The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Is Published
"The Hobbit," written by J.R.R. Tolkien, was published on September 21, 1937, and is recognized as a seminal work in children's literature and fantasy. The story follows Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who enjoys a peaceful life in his cozy home until he is thrust into an adventurous quest by the wizard Gandalf and a group of dwarves. This journey takes Bilbo beyond the safety of his familiar surroundings, where he faces various challenges and discovers his own inner strengths. The novel's success led to the creation of its famous sequel, "The Lord of the Rings," which initially was conceived as a single volume but ultimately became a three-part series due to its length. Tolkien's rich world-building, linguistic creativity, and exploration of themes like courage and friendship resonate with readers of all ages. Beyond his fantasy works, Tolkien was also an academic, deeply engaged with the study of languages and literature, which significantly influenced his storytelling. His legacy continues to thrive, as both "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" have inspired countless adaptations and remain immensely popular across various cultures.
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The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Is Published
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Is Published
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's The Hobbit was published on September 21, 1937. This children's book and its sequel, the intricate fantasy The Lord of the Rings, brought him fame and are still popular today. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has recently been adapted into three epic, Oscar-winning movies directed by Peter Jackson.
Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. In 1895 his mother took him and his brother to England; his father died in South Africa the following year. In 1900 Tolkien's mother converted to Roman Catholicism, which he would come to practice as well. When his mother died, he and his brother became wards of a priest at the Birmingham Oratory and attended King Edward's school in Birmingham. There, Tolkien was first exposed to Anglo-Saxon English and Middle English, and his lifelong fascination with languages began. While studying at the University of Oxford, which he entered in 1908, Tolkien became captivated by the Finnish language, which would later influence the languages he invented for his stories, especially the high Elven language Quenya. Tolkien also read the Finnish epic poem Kalevala, elements of which would be reflected in his own stories.
During World War I Tolkien continued to work with various languages, and in 1919 he began a two-year stint as an assistant on the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien taught English language and literature, specifically Old and Middle English, at the University of Leeds (1920–25) and his alma mater the University of Oxford (1925–59). In 1925 he and E. V. Gordon published a translation of the Middle English fable Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
In his private time Tolkien wrote a series of fantasy stories set in a world called Middle Earth, partly to provide a place for his invented language Quenya. Tolkien loved myths and legends and enjoyed telling stories, one of which he would tell his four children concerning a “hobbit” named Bilbo Baggins. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit in 1936 as a children's book. In the story, hobbits are presented as simple creatures who live an idyllic existence in cozy homes dug into hillsides. They take the greatest pleasure in tending their gardens, eating, and smoking their pipes. Bilbo, like his fellow hobbits, would be content to remain in his village for the rest of his life, but the wizard Gandalf commits him to a mission to help a troupe of dwarves recover their treasure from the dragon Smaug. This quest draws Bilbo from the safety and comfort of his hobbit hole into the world beyond his village, where he encounters strange and unfamiliar creatures and becomes involved in struggles between forces of good and evil. Throughout the novel, Tolkien portrays Bilbo's discovery of qualities and virtues within himself that he did not know he had, as well as the manner in which different peoples can unite toward a common goal.
The Hobbit was published in 1937 and was enormously popular. When the publisher asked for a sequel, Tolkien wanted to publish the fantasy stories he had been writing, but his publisher felt that such a book would be too different from The Hobbit and asked for another adventure story.
Tolkien first considered writing another tale about Bilbo but decided instead to tell a story on an epic scale, with a darker tone. Needing a way to link the new story with the old, he chose to use a ring that Bilbo finds in The Hobbit as the catalyst for the new story. Instead of Bilbo being the primary character, Tolkien used the example of certain legends and introduced Bilbo's cousin, Frodo. Realizing that he would have some inconsistencies between The Hobbit and the sequel he was writing, Tolkien rewrote part of The Hobbit after he completed his first draft of The Lord of the Rings, which took 12 years to write. It was originally one book, but the publisher felt that it was too long, so it was divided into three books: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), and The Return of the King (1955). The epic was enormously popular, especially in the 1960s, when The Lord of the Rings was published in paperback form in the United States. By the 21st century it had sold more than 50 million copies worldwide and had been translated into approximately 30 languages.
Even after he retired from Oxford in 1959, Tolkien continued to write and study languages. He published several other books pertaining to Middle Earth, such as The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) and The Road Goes Ever On (1967). Tolkien also collaborated on a translation from the French of the Jerusalem edition of the Bible. He died on September 2, 1973, in Bournemouth in Hampshire, England. In 1977 The Silmarillion, Tolkien's legends of Middle Earth, was published posthumously after his youngest son Christopher completed editing the work as per his father's wishes.