The Side-door or Back Door was the secret door to the Dwarven kingdom of the Lonely Mountain, located on a shelf of the mountain's western side. It accessed a long tunnel that led down into the Great Hall of Thráin.
Description[]
The Side-door was made as if to look as if it were a natural rock face on the mountain; its surface was flat and smooth, lacking any clues that it was a door. It was five feet high and 3–9 feet wide, with a key-hole about three feet from the ground.[1]
History[]
The Side-door was built sometime during the reign of Thrór with the support of his son Thráin. Its purpose was likely for a means of escape. According to Thorin, Thrór and Thráin were the only ones who knew about it and used it to escape when Smaug attacked and claimed the mountain and all its wealth.[2] The door could only be opened with a key, and then only on the last light shone upon it on Durin's Day. When Thorin and Company reached it, they recognized it for what it was and the Dwarves eager to get inside attempted to force it open without success.[1]
Thorin opens the door on Durin's Day
As a ray of sun struck the door, a piece of rock would flake off to reveal the key-hole, allowing the door to be opened. Bilbo passed through the door and down to Smaug.[3] Anticipating that Smaug would find out how he got in, the Dwarves shut the side-door to the outside and retreated down the tunnel just in time before Smaug attacked the entrance, smashing the rock face to bits, destroying the side-door and everything around it with lashings of his great tail, and sealing them in the mountain.[3]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Kant-deurtjie |
| Albanian | Dyer anësore |
| Amharic | የጎን በር |
| Arabic | باب جانبي |
| Armenian | Կողքի դուռը |
| Azerbaijani | Yan qapı |
| Basque | Alboko ate |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | бакавыя дзверы |
| Bengali | পাশের দরজা |
| Bosnian | Bočna vrata |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Странична врата |
| Burmese | ဘေးထွက်တံခါးကို |
| Cambodian | ចំហៀងទ្វា |
| Catalan | Porta lateral |
| Cebuano | Kilid sa pultahan |
| Chinese | 侧门 |
| Czech | Boční dveř |
| Croatian | Bočna vrata |
| Danish | Den Hemmelige Dør (Sidedøren) |
| Dari | درب های جانبی |
| Dutch | Zijdeur |
| Esperanto | Flanka pordo |
| Estonian | Küljeuks |
| Filipino | Gilid-pinto |
| Finnish | Sivuluukku |
| French | Porte latérale |
| Friulian | Puarte laterâl |
| Galician | Porta lateral |
| Georgian | გვერდითი კარი |
| German | Seitentür |
| Greek | Πλευρά-πόρτα |
| Gujarati | બાજુનો દરવાજો |
| Hebrew | הדלת הצדדית |
| Hindi | बगली दरवाजा |
| Hungarian | Oldal ajtó |
| Icelandic | Hlið hurð |
| Indonesian | Pintu samping |
| Irish Gaelic | Doras taobh |
| Italian | Porta laterale |
| Japanese | サイドドア |
| Javanese | Lawang sisih |
| Kannada | ಪಕ್ಕ ಬಾಗಿಲು |
| Kazakh | Бүйір есік (Cyrillic) Büyir esik (Latin) |
| Korean | 사이드 도어 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Каптал эшик |
| Laotian | ປະຕູຂ້າງຄຽງ |
| Latvian | Sānu durvīm |
| Lithuanian | Šonines duris |
| Luxembourgish | Säitentor |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Странични врат |
| Malayalam | സൈഡ് വാതിൽ |
| Malaysian | Pintu sampingan |
| Maltese | In-naħa tal-bieb |
| Marathi | साइड-दरवाजा |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Хажуугийн хаалга |
| Nepalese | साइड ढोका |
| Norwegian | Sidedøren |
| Occitan | Pòrta laterala |
| Pashto | د غاړې دروازه |
| Persian | درب سمت |
| Polish | Boczne-drzwi (Side-door)
Tajemne Drzwi (Secret Door) |
| Portuguese | Porta lateral |
| Punjabi | ਪਾਸੇਦਾ ਦਰਵਾਜ਼ਾ |
| Romanian | Usa laterala |
| Russian | Боковая дверь |
| Sardinian | Porta de su laterale |
| Scottish Gaelic | Doras taobh |
| Serbian | Бочна врата (Cyrillic) Bočna vrata (Latin) |
| Sicilian | Porta di latu |
| Sindhi | پاسي جي دروازي |
| Sinhalese | සයිඩ් දොර |
| Slovak | Bočné dvere |
| Slovenian | Stranska vrata |
| Spanish | Puerta lateral |
| Sundanese | Samping panto |
| Swahili | Mlango wa upande |
| Swedish | Sidodörren |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Дари тараф |
| Tamil | பக்க கதவு |
| Tatar | Як ишеге |
| Telugu | సైడ్ డోర్ |
| Thai | ประตูด้านข้าง |
| Turkish | Yan kapı |
| Turkmen | Tarapy gapy |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Бічні двере |
| Urdu | طرف دروازہ |
| Uzbek | Йон эшик (Cyrillic) Yon eshik (Latin) |
| Venetian | Porta laterale |
| Vietnamese | Cửa bên |
| Welsh | Drws ochr |
| Yiddish | זייַט טיר |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Hobbit, Chapter XI: "On the Doorstep"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter I: "An Unexpected Party"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Hobbit, Chapter XII: "Inside Information"