Many people just assume that simply because The Hobbit is a lighter story than LOTR and the Silmarillion, it's a children's story, but I don't believe Tolkien himself ever said it was made for children.
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@Richard the first one is similar but idk about the second one– FingolfinCommented Apr 11, 2016 at 6:42
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That's why I chose the first one as my VTC reason.– ValorumCommented Apr 11, 2016 at 6:44
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4I'm reminded of Madeleine L'Engle's quote "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."– Xiong ChiamiovCommented Apr 11, 2016 at 23:50
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@sgroves does your comment matter? in anyway at all? The author's intent (of the question) is clear.....– djsmiley2kStaysInsideCommented Apr 12, 2016 at 17:22
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@djsmiley2k i wouldn't say it matters, i was just wondering why the author cares. not sure why you care so much about my comment ... you're definitely being less constructive here than me.– user428517Commented Apr 12, 2016 at 17:31
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1 Answer
TL;DR: Yes.
In fact, it wasn't just written for children in general - it was written for Tolkien's own children.
Tolkien's own words:
The generally different tone and style of The Hobbit is due, in point of genesis, to it being taken by me as a matter from the great cycle susceptible of treatment as a ‘fairy-story’, for children.
- The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter #131
And:
The Hobbit was originally quite unconnected [to his Middle-earth legendarium], though it inevitably got drawn in to the circumference of the greater construction; and in the event modified it. It was unhappily really meant, as far as I was conscious, as a ‘children’s story’, and as I had not learned sense then, and my children were not quite old enough to correct me, it has some of the sillinesses of manner caught unthinkingly from the kind of stuff I had had served to me, as Chaucer may catch a minstrel tag. I deeply regret them. So do intelligent children.
- The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter #163
And:
When I published The Hobbit – hurriedly and without due consideration – I was still influenced by the convention that ‘fairy-stories’ are naturally directed to children (with or without the silly added waggery ‘from seven to seventy’). And I had children of my own.
- The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter #215
The Tolkien Society's words:
The Hobbit was originally a story Tolkien told to his children. In this form it was composed sometime between 1929 and 1936.
It was published in 1937.
It is described as a fantasy novel, a story of heroic quest, and a children's story.
- Tolkien Society's The Hobbit: An Introduction
answered Apr 11, 2016 at 5:19
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3Having read the Hobbit both as a child and as an adult with children, it definitely seems like it could have been a story told at bedtime.– corsiKaCommented Apr 11, 2016 at 16:19
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4"I deeply regret them. So do intelligent children." Sigh. People don't talk that way anymore.– isanaeCommented Apr 11, 2016 at 16:37
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3"I deeply regret them. So do intelligent children." MY STORY ABOUT YOUNG MEN GOING ON A MAGICAL JOURNEY IS GROWN UP DAMMIT.– dewordeCommented Apr 12, 2016 at 9:11
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1@deworde The story isn't about Men, but about dwarves, a wizard, a dragon, and a hobbit. At one remove in folds in Men, Elves, and Goblins. Commented Apr 12, 2016 at 12:06
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1@KorvinStarmast The Hobbit is about a "Little Englander" from pastoral England going on an adventure. The Lord of the Rings is about 4 of them going to war. Just because he gave them hairy feet and halved their height, doesn't make the analogy not obvious.– dewordeCommented Apr 12, 2016 at 12:18