The Hobbit

"The Hobbit"

by J R R Tolkien

The Hobbit is a tale of high adventurer, undertaken by a company of dwarves,
in search of dragon-guarded gold. A relunctant partner in this perilous
quest is Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving, unambitiosu hobbit, who suprises
even himself by his resourcefulness and skill as a burglar.

Encounters with trolls, goblins, dwarves, elves and giant spiders, conversations
with the dragon, Smaug the magnificent, and a rather unwilling presence at the
Battle of the Five Armies are some of the eadventurers, that befall Bilbo.
But there are lighter moments as well: good fellowship, welcome meals,
laughter and song.

Bilbo Baggins has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of children's
fiction. Written for Professor Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit met with
instant critical acclaim when published. It is complete and marvellous tale
in itself, but it also forms a prelude to The Lord of the Rings.

Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more numerous
formerly than they are today; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth:
a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favorite haunt.
They do not and did not understand or like machines more complicated
than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a hand-loom, thought they were
skilful with tools. Even in ancient days they were, as a rule, shy of
"the Big Folk", as they call us, and now they avoid us with dismay and are
becoming hard to find. They are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though
they are inclined to be fat and deft in their movements. They possessed
from the first the art of disappearing swiftly and silently, when large folk
whom they do not wish to meet come blundernig by: and this art have they
developed until to Men it may seem magical. But Hobbits were never, in fact,
studied magic of any kind, and their elusiveness is due solely to a
professional skill that heredity and practice, and a close friendship with earth,
have rendered inimitable by bigger and clumsier races.