What is a hobbit?
What are hobbits? Hobbits are a good natured people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves. They tend to be fat, and have large hairy feet. Who are Bilbo's ancestors? What conflict might this ancestry create for Bilbo? The Tooks on his mother's side and the Baggins on his father's side.
What race is a hobbit?
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof.
How many dwarves does The Hobbit feel about the Dwarves?
13 dwarves. The hobbit feels irritated and annoyed by them, yet interested in what they have to say. What will Bilbo's role be in the quest planned by the dwarves? A buglar. He is the lucky number in the adventure. Why does Bilbo agree to join the dwarves on their adventure? (not on test)
Why is Bilbo's journey back through the wild so much safer than his journey out?
Though Bilbo does have adventures on the way back, he is never in grave danger. Accompanied by Beorn and Gandalf, he is well protected. Almost all of the goblins and Wargs have been rooted out, so there are fewer threates to Bilbo's safety.
What is Bilbo's role in the battle?
In The Battle of the Five Armies, Bilbo uses the courage and wisdom he acquires far away from home to help unify dueling species—dwarves and elves—against swarming Orc and goblin armies that threaten their survival.
Why did they go on the journey in The Hobbit?
Their impulse to journey to the Mountain to seek revenge for Smaug's theft of their treasure contrasts with Bilbo's hobbit-like reluctance to leave his comfortable home. You are given this history to provide motivation for the journey.
What happens in the Hobbit Chapter 4?
In this chapter, Bilbo and the dwarves engage in their first real battle. They first choose the right path to get through the Misty Mountains, paying attention to Elrond and Gandalf. The journey, at the very least, represents the experience of learning to make one's way through life.
What are the 5 Armies hobbit?
According to “Beneath the Thunder: Forging a Battle of Five Armies” on The Appendices Part 12, the five armies refer to Men, Elves, Dwarves, the Orcs of Dol Guldur, and the Orcs of Mount Gundabad.
What is the main goal in The Hobbit?
Bilbo's goal is to retrieve the Arkenstone for the leader and son of the King of Erebor, Thorin Oakenshield, whose family had found and shaped the stone.
What is the reward in The Hobbit?
The Hero's Reward comes in many forms: a magical sword, an elixir, greater knowledge or insight, reconciliation with a lover. Whatever the treasure, the Hero has earned the right to celebrate. “ completing the Journey and accept the Road Back to the Ordinary World.
What is the meaning of The Hobbit?
Definition of hobbit : a member of a fictitious peaceful and genial race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground.
How old do hobbits live?
100 yearsThe race's average life expectancy is 100 years, but some of Tolkien's main hobbit characters live much longer: Bilbo Baggins and the Old Took are described as living to the age of 130 or beyond, though Bilbo's long lifespan owes much to his possession of the One Ring.
Who killed the Great Goblin?
GandalfAt that moment all of the lights in the cave were extinguished and a flashing sword stabbed the Great Goblin fatally. The company soon realized that it was Gandalf who had killed the Great Goblin with his blade Glamdring.
Who is the leader of the dwarves?
ThorinThorin is the leader of the dwarves, and he takes himself very seriously. He is conscious of his position as son of Thrain and grandson of Thror, King under the Mountain, and mindful of his birthright to the treasure trove guarded by Smaug.
What happens in chapter 5 of The Hobbit?
In this chapter, Bilbo finds himself alone when confronting danger; he is without the company of the dwarves or the direction of Gandalf. He relies effectively on his own ingenuity and resourcefulness to outwit both Gollum and the Goblins.
Did Bilbo fight in the Battle of the Five Armies?
Because Bilbo is the main character, his role in the battle is much expanded. After leaving Thranduil, he has to fight his way to Balin, Lianna, Corwin, Gandalf, Beorn, and ultimately Bolg.
How does Bilbo show bravery in The Hobbit?
But consider Bilbo, whose greatest acts of courage are to face down Gollum in the goblin tunnels and to approach Smaug by himself in the Lonely Mountain. These are all acts that he does completely by himself, without fully knowing what he's even up against.
How is Bilbo a hero in The Hobbit?
Bilbo's heroism lies in his courage, ethics and wisdom which is seen when he spares Gollum's life or sacrifices his share of the treasure to the people in need. Bilbo's conscience and innocence make him the sensitive ideal hero whom Tolkien intended to delineate.
Why is Bilbo not a hero?
As opposed to the classic epic hero, Bilbo does not also fight great wars; he tends to be protected by chance and luck, what can be confirmed in the biggest brawl in The Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies, where Bilbo doesn't take a direct part in because he was knocked out.
What is a hobbit?
Hobbits are an imaginary people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, they live barefooted, and dwell in homely underground houses which have windows, ...
Where does the word "hobbit" come from?
Tolkien set out a fictional etymology for the word "hobbit" in an appendix to The Lord of the Rings, that it was derived from holbytla (plural holbytlan ), meaning "hole-builder". This was Tolkien's own new construction from Old English hol, "a hole or hollow", and bytlan, "to build".
What does the term "mathom" mean in the Hobbit?
They use the term mathom for old and useless objects, which are invariably given as presents many times over, or are stored in a museum ( mathom-house ). The hobbits had a distinct calendar: every year started on a Saturday and ended on a Friday, with each of the twelve months consisting of thirty days.
What is the Hobbit's life like?
In his writings, Tolkien depicted hobbits as fond of an unadventurous, bucolic and simple life of farming, eating, and socializing, although capable of defending their homes courageously if the need arises.
What color is Bilbo's hood?
Clothing: green velvet breeches; red or yellow waistcoat; brown or green jacket; gold (or brass) buttons; [and specifically for Bilbo, in The Hobbit] a dark green hood and cloak (belonging to a dwarf). Tolkien presented hobbits as relatives of the human race, or a "variety" or separate "branch" of humanity. In Tolkien's fictional world, hobbits and ...
What is the origin of the name "Hobbit"?
The origins of the name and idea of "hobbits" have been debated; literary antecedents include Sinclair Lewis 's 1922 novel Babbitt, and Edward Wyke Smith's 1927 The Marvellous Land of Snergs. There is a disputed connection with old names for ghostly creatures, which include boggles, hobbits, and hobgoblins.
Why is Halfling called Halfling?
Dungeons & Dragons began using the name halfling as an alternative to hobbit for legal reasons. " Halfling " comes from the Scots word hauflin, meaning an awkward rustic teenager who is neither man nor boy, and so half of both. This usage of the word pre-dates both The Hobbit and Dungeons & Dragons.
Overview
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, they live barefooted, and dwell in homely underground houses which have windows, as they are typically built into the sides of hills. Their feet have naturally tough leathery soles (so they do not need shoes) and are covered on top with curly hair.
Characteristics
Tolkien describes hobbits as between two and four feet (0.6–1.2 m) tall, with the average height being three feet six inches (110 cm). They dress in bright colours, favouring yellow and green. Nowadays (according to Tolkien's fiction), they are usually shy, but are nevertheless capable of great courage and amazing feats under the proper circumstances. They are adept at throwing stones. For the most part, they cannot grow beards, but a few Stoor hobbits can. Their feet are c…
Origins
Tolkien claimed that he started The Hobbit suddenly, without premeditation, in the midst of grading a set of student essay exams in 1930 or 1931, writing its famous opening line on a blank piece of paper: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit".
The term "hobbit", however, has real antecedents in modern English. One is a fact that Tolkien admitted: the title of Sinclair Lewis's 1922 novel Babbitt, about a "complacent American business…
Types
Tolkien devised a fictional history with three types of hobbits, with different physical characteristics and temperaments: Harfoots, Fallohides, and Stoors. By the time of Bilbo and Frodo, these kinds had intermixed for centuries, though unevenly, so that some families and regions skewed more towards descent from one of the three groups.
Lifestyle and culture
In his writings, Tolkien depicted hobbits as fond of an unadventurous, bucolic and simple life of farming, eating, and socializing, although capable of defending their homes courageously if the need arises. They would enjoy six meals a day, if they could get them. They claimed to have invented the art of smoking pipe-weed. They were extremely "clannish" and had strong "predilections for geneal…
Fictional history
In their earliest folk tales, hobbits appear to have inhabited the Valley of Anduin, between Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains. According to The Lord of the Rings, they had lost the genealogical details of how they are related to the Big People. Still, Tolkien clearly states in "Concerning Hobbits" that hobbits are not technically a distinct race from Men, the way that Elves or Dwarves are, but bra…
Moral significance
The Tolkien critic Paul H. Kocher notes that Tolkien's literary techniques require readers to view hobbits as like humans, especially when placed under moral pressure to survive a war that threatens to devastate their land. Frodo becomes in some ways the symbolic representation of the conscience of hobbits, a point made explicitly in the story "Leaf by Niggle" which Tolkien wrote at the same time as the first nine chapters of The Lord of the Rings. Niggle is a painter struggling a…
In popular culture
Dungeons & Dragons began using the name halfling as an alternative to hobbit for legal reasons. "Halfling" comes from the Scots word hauflin, meaning an awkward rustic teenager who is neither man nor boy, and so half of both. This usage of the word pre-dates both The Hobbit and Dungeons & Dragons.
The use of a race of halflings has been taken up by fantasy authors including Terry Brooks, Jack …