A Brief Introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien & The Hobbit

and his wife lived first in the Headington area of

Oxford, then moved to Bournemouth, but after his wife's death in 1971, Tolkien returned to Oxford and died after a very brief illness on 2nd September 1973, leaving his great mythological van legendary cycle The Silmarillion to be edited for publication by his son, Christopher.

he spent a happy childhood growing up in the English

countryside
His deep love of the rural landscape can clearly be seen in his writings.

brother attended Kind Edward's School, Birmingham, England, where he achieved

distinction in classical literature.
At this time also, he began to develop his writing by inventing languages which he thought 'fairies' or 'elves' would speak.

lot in his novels.
He became a British infantryman and served

in the Battle of Somme (World War I, 1916)
Two of his three closest friends were killed.

the New English Dictionary, and began to write a collection

of stories which he originally called “The Book of Lost Tales”.
This book eventually became known as The Silmarillion, one of his most popular books after The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy.

He loved words and their origins, especially very old words.
Meanwhile,

his four children encouraged him to use his imagination at home.
At night, Tolkien would put his children to bed and tell them stories he made up until they went to sleep.
One such story would later go on to become the story of The Hobbit, published years later in 1937

another Oxford professor and writer, C. S. Lewis.
You may recognize

his name: he is the author of The Chronicles of Narnia. 

The two critiqued each other’s work as part of an informal writers’ group known as “The Inklings”.
As a group, several writers would get together to talk, have wine, and read from their work-in-progress.

Oxford and died after a very brief illness on September

2, 1973.
He left his great mythological book The Silmarillion to his son to be edited and published posthumously (after his death).

world of Middle Earth.
This world looks similar to Europe.
Treated like

the prologue (or prequel) to The Lord of the Rings, but this isn’t exactly true. It was meant to stand alone as a children’s or young adult book.
The significance of the ring is one
major thing that changed.

Tolkien was marking papers, his mind started to wander.
On

a blank exam booklet, he wrote down a single very famous line: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
He forgot about it for awhile, then decided later on that he needed to find out what a hobbit was, what sort of a hole it lived in, why it lived in a hole, etc.
From this search grew the tale that would become The Hobbit.

manners, somewhat lazy habits, and very hairy feet. He prefers

napping to going on adventures.
One day he is visited by a wizard named Gandalf and a group of dwarves and accepts a challenge to steal back a fortune in gold from a dragon.

Tolkien’s world growing up.
Two places in particular, Moseley Bog and

Sarehole Mill, formed the background setting for many parts of the story.
These places are still around today and have become popular tourist landmarks in England.

the entrance to it,
as inspiration for many places in

his fictional world.

become the inspiration
for The Shire, Bilbo’s home:

over evil?
Courage: what does it mean to have courage, and

how does someone get it?
Heroism: what is a hero? Is it something we are born as, or something we can become?

Skips between joyful/happy in good times to dark/desperate in times

of danger.
External Conflict: Bilbo versus the many enemies they face.
Internal Conflict: Bilbo versus his fear and timid nature.