In my entire life, I have read many well-written books from many writers. Moby Dick, The Little Prince, etc. When I was a little kid, I had already watched the movie Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. However, I never thought about actually reading the two novels. Let me just say, that if feels like J.R.R. Tolkien is literally right in front of me and he is telling the story to me.
Summary
Chapter 1: The Unexpected Journey
The Unexpected Journey reveals the main character, Bilbo Baggins, who is a hobbit. A hobbit is a...well, they're hobbits. A fictional race half the height of an average human. They have a big appetite, love nature, and have big, hairy feet. Bilbo Baggins meets the famous wizard, Gandalf, and several dwarves accompanying him on the journey. Their names are: Bifur, Bofur, Bombar, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Dori, Nori, Fili, Ori, Dwalin, Balin, and Thorin Oakenshield (the leader of the dwarves). Gandalf believes that Bilbo is meant to join the team and journey through Middle Earth to help with the dwarves quest. However, a majority of the dwarves believe that Bilbo is not right for the task to steal the treasure back from the dragon.
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| Gandalf |
The dwarves are the some of a group of survivors who barely escaped Smaug's attack on their homeland. They used to live in the mountains with lots of gold treasure until Smaug the dragon drew them out. They want to return and take back the treasure they lost and their home. Thorin has a map that will lead them to an invisible door that is a secret gateway to their homeland.
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| Bilbo Baggins |
Chapter 2: Roast Mutton
As the story continues with Bilbo Baggins waking up and quickly decides to join Gandalf and the dwarves on the journey to steal the treasure from Smaug. Bilbo manages to catch up and join the team. Bilbo misses his homeland and a heavy rain causes the dwarves to feel bad-tempered. Bilbo spots three giant trolls and tries to prove to everyone that he is worth something by stealing from the trolls. He gets captured and eventually so does the dwarves. Gandalf saves the day by stalling time and letting the sunlight shine upon the trolls turning them to stone.
"Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" said a voice...(page 41; paragraph 7)
The gang later takes the troll's supplies in their cave such as food and beverages. They also take two good conditioned swords and Bilbo takes a knife that fits his size to be a sword. Thorin and his dwarves continues further with Gandalf and Bilbo.
"Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" said a voice...(page 41; paragraph 7)
The gang later takes the troll's supplies in their cave such as food and beverages. They also take two good conditioned swords and Bilbo takes a knife that fits his size to be a sword. Thorin and his dwarves continues further with Gandalf and Bilbo.
Review
Chapter 1 and 2 fit extremely well in the story. J.R.R. Tolkien did a REALLY good job on introducing his fictional created race, hobbits. I love the way hobbits are unique from the other mythical creatures of fantasy. I especially love that although most hobbits love to stay at home, only a few of them dare venture out of their homeland. I never really thought that reading The Hobbit would be so interesting and exciting. I love how Tolkien uses his influence on Nordic legends and myths to make the story exciting to read. The first time I read about Gandalf, my mind immediately thought about Odin. I really have to thank J.R.R. Tolkien for helping to increase the popularity of fantasy books. Overall, The Hobbit is one of the most exciting books I have read in quite a long time.
Influences
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| Two dwarves of Norse mythology |
mountains just the dwarves of Middle Earth. In fact, Tolkien's dwarves have a similar appearance to the Norse dwarves. The mountain trolls in Middle Earth are also similar to trolls of Norse folklore. Both of them are usually big creatures who live mostly in the dark. If they are exposed to sunlight, they will turn to stone.
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