# Guide to The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Chapter 16

A Thief in the Night is the sixteenth chapter of Guide to The Lord of the Rings/J.R.R Tolkien's Guide to The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit.

## Plot

Hoping to avoid war, Bilbo secretly takes the Arkenstone to the camp of the Elves and Men, and gives it to Bard and Thranduil to help with negotiations. Before leaving the camp to return to the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo finds that Gandalf has returned.

## Synopsis

In the mountain, Thorin desperately searches for the Arkenstone, while the rest of the Dwarves worry about the army camped on their doorstep. Bilbo decides to take matters into his own hands, and with the help of the ring, he sneaks out of the mountain in the middle of the night and into the camp of the lake men and the wood elves, where is brought before the leaders, Bard and the Elvenking. They are suspicious of him, but they relax when Bilbo reveals his secret weapon: the Arkenstone. He gives it freely to Bard to use as a bargaining chip against Thorin. Bard and the Elvenking are amazed that he would risk inciting the anger of the dwarves in order to prevent a war. They ask him to stay in the camp for his own safety, but Bilbo insists on returning to the mountain. On his way back, he runs into Gandalf, who commends him for his bravery. With his hope restored, Bilbo returns to the mountain unnoticed.

## Appearances
### Main Characters

* Bilbo Baggins
* Bard
* Elvenking

### other characters

* Thorin Oakenshield
* Roäc
* Bombur
* Gandalf
* Dáin II Ironfoot (Mentioned only)

### Species

* Hobbits
* Dwarves
* Men
* Elves

### Locations

* Lonely Mountain
* Dale

### objects

* Arkenstone

## Translations around the World

| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | 'N Dief in die Nag |
| Albanian | Një Hajdut në natë |
| Amharic | ሌባ የሌሊት ወራዳ |
| Arabic | لص في الليل |
| Basque | Gauean Lapurra |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Злодзей у ночы |
| Bengali | রাতে চোর |
| Bosnian | Lopov u noći |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Крадец в нощта |
| Cambodian | ចោរម្នាក់នៅក្នុងរាត្រី |
| Catalan | Un Lladre a la Nit |
| Cebuano | Usa ka kawatan sa gabii |
| Chinese | 夜里的小偷 |
| Croatian | Lopov u noći |
| Czech | Zloděj v noci |
| Danish | En Tyv i Natten |
| Dutch | Een Dief in de Nacht |
| Esperanto | A Ŝtelisto en la Nokto |
| Estonian | Varas öösel |
| Finnish | Varas yöllä |
| Fijian | E dua na daubutako ena bogi |
| Filipino | Isang Magnanakaw sa Gabi |
| French | Un Voleur dans la nuit |
| Galician | Un Ladrón na Noite |
| German | Ein Dieb in der Nacht |
| Greek | Κλέφτης τη νύχτα |
| Gujarati | નાઇટમાં થીફ |
| Haitian Creole | Yon Vòlò nan mitan Lannwit |
| Hebrew | גנב בלילה |
| Hindi | रात में एक चोर |
| Hungarian | A tolvaj az éjszakában |
| Icelandic | Þjófur í Nótt |
| Indonesian | Seorang pencuri di malam hari |
| Irish Gaelic | Gadaí san Oíche |
| Italian | Un Ladro nella notte |
| Japanese | 夜の泥棒 |
| Kannada | ಎ ಥೀಫ್ ಇನ್ ದಿ ನೈಟ್ |
| Kazakh Cyrillic | Түнде ұры |
| Korean | 밤의 도둑 |
| Kurdish | Di Şevê de diz (Latin) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Түн жамынган уурудай |
| Laotian | ຄົນຂີ້ລັກໃນຕອນກາງຄືນໄດ້ |
| Latvian | Zaglis naktī |
| Lithuanian | Naktį vagis |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Крадец во ноќ |
| Malagasy | Ny Mpangalatra amin' ny Alina |
| Malay | Pencuri di Malam |
| Maltese | Ħalliel fil-Lejla |
| Marathi | रात्रीचा एक चोर |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Шөнийн хулгайч |
| Nepalese | रात मा एक चोर |
| Norwegian | En Tyv om Natten |
| Pashto | په شپه کې چور |
| Persian | دزد در شب |
| Polish | Nocny złodziej |
| Portuguese | Um Ladrão na Noite |
| Punjabi | ਰਾਤ ਨੂੰ ਇੱਕ ਚੋਰ |
| Romanian | Un Hoţ în Noapte |
| Russian | Вор в ночи |
| Scottish Gaelic | A Mheirlich san Oidhche |
| Serbian | Лопов у ноћи (Cyrillic) Lopov u Noći (Latin) |
| Sindhi | هڪ چور رات ۾ |
| Sinhalese | රාත්රියේ හොරෙක් |
| Slovak | Zlodej v noci |
| Slovenian | Tatica v noči |
| Somalian | Tuug habeen ah |
| Spanish | Un Ladrón en la Noche |
| Sudanese | A Maling di Peuting |
| Swedish | En Tjuv om Natten |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Дузд дар шаб |
| Tamil | இரவில் ஒரு திருடன் |
| Telugu | ఎ థీఫ్ ఇన్ ది నైట్ |
| Thai | ขโมยในตอนกลางคืน |
| Tongan | Ha Taha kaiha'a 'i he Po'uli |
| Turkish | Gece Bir Hırsız |
| Urdu | ایک چور رات میں |
| Uzbek | Кеча ичида ўғри (Cyrillic) Kecha ichida o'g'ri (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Một tên trộm trong đêm |
| Welsh | Lleidr yn y Nos |
| Yiddish | אַ גנב אין דער נאַכט |
| Yoruba | A Olè li Oru |