All Questions
14
questions
7
votes
1
answer
2k
views
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?
- 2,201
25
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How can the bear-man refer to a "Jack-in-the-box" in The Hobbit?
The Hobbit is supposedly set waaay back in our world. Yet, Beorn refers to "jack-in-the-box" as in the toy, when the dwarves show up in pairs.
How can this be? How can anyone in that world/...
- 277
9
votes
1
answer
676
views
Has Tolkien ever commented on the similarity between the name "Baggins" and the French word for "ring"?
There is some discussion on the origins of the name Baggins in this question. However, it only revolves around whether or not it is related to Bilbo being a thief, and I am interested in something ...
- 5,592
16
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why is Bilbo's door and Hobbit house so incredibly oversized in Tolkien's own final illustration in The Hobbit?
Tolkien was a good artist to say the least. He did not have problems with perspective and whatnot in the other illustrations he made for The Hobbit, so that can't really be the explanation.
Yet, the ...
- 185
12
votes
1
answer
698
views
Why did Tolkien italicise ‘cram’?
In The Hobbit (or at least in my edition, HarperCollins 2011), the word ‘cram’ is italicised wherever it appears. Cram is (as according to Chapter XIII, Not at Home)
biscuitish, keeps good ...
- 1,743
36
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Why are Hobbits so fond of mushrooms?
In both the book and the movie it would seem that Hobbits are especially fond of mushrooms, sometimes braving dangers to harvest them.
I have seen somewhere an interview in which Tolkien claimed he ...
44
votes
1
answer
17k
views
Did Tolkien ever state that The Hobbit was a children's book? [duplicate]
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 ...
- 10.8k
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Did Tolkien ever explain why he mentioned Gondolin in The Hobbit?
In The Hobbit, the most obvious reference Tolkien included to his already-extant legendarium was to the story of the fall of Gondolin. The swords Orcrist and Glamdring were identified (by Elrond) as ...
- 98.5k
47
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Who wrote Tolkien's riddles?
In The Hobbit chapter 5, Riddles in the Dark, were the riddles composed by Tolkien himself? I always assumed either that they were, since he seemed to have a knack for writing poetry, or that they ...
- 135k
24
votes
3
answers
36k
views
Why did Tolkien choose to end this blood line?
Spoilers for the Hobbit ahead
At the end of the Battle of the Five Armies,
Does Tolkien discuss why he did so in any letters/writings? Is there any literary or historical (as important for the ...
- 12.7k
36
votes
2
answers
8k
views
How much of the Middle Earth universe had Tolkien invented when he wrote The Hobbit?
This question was inspired by a comment from Darth Satan.
The Hobbit is a very different sort of work from Lord of the Rings: written in a style more like a children's book and less like an epic saga....
- 135k
33
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Did J.R.R. Tolkien plan for the ring to be Sauron's?
I know that The Hobbit was published first before the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. And since that was the first appearance of The One Ring, I was wondering if Tolkien had planned it to be so.
So, ...
- 3,433
5
votes
3
answers
5k
views
What meaning(s) or message(s), if any, was Tolkien trying to convey with his books?
What overall meaning or message, if any, was Tolkien trying to convey with each of his books (The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, LOTR)?
- 93
50
votes
8
answers
55k
views
What age group did Tolkien write The Hobbit for?
Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story for children. However, I've never seen a specific age mentioned. Did Tolkien intend the story for young children or for teens?
What reading level should a child ...
- 3,536