Riddles in the dark

[Bellerophon]

I have seen a number of references to the fact that Tolkien changed the ending of the riddle contest in later editions of the Hobbit.

My copy is 1979 so mine is the fourth edition (second impression). The one my father read to me as a child was probably the second edition 1951.

I don’t recall any difference though I may well have forgotten or not noticed at the time.

When did Tolkien make the changes, and what were they?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

In the 1937 edition, Gollum promises to give Bilbo a present, if he wins the game -- the present being his ring. He's lost it, of course, and is very apologetic:

I don't know how many times Gollum begged Bilbo's pardon. He kept on saying: "We are ssorry; we didn't mean to cheat, we meant to give it our only pressent, if it won the competition." He even offered to catch Bilbo some nice juicy fish to eat as a consolation.

Bilbo demands that he show him the way out, instead, which he does.

When, in the course of writing LOTR, the magic ring became the Ring, this version became impossible; Gollum would never have surrendered it, much less offer it freely, so the story was changed for the 1951 edition. I'm not aware of changes to subsequent editions, other than clearing up of a few typos, and very minor adjustments of wording.

You can find the full description of the changes, plus much other information, in Douglas A. Anderson's The Annotated Hobbit , which I highly recommend (look for the Revised and Expanded Edition, 2002).