Bilbo shows even more bravery by being the one with enough courage to go and check out Smaug in the first place: Then the hobbit slipped on his ring, warned by the echoes to take more than a hobbit's care to make no sound, he crept noiselessly down, down into the dark. He was trembling with fear, but his little face was set and grim. Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago. He had not had a pocket-handkerchief for ages. He loosened his dagger in its sheath, tightened his belt, and went on. (p. 212) This is Bilbo's greatest test of bravery. Even though he is scared, he continues on into the mystery of Smaug's mountain that lay ahead. None of the other dwarves are up to the task except little Bilbo, who we would have never expected, went in and stood up to his fears. At the beginning of the novel, Bilbo is very cowardly and all he does is sit in his cozy little home. Bilbo shows even more bravery by being the one with enough courage to go and check out Smaug in the first place: Then the hobbit slipped on his ring, warned by the echoes to take more than a hobbit's care to make no sound, he crept noiselessly down, down into the dark. He was trembling with fear, but his little face was set and grim. Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago. He had not had a pocket-handkerchief for ages. He loosened his dagger in its sheath, tightened his belt, and went on. (p. 212) This is Bilbo's greatest test of bravery. Even though he is scared, he continues on into the mystery of Smaug's mountain that lay ahead. None of the other dwarves are up to the task except little Bilbo, who we would have never expected, went in and stood up to his fears. At the beginning of the novel, Bilbo is very cowardly and all he does is sit in his cozy little home.