178
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What did Frodo mean by "He told me the true story"?
This is partly explained in the introduction. It's basically what these days we would call a retcon.
In the originally published version of The Hobbit, Gollum is willing to give the Ring to Bilbo as ...
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139
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Why didn't Gandalf just fight Smaug directly?
It was not his job.
The Istari (wizards) were sent to Middle Earth to oppose Sauron, but to do so by stirring the free people's of Middle Earth to resistance. They were explicitly forbidden from "...
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117
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Why does Smaug have 4 legs in the 1st movie but only 2 legs in the 2nd?
Blame Benedict Cumberbatch, from MTV news:
"Originally, the dragon we envisioned was bigger. The idea was to get the fear through his bulk. In fact, if you go back and look at the first film and ...
- 10.4k
114
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Why doesn't Smaug die in the 2nd Hobbit film if it was titled the 'Desolation of Smaug'?
It means "the desolation caused by Smaug".
In the book, this is the description given to the barren area around the Mountain, specifically to the south and west. (The map displays north to ...
- 63.3k
111
votes
Does everyone always eat, drink and sleep for free everywhere in Middle-earth?
Firstly, as Lord of the Rings is conceived to be taking place long ago in essentially our world, yes, to some degree, people were expected to provide free food and lodging for strangers. This was ...
- 24.6k
105
votes
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Was the Lonely Mountain, where Smaug lived, a volcano?
Speaking as a geologist: The Lonely Mountain is probably an extinct volcano. J. R. R. Tolkien depicted the mountain several times in sketches and watercolors, and in most of them the volcano is steep-...
105
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Are all instances of trolls turning to stone ultimately references back to Tolkien?
Trolls have turned into stone for a very, very long time
One example is the myth about "the seven sisters", which tells the story of how seven trolls in Nordland, Norway, was turned into mountains ...
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103
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Why does Gandalf show such reverence for Galadriel and Elrond?
Canon
One of the opening paragraphs of "The Istari", an essay printed in Unfinished Tales, largely answers this (emphasis mine):
[The Wizards] came from over the Sea out of the Uttermost ...
- 163k
99
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Did Tolkien ever state that The Hobbit was a children's book?
TL;DR: Yes.
In fact, it wasn't just written for children in general - it was written for Tolkien's own children.
Tolkien's own words:
The generally different tone and style of The Hobbit is due, ...
- 69.4k
95
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Are there other dragons in Middle-earth by the time of The Hobbit?
I think in The Hobbit "An Unexpected Party" the Dwarves talk shop, including discussing "the depredations of dragons" indicating that Smaug is not the only dragon then active in Middle-earth. In the ...
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91
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Why are Hobbits so fond of mushrooms?
It's mentioned in his authorised biography that Tolkien had a personal liking of mushrooms, stretching as far back as his idyllic childhood days in Hall Green, Birmingham, the very same memories that ...
- 677k
87
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Accepted
What is the purpose of the "Good Morning" dialogue from The Hobbit?
I think you are very close when you say it might be telling us that Gandalf is a pedant.
As this is at the start of the book, Tolkien is (as you suggest) introducing the characters to us. This is our ...
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80
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Have Elrond and Galadriel ever spoken to each other in person?
In the books:
I can't remember any scenes in which Galadriel and Elrond are in the same place and we read their dialogue in either The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or Silmarillion1, but we do know ...
- 69.4k
74
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Why did Gandalf put the dwarves and the hobbit in danger of going through the cursed forest?
Because that was the shortest and least dangerous route to go
Just to clarify: Gandalf wasn't going by another path to Erebor by himself, he was heading to Dol Guldur first with The White Council , ...
- 26.2k
69
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What did Frodo mean by "He told me the true story"?
John D. Rateliff, in his History of the Hobbit series, has the original chapter as well as an interesting commentary. I quote here the original version of The Hobbit as an addendum to the accepted ...
- 11k
62
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Why does Bilbo try to hide his job when presenting the contract as evidence of his identity?
Bilbo Baggins is (or at least was) a respected member of the Hobbiton community. He knows that by going on an adventure he has already lost some degree of respect in his community and probably does ...
- 3,991
60
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Why did it take longer to go to Rivendell in The Hobbit than in The Fellowship of the Ring?
I hate just dumping a quote on you, but The Atlas of Middle-Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad explores this question in intricate details:
As Frodo and friends later travelled between the same two points,...
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60
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Why does Thorin tell Bilbo that he has "keen eyes"?
Thorin doesn't tell Bilbo that he has keen eyes because Bilbo found the giant carved dwarf, but rather because he found the secret stairs that led to the top of the dwarf and thus to where the secret ...
- 8,789
58
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Why does Bilbo try to hide his job when presenting the contract as evidence of his identity?
There is no auctioneer in the book. Bilbo arrives halfway during the auction. He's not asked for a legal document, but "the legal bother lasted for years" and "it was a long time before he was ...
- 38.5k
57
votes
Why didn't Gandalf just fight Smaug directly?
Because Gandalf might not have won
This is an out-of-universe explanation based on what we know of the author.
The concept of A > B when comparing the fighting power of various superheroes, Jedi, ...
- 3,653
55
votes
Accepted
Do we ever see a hobbit use their natural ability to “disappear”?
In the chapter Three is Company:
For a short way they followed the lane westwards. Then leaving it they turned left and took quietly to the fields again. They went in single file along hedgerows and ...
- 24.6k
54
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Did Gollum eat an orc child?
Gollum's last meal prior to when we meet him in The Hobbit is said to have been "a small goblin imp", and later described again as "young".
And still sometimes he put [the Ring] ...
- 88.6k
53
votes
Was Smaug sealed inside the Lonely Mountain?
In the book, as well as the movie, there was a main entrance to Erebor—the Front Gate, where the dragon had come in to begin with. When the dwarves first discuss the mission with Bilbo, Thorin ...
- 20.2k
52
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Why doesn't Smaug die in the 2nd Hobbit film if it was titled the 'Desolation of Smaug'?
The Desolation of Smaug does not mean the Destruction of Smaug.
Dictionary Definition
Definition of desolation
the action of desolating
the pitiful desolation and slaughter of World War I — D. F. ...
- 38.5k
52
votes
Did Frodo and Gimli ever discuss the adventures of Bilbo and Glóin with each other?
It's never explicitly stated that Gimli and Frodo discussed the adventures, but,
Glóin and Frodo certainly did
Before the Council of Elrond, after Frodo's recovery, Frodo and Glóin spend a lengthy ...
- 77k
52
votes
Accepted
Had Bilbo with Thorin & Co. camped before the rainy night or hadn't they?
This relates to a change made in the third edition of The Hobbit.
In the original text of The Hobbit as first published in 1937, there was no reference to them camping before, and thus it made sense ...
- 88.6k
49
votes
How can the bear-man refer to a "Jack-in-the-box" in The Hobbit?
Clocks exist in Middle-earth. Sufficiently miniaturised clockwork would easily allow for the invention of the Jack-in-the-box, although in this case it's likely that Tolkien is idiomatically ...
- 677k
47
votes
Accepted
When Frodo was guided by Gollum to the Black Gate, how did he intend to enter Mordor?
He had no idea
But it was not always the case. The development of Frodo's entrance into Mordor is somewhat complex. In chronological order of writing:
Gollum takes them through secret paths around ...
- 11k
47
votes
Accepted
Was The Hobbit meant to be an adaptation of There and Back Again by Bilbo?
The Hobbit was not an adaptation, but a translation.
Tolkien envisioned himself as a translator of ancient manuscripts that had made their way into his hands. The Red Book of Westmarch, in which Frodo ...
- 77k
47
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How can the bear-man refer to a "Jack-in-the-box" in The Hobbit?
Everything is translated.
What you describe is actually a common problem in translation, especially when dealing with artificial or unspecified source languages. The original word cannot be exactly ...
- 1,871
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