Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins is the main character in "The Hobbit," written by J.R.R.Tolkien. In this, and the subsequent "Lord of the Rings" trilogy Tolkien creates a fantasy world called Middle Earth. This land of Middle Earth came carefully curated from Tolkien's imagination, and students of his work identify a variety of influences from folklore, legends, and from Tolkien's own experiences, especially as a soldier in the First World War. For Tolkien, the creation of Middle Earth and its inhabitants was more an academic exercise than a desire to write best-selling novels. Beginning with Bilbo's early life, let's trace his adventures while journeying through Middle Earth.​

Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit. Hobbits are small in stature with large feet. The tough skin and hair on their feet mean they do not need shoes. The homeland of the Hobbits in the Shire, a peaceful, rural land well away from the more dangerous parts of Middle Earth. Hobbits are not very curious or adventurous but are loyal friends. Bilbo is unusual in that he wants to know about the outside world beyond the Shire. As a child, he receives regular visits from Gandalf, and Istar wizard. He found the inquisitiveness in Bilbo an admirable quality and encouraged it. Bilbo's primary skill is his accuracy at rock-throwing. When Bilbo's parents – Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took – died, he was left alone as the master of Bag End the large and luxurious Hobbit-hole Bungo had built. Bilbo soon settled into life as a well-to-do bachelor.​

The first encounter we, as readers, have with Bilbo is one morning as he sits outside his home at Bag End smoking a pipe. This is a picture of contentment and sums up Bilbo's attitude to life, which is the comfortable enjoyment of a settled daily routine. He is quite a fussy Hobbit who likes everything to be neat and tidy. His home is immaculate, immaculately tidy, and well-stocked with food. Hobbits as a race love food, although plain, wholesome fare rates mostly highly. When Bilbo reaches the age of 50, which is young for a hobbit, Gandalf returns. He asks Bilbo to accompany him on a mysterious journey, but his request is politely refused. Bilbo turns on his heels and goes into his home, then shuts the door behind him. Gandalf, however, is not to be denied. He has another plan to persuade Bilbo to undertake the quest he has in mind. He sends to Bag End, a group of thirteen dwarves, which includes their leader Thorin Oakenshield. They arrive in pairs, which annoys Bilbo, but when Gandalf arrives as one of the final pair, Bilbo realizes that this was all part of Gandalf's plan. They explain that they have been driven from Erebor, their Lonely Mountain home by Smaug, the dragon.

They are determined to get their mountain back and need another person to help them when stealth was required. The dwarves prove to be rumbustious house guests, drinking, eating, and generally being quite loud and uncouth. Their behavior upsets him, but he is far too polite, and he says nothing. They make a mess of his home, and this does not impress Bilbo at all. However, Bilbo begins to feel that an adventure would be good for him, and agrees to go with them. The dwarves then draw up a contract with Bilbo, which sets out the terms of their relationship. The dwarves promise to give Bilbo one-fourteenth of any treasure they recover. It is with some reluctance that he leaves his home, and nearly turns back when he realizes that he has left his pipe and his handkerchiefs behind. The company sets off the following day from the Green Dragon Inn and travel for a month across the Lone-lands. Gandalf disappears during this journey, which makes the company nervous. One wet and windy night, Gloin and Oin fail to make a fire, but Balin sees a fire burning in the distance, and the dwarves and Bilbo head towards it.

Bilbo is sent to spy on the creatures around the first and finds that the fire belongs to three Stone Trolls. The three are named, Bert, Tom, and William, and Bilbo attempt to steal something from them just to prove to the dwarves that he is a good burglar. The Trolls are not to be fooled, and William catches Bilbo. Although he manages to escape, the Trolls capture the dwarves instead. Gandalf returns just in time to rescue them all from the Trolls. A trick by Gandalf set the trolls arguing, and they fail to realize that it is nearly morning, so that they turn to stone at the break of day. Gandalf then takes the company to the trolls' cave. This cave is the daytime hideout of the trolls, and where they keep their treasure, including weapons. The dwarves take two swords – Glamdring and Orcrist, while Bilbo takes a small dagger, which he later names Sting. Continuing their journey, the little party reaches Rivendell, home of the Elvish or Elven race. Bilbo becomes enchanted with Rivendell and the Elves, who live there.

Thorin has a map gifted him by Gandalf. The leader of the Elves, Lord Elrond, finds Elvish writing on the map and translates it for the travelers. The writing tells of a secret side-door into the Lonely Mountain and also explains how to open the door. Thus the dwarves find out that there is a way to get back into the Lonely Mountain. Elrond also reveals that the two swords the dwarves had taken from the trolls had been forged in Gondolin and had special powers. The Elves also made the dagger that Bilbo had taken from the Trolls' cave.​

After leaving Rivendell, the company crosses the High Pass in the Misty Mountains, hearing the sound in the distance of giants battling. Taking shelter in a cave, which we later learn is called The Front Porch, they are all captured by Goblins and marched to Goblin-town. Here they meet The Great Goblin, a massive being with a large head. The Great Goblin is curious to know who they are and why they are crossing the Misty Mountains. None of the Great Goblin's questions reveal what he intends to do with the party, but once they learned that Thorn carries Orcrist, the Great Goblin becomes angry and leaps down and attacks him. As the torches in the cave go out, the sword Glamdring shines with a bright blue light and is wielded by Gandalf. The Great Goblin attacks Gandalf, who kills him. In the pandemonium and darkness, Bilbo gets left behind. Bilbo uses his keen sense of smell to help him in the dark but soon realizes that he is completely lost. At one point, he sees a shiny object, a ring, which he picks up and drops into his back pocket.

He doesn't realize that he has picked up the One Ring, thousands of years old magic ring forged by Sauron, the Dark Lord. Very soon, Bilbo meets a strange creature who calls himself Gollum. Gollum had been in the thrall of the Ring for more than five hundred years, and it had become his obsession. Bilbo needs to know the way out and challenges Gollum to a game of riddles. Bilbo's prize, if he wins, is for Gollum to show him the way out. Bilbo does win, but Gollum refuses to show him out and accuses him of stealing the Ring. Bilbo, however, puts the Ring on his finger and vanishes. Gollum, thinking Bilbo had escaped, heads to the entrance. The invisible Bilbo follows him, and escapes the caves and soon finds his way back to the company. The goblins, along with a band of Wargs, enraged by the way they had been cheated, set upon the company as they rest. Gandalf drives them away by hurling burning pine cones at them. The whole company is then rescued by some Great Eagles with whom they rest before traveling onwards. The Great Eagles are allies of the Elves of Rivendell, and also of the wizard Radagast. They keep watch over the Misty Mountains and Wilderland.​

The company then journeys to the house of Beorn, a leader of the Beorning, who gives them extra provisions and warns them of the dangers in Mirkwood. Gandalf again leaves the company, urging them to keep to the path through the wood. Mirkwood is a dangerous forest, and the company is continually wary. When they run out of provisions, the dwarves send Bilbo to climb a tree to see where the forest ends. At the top of the tree, there is fresh air and butterflies, but Bilbo only sees more forest, not realizing that the edge of the forest is within sight. Beorn had warned them not to drink from the enchanted stream.

But Bombur falls in, and when the other dwarves pull him out, they see that he had been put to sleep by the magic in the stream. Following the path a little later, the company sees lights deep in the forest. Hunger forces them to follow the lights, which disappear as they get close. One by one, the dwarves fall asleep. Bilbo wakes up to find himself alone again. The dwarves were gone, so Bilbo sets off to find them. When he finds them, he sees that giant spiders had captured them and woven them into cocoons. Bilbo uses the Ring and stays invisible, driving the spiders away long enough to cut his companions out of the cocoons.

The dwarves kill most of the spiders before they walk on, and out of Mirkwood. As they leave Mirkwood, the company is taken prisoner by Wood-elves. The elves are angry with the dwarves for interrupting their party. It turns out that the lights the dwarves had followed were party lights. Bilbo again uses the Ring to stay invisible, and he follows the prisoners into the hall of Thranduil, the King of the Elves. Thranduil questions Thorin first, having caused the other dwarves to fall asleep. When Thorin refuses to tell him why he is traveling through the Mirkwood.

Thranduil orders that he is locked in a cell in the dungeons, each dwarf is then woken and questioned, and as they each refuse to say why they are there, Thranduil orders that they all be locked into cells. Bilbo steals the keys to the cells where the dwarves are held, and the party makes their escape by hiding in empty barrels. The barrels are taken up the River Running to Lake-town. Lake-town is not far from the Lonely Mountain, and Smaug the dragon had in the past attacked it on several occasions. The Master of Lake-town is a benevolent ruler, and trade is encouraged with the Woodland Elves, which is why the barrels were being taken downriver. The arrival of the dwarves throws everything into disarray, although the Master greets the company generously.

He is a shrewd politician and knows the people of Lake-town will be glad to see Smaug defeated, so he encourages the dwarves' venture. At first, however, he is suspicious and considers making the company prisoners. The people of Lake-town prevent the Master from taking the dwarves prisoner once they learn who they are and the purpose of their quest. The Master wants to keep on good terms with the Wood-elves but is also afraid that the townsfolk will turn against him. The company is treated like esteemed guests of honor and enjoy the hospitality of the town. While at lake-town, Bilbo, unfortunately, catches a cold!​

Thorin is eager to move on and reach the Lonely Mountain. The company leaves Lake-town and heads across the River using the map Gandalf had provided. Soon they reach the side door and follow the instructions on the map to unlock the door. Thorin sends Bilbo into the mountain, and he discovers Smaug in his treasure chamber. Bilbo finds Smaug awake, and although he puts on the Ring, Bilbo cannot hide his presence from the dragon. There follows a tense few minutes while Smaug tries to work out who has entered his chamber. Bilbo, cleverly, answers Smaug's questions with riddles, and only reveals his identity once he noticed a bare patch on Smaug's belly. Bilbo had picked up a gold cup, which sends Smaug into a terrible rage. This gives Bilbo an opportunity, and he makes it out of the dragon's lair. He then meets up with the dwarves and insists that they go into the mountain and close the side door behind them.

In a rage, Smaug leaves his lair and flies around the mountain, scorching the land around. Angry that he has missed his chance to kill the dwarves, he flies away to Lake-town to wreak his revenge. Bilbo tells Thorin about the bare patch on Smaug's belly and his belief that it is the dragon's weak spot. A thrush overhears this and flies to Lake-town and tells the news to Bard, a former soldier who is a descendant of the Men of Dale. Dale used to be the nearest town to the Lonely Mountain, but it had been destroyed by Smaug when he first arrives. When Smaug reaches Lake-town, he begins to destroy it. Bard fires the Black Arrow at the dragon's bare patch, killing Smaug, who sinks to the bottom of the lake. Black Arrows, which had been created by dwarves thousands of years before this story, were the only arrows that could pierce the hide of a dragon. The arrow used by Bard was the last of its kind.​

While Bard was defeating Smaug, Thorin and the dwarves re-establish themselves in the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo finds the legendary gem called the Arkenstone during this time but keeps its discovery a secret. Thorin yearns to have possession of the Arkenstone, which he considers to be a family heirloom but is not aware that it has been found. Roac, the raven, who lives in the mountain, tells the dwarves that Smaug is dead, which brings them great joy. [1] Very soon, however, they learn that the men of Lake-town, together with Thranduil and his army of wood-elves were heading for the mountain to recover the treasure that Smaug had stolen from them over the years. Thorin refuses to deal with the men and elves or to share the treasure. He barricades the entrance to the Lonely Mountain, and so begins a siege. Bilbo does not want a war between the dwarves and the combined forces of men and elves, so he takes the Arkenstone and gives it to Bard and Thranduil. They suggest to Bilbo that he stays with them, but Bilbo declines and returns to the mountain.

Before Bilbo can reach the dwarves, Gandalf returns and agrees with Bilbo that he should go back into the mountain. Thorin, however, realizes that Bilbo had handed the Arkenstone over. He calls Bilbo a traitor and banishes him from the mountain. Bilbo returns to Gandalf and Bard, but soon Dain Ironfoot and his army of dwarves from the Iron Hills arrive to support Thorin. Events then take another turn, as a vast army of goblins, led by Bolg, arrive. Bent on destroying the dwarves, men, and elves, the goblins prove to be a formidable enemy.

The dwarves, men, and elves are forced to fight as one army against the goblins. Beorn and his forces join the fight, and eventually, the goblins are defeated. Beorn kills Bolg and carries the mortally wounded Thorin to safety. Bilbo is knocked unconscious early in the battle and does not wake up until victory is secured. He was wearing the One Ring so no-one could see him. Bilbo finds Thorin in a tent set aside for the wounded, and Thorin apologizes to him for banning him from the mountain. Having made his peace with Bilbo, Thorin then dies.

This encounter between the combined forces of dwarves, men, and elves against the goblins, known as the Battle of the Five Armies. In the aftermath of victory, Thorin is buried, and Dain offers Bilbo one-fourteenth of the treasure Smaug had accumulated. Bilbo, though, takes just one small chest of gold and one small chest of silver. Taking leave of the friends he had made on his adventure, Bilbo heads back with Gandalf to the cave where the trolls had been turned to stone. The dwarves had buried what they could of the troll's treasure, and Gandalf and Bilbo retrieve it. Bilbo offers the treasure to Gandalf so that he can use it to help the inhabitants of Middle Earth. The two friends now head back to the Shire, parting company when they reach its border.​

Bilbo makes it back to Hobbiton, only to find that his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses, [2] are auctioning off his possessions. They assumed he had died, as his absence had been long, and were annoyed that he had now returned. Bag End would have made them a pleasant home. Bilbo does not wish to quarrel with his relatives, and so buys back his possessions. Bilbo is now able to settle down once more to life in the Shire. This he does in comfort, although some of his neighbors think him a bit odd. He chooses to ignore them and his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses.

On one occasion, he puts the Ring on to make himself invisible rather than hiding from them. These relatives became even angrier when Bilbo adopted his orphaned second-cousin-once removed Frodo and makes him his heir. His closest friends in Hobbiton were the Gamgee's, especially Gaffer Gamgee. On many occasions, Bilbo asks Gaffer for help with gardening and the best ways to grow vegetables. Gaffer asks Bilbo if he will tutor his son Samwise. Bilbo agrees and teaches Samwise to read and write, and to learn poetry and tales from the olden days.

Samwise becomes a good friend of Frodo, they share adventures later in life. Bilbo, though, becomes dissatisfied with his rather mundane life and feels that he must undertake another adventure before settling down to write an account of his life. With Frodo established as his heir, Bilbo announces that he is to leave the Shire. He does this at his 111th birthday party, leaving the guests shocked. Bilbo had been the custodian of the Ring for 60 years, and its influence was affecting him. He had not aged, but he did feel older. He had also become on occasion rather argumentative. He returns to his house after using the Ring to disappear from his party and meets Gandalf. Gandalf uses persuasion to encourage Bilbo to leave the Ring behind for Frodo.

Bilbo agrees at first, but then becomes agitated, and accuses Gandalf of wanting the Ring himself. Gandalf responds by drawing up to his full height and orders Bilbo to leave the Ring behind. Taken aback by Gandalf's reaction, Bilbo shakes off the influence of the Ring and apologizes. He admits to Gandalf that the Ring had been a malign influence in recent years, and he drops the Ring to the ground. Thus Bilbo became the first Ring-bearer to give up possession of his own free will. Once Gandalf leaves, Bilbo bids farewell to the Shire and begins his new adventure.​

The same day that Bilbo left the Shire, Frodo takes full possession of Bag End, and he settles into the same quiet life that Bilbo had enjoyed there. Bilbo makes his first destination Rivendell, which had enchanted him so much when he visited there before. After some relaxation, he accompanies a group of dwarves to Dale and then returns to settle in Rivendell. During his time living in Rivendell, Bilbo prepares his account of his adventures. This book later came to be known as "The Red Book of Westmarch." [3] He also learns the Elvish language and compiles a three-volume history devoted to the Elder Days with the title "Translations from the Elvish." Another translation was "The Fall of Gil-Galad."

His interest in poetry leads him to write a poem for Aragorn called "All that is Gold Does Not Glitter." [4] He also writes a longer poem about Earendil called "The Song of Earandil." [5] Fifteen years after arriving at Rivendell, Bilbo finds out that his heir Frodo is on a quest aiming to destroy the One Ring. He gives Frodo Sting as a weapon and his mithril shirt for protection. Bilbo, though, does not accompany Frodo on the quest. Frodo travels south with his group of companions, which includes Samwise Gamgee.​

A study of Bilbo Baggins' character tells us why a normally home-loving Hobbit would be willing to undertake a dangerous adventure. With one parent a Baggins, a rather staid unadventurous family, and the other parent a Took, who were fond of traveling and seeing the world, the result was both traits dwelt in Bilbo. His Took side led to him agreeing to go with the dwarves on their mission. At home in Bag End, Bilbo's Baggins heritage was on display. He was something of a bon viveur, being fond of food and drink, his pipe of tobacco, and the company of his friends. On his adventure, he did sometimes regret his decision to leave the Shire, but the lure of adventure did win out in the end. Throughout the story, we see Bilbo's character developing as a result of his adventures. In the beginning, he is a home-loving Hobbit with little desire to stray far from the Shire.

He struggles with the demands, both physical and mental, that are put upon him on the journey. Hobbits are small, and so there were occasions when he needs to be carried. Dori, the dwarf, carries him away from danger on two occasions. He becomes braver and more quick-witted as the story develops. When spying on the Trolls, he sees the key to their cave and picks it up. This allows the company to get into the Trolls cave and take swords from there, including Sting, the dagger he keeps for himself. Later he shows real bravery when he faces Smaug in his lair.​