The Hobbit

Bilbo gives the Arkenstone of Thrain, 'the Heart of the Mountain', to Bard to aid him in his bargaining with Thorin. Bilbo recognizes the importance of the jewel, telling Bard that "it is also the...

The grey wizard Gandalf is one of the best known and most beloved characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's novels, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The narrator introduces him as an adventurous...

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien is as much a coming-of-age story of Bilbo Baggins as it is a tale of adventure. In the first chapter of the story we see Bilbo as a contented domestic figure,...

The fantasy novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien takes place in an imaginary land called Middle Earth. It concerns the adventures of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins as he joins 13 dwarves and a wizard...

Epithets are similar to nicknames; they are alternate titles for something or someone which describe some specific quality or characteristic. Bilbo uses epithets to describe himself because he...

I would consider Bilbo a hero, just for the fact that he steps way beyond his comfort zone and goes on a large-scale adventure. He puts himself at risk on several occasions to look after the...

In The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, Bilbo is a Hobbit on an adventure. At one point during the story, he must enter the lair of the dragon Smaug, underneath a mountain. When he enters, Smaug is...

Bilbo encounters Smaug the dragon in chapter twelve of The Hobbit. Bilbo is wearing his ring, which makes him invisible, but Smaug can still smell him. Smaug does not recognize the smell, and...

Bilbo’s increase in confidence and courage is the defining aspect of his character arc. At the beginning of the novel, he is shut away content in his Hobbit hole, happy to remain separate and...

In the Hero’s Journey, the hero is an ordinary person who embarks on a journey of self-discovery to become a hero. In The Hobbit, Bilbo is a happy-go-lucky and somewhat hapless Hobbit who ends up...

In a major turning point of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins manages to kill the enormous spider of Mirkwood, thus saving himself and his comrades from being eaten by the creature who had bound them in...

One of Bilbo’s strengths in handling conflicts is that he is adaptable. One of his weaknesses is that he is stubborn. Bilbo is one clever hobbit. The fact that he is able to adapt to new...

In The Hobbit, Bilbo is chosen for the task of accompanying the Dwarves as their Burglar. Because of the general anonymity and small stature of the Hobbits, Bilbo's role as the Burglar is...

In the beginning of the classic fantasy The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo Baggins has the appearance of a typical hobbit. He does not vary drastically from his normal looks until The Fellowship...

There are actually two distinct episodes where Bilbo saves the dwarves, if you put aside his "saving" of the whole tale at the end when he takes the Arkenstone to stop war. I will talk about...

In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Elrond Peredhil is the Lord of the elf city of Rivendell. He shows hospitality to the traveling company, giving them much-needed food, rest, and companionship....

A good thesis is going to make an argument. That's the point of a thesis. It can't be a statement of fact, because then there is nothing for the paper to argue for and support. The thesis statement...

Bilbo gets excited about Gandalf’s previous adventures, and Gandalf interprets that as Bilbo asking to take him on an adventure. Respectable hobbits do not go on adventures. The Shire frowns upon...

Beorn provides lodging to the company of dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf on their way to the Lonely Mountain. Beorn knows that their next route will take them through the dark forest of Mirkwood, so...

During the first half of The Hobbit, Bilbo is just along for the ride. It is not until Gandalf deliberately leaves the party to go through Mirkwood alone, that Bilbo is forced to take leadership....

In chapter fifteen, "The Gathering of the Clouds," Bilbo and the dwarves wonder what has been happening and where is Smaug. They had kept watch all night long and in the morning, Bilbo notices...

The Hobbit starts, and also finishes, in the village of Hobbiton. Hobbiton is a town in the Shire and is in the northwest section of Middle-Earth. Middle-Earth is a fantasy land created by The...

Hobbits live in luxurious underground houses called hobbit-holes. Hobbits live in The Shire. Bilbo lives in Hobbiton, although there are other nearby towns. The Shire is rural and composed mostly...

Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and he is a hobbit. That means he would much rather stay at home than go on an adventure. “We are plain quiet folk, and I have no...

Bilbo did not have much time to explain his plan to the dwarves. He formed the plan on the spur of the moment, taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself when the Elvish chief guard...

Bilbo feels extremely unsettled at the thought of going on an adventure, for he had no time whatsoever to prepare for his journey. He wakes up late the morning he was supposed to meet the dwarves...

As in most ancient feuds, both sides believe that they are in the right and that the opposing side is the instigator of the feud. The dwarves and elves are no exception to the rule. Their feud...

Bard does offer Bilbo a significant amount of treasure at the end of the adventure, saying to him, "I would reward you most richly of all." However, while Bilbo does not actually refuse all the...

Beorn the "bear man" in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit does not like a lot of company, and he would certainly not willingly accept 13 dwarves, a hobbit and a wizard into his home in one...

Bilbo's house is described in lavish detail in the opening pages of the book. It is said to have a round door, painted bright green, which led into a hole. Importantly, the hole is neither too wet...

I would think the major moral lesson that can be learnt through this great story is through the character of Bilbo Baggins and his slow transformation from a bumbling individual who seems to be...

Very good question and one which centers on the internal conflict within Bilbo Baggins himself - as a Baggins, he is respectable and "normal", but the Tookish part of him makes him yearn for...

In The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Gandalf the wizard recruits Bilbo Baggins to join the company of Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves in their quest to win back the Lonely Mountain and its...

Tolkien, in The Hobbit, characterizes Hobbits as primarily concerned with respectability, and Bilbo is no different. However, even before he sets out on his adventures, there is an internal...

If Smaug's wealth functions as a symbol in the story, then it is tied directly to the symbolism of Smaug himself. and the two reflect each other. Smaug very clearly and explicitly represents greed;...

Gandalf tricks the trolls by impersonating, or mimicking, the other trolls' voices. By pretending to be William, Bert, or Tom, he stirs up conflict with the other trolls, making them argue and...

The Hobbit brings us the beloved character of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit with more to him than at first appears. Here are some quotes from the book which give us a glimpse into Bilbo's character...

In Chapter Twelve, entitled "Inside Information," of The Hobbit, Bilbo shows great cleverness when he plays to Smaug's pride by flattering the dragon to trick him into revealing his weakness. The...

First, wizards in The Hobbit are spirits. They come to Middle-earth in human form to help protect humans, dwarves, elves, and other free peoples from the evil of Sauron. Second, they have magical...

Chapter 10 of The Hobbit is titled "A Warm Welcome." It comes at the end of the entire Mirkwood forest sequence where the company of dwarves and Bilbo have dealt with giant spiders and being...

Bilbo is certainly not a traditional hero in The Hobbit, but it might be a stretch to argue he is no hero at all. He does display cunning in how he tricks Gollum out of the ring (which is Tolkien's...

Chapter 8 of The Hobbit, titled “Flies and Spiders,” builds suspense by using sensory deprivation and restoration to guide the traveling party, along with the reader, deep into the Mirkwood....

The dragon, Smaug, proves to be a formidable threat to Bilbo and not just on a physical level. Although his stature is certainly frightening, he also possesses the power of "dragon-spell," which...

This question can be answered in three different ways, all of which are true. First, one could say that Bilbo is motivated by Thorin's words at the entrance to the cave. Thorin spends a long time...

Much of the delight of The Hobbit comes from the fantasy elements that abound in the Middle Earth, a place full of creatures that don't exist in the real world. Thus, things like the creatures and...

The treasure brings out the greed of the dwarves. It starts with Thror, whose lust for gold, silver, mythril, and other precious jewels continuously grows, until his hoard is so large that it...

The external conflicts of The Hobbit are central to the story as an adventure with a dramatic plot line. The central conflict is that of the dwarves and Bilbo versus Smaug the dragon, but many...

After the Eagles rescue Thorin's company, they bring them to the Lord of the Eagles on the Great Shelf, which was a wide shelf of rock high up on the mountain-side; the only way to access the Great...

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is a story about growing up, known in the literary world as a bildungsroman, despite the fact that its main character, Bilbo, is not a child or young adult when the book...

This is a great question and one that often gets missed when reading The Hobbit. The quest for material wealth is a driving force in this story. (Indeed, it is a major theme in Tolkien's other...