The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Prelude to The Lord of the Rings

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Prelude to The Lord of the Rings

The Hobbit follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who is reluctantly swept into an adventure with a group of dwarves and the wizard Gandalf. Set in the richly imagined world of Middle-earth, Bilbo embarks on a quest to reclaim the dwarves' homeland from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, he encounters various creatures, including trolls, elves, and goblins, while discovering his own courage and resourcefulness. This classic fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien is essential reading for fans of epic adventures and serves as an introduction to the themes explored in The Lord of the Rings. Suitable for readers of all ages, it is a staple in many educational curricula.

Key Points

  • Explores Bilbo Baggins's transformation from a timid hobbit to a courageous hero throughout his journey.
  • Features a diverse cast of characters, including Gandalf the wizard and Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the dwarves.
  • Covers significant themes such as friendship, bravery, and the struggle between good and evil.
  • Includes iconic scenes such as Bilbo's encounter with Gollum and the discovery of the One Ring.
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RANDOM HOUSE, INC. TEACHER’S GUIDE
by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit:
Regular mass market edition: Del Rey | MM | 978-0-345-33968-3 | 320pp. | $8.99
Movie tie-in edition: Del Rey | MM | 978-0-345-53483-5 | 320pp. | $8.99
Graphic novel edition: Del Rey | TR | 978-0-345-44560-5 | 144pp. | $17.95
READING LEVEL: 6th Grade
introduction: teaching The Hobbit
J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a classic book, both because it is a simply written and fast-paced adventure story and because it is
set in Middle-earth, one of the great fantasy worlds in English literature. The success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy
and other fantasy epics, such as George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones novels (which have also been made into an acclaimed HBO
television series), has renewed student interest in the high fantasy of Tolkien’s works. Peter Jackson’s cinematic interpretation of The
Hobbit will be divided into two films with scheduled release dates of December 2012 and December 2013.
Teachers are encouraged to teach The Hobbit as the cornerstone text in a standards-based unit examining how myths, legends, and
folktales influence world building in works of fantasy, and how the motifs of the hero and the quest are developed in great literature.
Tolkien’s work pairs well with both classics of antiquity (for example, The Odyssey) as well as contemporary epics (for example, the
Harry Potter novels, Star Wars, and The Hunger Games) for comparison and analysis.
The Hobbit’s chapters are each between seven and twenty-five pages long. Dividing the book into the following eight sections
provides reading assignments that are fairly uniform in length and correspond to natural divisions in the story:
• Chapter 1: 27 pages
• Chapters 2–4: 26 pages
• Chapters 5–6: 43 pages
• Chapters 7–8: 58 pages
• Chapters 9–10: 30 pages
• Chapters 11–13: 44 pages
• Chapters 14–16: 28 pages
• Chapters 17–19: 30 pages
This teacher’s guide provides a resource for integrating The Hobbit within Common Core State Standards-based curriculum. The guide
includes biographical and critical backgrounds on Tolkien’s work, suggested writing and research prompts that link the text to source
materials, and four or five sections that provide a comprehensive framework for understanding each chapter, including:
• plotsummary,
• comprehensionandopen-endedtopicsforclassdiscussion(manyofthesetopicscanbeextendedbeyondonechapter),
• vocabularyitems,
• atselectedplaces,criticalessaysexplainingliteraryconventionsandmajorthemes.
Random House, Inc. Academic Dept., 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
HIGH SCHOOL: www.randomhouse.com/highschool • highschool@randomhouse.com
COLLEGE: www.randomhouse.com/acmart • rhacademic@randomhouse.com
Includes
Common Core
state standards
The Enchanting Prelude
to The Lord of the Rings
about the author
J. R. R. Tolkien and Middle-earth
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where his
father was a bank manager. At the age of three, Ronald’s poor health led his mother to
move with him and his brother, Hilary, back to England, where they settled in Sarehole, a
county village on the outskirts of Birmingham. His father died soon after, and his mother
died when he was twelve. His early education was at King Edward’s School in Birmingham,
where he showed promise in languages and Old English literature. During his last years
at St. Edward’s, Tolkien fell in love with Edith Bratt, also an orphan, and formed close
friendships––and an informal literary society––with several of his schoolfellows.
In 1911, he entered Exeter College, Oxford, and received a First Class Honours degree in
English in 1915. Immediately after graduation he entered the army. In 1916, he married
Edith and was shipped to France as World War I raged. After four months on the front lines
he was stricken with trench fever and sent home.
Afterthewar,hejoinedthestaffoftheOxford English Dictionary (writing entries in the Ws),
taught at Leeds University, and was elected to a chair in Anglo-Saxon at Oxford.
“And after this, you might say, nothing else really happened. Tolkien came back to Oxford,
was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon for twenty-years, was then elected
Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, went to live in a conventional Oxford
suburb where he spent the first part of his retirement, moved to a nondescript seaside resort,
came back to Oxford after his wife died, and himself died a peaceful death at the age of
eighty-one. . . . And that would be that––apart from the strange fact that during these years
when ‘nothing happened’ he wrote two books which have become world best-sellers, books
that have captured the imagination and influenced the thinking of several million readers.”
1
The creation of Middle-earth, which occupied Tolkien for sixty years, can be divided into
three stages. The first stage, begun at the St. Edward’s School, involved first the creation of
languages and then the development of a series of legends that could give these languages a
social context in which to develop. These legends soon became important in their own right,
a mythic cycle that combined Christian and pagan (especially Germanic and Celtic) sources
to provide England with a national mythology that would express the English spirit as the
Edda does for Scandinavia and the Kalevala does for Finland. As Tolkien put it:
“I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and
cosmogonic to the level of romantic fairy-story—the larger founded on the lesser in contact
with the earth, the lesser drawing splendor from the vast backcloths—which I could dedicate
simply: to England; to my country. . . . I would draw some of the great tales in fullness,
and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a
majesticwhole,andyetleavescopeforothermindsandhands,wieldingpaintandmusic
and drama.”
2
The death in World War I of most of his St. Edward’s friends apparently firmed Tolkien’s
resolution, and after twenty years, he had elaborated several languages, a cosmology, and
large parts of The Silmarillion, high heroic tales (written in verse and prose, English and
Elvish) of the fall of the angelic Melkor and the futile struggles of men and elves against him.
As a diversion from these weighty labors, Tolkien composed stories and sketches for his own
children. About 1930, one of these beginning with the idle sentence “In a hole in the ground
there lived a hobbit,” became more and more involved as Tolkien defined hobbits and
created adventure for one particular hobbit. Gradually it became clear to Tolkien that Bilbo
1 Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biography. (New York: Ballantine Books, 1978), p.124.
2 Carpenter, pp.100–101.
2
Baggins’s adventures took place in the same Middle-earth as his high heroic tales, but during
a much later era. After six years of intermittent composition, The Hobbit was published as
a children’s book to critical and popular acclaim. Immediately Tolkien began work on The
Lord of the Rings, published in 1954–55 after years of painstaking revision. In many ways a
reworking of the plot of The Hobbit, the length, intensity, and complex theses of the Rings
trilogy make it the adult epic Tolkien desired to create. Although its reputation was slow to
grow, the paperback publication of the trilogy in the mid-sixties established the enormous
fame of Middle-earth and its creator.
There can be no question that the great popular success of Middle-earth is due to the
labors and spirit of its creator. The creation of an accomplished storyteller, linguist, poet,
and painter, Middle-earth’s depths and plausibility are unmatched in modern fantasy; its
reworking of the common ground of Norse, Celtic, and Judeo-Christian tradition is based in
Tolkien’s belief in the importance and perfectibility of man.
Although its most striking creatures are noble elves, evil goblins, proud dwarves, cunning
dragons, wizards, Eagles, and demons, the most important race in Middle-earth is men, for
whose creation and salvation Middle-earth is prepared. The men of Middle-earth, free to
choose their own destinies, run the full gamut from demonic evil and goblin-like depravity
to a purity and integrity equaling that of the noblest elves. The contrast between goblins
and elves provides one of the most important measures of good and evil in Middle-earth.
The Silmarillion tells that elves, the Elder Children of God, were created to guide men, the
YoungerChildren,onthelongjourneytospiritualwisdomandloveofGod.Goblins,in
contrast, are corrupted elves, bred in mockery of Morgoth, the Necromancer’s master,
whose revolt against God brings evil to Middle-earth. Thus Bard’s ability to learn restraint
from the Elvenking is an important sign of his virtue, and Bilbo’s love of elves indicates
his spiritual grace.
Where the elves serve as a model for men’s aspirations, hobbits provide a touchstone.
Their lives display a basic goodness, a conservative, pastoral simplicity. Close to Nature
and free from personal ambition and greed, hobbits need no government and are generally
anti-technology. Rarely corrupted, they never corrupt others. The hobbits’ Shire is a quiet
backwater, removed both from the agonies and the high destiny of men, whether in Middle-
earth or the twentieth century. The Shire is, for Tolkien, a mirror in which we can see
reflected the simple peace at the center of our hearts.
before you read
Ask students to generate a list of science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal works with which
they are familiar. Allow them to include books, video games, movies, and television shows.
Discuss the following questions as a class:
• Outofthethree,doyouhaveafavoritegenre?Whydoyouthinkitappealstoyou?
• Howareworksoffantasysimilartoworksofsciencefictionandtheparanormal?What
elementsmakethegenreoffantasyunique?
• What kind of source materials do you think authors of fantasy might draw upon to
createtheirimaginedworlds?
• Over the past decade there has been an explosion in the popularity of nonrealistic
genres. Why do you think fantasy has such a strong appeal for students of your
generation?
Depending on the reading level of students, teachers may wish to assign Tolkien’s essay “On
Fairy Stories.” (A link is provided in the “For Further Reading/Helpful Links” section at the end
of this guide.) A critical essay summarizing Tolkien’s essay is included for your convenience:
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FAQs of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Prelude to The Lord of the Rings

What is the main plot of The Hobbit?
The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who enjoys a quiet life until Gandalf the wizard and a group of thirteen dwarves arrive at his doorstep. They enlist Bilbo to help reclaim their homeland and treasure from the dragon Smaug. Throughout the journey, Bilbo faces numerous challenges and adversaries, including trolls, goblins, and giant spiders, which test his courage and resourcefulness. Ultimately, Bilbo's adventure leads him to discover the One Ring, a powerful artifact that plays a crucial role in Tolkien's later works.
Who are the key characters in The Hobbit?
Key characters in The Hobbit include Bilbo Baggins, the reluctant hero; Gandalf, the wise wizard who guides him; and Thorin Oakenshield, the determined leader of the dwarves. Other notable characters are Gollum, the creature who possesses the One Ring, and Smaug, the fearsome dragon guarding the dwarves' treasure. Each character contributes to Bilbo's growth and the overarching themes of friendship, bravery, and the battle between good and evil.
What themes are explored in The Hobbit?
The Hobbit explores several themes, including the journey of self-discovery, the importance of friendship, and the conflict between good and evil. Bilbo's transformation from a timid hobbit to a brave adventurer highlights the theme of personal growth. The camaraderie among the dwarves and their reliance on each other emphasizes the value of teamwork and loyalty. Additionally, the story examines the corrupting influence of greed through the character of Smaug and the treasure he hoards.
How does The Hobbit connect to The Lord of the Rings?
The Hobbit serves as a prelude to The Lord of the Rings, introducing key elements and characters that reappear in the later trilogy. The discovery of the One Ring, which Bilbo finds during his adventure, is central to the plot of The Lord of the Rings. Themes of friendship, courage, and the struggle against evil are further developed in the sequel, as the stakes become higher and the characters face greater challenges. The narrative style and rich world-building in The Hobbit set the stage for the epic journey in The Lord of the Rings.
What is the significance of Bilbo's character development?
Bilbo's character development is significant as it illustrates the theme of personal growth and transformation. Initially, Bilbo is portrayed as a reluctant participant in the adventure, preferring the comforts of home. However, as he faces various challenges, he discovers his inner strength and resourcefulness. His encounters with creatures like Gollum and his decision to spare Gollum's life reflect his evolving moral compass. By the end of the story, Bilbo emerges as a hero, showcasing the potential for growth within even the most unlikely individuals.
What role does Gandalf play in Bilbo's journey?
Gandalf serves as a mentor and guide for Bilbo throughout his journey in The Hobbit. His wisdom and foresight help to shape the course of the adventure, as he encourages Bilbo to embrace his potential. Gandalf's presence provides a sense of security and direction for Bilbo and the dwarves, particularly during moments of danger. Additionally, Gandalf's belief in Bilbo's abilities is crucial in helping Bilbo gain confidence and ultimately succeed in his quest.

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