Iconic opening lines. We know them because they open a gateway to a classic. I am currently thinking of, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Yes, the famous first line Tolkien penned for the first book of his Middle Earth saga. I just finished reading it after a couple false starts and through a life of craziness so that I could review it for you in full.
Bilbo Baggins is the most respectable of hobbits. He leads a fine, quiet life alone in Bag End, the home his father built for his mother (an adventurous Took). Then one day, Gandalf the Grey Wizard comes briefly upsetting his life with talk of adventures. Finally sending the old man off, Bilbo believes that to be the end of it. That is until the next day when dwarves start pouring in through the door, thirteen to be precise plus one bothersome wizard. It is Thorin Oakenshield, his two nephews, and ten loyal followers who intend to embark on a dangerous quest to retake Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, back from the dragon Smaug the Terrible. After a not so gentle shove out his door the following morning, Bilbo Baggins finds himself racing off to join the dwarves and wizard without a handkerchief.
Unfortunately for our adventuring hobbit, loss of a handkerchief and missing the comforts of home are soon to be the least of his worries, though they’ll be among his greatest wishes. Trolls, goblins, wargs, and a mysterious creature in the caves are all determined to end him before Bilbo and Thorin’s Company reach the Mountain. Will Bilbo manage to survive the nearly year long journey? If he does reach the mountain, can he possibly best a dragon known to slay entire towns? Even if they do reclaim the mountain, might there still be a danger in the gold?
Okay, somewhere in the middle of reading this I started a Nanowrimo project (National Write a Novel in Month) that is a fanfiction combining the book and the films with Bilbo having a sister. (I apparently have a thing for giving known characters siblings. Oh, boy.) So I ended up scouring Youtube for clips connected to The Unexpected Journey. Leading admittedly to me just now having to double check a couple facts from the beginning of the book.
My family had never been much for Tolkien’s works while us kids were growing up. I vaguely recalled seeing the Lord of the Rings films and maybe even the books in a CBD (Christian Book Distributers) catalogue, but I never really thought much about them. We were in our teens when my brother apparently found the books and read them and watched the films or clips before the rest of us did. Mom read the books herself and even read The Hobbit aloud to us one summer, before we borrowed the LotR movie trilogy from the library. That was when I was officially introduced to Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Elrond, and all the rest. Although it wasn’t until the past couple years that I really started to get real interested in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
Whoa. If I don’t stop now, this is going to be about LotR instead of The Hobbit. I’ll admit, I am not a pure Tolkien fan. Yes, I knew about the book before the films came out, but I really started to get excited after their release/the first teaser came out. When I first heard the “Song of the Misty Mountains” rumble from the throats of Thorin and his Company, I got the best excited chill ever. The same people who did LotR were translating The Hobbit to film, and it looked beyond awesome!!
Then of course, my compare and contrast started to work, especially when I found the soundtrack on Spotify. Yes, “Blunt the Knives” is taken nearly line by line from the book. Just a single line near the end missing and the lines are switched in a different rhyming pattern, but it is perfectly done. “Misty Mountains” is two stanzas lifted out of the middle of the ten Tolkien recorded. Yes, they added quite a bit with the whole Azog the Defiler subplot, Tauriel and Kili subplot, and (I guess to make him more relatable) gave Bard three children. (Or were his children mentioned in another book? I do not know, I just know they are not mentioned in this one.)
Now, I can understand why the film-makers made such additions, to make the story more fast-paced and exciting. Although a part of me wonders, why they didn’t expand on the rockslide after the goblin tunnels if they wanted a climax ending? Then I answered my own question, they wanted to give Bilbo a big moment to prove himself before the credits rolled. Really, I can’t say too much about the films since I have yet to see all of them (even though I can already guess the final film will be a tear-jerker). But what I have seen is beautiful and could end up destined for my personal DVD library alongside the LotR trilogy. I would just rather be completely certain before making that commitment, however small.
Edit: As of this repost, I have seen the theatrical versions of The Hobbit trilogy and hope to see the extended editions at some future time. Yes, there are parts where I prefer one over the other in my book vs. movie contrast and compare. I prefer the book’s telling of meeting Beorn over the film and what I have seen of the extended clips on youtube. I don’t mind the White Council and their roles or even the extra bits we see of the elves in Mirkwood. (I have started to thoroughly back the inclusion of the White Council since I read in Fellowship of the Ring that the felling of Dol Guldor happened during the time period depicted.) But in any case, the films are destined to find a place in my library, though it’s now a question of theatrical or extended versions. :-)
I love this book. I’ll probably pick it up to peruse its pages again much like I do with Narnia. I’d dare to say that Bilbo is a bit like the reader in some ways. A secret part yearning for adventure . . . but as soon as it comes knocking we want nothing more than to hide away in our rooms surrounded by our books and favorite pastimes. And if we do manage to get out and away, we would probably yearn for home just as much as Bilbo did. That would just leave one question: would we turn back if too hard-pressed (like Bilbo attempted in the first film), or would we rise to the occasion like Bilbo did numerous times and become a hero ourselves?
Okay, rare introspective moment there. :-) Anyway, The Hobbit has officially entered my favorites list (even if I’m blaming the films, the three Durins especially, for making me consider beards to be attractive), and I hope the Lord of the Rings trilogy to join it once I read them. This wonderful adventure was written by J. R. R. Tolkien. No illustrations, though I hear that Tolkien drew some scenes from his stories. But I should note that there are three items of notice before chapter 1. Tolkien left a note concerning the revision of some inaccuracies in the first printings, the largest to be noted is the telling of the Riddle Game. Then there is Thror’s Map, where I believe the moon runes to be visible in Dwarvish Runes. Immediately after is the map of the Wilderland, showing the vast distance Thorin and Company traveled after Rivendell. If I am not mistaken, I believe that both maps were drawn by Tolkien. The tale is told in 19 chapters, and my copy of the book is 306 pages. I would have to give the book four out of five Smaugs because although I love the book, three of the Company do die. (No, I am not putting a spoiler alert ‘cause there are the films and the book has been around for at least fifty years and more.)
Personally, I think that anyone who enjoyed Narnia will enjoy taking a trip to Middle Earth. If you enjoyed the films, read the inspiration for it. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for readers younger than teens, but I also wouldn’t discourage them if they feel up to the task of reading this thick book. Fantasy lovers, Tolkien fans, adventure readers, find this book and enjoy. It will be so worth it.
Until next time.
Oh, and for those who will find it cool, here’s a video of some professionals making a replica of Thorin’s Orcrist based on the films: Orcrist (The Hobbit) -- MAN AT ARMS: REFORGED.
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