I just finished the Hobbit, and I was curious if anyone else noticed a distinct change in tone after the death of Smaug. At that point, I think Tolkien switches over to style much more like LotR, and starts slipping in the elvish names and Middle-earth history. For instance, he starts calling Lake-town 'Esgaroth' and names the old lords of Dale 'Girion' and the goblin general 'Bolg.' To me, this a big change from the way he broadly refers to 'The Goblin-King' and 'The Elvenking.' And the whole tone of the book becomes remarkably mature, especially during the parley bit, which is also the point where the moral ambiguity starts in, and our heroes (Thorin and the dwarves) sudden become the enemy. That is such a big change from what came before, and I like it even more because I feel as though we grow along with Bilbo, who really does act and talk completely different during his return journey than he did at the beginning.
