The Hobbit

This article refers to the novel. For other namesakes, see The Hobbit (disambiguation).

The Hobbit
Author	J.R.R. Tolkien
Illustrator	J.R.R. Tolkien (cover of 1937 edition), Barbara Remington (1965 Ballantine Books ed.), Michael Hague (1984 Allen & Unwin ed.), Alan Lee (1997 Houghton Mifflin ed.), John Howe (1999 HarperCollins ed.)
Topic(s)	High Fantasy
Released	September 21, 1937
Publisher	Allen&Unwin (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US) HarperCollins (UK) & others
ISBN 054792822X

The Hobbit is the first published novel by J.R.R. Tolkien set in Middle-earth. The book was first published on September 21, 1937 and is set in the years 2941 to 2942 of the Third Age before the events of The Lord of the Rings. Initially intended as a standalone story for children, it was later realigned more into the Middle-earth legendarium by 1951, when a revised edition was released.

Background

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit (as well as the first two books of The Lord of the Rings) during his time as a Fellow and Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College of the University of Oxford in England. Tolkien recollected in a 1955 letter to W.H. Auden that The Hobbit began in the late 1920s when he was marking School Certificate papers and wrote the words "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit" on the back of one of them. The Hobbit didn't go any further than that at the time, although in the following years he drew up Thror's map, outlining the geography of the tale. The story itself he wrote in the early 1930s, and it was eventually published because he lent it to the Rev. Mother of Cherwell Edge when she was sick with the flu, and while she had the manuscript it was seen by a former student who was employed in the office of Allen & Unwin, a British publishing house.

Dust cover of the first edition, illustrated by Tolkien himself

Tolkien introduced or mentioned characters and places that figured prominently in his legendarium, specifically Elrond and Gondolin, along with elements from Germanic legend. But the decision that the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings could belong to the same universe as The Silmarillion was made only after his initial success and the request by his publisher for a sequel.

Although a fairy tale, the book is both complex and sophisticated: it contains many names and words derived from Norse mythology, and central plot elements from the Beowulf epic, it makes use of Anglo-Saxon runes, information on calendars and moon phases, and detailed geographical descriptions that fit well with the accompanying maps.

Story

Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, was smoking in his porch-way at Bag End one day, when Gandalf the Wizard visits him. After a lengthy discussion, during which Bilbo uses the phrase "Good Morning" several times, Bilbo finds himself flustered. He invites Gandalf to tea, and goes back inside his Hobbit-house with a final "Good Morning".  Gandalf carves a secret mark on Bilbo's front door, which translated means "Burglar wants a good job, plenty of excitement and reasonable reward." Soon after, 13 Dwarves (Thorin Oakenshield, Gloin, Óin, Ori, Nori, Dori, Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur) show up and begin rudely discussing their planned treasure hunt while the hapless Bilbo provides the obligatory hospitality. After the dwarves and Bilbo clean up the mess, a map is produced and Gandalf arranges for Bilbo to get the job — as well as to break the unlucky number 13. The company's quest: Use a secret door to get into the Lonely Mountain, send forth their burglar to steal as much of the riches within its halls as is possible, and give a recon report, then have everyone kill the dragon Smaug, to become rich again.

The next morning, after oversleeping and nearly missing the start of the journey, Bilbo goes off with the Dwarves. They are nearly eaten by 3 trolls, but Gandalf manages to trick the trolls into staying up all night whereupon they are turned into stone by the first light of dawn and die (the stone trolls appear later in The Fellowship of the Ring). In the trolls' cave they find the trolls' storage of supplies, including several weapons. Bilbo acquires an elvish short sword which he will later name Sting, which glows blue in the presence of goblins. Thorin acquires Orcrist, and Gandalf acquires Glamdring.

The party travels to Rivendell, where they enjoy the hospitality of elves. There, Elrond finds moon-runes on the company's map of the mountain, giving information about a secret door on its side. They then proceed eastward toward the Misty Mountains. There they are captured by goblins, and carried under the mountain. They run away, and during the escape Bilbo loses the Dwarves. Alone in the dark after running away from the goblins, Bilbo finds a gold ring on the floor of a cave passage and puts it in his pocket. Little did he know that this was the One Ring lost by Sauron centuries ago.

Continuing down a tunnel, he finds himself at the shore of an underground lake. Gollum quietly paddles up in his boat, and the two enact the Riddle Game, under the condition that if Bilbo wins, Gollum will show him the way out, but if Bilbo loses, Gollum will eat him. After several riddles, which each manages to answer, Bilbo, whilst fiddling in his pocket unable to think of a riddle, asks himself aloud "What have I got in my pocket?". Gollum thinks this is supposed to be the next riddle, and as it doesn't comply with the rules of the riddle game, demands three guesses; in the end he fails to guess the answer. Bilbo demands his reward, but Gollum refuses and paddles off in his boat to an island in the lake, upon which he lives. After searching around for a while asking aloud "Where is it? Where's my precious!?" to which Bilbo replies, "I don't know and I don't care. I just want to get out of here", Gollum becomes suspicious, gets in his boat, and starts paddling back across the lake towards Bilbo. Bilbo realizes his life is in danger and makes his escape down the maze of pitch-black tunnels, and Gollum gives chase. Bilbo trips, and finds the ring on his finger.  Realizing he has no chance to escape his pursuer, he stays where he is and prepares to meet his fate, but Gollum runs right over him. Bilbo realizes the ring, while on his finger, makes him invisible. He manages to escape past Gollum, who has gone to guard the only exit, and finds his way to the surface where he rejoins the Dwarves.

Descending from the Misty Mountains, they survive an encounter with Wargs (large evil wolves) and goblins by climbing trees. Eagles, summoned by Gandalf, then came to rescue them.  They soon meet Beorn, a man who can transform into a bear.  They depart, having rested for several days.  Gandalf leaves soon on an errand. The party traverses the great forest, Mirkwood, eventually running out of supplies. Gandalf had warned them not to leave the path, but they saw fire and heard singing, so, hopeless, they leave the path to beg food from Wood-elves, only to get lost. They are captured by giant spiders, but Bilbo rescues the Dwarves by becoming invisible via the ring and killing many spiders with Sting and rocks. Elves then capture the Dwarves and imprison them, but Bilbo manages to sneak into the Elvenking Thranduil's palace unnoticed using the ring; he then helps the Dwarves escape in barrels floating down the river.

After staying for a short period of time at Lake-town, the treasure-seekers proceed to the Lonely Mountain. Finding themselves unable to locate the secret door, the company sits down, depressed, on a cliff. Hearing a Thrush knocking on a stone, Bilbo looks up just in time to see the last rays of the Sun of Durin's Day, shining on the cliff wall, to magically reveal the secret door (as was foretold by moon-letters upon a map that the company was in possession of). Bilbo is sent down to meet Smaug, the dragon, who realized the Company received help from the people of Laketown, and sets out to destroy it. However, the Thrush that had been knocking on the stone was no ordinary bird but of an ancient race with whom the men of the lake could communicate, and it had heard Bilbo's report to the dwarves, that Smaug had a bare patch in his armor on the left side of his chest (nearest his heart) that could be used to slaughter him, if only you could get close enough. It conveyed this message to one Bard the Bowman, who seeing the bare patch on the chest of Smaug, dispatched the dragon with a single arrow, thus allowing the party of Dwarves to take possession of the treasure.

The citizens of Laketown arrive to make historical claims and demand compensation for the help they had rendered, as well as reparations for damage Smaug inflicted during his attack. They're joined by the Elves, who also demand a share based on historical claims. The Dwarves refuse all negotiations and in turn summon kin from the mountains to strengthen their position. Seeing no other way to avert a war, Bilbo uses the ring to steal the prized Arkenstone from the Dwarves, which he uses to broker peace.

Just as a grudging truce is agreed to, the three armies at the Lonely Mountain (Elves, Men, and Dwarves) are attacked by Goblins and Wargs from the Misty Mountains. A bitter battle ensues (named the Battle of the Five Armies). Though suffering heavy losses, Elves, Men, and Dwarves prevail with the help of the Eagles. The treasure is apportioned. Bilbo refuses most of the riches, realizing he has no way to bring them back home; he nevertheless takes enough with him to make himself a wealthy hobbit and live happily thereafter, unaware of the dangerous nature of his ring, which he places in a glass case on his mantle.

Table of Contents

1. An Unexpected Party
2. Roast Mutton
3. A Short Rest
4. Over Hill and Under Hill
5. Riddles in the Dark
6. Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire
7. Queer Lodgings
8. Flies and Spiders
9. Barrels Out of Bond
10. A Warm Welcome
11. On the Doorstep
12. Inside Information
13. Not at Home
14. Fire and Water
15. The Gathering of the Clouds
16. A Thief in the Night
17. The Clouds Burst
18. The Return Journey
19. The Last Stage

Development and influences

Earlier version

In the initial edition of the novel, Gollum willingly bets his magic ring on the outcome of the riddle game. During the writing of The Lord of the Rings Tolkien saw the need to revise this passage, in order to reflect the concept of the One Ring and its powerful hold on Gollum. Tolkien tried many different passages in the chapter that would become chapter 2 of The Lord of the Rings, "The Shadow of the Past". Eventually Tolkien decided a rewrite of was in order, and he sent a sample chapter of this rewrite ("Riddles In The Dark") to his publishers. Initially he heard nothing further, but when he was sent galley proofs of a new edition he learned to his surprise the new chapter had been incorporated as the result of a misunderstanding.

Tolkien explained the two different versions in the introduction of The Lord of the Rings, as well as inside "The Shadow of the Past", as a "lie" that Bilbo made up, probably because of the One Ring's influence on him, and which he originally wrote down in his book. Inside The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo finally confesses the real story at the Council of Elrond, although Gandalf had deduced the truth earlier. As Tolkien presented himself as the translator of the supposedly historic Red Book of Westmarch, where Bilbo and Frodo's stories were recorded, he further explained the two differing stories in The Hobbit by stating he had originally used Bilbo's original story, but later re-translated the work with the "true story" recorded by Frodo.

This first edition also mentions "gnomes", an earlier word Tolkien used to refer to the second kindred of the High Elves — the Ñoldor (or "Deep Elves"). Tolkien thought that "gnome", being derived from the Greek gnosis (knowledge), was a good name for the Ñoldor he created to be the wisest of the other Elves. However, because of its English connotations of a small, secretive, and unattractive creature (see garden gnome), Tolkien removed it from later editions. He made other minor changes in order to conform the narrative to events in The Lord of the Rings and in the ideas he was developing for the Quenta Silmarillion.

There are some facets of the story that are incongruent with the fantasy setting of The Lord of the Rings, and can seem anachronistic:

• The Trolls have English first and last names.
• There are used of traditional "magic": when Bilbo tries to steal a purse from the Trolls, the purse shouts.
• Elves appear as either comical mischiefs (in Rivendell) or as chiefly hostile (in Mirkwood).
• Gandalf refers to Radagast as "his cousin" despite that Maiar are not said to have been familial.
• The Orcs pictured in The Hobbit seem allied neither to the Necromancer (Sauron) nor to Saruman, and instead have a simple hostility towards all Free Peoples.
• References to "fairies" and "ogres" are included.
• Language used in the text concerning the Ring reflected Bilbo's lack of knowledge about it, as he was meant to be the author of the story.

Similarities to Beowulf

During his time as a professor at the University of Oxford Tolkien studied Anglo-Saxon. One of the Anglo-Saxon pieces of literature he studied is the epic poem Beowulf, about which he wrote essays such as The Monsters and the Critics. Interesting parallels can be found between The Hobbit and Beowulf.

The plots of the two stories are very similar. In both of them a party of 13 sets out to seek satisfaction for a crime committed by a dragon. Both parties contain a thief, which in The Hobbit is Bilbo, who steals a cup from the sleeping dragon's hoard by using a secret passage. Both dragons then awake from their deep slumber and cause terror and destruction. Both dragons are well protected by their armour, a natural one in Beowulf and one made of gold and diamonds in The Hobbit, but finally they are killed. Both stories end or almost end with a fight with a dragon.

But not only the plots share similarities: both main characters, Bilbo and Beowulf, share characteristics. Both heroes defy their enemies with their supernatural power, which in Bilbo's case is the ring and in Beowulf's case is his supernatural strength. While Beowulf has the help of God, Bilbo often prevails because of his sheer luck. Both are of noble ancestry and both get separated from their group, Bilbo in the mountains, Beowulf when he travels down to the lair of Grendel's mother in order to kill her.

Additionally some elements of Anglo-Saxon culture can be found. In both books a king, which in Anglo-Saxon sometimes is called ring or gold giver, awards his warriors with treasures and war gear. In Anglo-Saxon culture poems are important, as they contain the people's history and they are sung by scops. Two of these songs are found in Beowulf and more in The Hobbit. The Anglo-Saxon society was one of warriors and Tolkien's dwarves are close to this culture. They are warriors and like Anglo-Saxons they value jewellery and war gear.

Editions

One of the many covers of The Hobbit

George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London published the first edition of The Hobbit in September 1937. It was illustrated with many black-and-white drawings by Tolkien himself. The original illustrations would be colour plates. Allen & Unwin decided to incorporate the colour illustrations into their second printing, released at the end of 1937. Despite the book's popularity, wartime conditions forced the London publisher to print small runs of the remaining two printings of the first edition.

As remarked above, Tolkien substantially revised the text describing Bilbo's dealings with Gollum in order to blend the story better into what The Lord of the Rings had become. This revision became the second edition, published in 1951 in both UK and American editions. Slight corrections to the text have appeared in the third (1966) and fourth editions (1978).

New English-language editions of The Hobbit spring up often, despite the book's age, with at least fifty editions having been published to date. Each comes from a different publisher or bears distinctive cover art, internal art, or substantial changes in format. The text of each generally adheres to the Allen & Unwin edition extant at the time it is published.

The remarkable and enduring popularity of The Hobbit expresses itself in the collectors' market. The first printing of the first English language edition rarely sells for under U.S. $10,000 in any whole condition, and clean copies in original dust jackets signed by the author are routinely advertised for over $100,000.

J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit has been translated into many languages. Known translations, with the first date of publishing, are:

Language	Year	Title	Translator	Notes
Albanian	2005	Hobiti	Maklen Misha	Tirana: Shtëpia e Librit & Komunikit ISBN 99943-641-8-9
Arabic	2008	الهوبيت، أو ذهابًا وعودة (Al-Hūbīt, aw Zehaban wa ʿAwda)	هشام فهمي - مي غنيم (Hisham Fahmy - May Ghanim)	Dokki, Giza: Dar Lila (No ISBN)
Armenian	1984	ՀՈԲԻՏ կամ գնալն ու գալը	Emma Makarian	Yerevan. Translated from the Russian translation by N. Rakhmanova. Uses the Belomlinskij illustrations from the Rakhmanova Russian edition.
Asturian	2014	El Hobbit	Miguel Gallego Gómez	Gijón. Published by Ediciones Terrier. ISBN 978-84-617-1545-9.
Belarusian	2002	Хобіт, або Вандроўка туды і назад	K. Kurchankova and D. Magilevtsav	Minsk. Contains both maps with place-names in Belarusian, based on the Belomlinskij Russian maps.
Basque	2008	Hobbita edo Joan-etorri bat	Sergio Ibarrola and Xabier Olarra	Iruñea: Igela Argitaletxea. ISBN 978-84-87484-88-9. Maps with place-names in English
Bengali	2011	হবিট (Hôbiţô)	Aniruddha	Margao: CinnamonTeal. ISBN 9789380151939.
Breton	2000	An Hobbit, pe eno ha distro	Alan Dipode	Argenteuil: Éditions Arda. ISBN 2-911979-03-6. Contains both maps with place-names in Breton; the runes are translated into Breton.
Bulgarian	1975	Билбо Бегинс или дотам и обратно	Красимира Тодорова (Krasimira Todorova)	Sofia: Narodna Mladezh (София, „Народна младеж“). Verse translations by Assen Todorov (Асен Тодоров).
Catalan	1983	El Hòbbit o viatge d'anada i tornada	Francesc Parcerisas	The runes and both maps (the one for the Wildlands and the other one for the Lonely Mountain) are in Catalan. Some names, though, remain in English (such as Baggins or Took, which in the Lord of the Rings are translated as Saquet and Tuc respectively). Published by La Magrana (Edicions de la Magrana, SA. Pàdua, 83, 08006, Barcelona) in April 1983 (first edition); the last edition was in May 2001 (20th edition). ISBN 84-8264-277-4.
Traditional Chinese	2001	魔戒前傳 哈比人歷險記 (Mojie qianzhuan: Habiren lixianji)	朱學恆 (Lucifer Chu)	Both maps are in Chinese. ISBN 957-08-2334-8
Simplified Chinese	2002	魔戒前传: 霍比特人 (Mojie qianzhuan: Huobiteren)	李尧 (Li Yao)	Nanjing: Yilin Press. 2000. ISBN 7-80657-190-6
Simplified Chinese	2013	霍比特人 (Huobiteren)	吴刚 (Wu Gang)	Shanghai: Shiji Wenjing; Shanghai People's Publishing House. 2013. ISBN 9787208111028 authorized by the Tolkien Estate
Cornish	2014	An Hobys, pò, An Fordh Dy ha Tre Arta	Nicholas Williams	Cathair na Mart: Evertype, ISBN 978-1-78201-090-6 (hb), ISBN 978-1-78201-089-0 (pb). Contains both maps with place-names in Cornish; the runes are translated into Cornish. On the cup in the illustration "Conversations with Smaug" ('Kescows gans Smawg') the text in Tengwar and initials in runes are translated into Cornish.
Croatian	1994	Hobit ili tamo i opet natrag	Zlatko Crnković	(See also Serbo-Croatian, below)
Czech	1979	Hobit, aneb cesta tam a zase zpátky	František Vrba	Prague: Odeon. In book translation credited for political reasons to Lubomír Dorůžka. Illustrated by Jiří Šalamoun.
Danish	1969	Hobbitten, eller ud og hjem igen	Ida Nyrop Ludvigsen	Copenhagen: Gyldendal. 1969. No maps.
Danish	2012	Hobbitten, eller ud og hjem igen	Jakob Levinsen	Copenhagen: Gyldendal. 2012. ISBN 978-87-02-12852-9.
Dutch	1960	De Hobbit of daarheen en weer terug	Max Schuchart	Utrecht/Antwerpen: Het Spectrum. 1960. No maps.
Esperanto	2000	La Hobito aŭ Tien kaj Reen	Christopher Gledhill, poems translated by William Auld	Kaliningrad: Sezonoj. Rereleased in 2005. Runes are translated to Esperanto.
Esperanto	2015	La Hobito, aŭ, Tien kaj Reen	Christopher Gledhill, poems translated by William Auld	Portlaoise: Evertype, ISBN 978-1-78201-110-1 (hb), ISBN 978-1-78201-109-5 (pb). Contains both maps with place-names in Esperanto; the runes are translated into Esperanto. On the cup in the illustration "Conversations with Smaug" ('Konversacio kun Smaŭg') the text in Tengwar and initials in runes are translated into Esperanto.
Estonian	1977	Kääbik, ehk, Sinna ja tagasi	Lia Rajandi (prose and poems), Harald Rajamets (poems)	Tallinn: Eesti raamat
Faroese	1990	Hobbin ella út og heim aftur	Axel Tórgarð	Hoyvík: Stíðin
Finnish	1973	Lohikäärmevuori, eli Erään hoppelin matka sinne ja takaisin	Risto Pitkänen	Helsinki: Tammi
Finnish	1985	Hobitti eli Sinne ja takaisin	Kersti Juva	Helsinki: Werner Söderström
French	1969	Bilbo le Hobbit	Francis Ledoux	Paris: Le Livre de Poche. 2002. ISBN 2-253-04941-7. Contains both maps with place-names in French; the runes remain in English.
French	2012	Le Hobbit	Daniel Lauzon	Paris: Christian Bourgois éditeur. 2012. ISBN 9782267024012. Contains both maps with place-names in French; the runes are translated.
West Frisian	2009	De Hobbit	Anne Tjerk Popkema	Leeuwarden: Uitgeverij Elikser. 2009. ISBN 90-8954-112-8.
Galician	2000	Ó hobbit	Moisés R. Barcia	Vigo: Edicións Xerais de Galicia
Georgian	2002	ჰობიტი ანუ იქით და აქეთ (Hobitʼi anu ikit da aket)	Nino Bardzimishvili, poems translated by Tinatin Gogochashvili	Tbilisi: Otar Karalashvili. 2002. ISBN printed on the cover and in the book (99928-0-302-0) is invalid. Contains both maps with place-names in Georgian.
Georgian	2009	ჰობიტი (Hobitʼi)	Nika Samushia, poems translated by Tsitso Khotsuashvili.	John Howe's illustration on the cover.
German	1957	Kleiner Hobbit und der große Zauberer	Walter Scherf	Recklinghausen: Paulus-Verlag. 1957. Illustrated by Horus Engels.
German	1971	Der kleine Hobbit	Walter Scherf	Georg Bitter. 1971. Revised after the appearance of the Carroux translation of The Lord of the Rings to make the names match.
German	1998	Der Hobbit	Wolfgang Krege	Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, ISBN 3-608-93805-2
Greek	1978	Το Χόμπιτ	A. Gavrielide, Kh. Delegianne	Athens: Kedros, ISBN 960-04-0308-2
Hawaiian	2015	Ka Hopita, a i ʻole, I Laila a Hoʻi Hou mai	R. Keao NeSmith	Portlaoise: Evertype, ISBN 978-1-78201-092-0 (hb), ISBN 978-1-78201-091-3 (pb). Contains both maps with place-names in Hawaiian; the runes are translated into Hawaiian. On the cup in the illustration "Conversations with Smaug" ('Ke Kūkā ʻana me Smaug') the text in Tengwar and initials in runes are translated into Hawaiian.
Hebrew	1976	ההוביט	משה הנעמי (Moshe Hana'ami)
Hebrew	1977	ההוביט או לשם ובחזרה		Ganei-Aviv: Zmora-Bitan (זמורה – ביתן). Contains no maps. Four Israeli combat pilots, held as prisoners of war in Egypt between 1970 and 1973, whiled away their time of captivity by translating "The Hobbit" to Hebrew language|Hebrew from a book sent to one of them by family members, via the Red Cross. The pilots' translation was published in Tel-Aviv following their return, and many Israeli critics still consider it the better of the first two Hebrew translations.
Hebrew	2012	ההוביט	יעל אכמון (Yael Achmon)
Hungarian	1975	A babó	Tibor Szobotka, poems translated by István Tótfalusi	ISBN 963-11-0374-9 Reworked in 2006 under the title A hobbit – „Egyszer oda, aztán vissza” by Tamás Füzessy with the introduction and annotations of Douglas A. Anderson (translated by Zsuzsa Ürmössy). (ISBN 963-539-515-9)
Hungarian	2006	A hobbit – Vagy: Oda-vissza	László Gy. Horváth, poems translated by Zsuzsa N. Kiss	This translation was originally published in 2006 with a terminology consistent with that of the Ádám Réz/Árpád Göncz translation of The Lord of the Rings (A Gyűrűk Ura) (ISBN 963-07-8162-X). It uses the old Hungarian alphabet instead of English runes and illustrations by Alan Lee. After the revision of the Hungarian terminology of The Lord of the Rings in 2008, changes were also incorporated into this translation and was republished in 2011 without illustrations and with the English runes restored (ISBN 978-963-07-9336-0).
Icelandic	1978	Hobbitinn	Úlfur Ragnarsson and Karl Ágúst Úlfsson	Reykjavík: Almenna Bókafélagið
Icelandic	1997	Hobbitinn eða út og heim aftur	Þorsteinn Thorarensen	Reykjavík: Fjölvaútgáfan ISBN 9979-58-305-3
Indonesian	1977	Hobbit atau pergi dan kembali	Anton Adiwiyoto	Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Irish	2012	An Hobad, nó, Anonn agus Ar Ais Arís	Nicholas Williams	Cathair na Mart: Evertype, ISBN 978-1-904808-90-9 (hb), ISBN 978-1-78201-033-3 (pb). Contains both maps with place-names in Irish; the runes are translated into Irish. On the cup in the illustration "Conversations with Smaug" ('Ag Comhrá le Smóg') the text in Tengwar and initials in runes are translated into Irish.
Italian	1973	Lo hobbit, o la Riconquista del Tesoro	Elena Jeronimidis Conte	Milan: Adelphi Editions. ISBN 88-459-0688-4. Contains both maps with place-names in Italian; the runes are translated into Italian. Spelling of Smaug changed into "Smog"; the trolls are referred to as "Uomini Neri" ("Black Men").
Italian	2004	Lo Hobbit Annotato	Oronzo Cilli and Elena Jeronimidis Conte	Milan: Bompiani RCS group. ISBN 88-452-3292-1. New translation.
Japanese	1965	Template:Nihongo	Template:Nihongo	transliterated directly into katakana spellings. Runes on Thrór's map are left in English, but absent altogether from the title page. Terms used here carry over into the Japanese edition of The Lord of the Rings, translated by Teiji Seta and Akiko Tanaka.
Korean	1979	호비트 (Hobiteu)	김종철 (Kim Jong-cheol)	Yeoleum
Korean	1988	호비트 모험 (Hobiteu Moheom)	공덕용 (Kong Deok-yong)	Seoul : Dongsuh Press
Korean	1989	호비트의 모험 (Hobiteueui Moheom)	최윤정 (Choi Yun-jeong)	Seoul : Changjak-kwa-Bipyongsa. ISBN 8936441035, ISBN 8936441043
Korean	1991	꼬마 호비트의 모험 (Kkoma Hobiteueui Moheom)	이동진 (Lee Dong-jin)	Yeollin. ISBN 8982100911
Korean	1999	호비트 (Hobiteu)	김석희 (Kim Seok-hee)	Seoul : Sigongsa. ISBN 8952705130, ISBN 8952705149
Korean	2002	호빗 (Hobit)	이미애 (Lee Mi-ae)	Seoul : Ssiaseul Ppurineun Saram. ISBN 9788956371078
Latin	2012	Hobbitus ille aut illuc atque rursus retrorsum	Marc Walker	London : HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-744521-9
Latvian	1991	Hobits jeb Turp un atpakaļ	Zane Rozenberga	First edition published in 1991 (ISBN 5-410-00159-1) was large format hardcover children's book and featured high quality original illustrations by Latvian artist Laima Eglīte. Notably elves were pictured as having wings and greenish skin. Second edition was published in 2002 in soft cover (ISBN 9-984-22417-1) and contained traditional black and white illustrations drawn by J.R.R.Tolkien.
Lithuanian	1985	Hobitas, arba Ten ir atgal	Bronė Balčienė
Luxembourgish	2002	Den Hobbit	Henry Wickens	Esch-Sauer : Op der Lay. ISBN 2-87967-099-3. Contains both maps with place-names in Luxembourgish; the runes are translated into Luxembourgish.
Macedonian	2005	Хобитот или до таму и назад	Marija Todorova	Skopje: Feniks ISBN 9989-33-142-1
Marathi	2011	द हॉबिट	Meena Kinikar	Pune: Diamond Publications ISBN 978-81-8483-374-4
Moldavian	1987	Хоббитул (Hobbitul)	Aleksej Tsurkanu	Chişinău: Literatura artistike (translated from Russian)
Norwegian (Bokmål)	1972	Hobbiten, eller fram og tilbake igjen	Finn Aasen and Oddrun Grønvik	Oslo: Tiden Norsk Forlag. ISBN 82-10-00747-5. Contains both maps with place-names in Norwegian; the runes are translated into Norwegian.
Norwegian (Bokmål)	1997	Hobbiten, eller Fram og tilbake igjen	Nils Ivar Agøy	Oslo: Tiden Norsk Forlag. ISBN 82-10-04300-5
Norwegian (Nynorsk)	2008	Hobbiten	Eilev Groven Myhren	Oslo: Tiden Norsk Forlag. ISBN 978-82-10-05038-1
Persian	2002	هابيت (Hābit)	فرزاد فربد (Farzad Farbud)	Tehran: Ketab-e Panjereh 2002 (١٣٨١). ISBN 964-7822-01-4.
Persian	2004	هابيت يا آنجا و بازگشت دوباره (Hābit yā ānjā va bāzgašt dobāre)	رضا عليزاده (Reza Alizadeh)	Tehran: Rowzaneh 2004 (١٣٨٣). ISBN 964-334-200-X. Contains both maps with place-names in Persian; the runes remain in English.
Polish	1960	Hobbit, czyli tam i z powrotem	Maria Skibniewska
Polish	1985	Hobbit, czyli tam i z powrotem	Maria Skibniewska	2nd Polish edition, revised translation
Polish	1997	Hobbit albo tam i z powrotem	Paulina Braiter
Polish	2002	Hobbit, czyli tam i z powrotem	Andrzej Polkowski
Portuguese-Portugal	1962	O Gnomo	Maria Isabel Morna Braga, Mário Braga; il. António Quadros	Porto: Livraria Civilização Editora
Portuguese-Portugal	1985	O Hobbit	Fernanda Pinto Rodrigues	Mem Martins: Publicações Europa-América.
Portuguese-Brazil	1995	O Hobbit ou Lá e de Volta Outra Vez	Lenita Maria Rímoli Esteves	São Paulo: Martins Fontes.
Romanian	1975	O poveste cu un hobbit	Catinca Ralea	Bucharest: Editura Ion Creangă
Russian	1976	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	Н. Рахманова (N. Rakhmanova)	Leningrad: Detskaya Literatura. Illustrations by M. Belomlinskij.
Russian	2001	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	А.А. Грузберг (A.A. Gruzberg)	Ekaterinburg: Publishing house "Litur" (Издательство «ЛИТУР»). Illustrations by Е. Нитылкина (E. Nitylkina).
Russian	1995	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	М. Каменкович, С. Степанов (M. Kamenkovich, S. Stepanov)	Saint Petersburg: Publishing house "Azbuka" (Издательство «Азбука»). Academically annotated edition.
Russian	2000	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	Валерия Маторина "В.А.М." (Valeria Matorina, "V.A.M.")	Moscow: Publishing house "EKSMO" (Издательство «ЭКСМО»). Illustrations by И. Панков (I. Pankov).
Russian	2001	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	Л. Яхнин (L. Yakhnin)	Moscow: Publishing house "Alfa book" (Издательство «Алфа-книга»).
Russian	1991	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	З. Бобырь (Z. Bobyr')	Moscow: Publishing house "Molodaya Gvardiya" (Издательство «Молодая гвардия»).
Russian	2002	Хоббит	К. Королёв, В. Тихомиров (K. Korolev, V. Tikhomirov)	Moscow: Publishing house "Eksmo" (Издательство «Эксмо»).
Russian	2005	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	Н. Прохорова, М. Виноградова (N. Prokhorova, M. Vinogradova)	Moscow: Publishing house "Milikon Servis" (Издательство «Миликон Сервис»).
Russian	2003	Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно	И. Тогоева (I. Togoeva)	Moscow: Publishing house "Rosmen" (Издательство «РОСМЭН»).
Serbo-Croatian	1975	Хобит или тамо и назад	Meri and Milan Milišić
Slovak	1973	Hobbit	Viktor Krupa (prose), Jana Šimulčíková (poetry)	Bratislava: Slovenský spisovatel'
Slovak	2002	Hobbit	Otakar Kořínek	Bratislava: SLOVART
Slovene	1986	Hobit ali Tja in spet nazaj	Dušan Ogrizek	Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga
Sorbian	2012	Hobit	Edward Wornar	Leipzig: Institut za Sorabistiku Lipšćanskeje Uniwersity. ISBN 978-1-4716-7712-0
Spanish (Argentina)	1964	El hobito	Teresa Sánchez Cuevas	Buenos Aires: Fabril Editora. [http://golwen.com.ar/mediawiki/index.php?title=El_hobito His history in spanish].
Spanish (Spain)	1982	El hobbit	Manuel Figueroa	Barcelona: Ediciones Minotauro. ISBN 84-450-7141-6. Contains only Thrór's map with place-names in Spanish; the runes remain in English.
Swedish	1947	Hompen eller En resa Dit och Tillbaks igen	Tore Zetterholm	Stockholm: Kooperativa Förbundets Bokförlag
Swedish	1962	Bilbo – En hobbits äventyr	Britt G. Hallqvist	Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren
Swedish	2007	Hobbiten eller bort och hem igen	Erik Andersson	Stockholm: Norstedts ISBN 978-91-1-301648-1 (green cover) or ISBN 978-91-1-301765-5
Thai	2002	เดอะฮอบบิท	สุดจิต ภิญโญยิ่ง (Sutjit Phin-yo-ying)
Turkish	1996	Hobbit	Esra Uzun
Turkish	2007	Hobbit	Gamze Sari	ISBN 978-975-273-373-2, Publisher: Ithaki Yayinlari, Published: Istanbul, August 2007, Pages: 425
Ukrainian	1985	Гобiт, або Мандрiвка за Iмлистi гори	O. Mokrovolskyi	Kiev: Veselka
Ukrainian	2007	Гобiт, або Туди i звiдти	Olena O'Lir	Lviv: Astrolabia, ISBN 978-966-8657-22-1
Vietnamese	2003			Vietnamese version already completed in 2002 but publishing cancelled. This version leaked onto the Internet in 2003.
Vietnamese	2009	Hobbit ra đi và trở về	Đinh Thị Hương	EAN-13 8935077068955, maps with placenames in Vietnamese
Vietnamese	2010	anh chàng Hobbit	Nguyên Tâm	Hanoi: Nhã Nam, no ISBN, maps with placenames in Vietnamese
Yiddish	2012	דער האָביט (Der Hobit)	Barry Goldstein בעריש גאָלדשטײן	ISBN 978-1-48117-230-1
Yiddish	2015	Der Hobit, oder, Ahin un Vider Tsurik	Barry Goldstein	Portlaoise: Evertype, ISBN 978-1-78201-120-0 (hb), ISBN 978-1-78201-119-4 (pb). Contains both maps with place-names in Yiddish; the runes are translated into Yiddish. On the cup in the illustration "Conversations with Smaug" ('Shmuesen mit Smaug') the text in Tengwar and initials in runes are translated into Yiddish.

Portrayal in adaptations

Films

Rankin/Bass

The first major adaptation of The Hobbit was the 1977 animated television movie of the same name. The film was made by Rankin/Bass Productions and managed to economically retell most of the story within its 78-minute duration. An LP with the soundtrack and dialogue from the film was also released in 1977 by Disney through its Buena Vista Records label and an edited version, along with accompanying "storyteller read-alongs," was later issued for the Mouse Factory's Disneyland Records imprint. Harry N. Abrams published a large coffee-table illustrated edition of the book featuring concept art and stills. A second album by Glenn Yarbrough of music "inspired" by The Hobbit was also released.

The film was first broadcast on NBC in the United States, on November 27, 1977 (on Sunday night, three days after Thanksgiving) and is presented in a heart-warming style, featuring a lot of songs (many of which are based on poems and lyrics from the book). Much of the story has been simplified and several episodes and key scenes are omitted.

Peter Jackson's trilogy

Main article: The Hobbit film trilogy

Teaser poster for An Unexpected Journey

A live-action three-part movie adaption of The Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson, was released in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on December 14, 2012, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on December 13, 2013 and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies on July 18, 2014.

Radio

The Hobbit has been adapted for other media. BBC Radio 4 broadcast The Hobbit radio drama, adapted by Michael Kilgarriff, in eight parts (4 hours) from September to November 1968, which starred Anthony Jackson as narrator, Paul Daneman as Bilbo, and Heron Carvic as Gandalf. Another famous audio adaptation authorized by Professor Tolkien was published by Conifer Records in 1974 and featured Nicol Williamson as every character.

Music

Middle-earth has been featured in songs notably by Enya and the Brobdingnagian Bards. Led Zeppelin's songs "Misty Mountain Hop" and "Ramble On" both contain references to Tolkien's mystical world. For The Hobbit itself, "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins", performed by Leonard Nimoy as part of his 1968 Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy album, is the most pertinent because it recounts the book's storyline in its two minutes. The ballad's music video became a minor Internet meme in the early 2000s when The Lord of the Rings movies were released.

Games

Several computer and video games, both official and unofficial, have been based on the book. One of the first was The Hobbit, a computer game developed in 1982 by Beam Software and published by Melbourne House for most computers available at the time, from the more popular computers such as the ZX Spectrum, and the Commodore 64, through to such esoteric computers as the Dragon 32 and Oric computers. By arrangement with the book publishers, a copy of the book was included with each game sold.

Vivendi Universal Games published The Hobbit in 2003 for Windows PCs, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. It is a "hack and slash" game produced as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings video games, but also as a softer version of those two games: less brutal, fewer enemies, but with an important platform aspect, the game was designed for smaller children. A similar version of this game was also published for the Game Boy Advance.

Gallery

Cover of the first Houghton Mifflin publication, 1997

The Hobbit 75th Anniversary Edition

2003 edition cover

See also

• The Quest of Erebor
• English-language editions of The Hobbit
• Early American editions of The Hobbit

External links

• The Hobbit Pub Official website of the Pub in Southampton, England
• The Hobbit A collection of edition covers, 1937–2005