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THE HOBBIT BY J.R.R TOLKIEN

Carlos Aguado Pardo 3º ESO A 28/02/12

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OUTLINE

1._J.R.R. Tolkien´s Biography (author) ……………p.1-2

1.1_ Introduction…………………………………..p. 1

1.2_ Childhood, youth and maturity…………….p.1-2

2._ Douglas A. Anderson´s Biography (the author of

annotated edition)………………………………...p.3

3._ Summary of the book……………………………p.3-7

3.1_ Introduction…………………………………..p. 3

3.2_ Story…………………………………………..p.4-7

4._ Vocabulary / expressions related to the main theme of

the story……………………………………………p.7-9

4.1_ Vocabulary related to epic and mythology.p.8-9

4.2_ Vocabulary / Expressions in relationship to

fairy tales……………………………………..p.9

5._ Plot´s opinion……………………………………..p.9-10

6._ Important phrases ……………………………….p.10-13

7._ Bibliography………………………………………p.14-15

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THE HOBBIT

1._ Bibliography of J.R.R Tolkien (author)

1.1_ Introduction

In 1965, Tolkien said to an interviewer that it was difficult for

him to read a fairy tale without wishing to write one of them.

This factor is a very important feature in order to study

Tolkien and his work.

Tolkien was a very important erudite of the English language,

specially in old and Middle English. He was a lecturer of

Anglo-Saxon (old English) at Oxford University. He also wrote

stories, including “The Hobbit” (1937) and “The Lord of the

Rings” (1954-1955) that are set in a prehistoric age in an

imaginary version of the world which he called by the Middle

English name of Middle Earth. A world populated by men,

women, elves, dwarves, trolls, orcs/goblins and, hobbits too.

Tolkien has been admired by millions of readers worldwide.

1.2_ Childhood, youth and maturity

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South

Africa, on 3 January 1892; his father was Reuel Tolkien and

he worked as a bank employer and his mother was Mabel

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Suffield. They were from Birmingham in the Midlands of

England.

Ronald was educated in king Edward's school in Birmingham

and he went on his studies in Exeter College at Oxford, in

1911. Soon, his interest led him to study comparative

philology and other languages and even Tolkien made up a

personal language called Quenya or elf.

He got married to Edith (an orphan he met when he was

young) on 22 March 1916. In 1920 he was named lecturer of

English language at Leeds university and later in 1925

Tolkien became a lecturer of Anglo-Saxon in Oxford. He had

four children and he wrote “The Hobbit” for.

In 1945 he was elected as Merton Professor of English

language and literature in Oxford. He was a lecturer of

Merton College until he retired in 1959.

His wife died in 1971 and Tolkien died on 2 September 1973

after a brief illness.

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2._ Bibliography of Douglas A. Anderson

(the author of annotated edition)

He was born in 1959. He is an author that studied weird and

mediaeval literature and he commented and analyzed

Tolkien´s books. He won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award

with his first book “The Annotated Hobbit” He also edited “The

Lord of the Rings” and another magic books by Leonard

Cline, Kenneth Morris and William Hope Hodgson.

Nowadays, he works as an editor in the annual school review,

Tolkien Studies.

3._ Summary of the book

3.1_ Introduction

“The Hobbit”, is one of the best books by J.R.R. Tolkien. It

mixes two different points of interest: England´s mythology

and tales for his sons. When the book was published for the

first time, in September 1937, the readers really enjoyed it.

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3.2_ Story

Once upon a time, a hobbit called Bilbo, led a quiet life as a

hobbit; he lived in a hole, without problems and a lot of food.

He was, like all the hobbits, smaller than humans. He wore

bright clothes but he didn't wear shoes because their feet

were large and hairy. One day, while he was smoking in his

garden, one magician, Gandalf, appeared and tried to bring

him to an adventure with thirteen dwarves: Bombur, Bofur,

Bifur, Nori, Ori, Dori, Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili and

Thorin Oakenshield (the king) .This adventure, consisted of

going to the old kingdom of the dwarves and rescue their

treasures from Smaug´s clutches, the most terrorific dragon

of this period. At first, the hobbit refused going with them but

finally he agreed to although he was scared because he

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didn´t know if he could do what the magician wanted;

besides, the dwarves didn't trust him.

The problems appeared soon and three trolls caught the

group to eat them, but Gandalf was free. The wizard deceived

the trolls until sunrise and they turned into stone statues.

Then the group took magic swords from trolls´ cave, with a

key that Bilbo found, they travelled to Rivendell. There Elron,

the elf king, took them in. Then, Elron translated the

inscriptions on the swords that they found in the cave. He

also revealed them the runes of dwarves´ map. Later, they

went on their travel across the Misty Mountain; but they had

to stay in a cave because of a snowstorm. Suddenly, the

goblins entered there and caught them, except the wizard.

One more time, Gandalf saved them killing the goblins´king

with one of the magic swords called Glamdring. While they

were running away, the hobbit fell down fainted.

When he woke up, he found a golden ring that really attracted

him and he kept it in his pocket. He started walking along the

tunnels and he met Gollum, a strange and ugly creature that

wanted to kill and eat him. Gollum suggested playing riddles,

if he won he´d eat him but if he didn't win he´d guide him to

the exit. Bilbo won the game but Gollum didn´t know where

his favourite possession (the golden ring) was.Then he

thought that his ring had been stolen by the hobbit. Bilbo put

the golden ring on his finger and he became invisible. In this

way, he could escape to the surface. There he met Gandalf

and the dwarves but suddenly many a lot of giant wolves

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appeared (the Wargs) and they had to climb up the trees to

survive. When the situation was getting harder some eagles

rescued them and took them to the Eagle kingdom.

The next day, Gandalf wanted to go to Beorn´s house (a man

who can turn himself into a bear). Beorn lent them his ponies

and so he brought them food. They left and travelled as far

as Mirkwood. Before going into the forest Gandalf left. In the

forest, one of the Dwarves, Bombur, fell into the river and he

slept during a long time. Then, they didn´t follow the pathway

showed by Gandalf and they were captured by giant spiders.

Bilbo saved them once more with the help of his sword. After

that, the dwarves, were prisoners of wood elves but, the

hobbit (who was free) made a plan to rescue them. Bilbo´s

plan consisted of hiding into empty barrels because the elves

threw these barrels into the river every day. After travelling

along the river, they arrived to Lake Town, near the Lonely

Mountain where Smaug lived. They stayed in this town for

about one week and they went to Smaug´s mountain. There,

they tried to open the magic door many times, but they didn't

get to open it until Bilbo discovered the secret hidden in

Thor´s map.They decided that Bilbo went into the cave. Then,

without getting angry the dragon, he stole the Arkenstone

from the cave. Smaug got really angry and it destroyed

almost the entire of Lake Town, but an archer, called Bard,

killed him. In that moment, when the dragon was dead people

from Lake Town and the elves went to the mountain in order

to claim a part of the treasure and rebuild their town. Although

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Thor refused to do it, Bilbo gave the Arkenstone to Bard to

negotiate with dwarves´ king. Thor felt really furious and he

wanted to hit Bilbo but Gandalf appeared and protected him.

Suddenly, an army of goblins and Wargs arrived in the

mountain and they started The Battle of Five Army. This war

was won by the group of the humans, elves and dwarves,

helped by the eagles. Thor was wounded and before GR his

death dying he was very sorry for his behaviour and GR he

apologized to Bilbo. Later, he was buried with the Arkstone

and Orcrist.

At the end of this journey, Bilbo returned to their village with

Gandalf. But the other hobbits didn´t accept him because

they thought that was an impostor and a liar, however he was

happy because he got on well with elves and wizards.

4._ Vocabulary / expressions related to

the main theme of the story

I think it´s important to begin with the word “hobbit”, the

title of the book. In fact, the book is related to the epic

(Beowulf), mythology and fairy tales (Grimm Brothers).

In this way, the word “hobbit” appears in a large list that

contains more than 200 marvellous creatures (1895)

where “hobbit” is defined as “a kind of spirit”.

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However, Tolkien explains its origin in the Old English

“hol-bytla” or “inhabitants of holes”.

La Tierra Media or “Middle-Earth” is a modern alteration

of the Old English “midangeard”, a word that designs

the world in which we live. Tolkien inhabits this world

with elves, humans and other creatures.

In the other hand, there are a list of words that I had to

look up because they belong to the epic and mythology

world: dwarves, wizard, elves, rolls, orcs, goblins, wargs

and eagles.

The riddle is a popular resource in the mythology and in

“The Hobbit”. Tolkien uses 8 riddles.

Expressions such as “hobbits eat six times a day”

indicates one of the humorous points in the story.

4.1_ Vocabulary related to epic and mythology

The verb “turn into” is very used in this type of narrative;

this is, Beorn who can turns into a bear.

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Runes, map, translations of inscriptions on swords,

description of amazing strange landscapes (mountains,

dark forests...)

A dangerous dragon, who keeps the treasure stolen to

the dwarves, and finally is defeated.

4.2_ Vocabulary / Expressions in relationship

to fairy tales

A golden ring with magic powers, wizards like Gandalf.

Giant wolves, spiders.

Bombur falling into the river and sleeping during a long

time remind us to “Sleeping Beauty”.

When Bilbo and the dwarves don´t follow the pathway

showed by Gandalf and they are captured by giant

spiders, it reminds us to “Red Riding hood”.

5._ Plot´s opinion

In the beginning, hobbit´s film was the main reason why I

read the book. I wasn't keen on Tolkien's books because

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many people told me that his books were boring. One day,

my best friend, who is an enthusiastic reader, talked to me

about “The Hobbit” and she convinced me that I was wrong,

so I read it. Hobbit´s film was very good and I noticed the

director introduced things that don't appear in the book.

I really enjoyed reading “The Hobbit” because the landscapes

are described differently to other books; its narrative opens

your imagination to a fairy world and when you read it you

can immerse yourself in a magic environment. From my point

of view this is the principal feature to read the book before

watching the film.

I love this book´s plot because it mixes adventures, fantasy,

comedy and wars. The main topic of the plot, is the

development of the main character, Bilbo. At first, he was a

shy, cowardly and quiet hobbit but then he transforms into a

brave, more extrovert and energetic hobby. Finally, the

reader realises he enjoys the adventure.

6._ Important phrases

“En un agujero en el suelo vivía un Hobbit” [In a hole in

the ground there lived a hobbit (original sentence)]. I

chose this phrase because in my opinion this phrase

expresses the main feature that characterizes “The

Hobbit”. This sentence was translated to many

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languages like French, German, Spanish, Hungarian,

Italian and Swedish. There is an anecdote in

relationship to this phrase: Tolkien often told how he

started the story. A hot summer afternoon at home,

sitting on his study, correcting English literature exams.

One of his pupils wrote nothing on the exam and Tolkien

wrote on it: “In a hole on the ground lived a hobbit”. The

names always developed stories in his mind. Later, he

thought of finding out how the hobbits were; then, he

considered that it was too good to forget it on the back

of an exam. Simply, he started to make up stories with

all the elements he had in his mind. He couldn’t

remember to have organized them at all.

“Ahora bien, parece extraño, pero las cosas que es

bueno tener y los días que se pasan de un modo

agradable se cuentan muy pronto, y no se les presta

demasiada atención; en cambio, las cosas que son

incómodas, estremecedoras, y aun horribles, pueden

hacer un buen relato, y además llevan tiempo

contarlas.” I like it because it refers to how we should

live our life. We must live in other way, taking into

account the good things that happen in our life forgetting

about bad stuff.

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“Cierto que casi siempre se encuentra algo, si se mira,

pero no siempre es lo que uno busca”. This sentence

make us think that when we are looking for anything, we

have to be cautious because we could find something

really bad.

“Saltar de la sartén a las brasas”. It´s a traditional

proverb. I chose it because I like the way which the

author explains with irony the situations where a bad

thing follows another.

“Mientras hay vida hay esperanza”. I selected this

phrase because it reveals a big reality: hope stays

forever. In spite of the problems and difficulties you can

find in your life, you must never lose hope.

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7._Bibliography

“About the Awards” [online]. Mythopoeic Awards.

<http://www.mythsoc.org/awards/> [Accessed 19/03/2013]

Caroline, “The reader became the book”, <http://www.flickr.

com/photos/20466740@N00/3262953848> [Accessed 27/ 02/

13]

“John Ronald Reuel Tolkien” <http://www.biografiasyvidas.co

m/biografia/t/tolkien.htm> [Accessed 27/02/13]

Lenander David, “Douglas A. Anderson Page” [online]. The

Bird & Baby. <http://www.tc.umn.edu/~d-na/DouglasAAnd

ersoPage.html> [Accessed: 19/03/2013].

martinak15, “132/265 (+1 in comments)”, <http://www.flickr.

com/photos/64636777@N03/6871958375> [Accessed 27/ 02/

13]

Tolkien J. R.R. El Hobbit Anotado. Barcelona, Editorial

Planeta, 2012.

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V.V. A.A. “The Hobbit Book” [online]. Lord of the Rings.

<http://www.lord-of-the-rings.org/index.html> [Accessed: 18/

03/2013]

Wikipedia, “Douglas A. Anderson” [online]. Wikipedia the free

encyclopedia. 18 November 2012. <http://en. wikipedia.

org/wiki/ Douglas_A._Anderson> [Accessed: 19/03/2013].

“Winderlandmap.jpg”,<http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/File:Wilderlan

d_map.jpg> [Accessed: 27/02/13]