Guide to The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Chapter 1

The Hobbit Chapter 1 An Unexpected Party

Synopsis

Preface

The narrator explains that Hobbits are small people, half the size of humans, who love comfort and security. Although they can live in houses and some do, they like to live in holes in the ground. They have good amenities similar to those above ground.

The main story centers on Bilbo Baggins in Bag's End.

Plot

In a hole there lived a hobbit. Hobbits, we learn, are small people with hair that grows on their feet. Hobbits enjoy frequent meals and comfort. Most hobbits live in holes in the ground. Not dirty holes, but ones with panelled walls, tiled floors and furniture. Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist of the story, lives in a hobbit-hole known as Bag End. Bilbo never leaves the safety of his village. His knowledge of the outside world is limited to maps and books.

The story begins with Bilbo smoking a pipe just outside of his home in Bag's End in The Shire. A wizard called Gandalf stops by and asks if Bilbo would be interested in an adventure. He tells him he doesn't want any adventures and invites him to tea the next day. When tomorrow arrives, Bilbo completely forgets that Gandalf was coming to tea. The doorbell rings and Bilbo assumes it's Gandalf. When he opens the door, a dwarf named Dwalin comes in and goes to eat. More and more dwarves showed up and Bilbo became more and more confused. Finally, Gandalf arrives with the leader of the dwarves, Thorin. The dwarves introduce them selves as Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur|Bombur]], and Thorin.

It turns out, the day before, Gandalf put a mark on Bilbo's door leading the dwarves there. Gandalf volunteers Bilbo to be a burglar. Both the dwarves and Bilbo disagree but Gandalf says there is more than meets the eye to this hobbit. Gandalf shows the others a map of a mountain, The Lonely Mountain. Bilbo wants to learn what this adventure is for plain and simple. Thorin explains that his grandfather named Thror found huge amounts of gold in the mountain and became king of that mountain. All the gold attracted a dragon, Smaug, to kill the people of his kingdom. The dragon is guarding the treasure and the goal of the dwarves is to reclaim all the stolen gold. The hobbit becomes strangely excited. After, Bilbo and the others go sleep.

Analysis

JRR Tolkien presents a fantasy of his own. Tolkien was a language scholar, and he was partially motivated to write his stories by his desire to invent other languages.

The tone of the book is set in a warm, light, and humorous manner in contrast to other epic works such as Beowulf and The Epic of Gilgamesh.

The unlikely pairing of Bilbo with wizards, dwarves, and dragons establishes the contrast between the novel’s historically inspired, mythological subject matter and the lighthearted, modern tone.

Questions

Who is Belladonna Took?
What is a hobbit-hole like?
What is the name of the city Thror ruled?
What do hobbits look like?
When Bilbo meets Gandalf outside at the beginning of the chapter, what are the four meanings of "good morning"?
Why are they planning an adventure to the Lonely Mountain?
Why did Gandalf insist that Bilbo would be useful on the adventure?
How many dwarves arrived at Bilbo's house?
How did the dwarves find Bilbo's house?

Characters

Main Characters

Other Characters

Mentioned Characters

Locations

Portrayal in adaptations

In Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Thorin doesn't arrive along with Bombur, Bofur and Bifur. He arrives on his own, later that night, claiming to have been lost, twice.

Songs and Verses

Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates

Translations around the World

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	'N Onverwagse Partytjie
Amharic	አንድ ያልተጠበቀ ፓርቲ
Arabic	والحزب غير متوقع
Armenian	Անսպասելի կուսակցությունը
Azerbaijani	Gözlənilməz Tərəf
Belerusian Cyrillic	Нечаканае партыя
Bengali	একটি অপ্রত্যাশিত পার্টি
Bosnian	Neočekivana Zabava
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Неочаквана страна
Cambodian	គណបក្សដែលមិនបានរំពឹងទុក
Catalan	Un Partit Inesperat
Chinese	意外的聚会
Croatian	Neočekivana Stranka
Czech	Neočekávané Strana
Danish	En Uventet Fest
Dutch	Een Onverwachte Partij
Esperanto	Neatendita Partio
Estonian	Ootamatu Poole
Filipino	Isang hindi inaasahang partido
Finnish	Odottamaton Osapuoli
French	Une Soirée Parti
Galician	Unha Festa Inesperada
Georgian	მოულოდნელი პარტიის
German	Ein Unerwartetes Partei
Greek	Μια απροσδόκητη Κόμμα
Gujarati	એક અણધારી પાર્ટી
Hebrew	מסיבה בלתי צפויה
Hindi	एक अप्रत्याशित पार्टी
Hungarian	Váratlan Fél
Icelandic	Óvænt Veisla
Indonesian	Partai Tak Terduga
Irish Gaelic	Páirtí gan choinne
Italian	Una Festa Inattesa
Japanese	予期せぬパーティー
Kannada	ಅನಿರೀಕ್ಷಿತ ಪಕ್ಷದ
Kazakh Cyrillic	Күтпеген Тарап
Korean	예기치 않은 파티
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Күтүлбөгөн партия
Laotian	ທີ່ບໍ່ຄາດຄິດພັກ
Latvian	Negaidīts Partija
Lithuanian	Netikėta Šalis
Macedonian Cyrillic	Неочекуван партија
Malay	Pihak yang tidak dijangka
Maltese	Parti Mhux Mistennija
Marathi	एक अनपेक्षित पार्टी
Mongolian Cyrillic	Гэнэтийн нам
Nepalese	अनपेक्षित पार्टी
Norwegian	En Uventet Fest
Pashto	نامتوقع ګوند
Persian	یک حزب غیر منتظره
Polish	Niezwykła Impreza
Portuguese	Uma Festa Inesperada
Punjabi	ਇੱਕ ਅਚਾਨਕ ਪਾਰਟੀ
Romanian	O Parte Neașteptată
Russian	Нежданные гости
Scottish Gaelic	Pàrtaidh an ris Nach Robh Sùil
Serbian	Ан Унекпецтед партија (Cyrillic) Parti za Neočekivane (Latin)
Sindhi	هڪ اڻڄاتل پارٽي
Sinhalese	අනපේක්ෂිත පක්ෂය
Slovak	Neočakávané Strana
Slovenian	Nepričakovane Stranka
Swahili	Chama Isiyotarajiwa
Swedish	En Oväntad Parti
Tajik Cyrillic	Як ҳизби ногаҳонӣ
Tamil	ஒரு எதிர்பாராத கட்சி
Telugu	ఊహించని పార్టీ
Thai	พรรคที่ไม่คาดคิด
Turkish	Beklenmedik Bir Parti
Ukrainian Cyrillic	несподіване партія
Urdu	ایک غیر متوقع پارٹی
Uzbek	Бир Кутилмаган Партия (Cyrillic) Bir Kutilmagan Partiya (Latin)
Vietnamese	Một Đảng bất ngờ
Welsh	Mae Parti Annisgwyl
Yiddish	אַ אומגעריכט פּאַרטיי