J.R.R. Tolkien and The Hobbit

It is an oft-told tale that in 1925, while grading exam papers, a bored J.R.R. Tolkien came across a blank page. He turned it over and wrote on the back, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit". And there the oddly named little creature remained until a few years later when Tolkien needed to entertain his children.

People have compared the hobbits to rabbits, snergs, and badgers. J.R.R. Tolkien himself said they were caricatures of the people he knew when he was a child growing up in rural England. Ironically, during the Second World War, many English people lived and worked in secret underground cities and bunkers. They had become more like hobbits than they realized, rising to the challenge when they were most threatened.

The Hobbit was more an idle distraction for J.R.R. Tolkien than a true literary project. Having devised a series of adventures for the funny little man Mr. Baggin to amuse his children, Tolkien eventually began to write down the story. His imagination must have compelled him to embellish the hobbit's world almost from the beginning with little maps and drawings.

But Tolkien was a natural story-teller. He wanted to entertain, to be entertained, and to engage his audience in the same way he imagined the story-tellers of old -- the bards, scalds, and scops of yore -- drawing their audiences into stories of adventure and great deeds. His gift for telling tales came from his love of great stories, and especially great tragedies. But The Hobbit was not a tragic story. It was fun and amusing and interesting all at once.

The story began with Bilbo Baggins, a well-to-do hobbit, enjoying a bright morning on his doorstep. The wizard Gandalf came by and engaged Bilbo in a confusing dialogue which ended with Bilbo unexpectedly inviting Gandalf back for tea the next day. Without Bilbo's knowledge, Gandalf scratched a special mark on his door. The next day, thirteen Dwarves mysteriously presented themselves to Bilbo as his guests, forming a very unexpected tea-party.

When Gandalf came along at last, Bilbo learned that the Dwarves were on their way east to recover a lost treasure and that they were seeking a professional burglar to help them steal it back from the dragon Smaug. Despite his fear of the unknown (and of dragons) Bilbo was so engaged and intrigued by the Dwarves' tale that he agreed to join them in their quest.

The first part of the journey east was largely uneventful until the Dwarves became lost at night and were captured by three trolls. As Bilbo distracted the trolls, Gandalf came back upon the confused situation and tricked the trolls into arguing the night away until they were caught by the rising sun and turned to stone.

Gandalf then led the Dwarves and Hobbit to the refuge of Rivendell, an elven community ruled by Elrond Half-elven. Befriended by Elrond, the Dwarves rested and prepared for the next part of their journey, which led over the dangerous Misty Mountains. Elrond helped the Dwarves decipher a mysterious map that Thorin, their leader, had inherited from his father.

While crossing the Misty Mountains the Dwarves were captured by Goblins. Bilbo managed to slip away but became lost. He discovered a ring in the dark and put it in his pocket before encountering a strange creature whom Bilbo named Gollum (because of the noise Gollum made in his throat). Escaping from the murderous Gollum, Bilbo discovered that his ring was magical, as it rendered him invisible when he put it on his finger. Bilbo escaped to the east side of the mountains and was reunited with Gandalf and the Dwarves, who with Gandalf's help had made their own escape.

Pursued by the angry Goblins (because Gandalf had slain their leader), Thorin and his companions sought out the help of Beorn, a powerful man who lived in the valley beyond the Great River. Gandalf persuaded Beorn to befriend and help Thorin's company before he had to leave them for business demanding his attention in the south. Traveling on without Gandalf's help, Thorin and his companions entered Mirkwood, the great forest of the wild lands.

The journey through Mirkwood required many days. En route to the eastern side the Dwarves lost their food and supplies and eventually became lost in the dark woods. When giant spiders captured the Dwarves, Bilbo used his magic ring to confuse the spiders and rescue the Dwarves. As they recovered from their ordeal, they saw an elven feast off in the woods and interrupted the Elves' merry-making three times in an ill-fated attempt to ask for help.

Angered by the Dwarves' intrusion, the Elves took them all prisoner. But the Dwarves stubbornly refused to explain where they were going or why they were passing through the Elven realm. Bilbo used his magic ring to hide from the Elves for several weeks until he was able to devise a plan to rescue the Dwarves and help them escape from the Elvenking's dungeon. Hiding the Dwarves in empty barrels, Bilbo took them out by a back way and along a forest river toward the east.

Thorin and his companions found their way to the ancient Lake-town, a community of men who still dwelt near the Desolation of Smaug, who had taken up residence in the Lonely Mountain, where Thorin's people had once lived. The men of Lake-town befriended the Dwarves and helped them prepare for the final leg of the journey. Rested and resupplied, Thorin and his companions set out for the Lonely Mountain.

Arriving at the mountain, the Dwarves made their way up its slopes to a secret doorway that Thorin's father and grand-father had used to escape when Smaug attacked the Dwarven kingdom under the mountain. Opening the door, the Dwarves sent Bilbo down through a tunnel to investigate. In a great hall Bilbo found Smaug resting on a vast pile of treasure. The dragon, awakened by the Dwarves' activity on the mountain, engaged Bilbo in a battle of riddles. But Bilbo, using his magic ring to remain invisible, defied the dragon's attempt to locate him.

Bilbo incited Smaug's anger by stealing a golden cup before returning to Thorin and the Dwarves. Enraged by the theft, Smaug emerged from the mountain and discovered the Dwarves' secret door. After they fled into the tunnle for refuge, the dragon sealed it and then went off to destroy Lake-town, for he righty guessed that the men of Lake-town must have helped the Dwarves.

Smaug's unexpected attack caught the men of Lake-town by surprise, and the dragon destroyed all the buildings. But Bard the Bowman, leader of the Lake-town's men-at-arms, mortally wounded the dragon after learning from a thrush that Bilbo had noticed the dragon's armor was incomplete. In the wake of Smaug's death, the men of Lake-town rejoiced, but as winter began to set in their lives quickly became miserable.

Only with the help of the Wood-elves of Mirkwood were the men of Lake-town able to recover from their misfortune. But while the Elves and men built temporary structures and prepared to seek out the treasure of the mounatin, Thorin sent east to his cousin Dain for help. A race against time began as the Dwarves and their neighbors prepared to claim the dragon's hoard for themselves.

Before Dain's refinforcements could arrive, an army of Elves and men led by the Elvenking and Bard arrived in the valley of Dale, the little town that had once flourished near the Lonely Mountain. Laying siege to the mountain, the Elves and men demanded a portion of the treasure for themselves. Hoping to prevent war, Bilbo, secretly gave the Arkenstone, the mountain's greatest treasure, to Bard to use as a negotiating point. Incensed by Bilbo's bertrayal, Thorin cursed him and sent the Hobbit to join the Elves and men.

When Dain's army arrived, the three groups prepared to do battle, but at the last moment Gandalf appeared in their midst and announced that Bolg of the North had brought an army of Goblins and Wolves down upon them.

The Dwarves, Elves, and men immediately combined forces and turned to do battle with the Goblins and Wolves. The fighting lasted all day and the Goblins nearly took the mountain, but at the very end Beorn himself -- arriving in the form of a huge bear -- struck down Bolg and rescued the mortally wounded Thorin, who had fallen in battle with his nephews Fili and Kili.

In the aftermath of the battle, Thorin forgave Bilbo and asked Bilbo's forgiveness in return, and then he died peacefully. As Thorin's successor, Dain honored all of Thorin's agreements and made peace with the Elves and men. He also rewarded Bilbo richly. But now the Hobbit had had quite enough adventure. Accopanied at first by Gandalf and Beorn, and then by Gandalf, Bilbo returned to his quiet home in the west, where he retired, quite wealthy and thankful for having survived a terrifying but exciting journey.