The Hobbit

The Hobbit by: J.R.R Tolkien is a book about a mythical land called Middle Earth. In Middle Earth there is a type of human called a hobbit. Hobbits are fun loving creatures that hardly grow to be more than a few feet above the ground. Hobbits are peaceful people that not many people (in Middle Earth) have heard about. They do not wear shoes because of many large bristle-like hairs on their feet that protect them from rocks. In the Shire, hobbits live in houses carved inside of mountains. Every house also comes with a four foot, circular door. Hobbits live to be very old (200), they do not age much until the ends of their lives. One thing hobbits absolutely hate is adventure. The only hobbits that went on adventures were a wealthy family known as the Tooks. The Tooks married with another wealthy family that was not adventurous and they had a baby named Bilbo Baggins (the main character).

Like many hobbits, Bilbo had a calm, almost carefree life until Gandalf (a wizard) entered the Shire. The hobbits all knew Gandalf, and Gandalf met Bilbo on his porch and smoked a pipe and blew smoke rings with Bilbo. Gandalf talks to Bilbo about an adventure he is having, and how he needs to find someone else but it is hard to find anyone. Gandalf tries to invite Bilbo to the journey but Bilbo-being a hobbit-said no. Gandalf waits on the porch when Bilbo enters his hobbit hole and scratches a symbol into the door before leaving. The next morning when Bilbo wakes up he makes some coffee and someone knocks on the door. Bilbo opened the door expecting Gandalf, but a little dwarf in a blue cloak entered and rudely said nothing but simply barged in and took off his cloak and introduced himself as Dwalin, with a bow. Bilbo introduced himself and while they were drinking tea and eating cake another person rung the doorbell. Once again expecting Gandalf, and once again surprised to see not Gandalf but another dwarf who introduced himself as Balin. Later there was another ring and more dwarves named Fili and Kili entered. Later the doorbell ringed again and five dwarves entered, their names were Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin. Bilbo, being the host, had no choice but to cater for all of these dwarves when the doorbell rang again when four more dwarves and Gandalf entered. Gandalf knocked on the door so loudly that it put a dent in the door and erased the secret mark in the door from yesterday. The dwarves names were Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin (a pretty important dwarf). Later at night, the dwarves talked to Bilbo and he agreed to go on the adventure with the dwarves and Gandalf. The next morning they left on horses (a pony for Mr. Fun Size Baggins). Gandalf said he had pressing errands to run further up the trail so he leaves Bilbo and the dwarves. It almost immediately started raining. Bilbo like all hobbits, has keen eyesight. He sees a fire up the trail and tells his companions. They find the source of the fire and discover three trolls. All of the dwarves were captured so Bilbo tries to save them but also gets captured. Then, before they get roasted Gandalf comes and uses magic to get the trolls to argue and turn to stone because the sun came up. The team went into the troll cave and stole their swords. They then proceeded to the Misty mountains where they found shelter in a cave. During the night goblins came and captured everyone but Gandalf. He went in the goblin cavern and killed the king, and in the confusion they attempted to escape but Bilbo fell and was knocked out. He woke up in the goblin cave where he found a magic ring that allowed him to be invisible. He escaped and regrouped with his companions outside the cave. They continued on their journey. The goblins were in pursuit, however. Their friends, the wolves were ridden by goblins in pursuit of the trespassers who killed their king. At last, they surrounded Bilbo and his team in a meadow with two trees. They immediately climbed these trees where the wolves surrounded them and the goblins began burning the trees. Gandalf saved them with a spell and they escaped again. They made it to one of Gandalf’s friend’s house. There they stayed for a while and they left on their friend’s horses and made their way to Mirkwood Forest where they all returned their horses except for Gandalf who once again abandoned his team and left. As they were going through the forest, they had to cross an enchanted river that Bombur fell into which made him fall into an enchanted sleep. They carried Bombur until night where they saw a flame in the distance and they discovered wood elves who disappeared in the blink of an eye. Bombur woke up and they discovered more wood elves and the same thing happened. This time everyone fell asleep and Bilbo had to fight off a giant spider. When Bilbo found his companions they were about to be eaten but Bilbo used the ring to save his companions. That night they saw more wood elves, but this time the wood elves captured them all but Bilbo who put on the ring last second and followed the elves to the city where he saved them and they escaped on a flume in rum barrels. There, they reached their destination which was Esgaroth. There they received supplies and at last they left the comfort of the city to fight Smaug (a dragon guarding the treasure) so they could get all of their ancestors gold back. In the mountain where Smaug lived they made camp and Bilbo told his companions about the ring and said he was going to sneak up on Smaug and see what he could do. Eventually the dragon becomes enraged and attacks Esgaroth where someone kills Smaug. The city’s army went up to the mountain angry that their city was destroyed. The woodelves were also there because they escaped from them. Weeks later, Bilbo put on the ring, escaped the besieged mountain, and talked to the humans and elves about oncoming goblins. They all massed together and set up defenses for the battle. Right before the battle, many dwarves came and helped. During the battle, Gandalf and his friend from before came and helped, also. Gandalf’s friend turned into a giant bear and killed many people. After the battle, Filli, Killi, and Thorin all died. Then Bilbo returned home with plenty of adventure.

I liked a few things about this book. One thing I liked about this book was the action. Another thing I liked about this book was the detail. One thing I disliked about the book was all of the pages where absolutely nothing happened.