the next morning, more than could be accounted for by Beorn himself. I
think they are told to stay inside because of the other bears. Bilbo
hears a bear, but whether it is Beorn or one of his friends is unclear.
Bilbo is not feeling particularly courageous in this chapter, but he doesn't
have to be, since he encounters no danger. Courage is not the absence of
fear, it is the ability to continue despite your well-founded fear.
Despite his well-founded fears, Bilbo continues all the way into Mirkwood, and
beyond.
“I dislike Allegory - the conscious and intentional allegory - yet any attempt to explain the purport of myth or fairytale must use allegorical language. (And, of course, the more 'life' a story has the more readily will it be susceptible of allegorical interpretations: while the better a deliberate allegory is made the more nearly will it be acceptable just as a story.)” (From Tolkien Letter # 131.)
