This chapter starts off after everyone successfully escaped and regrouped from the goblin caves and are making their descent from the Misty Mountains. Gandalf mentions a mysterious being that lives in the area that he plans to visit. This person is Beorn. Beorn is a shape shifter and spends his time as either a very large man or an even larger bear. From his description and his actions, one can imply that he is sort of the protector of nature. Besides being friendly to the travelers (after much suspicion first), and providing them a place to stay, he does not serve much purpose to the plot. The reason I think that Tolkien included this mysterious but commanding creature was to loop in a theme: The dwarfs and the hobbit respected nature and all the plants and animals they encountered. The goblins on the other hand (who Beorn later ripped apart) did not. The ones that lived harmoniously with nature were protected by Beorn and helped along their way.
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