Main article: List of The Hobbit charactersīilbo Baggins, the protagonist, is a respectable, reserved and well-to-do hobbit - a race resembling short humans with furry, leathery feet who live in underground houses and are mainly pastoral farmers and gardeners.

Several of these adaptations have received critical recognition on their own merits. Its ongoing legacy encompasses many adaptations for stage, screen, radio, board games, and video games. Further editions followed with minor emendations, including those reflecting Tolkien's changing concept of the world into which Bilbo stumbled.

These few but significant changes were integrated into the second edition.

As Tolkien's work progressed on its successor, The Lord of the Rings, he made retrospective accommodations for it in The Hobbit. The publisher was encouraged by the book's critical and financial success and, therefore, requested a sequel. The author's scholarly knowledge of Germanic philology and interest in mythology and fairy tales are often noted as influences. These themes have led critics to view Tolkien's own experiences during World War I as instrumental in shaping the story. Personal growth and forms of heroism are central themes of the story, along with motifs of warfare. The story reaches its climax in the Battle of Five Armies, where many of the characters and creatures from earlier chapters re-emerge to engage in conflict. Bilbo gains a new level of maturity, competence, and wisdom by accepting the disreputable, romantic, fey, and adventurous sides of his nature and applying his wits and common sense. The story is told in the form of an episodic quest, and most chapters introduce a specific creature or type of creature of Tolkien's geography. Bilbo's journey takes him from his peaceful rural surroundings into more sinister territory. The Hobbit is set in Middle-earth and follows home-loving Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit of the title, who joins the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves that make up Thorin Oakenshield's Company, on a quest to reclaim the dwarves' home and treasure from the dragon Smaug. The book is recognized as a classic in children's literature, and is one of the best-selling books of all time with over 100 million copies sold. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R.

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