“Thump” is another word whose register depends on what is causing the thumping.  Dwarves threaten to thump plates in Chapter 1 and trolls thump about in a slapstick fight scene in Chapter 2.  While the mood is eerie in Chapter 8, the thumping of feet or of dwarves to the ground are clumsy and low in comparison to the menacing, listening place.  In Chapter 9, Bilbo’s heart thumps during the daring rescue – but their danger is  not particularly great.

• 01.067 Pound them up with a thumping pole;
• 02.070 and thumping,
• 08.001 and the quiet was so deep that their feet seemed to thump along
• 08.105 thump to the ground
• 09.029 Bilbo’s heart thumped every time