Questions tagged [the-hobbit]
For questions about The Hobbit, a 1937 Children's novel by Tolkien. Please always use with the [tolkiens-legendarium] tag. For questions about the film adaptations use in conjunction with the film tags, [an-unexpected-journey], etc.
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Why does Gandalf question Thorin after he had found the note?
Why does Gandalf question Thorin about their orc hunters, AFTER he had already found a note in black speech offering payment for Thorin's head and showing him this in the tavern.
Gandalf and Balin ...
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Which plant was used as Athelas in LOTR / Hobbit movies?
There is already an exquisite thread concerning the plant described in the book
link here and its relative real life counterpart,
but my question is about the one actually used in the movies .
Any ...
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What does the inscription on the pot of gold in "A Conversation with Smaug" say?
Tolkien painted a watercolour picture of "A Conversation with Smaug" for the cover of The Hobbit.
In the lower left corner there is a pot containing a pile of gold with an Elvish(?) ...
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Is there any backstory for the "extraordinary luck of widow's sons"?
“Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not the fellow who used ...
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What two things did Bilbo say that Gandalf interpreted as asking for an adventure?
I mean, you used to upset things pretty badly in these parts once upon a time. I beg your pardon, but I had no idea you were still in business.” “Where else should I be?” said the wizard. “All ...
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Who was buried at the High Fells of Rhudaur?
I was recently rewatching the Hobbit movies and one thing stood out to me. From reading the various answers here, it was discussed that:
The Nazgul are not undead but just wraiths (i.e. faded due to ...
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Did Gollum eat an orc child?
While looking for answers to another question about orcs on Quora, I read an answer that referred to Gollum killing and eating an orc child in the Hobbit, but I don't recall coming across that when I ...
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Did Tolkien ever address Gandalf's propensity to take risks? [closed]
Gandalf wanted to get rid of Smaug, fearing that Smaug could eventually become an ally and tool of Sauron. But at the time of The Hobbit, Smaug was slumbering in Erebor. Gandalf explicitly discouraged ...
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Compass/magnetic directions in Middle-earth
Maps in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have North/South/East/West marked on them, and I am wondering if anyone can tell me what these directions mean and how they are determined in-universe.
The ...
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Had Bilbo with Thorin & Co. camped before the rainy night or hadn't they?
From The Hobbit, chapter 2, "Roast Mutton:"
In the Lone-lands they had to camp when they could, but at least it
had been dry.
Then in the sixth paragraph later:
They decided in the end ...
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Do we ever see a hobbit use their natural ability to “disappear”?
The Fellowship of the Ring prologue contains the following information about hobbits:
They possessed from the first the art of disappearing swiftly and
silently, when large folk whom they do not wish ...
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Where do Saruman's loyalties lie during the events of The Hobbit?
In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Thorin's company comes to Rivendell. While there, Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman privately brace Gandalf to inquire about his activities with the dwarves. (~1h35m)...
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Does everyone always eat, drink and sleep for free everywhere in Middle-earth?
Maybe it has to do with the specific and unique circumstances in which the characters we follow in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings find themselves, but it seems to me that everyone always assumes ...
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Did Bag End have a second door?
This is a map of Bag End from The Atlas of Middle-earth (found here.)
There's a door at the end of the tunnel. Is it mentioned in the books? Or is the map not accurate?
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Why was this speech by Bilbo added to the Hobbit movie?
After the goblin ordeal, when the dwarves and Gandalf are waiting and wondering where Bilbo is, in the movie, he shows up after taking off the Ring and gives a great speech something along the lines ...