He steals a golden cup and takes it back to the Dwarves. Īs burglar, Bilbo is sent down the secret passage to the dragon's lair.

His journey continues via a lucky escape from wargs, goblins, and fire, to the house of Beorn the shapeshifter, through the black forest of Mirkwood, to Lake-town in the middle of Long Lake, and eventually to the Mountain itself. The adventure takes Bilbo and his companions through the wilderness, to the elves haven, Rivendell, across the Misty Mountains where, escaping from goblins, he meets Gollum and acquires a magic ring. The company of dwarves are on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasures from the dragon Smaug. He is hired as a 'burglar', despite his initial objections, on the recommendation of the wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves led by their king in exile, Thorin Oakenshield. The protagonist of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, is a hobbit in comfortable middle age. Several astronomical features and both living and fossil species have been named for him. Bilbo's quest has been interpreted as a pilgrimage of grace, in which he grows in wisdom and virtue, and as a psychological journey towards wholeness.īilbo has appeared in numerous radio and film adaptations of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and in video games based on them. Tolkien appears to have based Bilbo on the designer William Morris's travels in Iceland Morris liked his home comforts, but grew through his adventurous journeying. This is not compatible with the much older world of Dwarves and Elves. Bilbo sets out in The Hobbit timid and comfort-loving, and through his adventures grows to become a useful and resourceful member of the quest.īilbo's way of life in the Shire, defined by features like the availability of tobacco and a postal service, recalls that of the English middle class during the Victorian to Edwardian eras. The Hobbit is selected by the wizard Gandalf to help Thorin and his party of Dwarves to reclaim their ancestral home and treasure, which has been seized by the dragon Smaug. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit, a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. Tolkien's illustration of Bilbo in his comfortable hobbit-hole, Bag Endīilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J.

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