The Mythical Adventure of Bilbo Baggins

Or

Bilbo’s Most Excellent Adventure

The significance of a myth is not easily to be penned on

paper by analytical reasoning. It is at its best when it is

presented by a poet who feels rather than makes explicit

what his theme portends; who presents it incarnate in the

world of history and geography. . . (The Monsters and the

Critics) 15

Webster’s Dictionary of Modern English defines myth as “tale[s] with

supernatural characters or events” (353), and Joseph Campbell

defines myth as “… stories of our search through the ages for

truth, for meaning, for significance (Campbell 4). While myth,

the ancient literary genre, is indeed involved with stories

containing supernatural characters that highlight humankind’s

search for truth and meaning through the ages, J.R.R. Tolkien

adds illumination regarding myth’s purpose by stating in a

personal letter that

I would claim…to have as one object the

elucidation of truth, and the encouragement

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of good morals in this real world, by the

ancient device of exemplifying them in

unfamiliar embodiments, that may tend to

‘bring them home.’(194)

Combining these authorities, one could define myth as literature

with supernatural elements that highlights the human search for

truth, meaning, and significance, encouraging good morals in the

world by using an ancient form that illustrates these ideas

adeptly but with unfamiliar methods. While confessing that he

was “not ‘learned’ in the matters of myth and fairy-story,”

Tolkien admitted that he had “always been seeking material,

things of a certain tone and air, and not simple knowledge” in

regard to myth (Letters 144). J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in the

mythical mode as a beneficiary of Beowulf when he created The

Hobbit, his first work of fiction to be published for a wide

audience.

As a philologist and Merton Professor of English Language

and Literature at Oxford, Tolkien was fascinated with ancient

literature, especially stories of heroism and fantasy, and once

stated that

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. . . an equally basic passion of mine ab

initio was for myth (not allegory!) and for

fairy-story, and above all for heroic legend

on the brink of fairy-tale and history, of

which there is far too little in the world

(accessible to me) for my appetite. (Letters

144)

In his lifetime, Tolkien worked to fill this void by created his

own mythology that is unparalleled in its clarity and detail

regarding geography, languages, psychology and sociology, and

historical accounts that spring from his unique creation myth.

Tolkien’s celebrated critical essay “Beowulf: The Monsters and

the Critics” forever changed literary criticism on Beowulf by

shifting the focus from the poem’s historical importance to its

poetic artistry (Vedder 157). In this essay on Beowulf, Tolkien

writes thus:

…I have read enough, I think, to venture the

opinion that Beowulfiana is, while rich in

many departments, specially poor in one. It

is poor in criticism, criticism that is

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directed to the understanding of a poem as a

poem. (Monsters and the Critics 5)

There is a great body of literary criticism on Beowulf that stems

back to the discovery of the Nowell Codex manuscript, its ancient

text, but the vast majority of this criticism focuses on the

historical value of the poem instead of its literary merit.

Tolkien sought to correct this deficiency.

In “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” Tolkien states

that

It is a curious fact that it is one of the

peculiar poetic virtues of Beowulf that has

contributed to its own critical misfortunes.

The illusion of historical truth and

perspective, that has made Beowulf seem such

an attractive quarry, is largely a product of

art. The author has used an instinctive

historical sense—a part indeed of the ancient

English tempers…of which Beowulf is a supreme

expression; but he has used it with a

poetical and not an historical object.” (7)

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In this selection, Tolkien suggests that the anonymous Beowulf

poet wrote with “The illusion of historical truth” as opposed to

a factual historic background. He also considers this illusion a

“product of art,” which implies that the author had to sculpt his

story to achieve the desired effect. Since the historical sense

is “instinctive,” the poet had to be subtle in his presentation

to invoke the feeling of a historical age. Tolkien insists that

Beowulf boasts a “poetical” and not “an historical” bent (7).

Why have so many scholars assumed this great poem grounded on

fact when much written in verse is not factual at all? After

all, scholars generally agree that Beowulf was originally created

for the entertainment of an Anglo-Saxon audience, not for a

factual account of real events of the day. In The Road to Middle

Earth, Shippey notes that

…the literary quality Tolkien valued above

all was the ‘impression of depth. . . the

effect of antiquity . . . [and the] illusion

of historical truth and perspective’ which he

found in Beowulf, in The Aeneid or for that

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matter in Macbeth, Sir Orfeo or the Grimms’ Fairy

Tales. (228)

Tolkien’s complete mythology provides the foundation for the

“impression of depth” in his stories, and in his introduction to

Tolkien’s work, Peter S. Beagle states that “… this is the source

of the book’s unity, this deep sureness of Tolkien’s that makes

his world more than the sum of all its parts…” (Beagle xvi). The

Hobbit’s omniscient narrator plays the role of Beowulf’s bard,

adding interpretation and emphasis at appropriate points in the

story. Tolkien took great joy in telling his own stories with

this same “illusion of historical truth” and an “instinctive

historical sense,” though the method earned him the same

criticism that many have used against Beowulf (“The Monsters and

the Critics” 7).

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” (Hobbit 1).

Thus begins Tolkien’s story of the heroic Bilbo Baggins and his

mythic adventure that changes his life forever. After randomly

scribbling the opening line of the story on the empty page of a

student exam booklet, Professor Tolkien developed his hobbits in

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nightly bedtime stories shared with his children. Tolkien’s son

Michael once stated that

His bedtime stories seemed exceptional.

Unlike other people, he did not read them

from a book, but simply told them, and they

were infinitely more exciting and much

funnier than anything read from the

children’s books at the time. (Grotta-Kurska

102)

Since his own children were the original audience for The Hobbit,

it is only natural that the tale was eventually recorded and

published as a children’s story. While the beginning of The

Hobbit is “whimsical” in tone, Tolkien still presents an air of

“historical truth” and antiquity to readers (Letters 298 ). His

son Michael was certain that

…[the] quality of reality, of being inside a

story and so being a part of it… has been, I

believe, at least an important factor

contributing to the world-wide success of his

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imaginative works. (Grotta-Kurska

102)

Tolkien believed that “Successful Fantasy is the conscious sub-

creation of a Secondary World by man, whose birthright it is to

make in imitation of his Maker” (Flieger 24-25). As a devout

Christian, Tolkien believed in God and in humankind’s eternal

“imitation of his Maker” in the act of artistic creation. He

believed that the creation of everything beautiful by human

beings must be inspired by God and that it is the duty of

humanity to use this “birthright” responsibly. Tolkien had

already recorded a complete history of Middle Earth when he began

telling his children stories about hobbits, and this history

hovers just beyond the words on the novel’s pages. Readers can

sense it, and it gives the story the air of truth and the

“reality” of which Michael Tolkien speaks. Tolkien called this

concept sub-creation, and he argued that it “’embraces

Coleridge’s ‘repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of

creation.’” In Tolkien’s words,

The making of a Secondary world is not simply

the production of enchantment as its end

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result. The Secondary World can and should

redirect our attention to the Primary World

and through that World to its Maker. (25)

In short, a good fantasy story should cause readers to see the

real world and its creator in a new light; it should open our

eyes to God’s work in the material world we inhabit. Tolkien

also believed that fantasy

…should enable us to regain, to recollect

what we have always known but have forgotten

how to see. Through imitation of God, man

has the opportunity to recover His works.

(25)

Through the act of artistic “sub-creation,” Tolkien believed

human beings able to remember and reclaim some of the innocent

wisdom we all enjoyed as children but lost in the trials of

adulthood. The popularity of Tolkien’s literary works speaks for

itself, and his ability to render his stories historically and

realistically, involving readers on many levels, must indeed

contribute to this success.

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Opening The Hobbit in the past tense, Tolkien immediately

puts his story in a historical perspective by admitting that its

action is past and must be recalled to be told. This “illusion

of historical truth” begins on page one and is enhanced by the

omniscient narrator who interrupts the action on occasion to add

insight and the “instinctive historical sense” that Tolkien so

valued. After explaining that the Bagginses, Bilbo’s Family, had

lived in his neighborhood from “time out of mind,” a great stroke

of “instinctive historical sense,” the narrator adds the fact

that “This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and

found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected” (2).

From this editorial comment, readers deduce that the Baggins

family has a history; the narrator has access to all the facts

related to the characters, the plot, and the nuances of the

story; and the narrator intends to share a portion of the

relevant information with readers. The omniscient narrator often

takes the tone of an indulgent father who will give children, or

readers, all the relevant details in due time. In his Road to

Middle-Earth, Tom Shippey states that

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In all these works there [is] a sense that

the author knew more than he was telling,

that behind his immediate story there was a

coherent, consistent, deeply fascinating

world about which he had no time (then) to

speak. (229)

One instance of this narrative technique occurs in chapter twelve

of The Hobbit when the narrator addresses readers thus: “You are

familiar with Thorin’s style on important occasions, so I will

not give you any more of it, though he went on a good deal longer

than this” (212). The narrator knows the entire speech that

Thorin gave on this occasion but chooses to share only a small

portion with the reader. The Hobbit’s narrator definitely knows

“more than he [or she is] telling,” and while condescending at

times, the narrator does lend validity and an “illusion of

historical truth” to the story.

Interestingly, Tolkien wrote that The Hobbit was not

originally a part of his mythology but was created independently:

The Hobbit, which has much more essential life

in it, was quite independently conceived: I

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did not know as I began it that it belonged.

But it proved to be the discovery of the

completion of the whole, its mode of descent

to earth and merging into ‘history.’ (Letters

145)

In spite of its separate conception, Tolkien wrote that the

popular demand for a sequel to The Hobbit caused him to see the

connection of this work to his more highly developed mythology.

Further, he stated that it “completed” his previous mythological

system that includes The Lost Tales, The Silmarillion and The Lord of the

Rings trilogy, and it “merg[ed] into [his documented] “’history’”

(145). This historical sense, of course, pleased Tolkien since

it was the quality he most admired in literature (Shippey 228).

As The Hobbit progresses, its tone and sense of antiquity grow

more pronounced, “…in fact (as a critic has perceived) the tone

and style change with the Hobbit’s development, passing from

fairy-tale to the noble and high and relapsing with the return”

(Letters 159). Tolkien opens the novel with whimsy, takes

readers through dangers and conflicts growing in complexity with

a progressively high writing style that crescendos in the Battle

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of Five Armies, then falls back into the tone of an indulgent

father telling a story to his children when Bilbo returns to his

hobbit hole. While the omniscient narrator assists with the

historical tone and style of the story, he or she also adds an

editorial voice. Tolkien regretted its use after publication and

feared that the narrator condescended to readers, specifically

intelligent children. In a personal letter, Tolkien once

commented that

Intelligent children of good taste (of which

there seem quite a number) have always, I am

glad to say, singled out the points in manner

where the address is to children as

blemishes. (297)

Tolkien agreed with these bright children and adapted the novel’s

narration, though he never completely cleared the “blemishes”

(Carpenter 203-4). In a letter to Mr. Walter Allen, Tolkien

explained that

…The desire to address children, as such, had

nothing to do with the story as such in

itself or the urge to write it. But it had

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some unfortunate effects on the mode of

expression and narrative method, which if I

had not been rushed, I should have corrected.

(297)

Tolkien implies that much of his story would have been the same

if it would have been intended for an adult audience, but the

story’s narrative could have been improved. Records of Tolkien’s

correspondence and interviews he granted indicate that he was

never happy with his narrator in The Hobbit (Carpenter 204,

Letters 297). In a letter to W.H. Auden concerning his work,

Tolkien explains that The Hobbit was

…unhappily really meant, as far as I was

conscious, as a ‘children’s story’, and as I

had not learned sense then, and my children

were not quite old enough to correct me, it

has some of the sillinesses of manner caught

unthinkingly from the kind of stuff I had

served to me, as Chaucer may catch a minstrel

tag. I deeply regret them. So do

intelligent children. (215)

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While conscious that he was presenting a children’s story with

The Hobbit, Tolkien obviously felt that he was “silly” in his

presentation of parts of the story and “deeply regretted”

imitating some of the children’s literature that was “served” to

him as a youth. He also implies that he may “preach” at times or

be guilty of moralizing with his comment about Chaucer “catching

a minstrel tag.”

One passage that demonstrates Tolkien’s fear of

condescending to readers occurs in chapter two of The Hobbit when

Bilbo encounters William, Bert, and Tom, the trolls from whom he

tries to steal a purse. The Hobbit’s narrator comments that, “Yes,

I’m afraid trolls do behave like that, even those with only one

head each” after describing the fat, impolite caricatures of

criminals (35). While this editorial comment does not moralize,

it does imply that the reader is not intelligent enough to

recognize the ignorant trolls for what they are: fools. The

narrator further states that “Bilbo ought to have done something

at once” (35). Of course Bilbo should have taken action right

away, and assuming that readers have not picked up on that detail

implies a lack of intelligence. The narrator also interrupts the

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story on occasion, emphasizing important details and often

repeating information that was previously presented, thereby

insinuating a lack of intelligence on the part of readers. In

his personal letters Tolkien wrote several times that he

regretted the somewhat condescending tone of The Hobbit and

advised other writers not to “write down” to children or “to

anybody” (298).

Later in the novel, Tolkien does moralize somewhat about

“the dragon sickness” that he attributes to Smaug, Bilbo, the

Master of Lake-town, Thorin and Co. (the dwarves), and the other

participants in The Battle of Five Armies. In the story, this

condition is Tolkien’s analogy that compares greed to a physical

ailment. When Bilbo first views Smaug’s treasure in The Hobbit,

he is overcome “…with enchantment and with the desire of

dwarves…” as he is “drawn almost against his will” to creep

closer and steal a golden cup from Smaug (216). This “desire of

dwarves” links the dwarves to the greed that Bilbo is in danger

of “catching.” While Bilbo is clearly exposed to the dragon-

sickness, the narrator comments that the dwarves “… are not

heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of the value of

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money…” (213). Apparently the dwarves already suffer from the

malady Bilbo combats. After Thorin refuses to give Bard and the

elves a share of the treasure, Bilbo grumbles that “The whole

place still stinks of dragon…and it makes me sick,” further

demonstrating his struggle with the malady, but Bilbo proves his

resistance to the dragon-sickness by presenting the Arkenstone to

Bard and the Elvenking as a bartering tool when he could have

kept it for himself (272). “Near the end of the novel, readers

discover that the old Master of Lake-town “…fell under the

dragon-sickness, and took most of the gold and fled with it, and

died…” (305). This is a fitting end for characters who catch the

dragon sickness, Tolkien’s rather moralizing “disease” for those

consumed with greed.

In his letter of ten-thousand words to Milton Walfman,

Tolkien provides an overview of his mythology and offers the

following note on The Hobbit’s distinct tone in relation to his

other works:

This generally different tone and style of

The Hobbit is due, in point of genesis, to it

being taken by me as a matter from the great

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cycle susceptible of treatment as a ‘fairy-

story’, for children. Some of the details of

tone and treatment are, I now think, even on

that basis, mistaken. (159)

Tolkien points out that he created The Hobbit to be a fairy story,

in contrast to The Lord of the Rings which employs a higher style

and tone. In spite of this intended difference; however, Tolkien

was not satisfied with the end result and found “some of the

details of tone and treatment” to be “mistaken” (150).

Along with a sense of historical legitimacy and respect for

readers, Tolkien insisted that great myths and fairy-stories must

contain heroes like Beowulf. In his lecture entitled “Beowulf:

The Monsters and the Critics,” Tolkien says,

Let us by all means esteem the old heroes:

men caught in the chains of circumstance or

of their own character, torn between duties

equally sacred, dying with their backs to the

wall. (17)

His admiration for the old heroes comes from the fact that they

were often trapped in circumstances beyond their control and torn

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between duties that were “equally sacred” with no easy solution.

The ancient hero’s conflict within himself fascinated Tolkien,

and in the essay he notes that these great northern heroes

usually die with their “backs to the wall.” In other words, they

do not try to escape their fate, even though the cause is usually

hopeless from the outset.

As a great hero of the North, Tolkien felt that Beowulf is

“Something more significant than a standard hero” and further

commented that he is “a man faced with a foe more evil than any

human enemy of house or realm” and yet he is “incarnate in time,”

indicating that he is real, at least as long as we are reading

the story, and he is “walking in heroic history, and treading the

named lands of the North” each time his story is read or told

(17). While reading his story, readers feel as though they see

and know Beowulf, this hero

…who of mankind was

in power strongest

in that day

of this life,

noble and vigorous. (Beowulf 394-398)

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The story of “noble and vigorous” Beowulf reads like an ancient

version of the contemporary action movie, and the hero is

reminiscent of Rambo, The Terminator, and other modern heroes who

live on each time we experience their stories, regardless of

their positive or negative histories, and annihilate their

enemies with their bare hands (398).

Tolkien also admires the ancient Northern heroes because

they

have an exultant extravagance in their

warfare which makes them more like Titans

than Olympians; only they are on the right

side, though it is not the side that wins.

(Monsters and the Critics 21)

Although these ancient heroes know they will lose their conflict,

they give the battle all their strength because they find

selfless satisfaction in fighting for justice regardless of the

outcome. In these conflicts, “The winning side is Chaos and

Unreason’—mythologically, the monsters—‘but the gods, [and their

mortal agents] who are defeated, think that defeat no

refutation’” (21). Ancient northern heroes are privileged to

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join their gods in these wars against unstoppable monsters, and

they do not see their combat as cheapened or spoiled by defeat.

Tolkien admires “’this paradox of defeat inevitable yet

unacknowledged’” that distinguishes great heroes from the North

(17-18). Tolkien also respects the fact that “… in their war

men are their [gods’] chosen allies” (21). Beowulf is a divine

agent in his story and enjoys the privilege of “sharing in this

‘absolute resistance, perfect because without hope” (21). When

Beowulf fights the dragon, he knows he will die, yet he faces his

enemy with “absolute resistance,” without acknowledging the

inevitable defeat in his future. Death remains the eternal enemy

of mortal man, yet readers despair to see Beowulf meet his end,

though

Of these miserable days must

the good prince

an end abide

of this world’s life

and the worm with him… (4672-4676)

The poet clearly states that Beowulf will die as a result of his

battle with the dragon, yet the hero dies with dignity and gets

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the privilege of taking the dragon, “the worm,” with him in this

particular story. Readers of Beowulf and other northern heroic

tales know, as the ancient peoples who composed them, that good

does not always triumph in any society. The monsters often win.

Tolkien also commented that “… Beowulf… plays a larger part

than is recognized in helping us to esteem them [the great

ancient heroes from the North]” (Monsters and the Critics 20).

After all, Beowulf is the oldest surviving manuscript in the

English language, so there are stories of few additional heroes

from his time period. What other literary character can help

modern readers understand the legendary heroes of the North?

Tolkien also commented that “One of the most potent elements in

that fusion is the Northern courage: the theory of courage,

which is the great contribution of early Northern

literature”(20). It takes real courage to go into a battle when

victory is impossible, yet Beowulf fights many hopeless conflicts

including the battles against Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the

dragon. Feeling responsible for the victims of Grendel’s mother,

Beowulf speaks thus to Hrothgar:

Sorrow not, sage man,

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better ‘tis for every one

that he his friend avenge,

than that he greatly mourn. (2772-2775)

Promising revenge for Hrothgar, Beowulf demonstrates his courage

when he promises that

…not into the sea shall she [Grendel’s

mother] escape,

nor into earth’s bosom,

nor into the mountain-wood,

nor in ocean’s ground…” (2789-2792)

Beowulf courageously tracks Grendel’s mother and engages her in

her own territory, the mysterious underwater lair, and indicates

that he will pursue her wherever she may flee. He also battles

Grendel’s mother with courage and skill when he finds her. When

Beowulf jumps into the water to search for the submarine hideout

and Grendel’s mother, in his full armour,

… many wondrous beings

Oppress’d in the deep,

many a sea-beast

…pursued him …” (3023-27)

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In spite of the overwhelming host of sea monsters that assists

Grendel’s mother, Beowulf stands fast and fights with courage,

eventually defeating an enemy who seemed unstoppable.

Tolkien points out that for great heroes of the North,

“Beyond there appears a possibility of eternal victory (or

eternal defeat), and the real battle is between the soul and its

adversaries” (Monsters and the Critics 22). Death, the eternal

enemy of mortals, is a daunting possibility, very difficult for

the hero to face, and he must also battle the enemies of his

eternal soul. Beowulf fights an important battle before he ever

faces the dragon, for he

Sat then on the ness

The warrior king

While he bade farewell

To his hearth-enjoyers,

The Goths’ gold-friend:

His mind was sad…

(4825-4830)

Before battling the dragon, Beowulf accepts his fate and bids his

followers farewell (4827). Beowulf’s battles are much more

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intense and fearful because they animate battles all human beings

face every day: the battle between action and inaction, valor

and cowardice, good and evil within the human spirit. Will we

accept our fate honorably, or will we succumb to the monsters of

greed, lust, self-interest, and envy? This is a continuous epic

battle for all humanity.

When considering Professor Tolkien’s creation of his own

heroes, Bilbo Baggins seems an unlikely product for this lover of

ancient languages and heroic tales, for Tolkien openly

acknowledged that “Beowulf [was] among [his] most valued

sources…”(Letters 31). With this in mind, one has to wonder how

the respected professor ended up with hobbits as his most noble

creatures. Tolkien once commented that

Anyway I myself saw the value of Hobbits, in

putting earth under the feet of ‘romance’,

and in providing subjects for ‘ennoblement’

and heroes more praiseworthy than the

professionals…” (215)

Beowulf would certainly fall into the category of “professional”

hero, but it seems that Tolkien desired to create a unique hero

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for his stories that could “put… earth under the feet of

‘romance.’” Bilbo is “grounded” indeed, for he is only “half our

height” and very near the ground. He also lives in Bag-End, a

hobbit hole in the ground that is burrowed out of The Hill in The

Shire (Hobbit 2). Hobbits are also very connected to the earth

by their feet that “grow natural leathery soles and thick warm

brown hair like the stuff on their heads” negating the need for

shoes to separate them from the earth (2). The “warm brown hair”

grown on their heads and on their feet further links hobbits to

creatures of the forest, and they possess the “ordinary everyday

sort” of magic “which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly

when large stupid folk …come blundering along…”(2). This is the

same magic shared by rabbits, squirrels, and other untamed

creatures that live in the wild, outside the jurisdiction of

human society. The robust, timid, and tribal nature of hobbits,

along with their stature gives Mr. Baggins ample opportunity for

“’ennoblement’” that is indeed more “praiseworthy” than Beowulf

and other “professional” ancient heroes of the North. After all,

Bilbo requires a much longer journey to reach heroic status.

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Edmund Wilson, a respected American literary critic, once

speculated that the word hobbit comes from a combination of

“rabbit” and (Thomas) “Hobbes,” but Tolkien later denied this

theory in a personal letter. Tolkien wrote thus:

I don’t know where the word [hobbit] came

from…it might have been associated with

Sinclair Lewis’ Babbit, certainly not rabbit

as some people think. Babbit has the same

bourgeois smugness that hobbits do. His

world is the same limited place. ” (Letters

122)

There is no evidence that Tolkien ever understood the true origin

of hobbits in his psyche, but he does relate the imaginary race

to Lewis’ Babbit in its ordinary middle-class arrogance and self-

satisfaction. Both Babbit and the hobbits are very limited in

the scope of their lives. Paul Kocher, author of Master of Middle

Earth further explores possible origins of the word hobbit when he

writes that “according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the

Middle English word ‘hob’ (or hobbe) is a rustic or a clown, a

sort of Robin Goodfellow (the English equivalent of the celtic

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little people)(116). Bilbo and the other hobbits are reminiscent

of Puck and other antique clowns, so the philologist may have

unconsciously toyed with these words to invent and name his

unique creatures.

On page 158 of Tolkien’s published letters, a footnote

explains that he created hobbits with satirical qualities of

human beings. He meant to show our “short comings” such as the

human tendency toward laziness, over indulgence and selfishness

without the “savageness of Swift.” In the end, his most useful

satirical tool “…mostly [shows] up, in creatures of very small

physical power, the amazing and unexpected heroism of ordinary

men ‘at a pinch’”(158). The average human being enjoys many

advantages over Bilbo if he or she wishes to become a hero. Most

people are much larger and stronger than Bilbo and enjoy a

physical advantage; however, even the smallest and most unlikely

people have the capacity for greatness if they are assigned the

right circumstances at the opportune time. Tolkien once

commented that

…this [The Hobbit] is a study of a simple

ordinary man, neither artistic nor noble and

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heroic (but not without the undeveloped seeds

of these things) against a high setting...

(159)

While unremarkable in most ways, Bilbo is a simple character of

infinite potential, and readers quickly discover that there is

more to him than meets the eye when he is driven from his safe

hobbit hole and shoved into “a high setting” filled with elves,

trolls, wolves, eagles, and many other unknown forces of good and

evil.

When Thorin Oakenshield and the other dwarves commandeer

Bilbo’s house and assume that he will join their adventure, Bilbo

is entranced by their tales of dragons and gold and

…the hobbit [feels] the love

of beautiful things made by hands and by

cunning and by magic moving through him,

a fierce and a jealous love, the desire

of the hearts of dwarves. (Hobbit 15)

Jewels and gold are not listed among the items hobbits treasure

in the first chapter’s description, so this passage marks a

change in Bilbo that is attributed to the Took side of his

Brewer 30

nature. Bilbo’s Took inclinations are inherited from his

mother’s family that “…once in a while…would go and have

adventures,” though his mother had to give up her nomadic way of

life when she married Bungo, Bilbo’s father (3). Bilbo also gets

in touch with this part of himself when “… something Tookish

[wakes] up inside him, and he wishe[s] to go and see the great

mountains…” (15). When Thorin makes a careless remark that

those going on this adventure might never return, Bilbo shrieks

and falls “flat on the floor” while repeating “struck by

lightening” (17). Gandalf attributes Bilbo’s screech and

collapse to excitement and states that “he is one of the best,

one of the best—as fierce as a dragon in a pinch,” though readers

and the dwarves see no sign of this ferociousness until later in

the novel (17). After this panic-stricken episode, the dwarves

entertain doubts about Bilbo’s qualifications as burglar for

their mission. Gloin wonders, “Will he do, do you think? …He

looks more like a grocer than a burglar!” and readers are forced

to agree (18). Gloin’s concern is shared by the other dwarves,

but Gandalf sees something in Bilbo that even the hobbit does not

see and states that “There is a lot more in him than you guess,

Brewer 31

and a deal more than he has any idea of himself” (19). This

statement is validated by the time Bilbo completes his journey.

Once Bilbo leaves his comfortable hobbit hole, readers see

him grow and develop with each page they turn, for soon after

they begin the adventure Bilbo is forced to “go on and find out

all about that light, and what it is for…” when the dwarves and

Bilbo see a fire in the distance (34). Bilbo discovers trolls

around the fire, yet the cowardly hobbit “…pluck[s] up courage

and put[s] his little hand in William’s enormous pocket” (36).

He even keeps his composure when he is captured by the trolls and

threatened with being served as the main course of their next

meal! With each dangerous encounter on his adventure, Bilbo

evolves into a more worldly and savvy hobbit. The hobbit

experiences tremendous development when Dori drops and abandons

him in the tunnels where Gollum prowls, using his wits to

maximize his limited physical prowess that includes quickness,

quietness, and nimbleness in his first prolonged solo adventure.

When he follows Gollum toward the tunnel entrance, Bilbo uses

these newly honed skills thus: “He tremble[s]. And then quite

suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and

Brewer 32

resolve, he leap[s]…seven feet forward and three in the air…”,

quite a leap for a hobbit (86). Leaps of seven feet are hardly

necessary in his hobbit hole, yet Bilbo has sharpened his innate

physical attributes to survive another monster that wants to eat

him and to contribute to the treasured mission of the dwarves.

Bilbo makes quite an impression when he magically reappears to

the dwarves, skulking past the dwarf guards with the assistance

of his new magic ring and announcing, “’And here’s the burglar!”

(93). Having survived on his own and gaining the ring to boost

his confidence, Bilbo begins to demonstrate leadership in the

group at this point. The hobbit is tested physically, mentally,

and emotionally as he runs, creeps, peers, and leaps through one

challenge after another on his adventure.

While the hobbit does mature in the early part of the

journey, his most astounding development occurs when he confronts

giant spiders in Mirkwood and gains his first kill, for Bilbo

“beat[s] the creature off with his hands… remember[s] his sword

and [draws] it out” to [stick] it [the spider] with his sword

right in the eyes”(155). This hobbit resembles Bull Roarer,

ancestor of Belladonna Took and The Hobbit’s version of Beowulf who

Brewer 33

was “so huge that he could ride a horse” much more than the Bilbo

Baggins of chapter one when he “[comes] at it before it [the

spider] could disappear” and takes the spider’s life (155). This

is the reader’s first encounter with the aggressive Bilbo that

attacks and kills enemies in battle. The narrator comments that

Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all

alone by himself in the dark without the help

of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone

else, make a great difference to Mr. Baggins.

He felt a different person, and much fiercer

and bolder… (156)

Bilbo’s newfound courage does “make a great difference” and helps

carry him through conflicts with other enemies, including the

elves of Mirkwood and wolves, culminating in his showdown with

Smaug the dragon.

Tolkien comments that “…the presence (even if only on the

borders) of the terrible is, I believe, what gives this imagined

world its verisimilitude,” for a hero would be superfluous

without a monster (Monsters and the Critics 24). Beowulf’s

fictional universe and Tolkien’s Middle Earth are worlds of

Brewer 34

opposites: monsters and heroes; light and darkness; helplessness

and valor; and the list goes on. Beowulf’s monsters take the

forms of giants, sea monsters, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the

dragon that eventually kills him. According to Tolkien, This

explains how

the old monsters became images of the evil

spirit or spirits, or rather the evil spirits

entered into the monsters and took visible

shape in the hideous bodies of the… heathen

imagination. (22)

Beowulf and the other great heroes on the North battled monsters

that personified their versions of Satan and other evil spirits;

thereby, fighting for the souls of all humanity. All cultures

believe in the supernatural, and

Tolkien feels that the mention of the giants and their

war

with God, together with the two mentions of Cain are

especially important. (26)

because they are directly connected with Christian myths.

Ironically, this Christian link cannot “dissociate [the

Brewer 35

monsters] from the creatures of northern myth, the ever-watchful

foes of the gods (and men). This is where old myths and new

Christian ideas met” (26). Grendel is likened to Satan, the

first spiritual murderer who seeks to take over God’s throne, and

Cain, the original mortal murderer in the Genesis account of

mankind’s beginnings. His presence provides the link needed to

connect the Christianized Anglo-Saxon audience to the pagan

characters of the tale. The anonymous Beowulf poet presents a

picture of the perfect warrior’s life, their version of Eden

till that one [Grendel] began

crime to perpetrate,

a fiend in hell… (201-3)

Hrothgar builds Heorot, his meadhall that surpasses any

architectural structure known until that time, but Grendel

renders the structure useless when he begins his “fiendish”

attacks. Grendel possesses many supernatural powers, but those

abilities are attributed to his nature as a “fiend in hell”

(203). The anonymous poet does not give Grendel any misgivings

or repentance about his crimes, and one example occurs when

…after one night

Brewer 36

he again perpetrated

greater mortal harms,

and regretted not for,

his enmity and crime;

he was too firm in them (270-75)

Grendel, like Satan, has no regret for his crimes but continually

resolves to deliver more chaos, misery, and destruction.

As a sub-human creature, Grendel is reminiscent of monsters

of Northern mythology, but he also rings true with Christians

when the author links him to Satan and to Cain, son of Adam and

Eve. This cursed exile originates murder in The Bible’s Genesis

account of mankind’s origins and early history as Grendel spawns

the bloodbath at Herot. The Beowulf poet links Grendel to Cain

by referring to him as “the great traverser of the mark,” and

“the unbless’d man (206) (210), then explains that

…On Cain’s race

that death avenged

the eternal Lord,

for that he Abel slew… (213-16)

Brewer 37

This myth of the first murder is paralleled in Gollum’s murder of

Deagol in Tolkien’s mythology, for Deagol is Smeagol’s “brother”

in the sense that they are fellow-hobbits who inhabit the same

community. Grendel is presented as an heir of Cain and a

beneficiary of Cain’s punishment that

for he him far banish’d,

the Creator for that crime

from mankind. (218-221)

Like Cain, his forefather, Grendel is banished from human contact

because of Cain’s crimes that Grendel continues to perpetrate.

Smeagol is also banished, like Cain, as a result of his

fratricide. In “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” Tolkien

states that

The key to the fusion-point of imagination

that produced this poem lies, therefore, in

those very references to Cain which have

often been used as a stick to beat an ass…

(19)

Tolkien argues that, while other critics might see the biblical

references in Beowulf as inconsistent with the pagan story, they

Brewer 38

are necessary to link the pagan past to the Christian present of

the original Beowulf audiences.

Tolkien was fascinated with dragons in ancient folklore and

noted that killing a dragon was the “chief deed of the highest of

heroes [of the North]“(16). He also believed that dragons should

be

…a personification of malice, greed,

destruction (the evil side of heroic life),

and of the undiscriminating cruelty of

fortune that distinguished not good or bad

(the evil aspect of all life). (17)

The rewards of heroism include fame, wealth, and varying degrees

of power, along with the temptation to become arrogant, greedy,

and destructive. Tolkien saw dragons as personifications of this

danger. As agents of fate, dragons are not particular about

their victims, and whatever the story, characters who find

themselves in the path of a dragon usually die violent deaths.

Though Beowulf kills his dragon, the dragon also takes the hero’s

life. In The Hobbit, Bilbo and his friends also discover that “It

does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if

Brewer 39

you live near him” (217). While Tolkien enjoyed stories with

dragons representing fate, he was unimpressed with Beowulf’s

dragon. In his personal letters, Tolkien once wrote thus: “I

find ‘dragons’ a fascinating product of imagination. But I don’t

think the Beowulf one is frightfully good…” (134). The phrase,

“…a fascinating product of imagination,” implies that Tolkien

sees infinite potential for the development of dragons in

stories; however, the author clearly states that “…the Beowulf

one [is not] frightfully good” (134). Tolkien elevates Smaug,

his dragon, and gives him great intelligence and greed, not to

mention social and rhetorical skills, to go along with his

avarice, physical strength and terrorist inclinations. These

combined elements produce a first class villain that would

challenge any hero.

While Beowulf’s monsters eat their victims and terrify all

inhabitants of their land, Bilbo’s monsters are caricatures that

threaten but rarely follow through with serious physical harm to

individuals. William, Bert, and Tom, the trolls from whom Bilbo

tries to steal a purse, are huge and menacing, and he knows they

are “obviously trolls”… (34). This is obvious to Bilbo

Brewer 40

from the great heavy faces of them, and their

size, and the shape

of their legs, not to mention their language,

which was not drawing-room fashion at all, at

all. (34)

The inappropriate language employed by the trolls as they argue

over petty issues renders them childish and ignorant. At one

point they argue thus: “Shut up!” said they, “or we’ll never

have done” (40). This comment is answered with, “Shut up

yerself!” said Tom” and “You’re a booby,” said William” (40).

“Booby yerself!” said Tom (40). This exchange evokes memories of

the Three Stooges and their entertaining shenanigans that include

common dialect and slapstick comedy with physical humor; however,

the stooges have more intellect than these three clowns who “…

[fight] like dogs, and [call] one another all sorts of perfectly

true and applicable names in very loud voices” (37). The Hobbit’s

omniscient narrator enjoys these characters and has a great deal

of fun at their expense, but polite readers know how uncouth

these “gentlemen” are and make certain not to follow their

example in word or in deed.

Brewer 41

The spiders Bilbo faces in Mirkwood are menacing, for, like

Gollum, the eyes are their most distinguishing feature. The

hobbit says that “they have “’Insect eyes,’” he thought, “’not

animal eyes, only they are much too big’” (141). Small spiders

cause trauma for many, but the thought of giant spiders would

cause arachnophobia in most heroes of any culture. In addition,

Bilbo cannot see the spiders’ anatomy except their eyes, lending

a mysterious quality to these monsters of the dark, for “he could

only see the thing’s eyes, but he could feel its hairy legs as it

struggled to wind its abominable threads round and round him”

(155). The enemy unseen except the eyes, “the window of the

soul,” leaves its victim unsettled and panic-stricken, then Bilbo

discovers that “…it [is] trying to poison him to keep him quiet,

as small spiders do to flies…”(155). Nobody wants to feel like a

fly caught in a spider’s web, but the hobbit rises to the

occasion, killing the spider against impossible odds. Like

Gollum, the spiders also speak with “…thin creaking and hissing,”

lending an air of serpentine evil to the foes (157). In spite of

the great size advantage and their larger numbers, Bilbo attacks

the spiders in the style of David’s conflict with Goliath in

Brewer 42

Christian lore: he hits them with stones. While the hobbit has

no sling, he hurls stones at the spiders and hides in the

darkness of the forest, turning the tide as their invisible foe

and taunting them with a playground chant designed to distract

them from the dwarves. His ingenious plan works to save the

dwarves, and Bilbo grows in leadership with the group. Later he

saves the dwarves from the elves of Mirkwood, foes that are

usually of a good nature, with a brilliant plan and seals his

position as co-leader and guide of the mission in Gandalf’s

absence. In spite of his petite, rotund size, Bilbo becomes

quite the hero by the end of his tale.

In “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” Tolkien states

that “It is just because the main foes in Beowulf are inhuman that

the story is larger and more significant than this imaginary poem

of a great king’s fall (33). The same is true in Tolkien’s

mythology. He argues that instead of making the stories

unbelievable and ridiculous, the monsters add gravity and

significance to the tales, adding that “…the monsters are not an

inexplicable blunder of taste; they are essential, fundamentally

allied to the underlying ideas of the poem, which give it its

Brewer 43

lofty tone and high seriousness” (19). Bilbo and Beowulf share a

common identity as heroes and representatives of their respective

cultures, battling the monsters to save themselves and all

humankind.

The prince’s journey by prudent folk

Was little blamed, though they loved him

[Beowulf] dear;

They whetted the hero, and hailed good omens.

(202-204)

Bilbo, however, does not find support for his heroic endeavors in

his fellow hobbits because “…they never had any adventures or did

anything unexpected…” (2). Regardless of popular opinion in

their communities, Bilbo and Beowulf represent their cultures

when they journey into the unknown and risk their lives, questing

to help others. While Tolkien respects Beowulf as a beautiful

poetic work of art in his literary criticism of the poem, he

consciously created his literary heroes to be unique, for

Tolkien’s heroes rely on their wits instead of their swords.

This author clearly expected modern heroes to rise above the

greed and violence that motivated Beowulf and his contemporaries

Brewer 44

and reach a new pinnacle of heroism. Yes, Bilbo kills a spider

with his sword, but only when his life is endangered by the

spider spinning his webby silk around his legs and trying to

poison him (155). Critics agree that Tolkien’s personal

experience with war made a profound impact on his views regarding

war and violence, for the only other time Bilbo draws his sword

is to make light in the darkness when goblins are near (Grotta-

Kurska 73, Hobbit 69). Bilbo’s only concern with his armour is

to see himself in the mirror and delight in his fashionable

appearance (238). Both Beowulf and Bilbo grow from their

encounters with Grendel and Gollum, their doppelgängers that

embody their potential for evil, and the real triumph is the

hero’s triumph over his own base nature (Chance 62).

When asked why the circle is a universal component of myth

in The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell replies that

…it’s experienced all the time—in the day, in

the year, in leaving home to go on your

adventure—hunting or whatever it may be—and

coming back home. (270)

Brewer 45

There and Back Again, The Hobbit’s subtitle, emphasizes this aspect of

Bilbo’s journey, and Tolkien once noted that “… we may remember

that the poet of Beowulf saw clearly: the wages of heroism is

death” (Monsters and the Critics 26). Like all great heroes,

Beowulf and Bilbo “…sacrifice [themselves] for something…”, and

they pay a great price for their leadership (Campbell 156).

Beowulf makes the ultimate sacrifice in his tale, and Campbell

states that “Many [mythical heroes] give their lives. But then

the myth also says that out of the given life comes a new life”

(165). On the other hand, Bilbo sacrifices his reputation, for

he began his story as “…a well to do hobbit” that “people

considered…very respectable…” (Hobbit 1-2), but after his

adventure, “…he was no longer quite respectable...”(302).

Campbell points out that the circle motif in mythology also

encompasses

… a deeper experience, too, the mystery of

the womb and the tomb. When people are

buried, it’s for rebirth. That’s the origin

of the burial idea. You put someone back

Brewer 46

into the womb of mother earth for rebirth.”

(270)

When Bilbo Baggins returns to Bag End, he literally goes “Back

Again” to the earth, for he returns to a cryptic hole in the

ground where he recovers from the discomfort of his adventure and

“…remain[s] very happy to the end of his days…”(302).

The significance of a myth is not easily to be penned on

paper by analytical reasoning. It is at its best when it is

presented by a poet who feels rather than makes explicit

what his theme portends; who presents it incarnate in the

world of history and geography. . . (The Monsters and the

Critics 15)

In The Hobbit and the entire canon of his fiction, Tolkien

demonstrates his belief that myth eludes dissection and

analytical reasoning. Instead, it favors presentation by an

insightful bard who feels his themes and presents them through

imagination and emotion, like the anonymous Beowulf poet, sub-

creating new worlds of possibility for readers.

Brewer 47

Works Cited

Beagle, Peter S. Introduction. The Tolkien Reader. J.R.R.

Tolkien. New York: Ballantine, 1966.

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. New York: Anchor,

1991.

Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine,

1977.

Chance, Jane. Tolkien’s Art: A Mythology For England. Lexington, KY:

University of KY Press, 2001.

Flieger, Verlyn. Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien’s World. Kent

State University Press: Kent, 1983.

Grotta-Kurska, Daniel. J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle Earch. Warner:

Anderson, Indiana, 1977.

McLeod, William T., ed. Webster’s Dictionary of Modern English.

Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 1987.

Shippey, Tom. The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created A New

Mythology. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 2003.

Thorpe, Benjamin. Beowulf: Together With Widsith and The Fight at Finnesburg.

New York: Barron, 1962.

Brewer 48

Tolkien, J.R.R. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” The

Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. Christopher Tolkien, Ed.

HarperCollins: London, 1983.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Ballantine: New

York, 1982.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Humphrey Carpenter, Ed.

Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 2000.

Vedder, Polly, ed. “Beowulf.” World Criticism: Supplement. Detroit:

Gale, 1997.