THE HOBBIT BY J.R.R TOLKIEN
Carlos Aguado Pardo 3ยบ ESO A 28/02/12 0
OUTLINE 1._J.R.R. Tolkien´s Biography (author) ……………p.1-2 1.1_ Introduction…………………………………..p. 1 1.2_ Childhood, youth and maturity…………….p.1-2 2._ Douglas A. Anderson´s Biography (the author of annotated edition)………………………………...p.3 3._ Summary of the book……………………………p.3-7 3.1_ Introduction…………………………………..p. 3 3.2_ Story…………………………………………..p.4-7 4._ Vocabulary / expressions related to the main theme of the story……………………………………………p.7-9 4.1_ Vocabulary related to epic and mythology.p.8-9 4.2_ Vocabulary / Expressions in relationship to fairy tales……………………………………..p.9 5._ Plot´s opinion……………………………………..p.9-10 6._ Important phrases ……………………………….p.10-13 7._ Bibliography………………………………………p.14-15 1
THE HOBBIT 1._ Bibliography of J.R.R Tolkien (author) 1.1_ Introduction In 1965, Tolkien said to an interviewer that it was difficult for him to read a fairy tale without wishing to write one of them. This factor is a very important feature in order to study Tolkien and his work. Tolkien was a very important erudite of the English language, specially in old and Middle English. He was a lecturer of Anglo-Saxon (old English) at Oxford University. He also wrote stories, including “The Hobbit” (1937) and “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-1955) that are set in a prehistoric age in an imaginary version of the world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle Earth. A world populated by men, women, elves, dwarves, trolls, orcs/goblins and, hobbits too. Tolkien has been admired by millions of readers worldwide.
1.2_ Childhood, youth and maturity John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on 3 January 1892; his father was Reuel Tolkien and he worked as a bank employer and his mother was Mabel 2
Suffield. They were from Birmingham in the Midlands of England. Ronald was educated in king Edward's school in Birmingham and he went on his studies in Exeter College at Oxford, in 1911. Soon, his interest led him to study comparative philology and other languages and even Tolkien made up a personal language called Quenya or elf. He got married to Edith (an orphan he met when he was young) on 22 March 1916. In 1920 he was named lecturer of English language at Leeds university and later in 1925 Tolkien became a lecturer of Anglo-Saxon in Oxford. He had four children and he wrote “The Hobbit� for. In 1945 he was elected as Merton Professor of English language and literature in Oxford. He was a lecturer of Merton College until he retired in 1959. His wife died in 1971 and Tolkien died on 2 September 1973 after a brief illness.
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2._ Bibliography of Douglas A. Anderson (the author of annotated edition) He was born in 1959. He is an author that studied weird and mediaeval literature and he commented and analyzed Tolkien´s books. He won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award with his first book “The Annotated Hobbit” He also edited “The Lord of the Rings” and another magic books by Leonard Cline,
Kenneth
Morris
and
William
Hope
Hodgson.
Nowadays, he works as an editor in the annual school review, Tolkien Studies.
3._ Summary of the book 3.1_ Introduction “The Hobbit”, is one of the best books by J.R.R. Tolkien. It mixes two different points of interest: England´s mythology and tales for his sons. When the book was published for the first time, in September 1937, the readers really enjoyed it.
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3.2_ Story Once upon a time, a hobbit called Bilbo, led a quiet life as a hobbit; he lived in a hole, without problems and a lot of food. He was, like all the hobbits, smaller than humans. He wore bright clothes but he didn't wear shoes because their feet were large and hairy. One day, while he was smoking in his garden, one magician, Gandalf, appeared and tried to bring him to an adventure with thirteen dwarves: Bombur, Bofur, Bifur, Nori, Ori, Dori, Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili and Thorin Oakenshield (the king) .This adventure, consisted of going to the old kingdom of the dwarves and rescue their treasures from Smaug´s clutches, the most terrorific dragon of this period. At first, the hobbit refused going with them but finally he agreed to although he was scared because he 5
didn´t know if he could do what the magician wanted; besides, the dwarves didn't trust him. The problems appeared soon and three trolls caught the group to eat them, but Gandalf was free. The wizard deceived the trolls until sunrise and they turned into stone statues. Then the group took magic swords from trolls´ cave, with a key that Bilbo found, they travelled to Rivendell. There Elron, the elf king, took them in. Then, Elron translated the inscriptions on the swords that they found in the cave. He also revealed them the runes of dwarves´ map. Later, they went on their travel across the Misty Mountain; but they had to stay in a cave because of a snowstorm. Suddenly, the goblins entered there and caught them, except the wizard. One more time, Gandalf saved them killing the goblins´king with one of the magic swords called Glamdring. While they were running away, the hobbit fell down fainted. When he woke up, he found a golden ring that really attracted him and he kept it in his pocket. He started walking along the tunnels and he met Gollum, a strange and ugly creature that wanted to kill and eat him. Gollum suggested playing riddles, if he won he´d eat him but if he didn't win he´d guide him to the exit. Bilbo won the game but Gollum didn´t know where his favourite possession (the golden ring) was.Then he thought that his ring had been stolen by the hobbit. Bilbo put the golden ring on his finger and he became invisible. In this way, he could escape to the surface. There he met Gandalf and the dwarves but suddenly many a lot of giant wolves 6
appeared (the Wargs) and they had to climb up the trees to survive. When the situation was getting harder some eagles rescued them and took them to the Eagle kingdom. The next day, Gandalf wanted to go to Beorn´s house (a man who can turn himself into a bear). Beorn lent them his ponies and so he brought them food. They left and travelled as far as Mirkwood. Before going into the forest Gandalf left. In the forest, one of the Dwarves, Bombur, fell into the river and he slept during a long time. Then, they didn´t follow the pathway showed by Gandalf and they were captured by giant spiders. Bilbo saved them once more with the help of his sword. After that, the dwarves, were prisoners of wood elves but, the hobbit (who was free) made a plan to rescue them. Bilbo´s plan consisted of hiding into empty barrels because the elves threw these barrels into the river every day. After travelling along the river, they arrived to Lake Town, near the Lonely Mountain where Smaug lived. They stayed in this town for about one week and they went to Smaug´s mountain. There, they tried to open the magic door many times, but they didn't get to open it until Bilbo discovered the secret hidden in Thor´s map.They decided that Bilbo went into the cave. Then, without getting angry the dragon, he stole the Arkenstone from the cave. Smaug got really angry and it destroyed almost the entire of Lake Town, but an archer, called Bard, killed him. In that moment, when the dragon was dead people from Lake Town and the elves went to the mountain in order to claim a part of the treasure and rebuild their town. Although 7
Thor refused to do it, Bilbo gave the Arkenstone to Bard to negotiate with dwarves´ king. Thor felt really furious and he wanted to hit Bilbo but Gandalf appeared and protected him. Suddenly, an army of goblins and Wargs arrived in the mountain and they started The Battle of Five Army. This war was won by the group of the humans, elves and dwarves, helped by the eagles. Thor was wounded and before GR his death dying he was very sorry for his behaviour and GR he apologized to Bilbo. Later, he was buried with the Arkstone and Orcrist. At the end of this journey, Bilbo returned to their village with Gandalf. But the other hobbits didn´t accept him because they thought that was an impostor and a liar, however he was happy because he got on well with elves and wizards.
4._ Vocabulary / expressions related to the main theme of the story
I think it´s important to begin with the word “hobbit”, the title of the book. In fact, the book is related to the epic (Beowulf), mythology and fairy tales (Grimm Brothers). In this way, the word “hobbit” appears in a large list that contains more than 200 marvellous creatures (1895) where “hobbit” is defined as “a kind of spirit”.
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However, Tolkien explains its origin in the Old English “hol-bytla” or “inhabitants of holes”.
La Tierra Media or “Middle-Earth” is a modern alteration of the Old English “midangeard”, a word that designs the world in which we live. Tolkien inhabits this world with elves, humans and other creatures.
In the other hand, there are a list of words that I had to look up because they belong to the epic and mythology world: dwarves, wizard, elves, rolls, orcs, goblins, wargs and eagles.
The riddle is a popular resource in the mythology and in “The Hobbit”. Tolkien uses 8 riddles.
Expressions such as “hobbits eat six times a day” indicates one of the humorous points in the story.
4.1_ Vocabulary related to epic and mythology
The verb “turn into” is very used in this type of narrative; this is, Beorn who can turns into a bear.
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Runes, map, translations of inscriptions on swords, description of amazing strange landscapes (mountains, dark forests...)
A dangerous dragon, who keeps the treasure stolen to the dwarves, and finally is defeated.
4.2_ Vocabulary / Expressions in relationship to fairy tales
A golden ring with magic powers, wizards like Gandalf.
Giant wolves, spiders.
Bombur falling into the river and sleeping during a long time remind us to “Sleeping Beauty”.
When Bilbo and the dwarves don´t follow the pathway showed by Gandalf and they are captured by giant spiders, it reminds us to “Red Riding hood”.
5._ Plot´s opinion In the beginning, hobbit´s film was the main reason why I read the book. I wasn't keen on Tolkien's books because 10
many people told me that his books were boring. One day, my best friend, who is an enthusiastic reader, talked to me about “The Hobbit” and she convinced me that I was wrong, so I read it. Hobbit´s film was very good and I noticed the director introduced things that don't appear in the book. I really enjoyed reading “The Hobbit” because the landscapes are described differently to other books; its narrative opens your imagination to a fairy world and when you read it you can immerse yourself in a magic environment. From my point of view this is the principal feature to read the book before watching the film. I love this book´s plot because it mixes adventures, fantasy, comedy and wars. The main topic of the plot, is the development of the main character, Bilbo. At first, he was a shy, cowardly and quiet hobbit but then he transforms into a brave, more extrovert and energetic hobby. Finally, the reader realises he enjoys the adventure.
6._ Important phrases
“En un agujero en el suelo vivía un Hobbit” [In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit (original sentence)]. I chose this phrase because in my opinion this phrase expresses the main feature that characterizes “The Hobbit”.
This
sentence 11
was
translated
to
many
languages like French, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Italian
and
Swedish.
There
is
an
anecdote
in
relationship to this phrase: Tolkien often told how he started the story. A hot summer afternoon at home, sitting on his study, correcting English literature exams. One of his pupils wrote nothing on the exam and Tolkien wrote on it: “In a hole on the ground lived a hobbit”. The names always developed stories in his mind. Later, he thought of finding out how the hobbits were; then, he considered that it was too good to forget it on the back of an exam. Simply, he started to make up stories with all the elements he had in his mind. He couldn’t remember to have organized them at all.
“Ahora bien, parece extraño, pero las cosas que es bueno tener y los días que se pasan de un modo agradable se cuentan muy pronto, y no se les presta demasiada atención; en cambio, las cosas que son incómodas, estremecedoras, y aun horribles, pueden hacer un buen relato, y además llevan tiempo contarlas.” I like it because it refers to how we should live our life. We must live in other way, taking into account the good things that happen in our life forgetting about bad stuff.
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“Cierto que casi siempre se encuentra algo, si se mira, pero no siempre es lo que uno busca”. This sentence make us think that when we are looking for anything, we have to be cautious because we could find something really bad.
“Saltar de la sartén a las brasas”. It´s a traditional proverb. I chose it because I like the way which the author explains with irony the situations where a bad thing follows another.
“Mientras hay vida hay esperanza”. I selected this phrase because it reveals a big reality: hope stays forever. In spite of the problems and difficulties you can find in your life, you must never lose hope.
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7._Bibliography “About
the
Awards”
[online].
<http://www.mythsoc.org/awards/>
Mythopoeic [Accessed
Awards.
19/03/2013]
Caroline, “The reader became the book”, <http://www.flickr. com/photos/20466740@N00/3262953848> [Accessed 27/ 02/ 13] “John Ronald Reuel Tolkien” <http://www.biografiasyvidas.co m/biografia/t/tolkien.htm> [Accessed 27/02/13]
Lenander David, “Douglas A. Anderson Page” [online]. The Bird & Baby. <http://www.tc.umn.edu/~d-na/DouglasAAnd ersoPage.html> [Accessed: 19/03/2013].
martinak15, “132/265 (+1 in comments)”, <http://www.flickr. com/photos/64636777@N03/6871958375> [Accessed 27/ 02/ 13]
Tolkien J. R.R. El Hobbit Anotado. Barcelona, Editorial Planeta, 2012.
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V.V. A.A. “The Hobbit Book” [online]. Lord of the Rings. <http://www.lord-of-the-rings.org/index.html> [Accessed: 18/ 03/2013]
Wikipedia, “Douglas A. Anderson” [online]. Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. 18 November 2012. <http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ Douglas_A._Anderson> [Accessed: 19/03/2013].
“Winderlandmap.jpg”,<http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/File:Wilderlan d_map.jpg> [Accessed: 27/02/13]
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