The Dwarves and Bilbo hear that Smaug has been killed in the attack. Smaug realizes that Lake-town must have helped Bilbo, and flies off in a rage to destroy the town. An old thrush hears what he says, and flies off to tell Bard in Lake-town. He escapes the dragon's flames as he runs up the passage, and tells the Dwarves about the gap in Smaug's armour. Bilbo has a riddling conversation with Smaug, and notices that the dragon's armour does indeed have a gap. Wearing his magic ring, Bilbo is invisible, but Smaug at once smells him. Bilbo goes down to Smaug's lair again to steal some more, but the dragon is now only half-asleep. Bilbo and the Dwarves hide inside the passage. He flies out, nearly catches the Dwarves outside the door, and eats their ponies. Smaug awakes and instantly notices the theft and a draught of cold air from the opened passage. He steals a golden cup and takes it back to the Dwarves. Īs burglar, Bilbo is sent down the secret passage to the dragon's lair. His journey continues via a lucky escape from wargs, goblins, and fire, to the house of Beorn the shapeshifter, through the black forest of Mirkwood, to Lake-town in the middle of Long Lake, and eventually to the Mountain itself. The adventure takes Bilbo and his companions through the wilderness, to the elves haven, Rivendell, across the Misty Mountains where, escaping from goblins, he meets Gollum and acquires a magic ring. The company of dwarves are on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasures from the dragon Smaug.

He is hired as a 'burglar', despite his initial objections, on the recommendation of the wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves led by their king in exile, Thorin Oakenshield. The protagonist of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, is a hobbit in comfortable middle age. Several astronomical features and both living and fossil species have been named for him. Bilbo's quest has been interpreted as a pilgrimage of grace, in which he grows in wisdom and virtue, and as a psychological journey towards wholeness.īilbo has appeared in numerous radio and film adaptations of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and in video games based on them. Tolkien appears to have based Bilbo on the designer William Morris's travels in Iceland Morris liked his home comforts, but grew through his adventurous journeying. This is not compatible with the much older world of Dwarves and Elves. Bilbo sets out in The Hobbit timid and comfort-loving, and through his adventures grows to become a useful and resourceful member of the quest.īilbo's way of life in the Shire, defined by features like the availability of tobacco and a postal service, recalls that of the English middle class during the Victorian to Edwardian eras. The Hobbit is selected by the wizard Gandalf to help Thorin and his party of Dwarves to reclaim their ancestral home and treasure, which has been seized by the dragon Smaug. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit, a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. Tolkien's illustration of Bilbo in his comfortable hobbit-hole, Bag Endīilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J.

Crowd scenes, on average, are only 17 percent female.J. The imbalance is even worse in kids’ movies: Geena Davis’ Institute on Gender in Media found that for every female character in recent family films, there are three male characters. And many books with female protagonists take place in male-dominated worlds, peopled with male doctors and male farmers and mothers who have to ask fathers for grocery money (Richard Scarry, I’m looking at you). While the disparity has declined in recent years, it persists-particularly, and interestingly, among animal characters. A 2011 study of almost 6,000 children’s books published between 19 showed that only 31 percent had female central characters. Perhaps most importantly, she never makes an issue of her gender-and neither does anyone else.ĭespite what can seem like a profusion of heroines in kids’ books, girls are still underrepresented in children’s literature. She’s tough, resourceful, humble, funny, and uses her wits to make off with a spectacular piece of jewelry.

Bilbo, it turns out, makes a terrific heroine.

Frodo baggins books