Wk. 7 Ch. 9 Hyperbole, or not?

[Sparrow]

Hyperbole is a literary device in which a statement is emphasized by gross exaggeration, as opposed to a literal description. "Eyes as big as saucers" is an example of hyperbole. Which is the case in the second paragraph of this chapter: "[T]heir small knives, the only weapons they had, would have been of no use against the arrows of the elves that could hit a bird's eye in the dark."? Can you name some examples of hyperbole?

[Desi Baggins]

Is that a hyperbole or not....I think maybe an elf could hit an eagles eye in the dark with an arrow....

[Greenleaf]

I tend to agree with Desi. Maybe it is a hyperbole but I wouldn't be surprised if an Elf could really hit a bird's eye with an arrow. Hmm... maybe the addition "in the dark" makes it a hyperbole...

[Stormrider]

I think in the first paragraph of chapter nine, the following sentence is more hyperbole than what Sparrow pointed out in her question above:

"Such day as there ever was in the forest was fading once more into the blackness of night, when suddenly out sprang the light of many torches all round them, like hundreds of red stars."

This is more like gross exaggeration (torches being described as red stars) than Elves being able to hit a bird's eye in the dark! Elves have very good eye-sight and are sharp shooters, aren't they? That is not a gross exaggeration to me!