The Hobbit (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
- First Published: 1937
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—heroic fantasy
- Time of Work: The Third Age
- Setting: Middle-earth, an imaginary land
- Genres: Long fiction, Adventure, Fantasy
- Subjects: Values, Self-discovery, Traveling or travelers, Voyages, Folkloric or magical people, Magic or magicians, Mythical animals, Nature, Escapes, Friendship, Human race, War, Good and evil, Fantasy, Imagination, Mysteries, Ethics, Adventure, Heroes or heroism, Dragons, Dwarfs, Treasure, Quest, Elves, Lifesaving, Nobility, Rescue, Rings
- Locales: Middle-earth (mythic)
The Plot
Although J. R. R. Tolkien drew extensively from northern European myths in developing various inhabitants of his imaginary world, Middle-earth, The Hobbit (subtitled Or, There and Back Again) focuses on a new race of beings he created. His hobbit hero Bilbo Baggins likes the snug comforts of home with no adventures to interrupt his ordinary life. The wizard Gandalf draws Bilbo out of this sheltered and complacent life by sending him on an adventure—a quest with the dwarf Thorin and his twelve companions to recover the treasure that the dragon Smaug...
[The entire page is 1156 words long]
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