The Hobbit – There and Back Again

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a fantasy novel published in 1937. It’s written by J.R.R. Tolkien whom most of us know as the author behind the well-known trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Actually, the events of the trilogy date back to The Hobbit for the unexpected journey of Bilbo Baggins’ takes place exactly 60 years before Bilbo’s adopted son, Frodo, is driven to another adventure of which The Lord of the Rings is about.

The Hobbit has always been described as a classic of fantasy literature and it also fits with the category of children’s literature. It’s been said that Tolkien was the one to pioneer the genre of modern fantasy with The Hobbit and its influence on literature has been significant. There would be no Harry Potter or other illustrious book series if Tolkien had not invented the mighty world of Middle-earth as a bedtime story for his children.

The plot of The Hobbit is presumably familiar to everyone for the film version of the book has just been brought to an end. ”In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”, is the very first sentence of the novel, which introduces us a hobbit, a creature so small that many other inhabitants of Middle-earth have never even heard of them but who will in the long run turn out to be very important, brave and loyal little fellows. The idea of both The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings is how surprisingly wary and tiny hobbits who are often regarded as inconsequential creatures by men, elves and dwarves, are the ones to save Middle-earth from destruction. The major theme of The Hobbit is the quest, one of the oldest themes in literature. The main character, Bilbo, embarks on a quest and so the unexpected journey among twelve dwarves shall start. They aim at conquering the Lonely Mountain guarded by Smaug the dragon and taking back the kingdom that once was dwarves’. The journey allows Bilbo to encounter various characters and circumstances that are unfamiliar and even threatening to him.Through the course of his life he hadn’t experienced any adventures and now he suddenly had ended up in one. Bilbo encounters goblins, elves, Gollum and Smaug, for example, during his task to help the dwarves to retrieve their treasure, and he travels well beyond the hobbit-lands through Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains to the Lonely Mountain. The group including the hobbit, the dwarves and Gandalf the wizard faces many dangers and challenges on their path and especially in the thrilling end of the novel. After defeating Smaug and taking back Erebor the old enemies confront and thereby starts ”The Battle of the Five Armies”, which is the name of the last Hobbit-movie premiered two months ago.

Bilbo Baggins, the burglar, is one of the most essential characters as well as the dwarf Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the entourage and the reightful heir of the Lonely Mountain, and Gandalf, the mysterious wizard who helps the group on their dangerous path. Bilbo is that wary and comfort-loving type of hobbit who wouldn’t have the heart to leave his dear home. As a matter of fact, not a single hobbit would do such a thing, after all, the freedom from care and ignorance of the rest of the world’s problems belongs to the true nature of the species. Unlike others, Bilbo, however, has a thirst for an adventure deep inside of him, which the dwarves and Gandalf raise by appearing behind Bilbo’s door. Most of the time on their journey Bilbo still dreams of his warm and comfy home but in the end returns to Hobbiton as a changed hobbit,as a more adventurous and experienced one. Thorin on the other hand is a bit grim and proud dwarf. After Smaug is defeated he’s the one to become the king of the mountain. Greed possesses his mind and for a while he forgets the true order of importance; family and friends before power or wealth, which is actually the novel’s deeper lesson too. Thorin doesn’t really like Bilbo at first, to his mind Bilbo is just a useless burden on their task whom Gandalf insisted to take along. But eventually, the hobbit turns out to be useful as he saves the dwarves from many tricky situations. Towards the end of the book a human called Bard is also introduced to the reader. He’s the one to slay the dragon after it has already caused destruction in Lake-town.

The language in the Hobbit is a bit archaic, word order differs from modern language repeatedly. It doesn’t complicate reading but it did affect my writing after finishing the novel. I had that odd obsession to write like Tolkien did. The narrator telling about the incidents happening in Middle-earth is omniscient.

The Hobbit as a fantasy novel belongs to the elite of the genre. It’s an amazing reading experience and every one should familiarize oneself with it at least because it’s one of those must-read classics. It’s a lot lighter to read than The Lord of the Rings was and even in English it didn’t require an incessant need for a dictionary. I love how the stories in the Hobbit and in the Lord of the Rings merge into, how Bilbo finds the One Ring by accident and doesn’t understand its real power. This ring will take Frodo for even a bigger and more dangerous adventure sixty years later. Tolkien owned the most incredible imagination ever and the Hobbit is only the beginning of the great story of Middle-earth and its amazing inhabitants.