The Hobbit

The Hobbit is a fantasy novel by the English philologist and writer J. R. R. Tolkien, published on 21 September 1937 in the United Kingdom. It began as a story meant to amuse Tolkien's young children. He had written the first pages in the early 1930s while working as a professor at the University of Oxford, and he lent the unfinished manuscript to several friends. One of them brought it to the publisher George Allen & Unwin, whose editors, eager to publish it, asked Tolkien to complete it.

The book is set in Middle-earth and follows Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving hobbit who is drawn into an adventure by the wizard Gandalf and a company of thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield. Their goal is to reach the Lonely Mountain, reclaim the dwarves' lost kingdom of Erebor and its treasure, now guarded by the dragon Smaug. The journey unfolds as a episodic quest: each chapter brings a new danger or creature, such as trolls, goblins, giant spiders or the elves of the forest. Along the way Bilbo grows in maturity and discovers resources of his own, among them his wit and common sense. The story reaches its climax in the Battle of Five Armies, where many characters and creatures from earlier chapters meet in conflict.

The book's success led the publishers to ask for a sequel. As Tolkien developed The Lord of the Rings, he introduced small but significant revisions into the second edition of The Hobbit so the two stories would fit together, including the way Bilbo comes to possess the Ring. Later editions followed with minor corrections. The novel has remained continuously in print and has inspired stage, radio, television, film, board game and video game adaptations.