The Hobbit written by J.R.R. Tolkien is classified as a children’s novel, this would be the first steps to the series, he would later publish; The Lord of the Rings which resides in the same fictional world established in The Hobbit. The work of The Hobbit mirrors that of various mythos and aspects of the real world.
The Hobbit shares many of it’s themes and several of its key qualities in characters with those established in previous stories or myths, starting with Bilbo Baggins. The aristocratic line present in the halfling’s family tree earns him the comfort and joy of the largest home with the most luxury in Bag End. Bilbo happens to be a Hobbit, which could be compared that of the most common physical description of Brownies with their small stature, brown curly hair, and docile nature.
The childlike build of Hobbits gives an air of youth despite that the person may be middle aged, they are also a sheltered group that remains in their home’s reach and care not of adventures as noted by Bilbo;”I should think so- in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late to dinner, I can’t see what anybody sees in them.” (Tolkien, page 6) However, later in the text Bilbo contradicts this statement and joins the party of dwarves on a journey to reclaim their lost land where the idea of adventures being ‘Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things’ is discarded from his mind as he endures with his party.
The Shire, where the Hobbits have settled and live shares the name with the word used to describe the counties in Great Britain and portions of Australia with the meaning differing only slightly as to region. The Shire in the Hobbit refers to an entire area east where it is peaceful and seemingly untouched by mankind or the horrors that brought down Erebor to it’s burnt ruins of a once powerful race of people. The Shire represents the joyful embodiment of what could never go wrong paired with the languid and cushioned lifestyle of the halflings that reside in the region; it is home essentially.
Continuing there are the dwarves, thirteen in total, all united under the heir to Erebor’s throne, Thorin Oakenshield. The party of dwarves resemble that of King Arthur’s round table for there was in the original reports of 13 knights, but that number grew over the years when provided with the documentation. They all came united in the quest to take the slippery wyvern out, who was presumed deceased due to the lack of activity in the mountain he resides in.
The kingdom was forcibly taken, not unlike armies invading an area and cleansing it of it’s original inhabitants and the wealth associated with the area as well. The party of dwarves vary in age but all are adults asides from, Thorin’s nephews Fili and Kili, who are young adults in the events that partake in the books. Nearly all have faced war before, fighting alongside with Thorin’s father and thousands of their kin against orcs, one in particular intent on wiping out the Oakenshield bloodline, thus ending the royalty.
Being a party between a group and person, there has to be one who connects the two together. Who would be Gandalf the Grey, a wisened, fraying wizard, sharp of wit. Comparable in both background and skills to Merlin of the stories that surround King Arthur. The leader among the two and guide for he held an item that was vital for the heir of Erebor to have possession of in order to re-enter the sealed off mountain of a kingdom. He provides advice but in a turn of events leaves at the most pivotal point leaving the party in the darkness to be consumed by foes. Coming and leaving like the wind. His council is vital to the group keeping their heads, both literally and metaphorically.
The geography of the land the party travels through is realistic, there being mountain ranges, dense forests, plains, waterfalls, towns residing lakeside. All landscapes that can be seen in the fiction or reality, neither exclusive to the other. With the setting present to the natural world off the pages, it brings a sense of familiarity and that the story’s scope isn’t entirely fiction with made up landscapes that exist nowhere else. The Misty Mountains could compare to the Rockies which cut through the western half of North America like a knife.