로샷(Zero-shot): 학습 없이 5~10초 샘플만 넣고 바로 뽑는 방식입니다. 빠르지만 억양이 가끔 튈 수 있습니다.
파인튜닝(Fine-tuning): 특정 목소리를 1~30분 정도 학습시켜 전용 모델(.pth)을 만드는 방식입니다. 유튜버처럼 고정된 캐릭터의 목소리가 필요하다면 이 방식을 추천합니다.
한국어 설정: 설정에서 언어를 ko 또는 Auto로 맞추면 한국어 특유의 자연스러운 끊어 읽기가 적용됩니다.

전문가의 한 마디

사용 중이신 RTX A4500과 128GB RAM은 로컬에서 고성능 TTS와 이미지/비디오 생성을 동시에 돌리기에 아주 훌륭한 환경입니다. ComfyUI에서 Video Combined 노드와 함께 연동하시면, 대본 입력부터 성우 녹음, 영상 합성까지 한 번에 끝내는 자동화 워크플로우를 완벽하게 구현하실 수 있을 거예요.

혹시 설치 중에 특정 에러(예: CUDA 관련 또는 FFmpeg 미인식)가 발생하면 바로 말씀해 주세요! 직접 해결해 드릴 수 있습니다.

유튜브, 이제 이런 채널만 살아남습니다. 2026년 최신판 (해외 전문가들의 경고와 조언), 정리해봄

Songchoen 송천 — Wed, 8 Apr 2026 09:50:00 +0900

#유튜브, 이제 이런 채널만 살아남습니다. 2026년 최신판 (해외 전문가들의 경고와 조언), 정리해봄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbTNzyRVBdY&t=3s

#궁금해서 못나가게 만든다.

#계속 반전을 주어라

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz2h2Ruwez4

유용, 동그랗게 자르기, 원으로 자르기

Songchoen 송천 — Wed, 1 Apr 2026 13:50:31 +0900

#1.이미지 업로드 합니다.

#2.자를 부분을 지정합니다.

#3.천재에게 감사의 마음을 올립니다. 동그랗게 잘라짐.

https://circlecropimage.com/ko/

원형 이미지 자르기 도구 | 무료 온라인 원형 사진 크롭퍼

원형 이미지 자르기 - 무료 온라인 원형 사진 크롭퍼 원형 이미지 자르기는 직사각형 이미지를 완벽한 원형으로 변환하는 웹의 최고 무료 온라인 도구입니다. 회원가입 없이 즉시 원형 형태로

circlecropimage.com

화풍, 손으로 그린 달력 그림, 프롬프트

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:11:35 +0900

화풍, 사례 547: 손으로 그린 달력 그림

Please create a cute, stylish illustration in a vertical (16:9) layout featuring a fresh, bright, hand-drawn style: Illustration Requirements: - The main character is a young, fashionable female with a cute and lively watercolor or hand-drawn texture, vibrant yet soft colors. - Character features include large eyes, rounded rosy cheeks, and bold, fashionable accessories (e.g., sunglasses, hoop earrings, headscarves, headbands, bows, knit hats, etc.). Clothing should be bright, with dynamic and playful poses. Proportions may be slightly exaggerated (e.g., larger head, slender waist). - Outfit and accessories must reflect seasonal elements, holidays, recommended activities ("auspicious items"), or distinctive local characteristics based on the user's location and input. Outfit description: [{Character Outfit Description}] - Character positioned centrally or slightly right-aligned to leave ample whitespace for textual content. - Pure white, minimalist background without additional decorative elements, emphasizing the character and text.

https://x.com/dotey/status/1993754650336428422

X의 宝玉님(@dotey)

nana banana pro Prompt (optional: add your city/language/date at the bottom) ---- Please create a cute, stylish calendar illustration in a vertical (9:16) layout featuring a fresh, bright, hand-drawn style: Illustration Requirements: - The main charac

x.com

Please create a cute, stylish calendar illustration in a vertical (9:16) layout featuring a fresh, bright, hand-drawn style: Illustration Requirements: - The main character is a young, fashionable female with a cute and lively watercolor or hand-drawn texture, vibrant yet soft colors. - Character features include large eyes, rounded rosy cheeks, and bold, fashionable accessories (e.g., sunglasses, hoop earrings, headscarves, headbands, bows, knit hats, etc.). Clothing should be bright, with dynamic and playful poses. Proportions may be slightly exaggerated (e.g., larger head, slender waist). - Outfit and accessories must reflect seasonal elements, holidays, recommended activities ("auspicious items"), or distinctive local characteristics based on the user's location and input. Outfit description: [{Character Outfit Description}] - Character positioned centrally or slightly right-aligned to leave ample whitespace for textual content. - Pure white, minimalist background without additional decorative elements, emphasizing the character and text. Calendar Layout: - Prominent position at the top center: Gregorian date number [{Gregorian Date Number}] (large and eye-catching). - Below the date number, display the English month [{English Month}]. - Below the English month, display the year [{Year Number}]. - Symmetrical layout left and right of the date: weekday in both local language [{Weekday in Local Language}] and English [{Weekday in English}], along with the lunar date and local holiday [{Lunar or Local Calendar Date}] [{Local Holiday}], ensuring clear, elegant fonts. "Recommended Activities" and Inspirational Quote: - Vertically aligned on the left side in bold handwriting: [{Recommended Activities}], using brush calligraphy for Chinese users and complementary handwriting style for other languages, slightly larger and vertically arranged. - To the right of "Recommended Activities," arrange vertically an inspirational and comforting quote [{Inspirational Quote}] in slightly smaller matching handwriting. Localized Elements: - Incorporate distinct local cultural elements or landmarks based on the user's current location or input into the character's outfit, accessories, or details (e.g., city landmarks, climate characteristics, local cultural motifs). General Guidelines: - All elements must be neatly arranged with balanced whitespace. - Ensure text readability without overlapping or obscuring the illustration. - Replace all placeholder content with information dynamically generated based on user input or system-provided user data.

신선하고 밝은 손그림 스타일로 세로(9:16) 레이아웃의 귀엽고 스타일리시한 달력 일러스트를 만들어 주세요: 일러스트 요구사항: - 주인공은 젊고 패셔너블한 여성으로, 귀엽고 생기 넘치는 수채화 또는 손그림 질감과 생기 넘치면서도 부드러운 색감을 가지고 있습니다. - 캐릭터 특징으로는 큰 눈, 둥근 장밋빛 볼, 그리고 선글라스, 후프 귀걸이, 머리 스카프, 머리띠, 리본, 니트 모자 등 대담하고 세련된 액세서리가 있습니다. 옷은 밝고 역동적이며 장난기 가득한 포즈여야 합니다. 비율은 약간 과장될 수 있습니다(예: 머리가 더 크고, 허리가 가느다). - 의상과 액세서리는 계절 요소, 명절, 추천 활동("길조 아이템"), 또는 사용자의 위치와 입력에 따른 독특한 지역 특성을 반영해야 합니다. 의상 설명: [{Character Outfit Description}] - 텍스트 내용을 위한 충분한 여백을 남기기 위해 중앙에 위치하거나 약간 오른쪽으로 정렬된 캐릭터. - 순수한 흰색, 장식 요소가 없는 미니멀한 배경으로 캐릭터와 텍스트를 강조합니다.

달력 레이아웃: - 상단 중앙에 눈에 띄는 위치: 그레고리력 날짜 번호 [{그레고리력 날짜 번호}] (크고 눈길을 끄는 위치). - 날짜 번호 아래에는 영어 월 [{English Month}]를 표시합니다. - 영어 월 아래에 연도 [{Year Number}]를 표시합니다. - 날짜의 좌우에 대칭적인 배열: 평일은 현지어 [{Weekday in Local Language}]와 영어 [{Weekday in English}], 음력 날짜와 지역 공휴일([{Lunar 또는 Local Calendar Date}] [{Local Holiday}])와 함께 명확하고 우아한 글꼴을 보장합니다. "추천 활동" 및 영감을 주는 인용문: - 왼쪽에 굵은 필체로 세로로 정렬된 [{추천 활동}], 중국어 사용자에게는 붓 서예를, 다른 언어에는 보완적인 필체를 사용하며, 약간 더 크고 세로로 배열되어 있습니다. - "추천 활동" 오른쪽에 약간 더 작은 일치하는 필체로 된 영감을 주고 위로가 되는 인용문[{Inspirational Quote}]을 세로로 배열하세요. 지역화된 요소: - 사용자의 현재 위치나 캐릭터의 의상, 액세서리, 세부 사항(예: 도시 랜드마크, 기후 특성, 지역 문화 모티프)에 독특한 지역 문화 요소나 랜드마크를 포함시킵니다. 일반 지침: - 모든 요소는 균형 잡힌 여백으로 깔끔하게 배열되어야 합니다. - 그림이 겹치거나 가리지 않으면서 텍스트의 가독성을 보장합니다. - 모든 자리 표시자 콘텐츠를 사용자 입력이나 시스템 제공 데이터 기반으로 동적으로 생성된 정보로 대체합니다.

화풍, 포스트 아포칼립스적 분위기 프롬프트

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:20:08 +0900

화풍, 사례 191: 포스트 아포칼립스적 분위기 프롬프트

a young cartoon boy with big goggles and scarf driving a tiny makeshift vehicle in the desert, cute post-apocalyptic vibe, indie animation style, soft colors, emotional and adventurous --ar 3:4 --raw --p

X의 OscarAI님(@Artedeingenio)

These Mad Max warriors are seriously terrifying ️ Prompt in the ALT.

x.com

화풍, Pixar 스타일의 3D 애니메이션 장면 프롬프트

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:14:11 +0900

화풍, 사례 576: Pixar 스타일의 3D 애니메이션 장면 프롬프트

픽사 스타일의 3D 애니메이션 장면 - <캐릭터 조합>은 <장면 환경>에서 행복한 셀카를 찍습니다.

<주인공 캐릭터>가 중앙에 서서 셀카봉(아이폰이 부착된 상태)을 들고,
표현은 <주요 관점의 개인 특성>으로, <리더/핵심 인물의 팀>을 보여준다.

<메인뷰 캐릭터> 좌측의 <캐릭터 A>는 <캐릭터 A의 성격 관련 행동/자세>를 보여주며,
표현은 <인물 A의 표현특성>으로, <인물 A의 성격 묘사>를 반영하고 있다.

오른쪽 <캐릭터 B>는 <웃긴/영웅적/귀엽다> 포즈를 취하고 있습니다.
<캐릭터 B의 대표 아이템>을 들고 있는 그의 표정은 <캐릭터 B의 표정 특징>,
발랄하고 과장된 스타일로 <캐릭터 B의 성격 특성>을 드러낸다.

문자가 더 있으면 계속 추가할 수 있습니다.
옆에 있는 <캐릭터 C>는 얼굴에 <행동/자세>와 <표정>이 있습니다.
<캐릭터> 특성을 보여줍니다.

모든 캐릭터는 다채롭고 세련되고 귀여운 <시대풍 + 개량의상>을 입고,
전체적인 조명 효과는 부드럽고 따뜻하며 색상이 밝습니다.
캐릭터들은 풍부한 표정과 생생한 움직임을 가지고 있습니다.

배경은 <환경 묘사: 복숭아꽃, 호수, 산, 고대 건물, 동화 같은 자연 풍경 등>이며,
그 장면은 픽사 애니메이션 영화의 사랑스러운 분위기와 영화적 구성을 가지고 있습니다.
전체적인 그림에는 활력과 유머, 따뜻한 즐거움이 가득합니다.

---
등장인물: 유비, 장페이, 관우

A vibrant Pixar-style 3D animated scene depicting a joyful group selfie moment featuring <group of characters> in a <culturally representative environment>.
At the center, <main character> confidently holds a selfie stick topped with an iPhone, wearing an expression that clearly reflects their <distinctive personality trait> and exudes <leadership or core presence>.
To the left, <character A> adopts a pose or action reflective of their <distinct personality trait>, showcasing an expressive face that vividly captures their <personality description>.
On the right side, <character B> strikes a playful/humorous/cute pose, holding a characteristic item (<character B’s representative object>), with an exaggerated, lively facial expression highlighting their <distinctive personality trait>.
Additional characters (optional):

Nearby, <character C> performs an action or posture aligned with their personality, bearing an expressive facial expression that encapsulates their unique personality traits.
All characters wear bright, cheerful, and adorably rounded outfits styled in a contemporary fusion of traditional and modern attire representative of their cultural or historical backgrounds.
The scene is warmly lit, colorful, and filled with dynamic expressions and lively poses.
The background features a setting emblematic of the characters' cultural identities or personalities—such as cherry blossoms, lakes, mountains, historic architecture, or fantasy-like natural landscapes—rendered in the adorable, cinematic style characteristic of Pixar animations.
The overall composition exudes energy, humor, and heartwarming joy, capturing the essence of each character through their selfie expressions and postures.

—-

Names: [Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli]

즐거운 그룹 셀카 순간을 묘사한 생동감 넘치는 Pixar 스타일 3D 애니메이션 장면입니다. <문화적으로 대표되는 환경>의 <인물 그룹>.
중앙의 <주인공>은 아이폰을 얹은 셀카봉을 당당하게 들고 있으며, 자신의 <특이한 성격>이 뚜렷이 드러나 <리더십이나 핵심적 존재감>이 물씬 풍기는 얼굴을 하고 있다.
왼쪽으로 보면, <캐릭터 A>는 자신의 정체성을 반영하는 자세나 행동을 취하며 <뚜렷한 성격 특성> <성격 묘사>를 생생하게 표현하는 표정을 짓고 있습니다.
오른쪽의 <캐릭터 B>는 특유의 물건(<캐릭터 B의 대표 오브제<spantranslate="no">(p1))을 들고 장난기 많고 유머러스하며 귀여운 포즈를 취하고 있으며, 과장되고 생생한 표정으로 <특이한 성격>을 부각시키고 있습니다.
추가 문자(선택 사항):

근처에 있는 <캐릭터 C>는 자신의 개성을 반영한 생생한 표정으로 자신의 성격에 맞는 동작이나 몸짓을 하고 있습니다.
모든 캐릭터는 문화적 또는 역사적 배경을 반영하기 위해 전통적 요소와 현대적 요소를 혼합한 다채롭고 생동감 있고 귀엽고 매끄러운 의상을 입습니다.
그림은 따뜻한 조명과 풍부한 색감, 생생한 표정과 생동감 넘치는 몸짓으로 가득 차 있습니다.
배경에는 벚꽃, 호수, 산, 역사적인 건물, 환상적인 자연 풍경 등 캐릭터의 문화적 정체성이나 개성을 상징하는 장면이 픽사 애니메이션 특유의 사랑스러운 영화 스타일로 표현되어 있습니다.
전체적인 구성은 에너지와 유머, 따뜻한 즐거움으로 가득 차 있으며, 셀카 표정과 포즈를 통해 각 캐릭터의 본질을 담아내고 있습니다.

——

캐릭터: [프로도, 샘, 아라곤, 간달프, 레골라스, 김리]

화풍, 로고를 마스코트로 바꾸세요 프롬프트

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:54:48 +0900

화풍, 사례 101: 로고를 마스코트로 바꾸세요 프롬프트

Create a mascot for [BRAND NAME] logo following the JSON aesthetic below:
{
"style": "brand-inspired creative mascot generation",
"subject_handling": {
"adapt_to_uploaded_image": true,
"preserve_uploaded_logo_shape_and_text": true,
"extract_dominant_brand_colors": true,
"analyze_logo_style_for_mood": true,
"use_uploaded_image_as_primary_reference": true
},
"mascot_generation": {
"character_type": "open — could be an animal, humanoid, object, robot, fantasy creature, or abstract form",
"design_strategy": "generate a mascot concept that visually complements the uploaded brand based on extracted brand colors, mood, and style",
"style_alignment": "mascot should feel like part of the brand family — matching tone (playful, elegant, techy, minimal, etc.)",
"color_usage": "use brand colors as dominant tones in mascot’s body, clothing, skin, or materials",
"personality_embedding": "include expressive traits aligned with brand tone (e.g. curious, bold, serene, confident)"
},
"composition": {
"include_uploaded_logo_in_final_image": true,
"arrangement": "mascot and logo presented together in a clear and balanced composition",
"environment": "minimal scene or brand-aligned abstract background — not too busy",
"interaction": "mascot may pose near, hold, or gesture to logo — but must not obscure or alter it"
},
"lighting": {
"type": "neutral or soft directional lighting depending on brand tone",
"shadow_behavior": "soft contact shadows to ground elements"
},
"camera": {
"view_angle": "centered frontal or three-quarter depending on layout",
"focus": "both mascot and logo in clear focus"
},
"post_processing": {
"enhance_color harmony between mascot and logo": true,
"disable_style_overrides or artistic distortion": true
},
"image_constraints": {
"transparent_background": false,
"aspect_ratio": [INSERT ASPECT RATIO],
"include_text_if_present_in_logo": true,
"preserve_uploaded_logo_geometry": true,
"prevent_logo_modification": true
},
"notes": "Use the uploaded logo or product image as the central brand reference. Automatically generate a unique mascot that feels like an original creation belonging to the brand — inspired by extracted colors, shapes, and mood. The mascot must not copy other mascots or use predefined templates. The final image should creatively showcase both the logo and its new mascot side-by-side, visually unified but distinct."
}

참고사항

참조 이미지를 업로드하고 [BRAND NAME] 및 [INSERT ASPECT RATIO] 변수를 조정합니다.

화풍, 시간의 신 프롬프트

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:52:49 +0900

화풍, 사례 106: 시간의 신 프롬프트

Colossal marble statue of [INSERT OBJECT OR CHARACTER HERE], wings (if applicable) spread in divine majesty, adorned with ornate golden armor and flowing baroque robes, cracked marble textures with soft patina, glowing sacred emblem on chest, standing within a celestial golden dome, surrounded by divine architecture, dramatic god rays from above, dynamic mid-action pose, ultra-detailed renaissance sculpture style, cinematic lighting, majestic and sacred atmosphere, 8k resolution

[여기에 물건 또는 캐릭터 삽입]의 거대한 대리석 조각상, 신성한 위엄으로 펼쳐진 날개(해당되는 경우), 화려한 금빛 갑옷과 흐르는 바로크 로브로 장식된 모습, 부드러운 파티나가 있는 금이 간 대리석 질감, 가슴에 빛나는 신성한 문양, 천상의 황금 돔 안에 서 있고, 신성한 건축물에 둘러싸여 있으며, 위에서 드라마틱한 신의 광선이 펼쳐지고, 역동적인 중간 동작 포즈, 초정밀한 르네상스 조각 스타일, 영화 같은 조명, 장엄하고 신성한 분위기, 8K 해상도

화풍, 르네상스 해부학 프롬프트

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:49:43 +0900

화풍, 사례 121: 르네상스 해부학 프롬프트

A Renaissance anatomical study of a [subject], meticulously illustrated in fine graphite and ink cross-hatching, with transparent tissue overlays revealing skeletal and muscular systems. Labeled in elegant Latin calligraphy and presented on aged parchment, the composition exudes scholarly precision and classical beauty.

[주제]에 대한 르네상스 해부학 연구. 미세한 흑연과 잉크의 교차선으로 꼼꼼하게 묘사되었으며 골격과 근육계를 노출시키는 투명한 조직 오버레이가 있습니다. 우아한 라틴 서예로 표시되고 고대 양피지에 표현된 이 작품은 학문적 정확성과 고전적 아름다움을 물씬 풍깁니다.

화풍, 현대적인 디지털 애니메이션 스타일 프롬프트

Songchoen 송천 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:47:57 +0900

화풍, 사례 140: 현대적인 디지털 애니메이션 스타일 프롬프트

Transform this image into a modern digital anime TV style. Use clean and sharp outlines, vivid and high-contrast colors, and digital cel shading with subtle gradients. Add visual effects like glows, particles, or light flares if appropriate. The character design should follow modern anime proportions, with detailed hair and expressive eyes. The background can be softly blurred or cinematic. The image should look like a frame from a high-quality anime series currently airing.

이 이미지를 현대적인 디지털 애니메이션 TV 스타일로 변환하세요. 깨끗하고 선명한 윤곽선, 밝고 고대비 색상, 미묘한 그라데이션이 포함된 디지털 만화 음영 처리를 사용하세요. 적절한 경우 광선, 입자 또는 광선과 같은 시각 효과를 추가합니다. 캐릭터 디자인은 현대 애니메이션 비율을 따라야 하며, 섬세한 머리카락과 표현력 있는 눈이 있어야 합니다. 배경은 부드럽게 흐려지거나 영화처럼 될 수 있습니다. 이미지는 현재 방영 중인 고품질 애니메이션 시리즈의 프레임처럼 보여야 합니다.

유용, 큐레이터, 단비, 유용하다. 광고가 많지만...

Songchoen 송천 — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:23:33 +0900

유용, 큐레이터, 단비, 유용하다.

광고가 많지만...무료로 열어두려면 광고를 많이 봐 주어야 한다.

나도 낚였지만,

그의 노력은 더 대단하다. 인내의 시간 덕분이었을까?!

창조의 고통은...

#실시간 채널 분석

#고급필터링

https://min-inter.co.kr/

큐레이터 단비's 웹앱 아이디어 창고

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강남구, 지자체 최초 ‘현장 실무형’ 중장년 AI 컨설턴트 양성

Songchoen 송천 — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:13:17 +0900

강남구, 지자체 최초 ‘현장 실무형’ 중장년 AI 컨설턴트 양성

- 이론 교육에 그치지 않고 ‘교육-실무-상생’ 일체형…수료 즉시 현장 컨설팅으로 연결 -

- 8주 160시간 집중 교육 후 7개월간 소상공인·취창업 희망자·디지털 취약계층 컨설팅 실무 -

- 교육비 무료, 노트북·AI 유료계정 무상 임대…활동·만근수당 지원, 종료 후 1년 취·창업 연계 -

꿈이 모이는 도시, 미래를 그리는 강남구(구청장 조성명)가 중장년 퇴직자의 경력과 생성형 인공지능(AI) 역량을 결합해 지역 경제 현장에 곧바로 투입하는 ‘2026년 중장년 AI 전문가 양성 및 맞춤형 AI 컨설팅 사업’을 추진하며, 그 참여자를 3월 27일까지 모집한다.

올해 새롭게 추진하는 사업으로, 중장년을 ‘AI를 아는 교육 수료생’에 그치게 하지 않고, 소상공인과 취·창업 희망자, 디지털 취약계층을 직접 돕는 ‘현장 실무형 컨설턴트’로 활동하도록 설계됐다. 단기간 이론 교육에 그치지 않고, 교육 수료 직후 장기간 실무로 이어지는 ‘교육-실무-상생’ 일체형 모델로서, 지자체 가운데 처음 시도하는 중장년 일자리 창출 혁신모델이다.

특히 실무 기간을 약 7개월로 길게 잡아, 기존 일자리 사업이 가진 단발성 체험을 넘어 실제 성과가 지역에 축적되는 구조를 만든 것이 큰 장점이다. 구는 이 모델이 교육 효과를 현장에서 바로 검증하고 확산할 수 있어 파급력이 큰 일자리 창출 방식이 될 것으로 보고 있다.

선발 인원은 20명이다. 참여자는 4월 6일부터 6월 4일까지 8주간(160시간) 생성형 AI 활용 문서 작성, 콘텐츠 제작 실습, 업무 자동화, 경영 진단 코칭, 대상별 AI 활용 상담·코칭 방법 등을 체계적인 전문가 양성 교육을 받는다.

교육 이후 6월부터 약 7개월간 강남구 전역에서 1대1 현장 컨설팅을 수행한다. 소상공인과 취·창업 희망자를 대상으로 ▲AI 기반 홍보·마케팅 ▲매출 데이터 분석 ▲경영 진단 ▲사업계획서·자기소개서·이력서 작성 등을 지원하는 방식으로 진행된다. 노인·청소년 등 디지털 취약계층에게는 생활 속 AI 활용법과 행정서비스 이용 등을 방문 멘토링해, 디지털 격차 완화에도 기여하도록 했다.

교육비는 전액 무료이며, 교육·활동 기간에 사용할 최신 노트북과 AI 유료 계정을 무상 임대 지원한다. 컨설팅 활동 기간에는 2026년 최저임금 기준의 활동수당과 주휴수당 등을 지급하고, 사업 종료 시까지 성실히 참여한 인원에게는 1인당 만근수당 100만 원(세전)을 별도로 지급한다. 사업 종료 후에도 1년간 협력·유관기관과 연계한 취·창업 지원 서비스를 제공해 지속적인 사회활동을 뒷받침할 계획이다.

지원 자격은 공고일 기준 강남구 거주 40~65세 미만(1962~1986년생) 중 관련 분야 경력 1년 이상 보유자다. 접수는 3월 27일 오후 5시까지이며, 구청 홈페이지 공고문에서 신청 서식을 내려받아 작성한 뒤 담당자 이메일(hspark@sangsangwoori.com)로 제출하면 된다. 최종 합격자는 서류·면접 심사를 거쳐 4월 3일 발표한다. 자세한 문의는 구청 일자리정책과(02-3423-5563) 또는 운영기관 (주)상상우리(02-2274-7762)로 하면 된다.

조성명 강남구청장은 “중장년의 풍부한 경험에 AI 역량을 더해 교육 수료생을 곧바로 현장에 투입하는 실무형 모델”이라며 “현장 활동을 통해 소상공인과 디지털 취약계층의 든든한 파트너가 되도록 지원하고, 지역 상생과 양질의 일자리 창출로 이어지는 성과를 만들어 내겠다”고 말했다.

(강남구청_2026_3_8)_강남구 중장년 AI 전문가 양성 및 맞춤형 AI 컨설팅 사업 참여자 모집.hwp

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보고 싶지만 보지 못한 것들20, The Check Up with Google 2026

Songchoen 송천 — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:48:37 +0900

#카테고리 없음보고 싶지만 보지 못한 것들20, The Check Up with Google 2026

#The Check Up with Google 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62UIFZXHDBE

#NVIDIA GTC Keynote 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw_o0xr8MWU

#Morgan Stanley TMT Conference 2026 | Jensen Huang on AI, Compute, Tokens and the New Global Economy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv7UVAfyebk

#Nvidia GTC26 Financial Analyst Q&A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pwZEeIDX2U&t=774s

#한 치의 오차 없다, 하자 0% 충격적으로 완벽한 목조주택의 탄생. 인건비 줄이니 확실히 저렴해진 집값｜AI로봇 주택 공장｜극한직업｜#골라듄다큐

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUQVN8MxkQY

#코딩 배우지 마세요, 말 한마디로 주식 에이전트 만드는 법

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKjbXXBahiY

#유튜브는 부업으로 정말 늦은걸까요? 22일간 비밀채널을 운영하며 확인해봤습니다

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYc4PTjp3E4

#Niche Bending

#The NEW YouTube Strategy Dominating in 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLDrB_wmbNE

#I Found an AI Niche Getting 1 BILLION Views | Animal POV Videos (Step-by-Step)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyDaFq6YDxc

#The Fastest Way to Monetize a YouTube Channel in 2026

#2026년 유튜브 채널을 가장 빠르게 수익화하는 방법

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_DHjEBvQew

#팀 페리스의 나는 1주일에 4시간만 일한다.

#평생 출근하기 싫다면, 지금 제대로 알아야 할 돈의 원리 | 호주 Ep.7-2

No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

자기 자신을 소유할 수 있는 특권을 얻기 위해 치러야 할 대가는, 아무리 커도 결코 비싸지 않다.

Who Not How, Dan Sullivan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNFd_h3ah2A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqm5o4See0Y

#Lloyd Ross

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4vV7VmNuOqyP1MSuIF-Hjw/featured

Lloyd Ross

Welcome to Money Grows On Trees – your go-to podcast for wealth-building, smart investing, and financial freedom. Hosted by Lloyd James Ross, a millionaire investor and financial educator, this podcast is your go-to source for everything related to money

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