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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6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Where is the Void?

Where is the Void located in the Ardean(?) universe? After thinking about it for a while, I see three different possibilities: Iluvatar's space [Arda (Void)]: The Void belongs to Arda, which are ...
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why didn't Tolkien do more with the Stone-Giants?

In The Hobbit, the heroes shelter from a storm in the mountains and see a group of stone-giants throwing boulders at each other. The Stone-giants were out, and were hurling rocks at one another ...
32 votes
13 answers
9k views

How do the Elves in LOTR (canon) obtain their food?

It's been asked before what Elves eat, but my question is specifically: where on (Middle) Earth do they get it? I find this to be a significant mystery & potential "hole" in the mythology. I'll ...
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

Reincarnation of Durin

Quoting a text from http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Durin It was also believed that Durin would be reincarnated a total of six times, each time as a descendant of an older Durin. The page also displays ...
13 votes
1 answer
1k views

What (if anything) do we know about the orcs who fought against Sauron?

So, in this question, I saw that it was mentioned that all the races of Middle-earth, save the Elves, fought both for and against Sauron during the War of the Last Alliance. The Silmarillion states: ...
20 votes
1 answer
3k views

In The Hobbit, what was the first race created?

Since there are many species of different creatures in The Hobbit, I was pondering on the subject of how and when each race was created. Which race was created first and which order were the other ...
10 votes
2 answers
3k views

Are there any other planets besides Arda in Ea?

Did Tolkien mention anything about other planets in his mythology or did he invent just the one planet for his stories?
2 votes
0 answers
346 views

Why wasn't Thorin aware about the state of Mirkwood and the Old Forest Road?

In The Hobbit, in the Queer Lodgings chapter, Beorn explains to the company the dangers that they might face through Mirkwood: “But your way through Mirkwood is dark, dangerous and difficult,” he ...
40 votes
3 answers
36k views

Did J.R.R. Tolkien ever write a deeper connection between The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring?

There seems to be a bit of a gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. While we know the outcomes from The Hobbit to Lord of the Rings, we don't know what happened ...
14 votes
2 answers
4k views

How come Balin and Dwalin never mention their travel with Thrain II in The Hobbit?

I'm re-reading The Hobbit and I was wondering why there was no reference to Balin and Dwalin accompanying Thrain II on his attempt to go to Erebor. It seems to me that in The Hobbit they act as if ...
30 votes
2 answers
9k views

Was "The Hobbit" book ever abridged?

I know the Hobbit was written as a children's book (tale?) and I saw this when I searched the site for similar questions to this one. The story itself can certainly be regarded as almost a fairy tale ...
31 votes
6 answers
67k views

Is Legolas in The Hobbit Book?

Legolas is the son of Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood. He is also a member of The Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings. Legolas also appeared in the films of The ...
10 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why did Gandalf change from blue to grey?

Everyone is familiar with Gandalf being described as "Gandalf the Grey", or, later, "Gandalf the White", and he was shown in both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies as ...
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does Shelob have tusks?

In a recent conversation on Mos Eisley, a debate started as to whether or not Shelob had tusks. Does she have tusks, or fangs; what is her in-book description? ^^ not Shelob, but the picture that ...
14 votes
2 answers
7k views

Is there any evidence that Lucas' "Willow" was a "Lucas-remake" of "The Hobbit"?

Citing cracked.com "5 Pop Culture Classics Created Out of Laziness": Lucas later repeated the same trick after failing to get the rights to The Hobbit: He made Willow, a film about short people in ...
70 votes
6 answers
32k views

Why didn't Gandalf just fight Smaug directly?

So if memory serves right, the premise of the Hobbit is that Gandalf gets this rag-tag team together to retrieve the Arkenstone, so that the Dwarves can reunite, so that they can take back their ...
23 votes
3 answers
19k views

What exactly does Sauron speak in "The Battle of the Five Armies"?

According to sources about Black Speech, there was a single line invented for the LotR movies (the one where Sauron tells Frodo that there's no life in void). However, in The Battle of the Five ...
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Was the Witch-King of Angmar truly a witch?

So I'm trying to remember if the Witch-King ever proved to be actually be a witch. The only time I remember him doing any magic was in the controvertial extended scene of ROTK where he breaks Gandalf'...
19 votes
3 answers
14k views

Who was the Queen of Mirkwood?

I hope this has not been asked a lot, but I have been working on a costume, and I wish to try and come as close to what could have been canon since Tolkien and his universe is very dear to me. So I ...
8 votes
4 answers
3k views

What was Azog's role in canon?

In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie, Azog features in many places whereas I do not recollect him being mentioned in the book apart from the fact that he was the one who killed Thror, Thorin's ...
16 votes
2 answers
5k views

Is the race of Men a “good” race?

As we have seen, the various races portrayed in Middle-earth each demonstrate very specific invariable characteristics. Where do humans fit in among the other races of Middle-Earth? Are humans a “good”...
31 votes
2 answers
1k views

Are there multi-headed trolls in Middle-earth beyond The Hobbit reference?

I was just reading about Bilbo and the three trolls: William, Bert, and Tom. At the end of the quote, there is a reference to multi-headed trolls. William choked. "Shut yer mouth!" he said ...
23 votes
2 answers
6k views

Was Mount Erebor called "The Lonely Mountain" because it was the singular feature in the area, or for some other reason?

Was Mount Erebor called "The Lonely Mountain" because it was the singular feature in the area, or for some other reason? The map to The Lonely Mountain.
43 votes
1 answer
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Are all instances of trolls turning to stone ultimately references back to Tolkien?

Are there any antecedents other than Tolkien for trolls turning to stone? When I was a kid, I remember trolls appearing in one of the earliest episodes of The Real Ghostbusters (the fifth episode &...
58 votes
3 answers
32k views

Are there any female characters in the Hobbit?

I believe Bilbo's mother, Belladonna Took, is mentioned briefly in the beginning, but are there any female characters who actually appear in the novel, rather than being merely referenced? Even ...
7 votes
1 answer
5k views

Is Gimli really 60+ years old in Lord of the Rings?

In The Desolation of Smaug, when the Dwarves get captured by the Mirkwood Elves, Gloin shows Legolas a picture of his son, Gimli. But if you look at Bilbo Baggins, he is about 30-40 years old at that ...
5 votes
1 answer
829 views

Why was Smaug able to take over Erebor with such ease?

The dwarves of Erebor were a powerful nation who were well aware of the existence of dragons (and their relative proximity to the Withered Heath). Despite vast resources, of both time and money, they ...
11 votes
2 answers
3k views

Why was the Arkenstone left when Smaug attacked the Lonely Mountain?

When Smaug attacked the dwarves' kingdom in the Lonely Mountain to settle down there, why was the Arkenstone left? It seems to be this item which makes the owner king of all dwarves, so why did they ...
7 votes
1 answer
3k views

How was Bard so accurate with his shot that killed Smaug?

Watching 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies', I saw some grade-A marksmanship from Bard, using one of the dragon-killing black arrows to hit Smaug in precisely the spot where ONE of his scales ...
77 votes
10 answers
60k views

Would Smaug have actually followed and allied with Sauron had he lived on?

I know Gandalf was worried Smaug would have joined Sauron, but was that just him being cautious? Would Smaug actually join up with Sauron? How does he benefit from that? All it does is bring more ...
-1 votes
1 answer
200 views

Was Bilbo still on Ravenhill among the Elvenking's guard wearing the ring?

When the eagles had not come yet and the battle seemed lost, Bilbo stood on Ravenhill among the Elves and saw Gandalf sitting on the ground in deep thought, preparing, he supposed one last blast of ...
-1 votes
1 answer
427 views

Why did Bilbo on Ravenhill prefer on the whole to defend the Elvenking?

Chapter XVII when the battle seemed lost and their faith doomed. Why thus Bilbo preferred on the whole to defend the Elvenking?
16 votes
1 answer
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Why does the One Ring make the wearer's clothes invisible?

The One Ring turns invisible the person wearing it. Is there an explanation for how it does this? It seems that direct contact with the skin activates the Ring's invisibility effects; why would it ...
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

In-universe, is there any reason Gandalf considered the number thirteen to be unlucky?

In the first chapter of The Hobbit, Gandalf says this about choosing a hobbit for the fourteenth member of the party: “Of course there is a mark,” said Gandalf. “I put it there myself. For very ...
0 votes
1 answer
491 views

Does the Necromancer from "The Hobbit" have anything to do with the Dark Lord Sauron? [duplicate]

I finished reading The Hobbit around a week or so ago, and given how ominously the Necromancer was mentioned, I was sure he was being set up to be the main villain (or somebody very important to the ...
45 votes
7 answers
14k views

Why was Bilbo not discovered by Sauron during his extended stay with the Wood Elves? [duplicate]

Currently reading The Hobbit to my daughter, and we came to the Barrels out of Bond chapter where the Dwarves are captured and imprisoned by the Wood Elves. Bilbo sneaks in with his magic ring of ...
0 votes
0 answers
85 views

Would the sword be visible if Bilbo wasn't holding it? [duplicate]

Today was rewatching the movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and got very curious about a scene after the riddle game between Gollum and Bilbo where Bilbo gets stuck between the cave walls / rocks ...
16 votes
5 answers
11k views

Height of the Orcs of Gundabad

I had always thought all Orcs to have quite the same posture, but when watching The Hobbit movie and the Orcs of Gundabad are mentioned (together with the Pale Orc), I noticed that they are larger ...
-2 votes
2 answers
803 views

How was the door to Bag End able to be green?

In The Hobbit (and The Lord of the Rings) the door to Bag End is described as green. I'm curious to know how this was achieved; is outdoor weather proof paint easily made, and a technology that would ...
8 votes
2 answers
14k views

Is "Dragon Sickness" a figurative or literal curse?

"Dragon Sickness" played a major role in The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies as Thorin became obsessed with wealth and gold, and paranoid about keeping it. This kept up even to the point of being ...
6 votes
4 answers
4k views

Why was the One Ring so fascinating?

In Lord of the Rings, why was the One Ring so fascinating? I mean, each and every person (or Hobbit) wanted to have it when they saw it. Even Frodo, who had the ultimate task of destroying the ring, ...
10 votes
7 answers
64k views

Should I watch the Hobbit trilogy before the LotR trilogy?

I’ve read the LotR books and have watched bits and pieces of the new Hobbit movies. I’m trying to get my son to sit down and watch the currently released movies in succession for a weekend and want ...
37 votes
3 answers
5k views

Was The Hobbit meant to be an adaptation of There and Back Again by Bilbo?

I know that The Hobbit was written before LOTR and retconned to be part of the legendarium in the second edition. I also understand it was to some extent a children's book. Both of these explain the ...
0 votes
1 answer
656 views

In "The Hobbit", where did goblins come from? [duplicate]

I was wondering if goblins were somehow just created like humans and elves, or if they were a cross-breed of some other creatures.
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

How did Gerontius Took get to be so old?

Until Bilbo turned 131, Gerontius Took (AKA "The Old Took") was the longest-living hobbit ever, reaching 130 years-old. Bilbo had The Ring to help extend his life, and even then, his age took a huge ...
3 votes
0 answers
418 views

Do we know Sting's real name and anything else about its history? [duplicate]

During the events of The Hobbit, after dealing with the trolls, the Bilbo and co. find three magic weapons in the troll's lair: ... among them were several swords of various makes, shapes, and sizes. ...
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is the narration of the chapter "Riddles in the Dark" done in the first person?

I'm re-reading The Hobbit after years. Just started the chapter "Riddles in the Dark"... and I was struck by the use of first-person narrative in this chapter. "I should not have liked ...
24 votes
3 answers
8k views

What was Thorin's plan if Bilbo hadn't woken up Smaug?

In The Hobbit, Thorin sends Bilbo in first to scout out the mountain and maybe snatch the Arkenstone if convenient, all ideally without waking the dragon (Smaug). Of course, the dragon is awakened and ...
34 votes
7 answers
17k views

Could the gold actually kill Smaug?

This wasn't in the book, so I was wondering: in the second Hobbit movie (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), when: could he actually die?
-1 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why doesn't Thorin die when he is stabbed by Azog?

In the Hobbit movies, Thorin is stabbed by Azog two times: First in the foot and then the chest. The second stab was potentially fatal. Yet how did Thorin survive such a fatal stab, let alone have the ...

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