A Special Kind of Help! Twice Gandalf leaves Bilbo and the dwarves to manage on their own – first briefly, when they encounter the Trolls, and then again later at the edge of the forest. On this second time, our diminutive hero must deal with deadly spiders, unfriendly elves, and a dragon – all by himself. What was Gandalf thinking? Tolkien, both a teacher and a father himself, knew that one of the best ways to help someone is not to do everything for them. People often wonder why God doesn’t simply solve all our problems for us. But later as we grow and mature, we see that all along God knew what He was doing.