The Hobbit Research Paper

The Hobbit is the prelude story to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which has been described as the greatest fantasy epic of our time. It is steeped in mythic imagery and draws heavily from mythic tales of the past. J.R.R. Tolkien its author was an expert in mythology and for much of his early career as a linguist was spent translating ancient Norse and Germanic myths into English, most famously Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (Hammond) Tolkien wrote these stories as the myth he felt his own homeland of England lacked and to support his invented languages. (National Geographic Beyond the Movie Lord of the Rings) The story was a hit and remains so; it has sold fifty million copies worldwide in thirty different languages. (Hammond)

(Hammond) Most renowned as the author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings he was also a noted linguist and a teacher of English language and literature at Oxford University. (J.R.R Tolkien) As a writer he belonged to a group known as The Inklings which included several prominent writers such as C.S. Lewis. (J.R.R Tolkien) The Hobbit was published in 1937 which was followed up with The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954. He retired as a professor in 1959 and many of his other works were released after his death by his son in 1973. (J.R.R Tolkien) Some of his more notable scholarly contributions include a standard edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as landmark lecture on Beowulf. (Hammond) He also had completed a translation and commentary of Beowulf in 1926 but was published posthumously.

There are dwarves, elves, and a dragon named Smaug, the story is filled with magic, mythical creatures such as trolls and giants, and a cursed ring of power. (Tolkien) The setting of the story is Middle Earth, and is derived from Midgard in Norse mythology. (Wettstien) Gandalf seems modeled after images of Odin as a wanderer and the dwarves of the story also seem to share traits with the dwarves of Norse stories living below the ground and surviving as smiths and miners. (Wettstien) When The Hobbit was first published it was labeled as a children’s story but Tolkien never meant it to be so, with a faithful following over the years it achieved cult like status and remains so to this day. (Hammond) Besides the books Tolkien wrote, the story has been retold in animation and film and the story has become iconic in the fantasy adventure