Gandalf thought Bilbo to be a suitable companion to Thorin and his Dwarves for a number of reasons. Gandalf agreed to help Thorin, though he insisted that his party must make use of stealth rather than open confrontation for that, they would need a burglar, to whom he would take them. Thorin too was concerned about Smaug, but had different motives: he wanted to reclaim the dwarves' treasure in the Lonely Mountain. He was thinking about the matter when he met Thorin Oakenshield at Bree. Gandalf knew that Smaug the dragon could pose a serious threat if used by Sauron, then dwelling in Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. However, nearly all the text consists of narration by Gandalf, who was telling the story at Frodo's request in Minas Tirith after the coronation of King Elessar. "The Quest of Erebor" is written in the first person, from the perspective of Frodo Baggins. The earliest known draft was later found and published in The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996) as part of the history of Appendix A's development. At the end of this version, Christopher included extracts from an earlier and longer manuscript, which was later published in its entirety in The Annotated Hobbit. The first published form of the story appeared in Unfinished Tales (1980), compiled by Tolkien's son Christopher. There are multiple manuscripts extant of the work. A note in the earliest known draft referenced a page number in Fellowship. Though none of the original manuscripts were dated, it can be deduced that the story was written no earlier than September 29, 1953-the date Tolkien first received page proofs for The Fellowship of the Ring.
"The Quest of Erebor" was originally written in the 1950s to be an appendix to The Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien decided not to include it due to space limitations, and only a very abridged version of the tale occurred in Appendix A, III " Durin's Folk".
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