The Hobbit was first published on September 21, 1937 by George Allen & Unwin. It has 92 pages and is about 300 words long. The book has been translated into at least 38 languages since its publication including Latin, Greek, Urdu, Russian and even Chinese! The story didn’t originally include the poem “All that is gold does not glitter”, but Tolkien later added it to The Lord of the Rings, where it is more relevant. The Hobbit has sold over 100 million copies worldwide since its publication in 1937!
J. R. R. Tolkien was an author and professor best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings trilogies. The Hobbit was first published when J. R. R. was 36 years old while Professor at Oxford University where he lived with his wife Edith and four children! A student named Elaine Griffiths once asked him what tree “Fangorn” was in after reading The Two Towers, which did not appear in The Lord of the Rings at that time, although did end up being added to later editions of The Book! She ended up marrying J. R. R. ‘s youngest son, Christopher!
The main theme of The Hobbit is about the influence that the little things in life have on our destiny and how we should never judge a person by their appearance. The Hobbit has been made into live action and animated films and is currently illegal to publish without permission (that includes fan-fiction)! The book begins with an introduction that tells us how The Hobbit came to be written as a bedtime story for Tolkien’s children back when he was a professor at Oxford University. The narrator goes onto tell us about The Battle of Five Armies which took place 40 years before The Hobbit starts (when Smaug was killed).
The Battle of Five Armies happened because all those people who were displaced from The Lonely Mountain after The Dragon took over needed somewhere to live so they could start their lives over again. The men who were fighting in The Battle of Five Armies ended up fighting heroically as there was no sign of The Dragon or The Goblins but this is where the trouble began because elves, dwarves and humans don’t always get along! The Hobbit begins with a hole-dweller named Bilbo Baggins sitting at his dinner table thinking about his life and how he hasn’t left his house for 14 years.
He loves staying home doing nothing and hates adventures, even though he’s also very curious. Gandalf the wizard (who has quite an annoying laugh) visits him unexpectedly one morning as a traveler asking him if he would like to join The Quest of The Lonely Mountain (although Bilbo doesn’t even know what The Quest is). The Quest is to destroy The Dragon that has taken over The Lonely Mountain (which used to belong to The Dwarves until they were driven out by Smaug) and reclaim The Lost Arkenstone.
Gandalf tries to convince Bilbo into joining the adventure for him as it may end up being more than just an adventure, but Bilbo still refuses saying he’s too old for adventures, so Gandalf tricks him! Gandalf sneaks his way inside, ties up some sacks and sits at Bilbo’s table where he eats some of his food without asking first. He then gives Bilbo the choice of either carrying The heavy sacks on The Quest or getting The sack’s cut open with The knife which is sitting on the table.
Bilbo becomes so curious about what The sacks contain that he chooses to carry them on The quest, so Gandalf unties The sack’s leaving him with no choice but to go on The adventure! Bilbo takes some time preparing for The journey by gathering food and supplies, putting together his walking stick (which was given to him by his mother when he left home) and writing Norbury (his next door neighbor) a note in case things don’t go well. He then leaves his home through the front door never to return again.
While traveling Gandalf tells Bilbo about The Ring of Power which is supposedly “The Precious” The dwarves are The Quest for. The odds of The Ring remaining in The Lonely Mountain untouched by The Dragon is slim to none which is why The Dwarves want it back so The Ring can be destroyed where it was made (by The evil Sauron). The words inscribed on The ring read, “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. ” The company then stops at The Prancing Pony where they meet The suspicious character named Thorin Oakenshield who claims he was once king of his people!
He pretends not to recognize Gandalf even though they went to college together. Bilbo begins wondering about what’s inside Thorin’s secret locked door which The Innkeeper tells him The answer to is The 25th Room. The company leaves The Prancing Pony and heads out on The road with Gandalf telling Bilbo old stories about how he got The idea to write The Hobbit and drawing pictures of The characters and places in his book (The drawings are also included in the actual book) which keeps Bilbo entertained throughout their journey.
Along The way, they meet Beorn who seems like a character that comes straight out of your worst nightmare! He scares the living daylights out of everyone (even The horses)! However, Gandalf convinces him into letting Bilbo join the quest because if he doesn’t then it will be too dangerous for him to travel alone through The forest where The company is headed towards The most dangerous part of The journey.
Beorn warns The company to stay on The path and The following night he transforms into a monstrous-looking creature with fur as black as The night sky, claws that resemble The scariest set of knives you’ve ever seen and a mouth big enough to bite a horse in half! He also has giant horns sticking out from The sides of his head which look like they were cut off from his head but grew back straight through The middle of his cheeks! Beorn is unable to speak clearly because The way he looks prevents him from doing so. When he’s not transformed into The scary looking character, Beorn speaks as though someone’s choking him!
