The Annotated Hobbit

426 Pages·2002·25.893 MB·English

by  J. R. R. Tolkien, Douglas A. Anderson (ed.)

for readers around the globe, The Hobbit
serves as an introduction to the enchanting
world of Middle-earth, home of elves, wiz­
ards, dwarves, goblins, dragons, ores, and a host of
other creatures depicted in The Lord of the Rings and
The Silmarillion — tales that sprang from the mind of
the most beloved author of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Newly expanded and completely redesigned,
Douglas A. Anderson’s The Annotated Hobbit is the
definitive explication of the sources, characters,
places, and things of J.R.R. Tolkien’s timeless clas­
sic. Integrated with Anderson’s notes and placed
alongside the fully restored and corrected text of
the original story are more than 150 illustrations
showing visual interpretations of The Hobbit
specific to many of the cultures that have come to
know and love Middle-earth. Tolkien’s original
line drawings, maps, and color paintings are also
included, making this the most lavishly informa­
tive edition of The Hobbit available.
The Annotated Hobbit shows how J.R.R. Tolkien
worked as a writer, what his influences and inter­
ests were, and how these relate to the details of
Middle-earth. It gives a valuable overview of
Tolkien’s life and the publishing history of The
Hobbit and explains how every feature of the story
fits within the rest of Tolkien’s invented world.
Here we learn how Gollum’s character was revised
to accommodate the true nature of the One Ring,
and we can read the full text of The Quest ofErebor,
Gandalf’s explanation of how he came to send
Bilbo Baggins on his journey with the dwarves.
Anderson also makes meaningful and often surpris­
ing connections to our own world and literary his­
tory — from Beowulf to The Marvellous Land of
Snergs, from the Brothers Grimm to C. S. Lewis.
0902

T H E A N N O T A T E D H O B B I T
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T H E A N N O T A T E D
H O B B I T
R E V I S E D AND E X P A N D E D E D I T I O N
A N N O T A T E D BY
Douglas A. Anderson
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T H E H O B B I T
OR THERE AND BACK AGAIN
J.R .R . TO LK IEN
Illustrated by the Author
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY ♦ BOSTON ♦ NEW YORK
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The Hobbit.
Copyright 1937 by George Allen 8c Unwin Ltd.
Copyright © 1966 by J.R.R. Tolkien
Copyright © Renewed 1994 by Christopher R. Tolkien, John F. R. Tolkien and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien
Copyright © Restored 1996 by The Estate ofJ.R.R. Tolkien, assigned 1997 to the J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust
Introduction and annotations © copyright 2002 by Douglas A. Anderson
All rights reserved
(3Rj is a registered trademark of The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate Limited.
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.
Visit our Web site: www.hmhbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicadon Data is available.
ISBN 0-618-13470-0
Book design by Robert Overholtzer
Printed in the United States of America
doc 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
Quotations and illustrations from all Allen and Unwin editions of The Hobbit are used by permission. Copyright © 1937,1951,1966,1978 by George Allen and
Unwin Ltd. The following illustrations arc from Pictures byJ.&R. Tolkien, copyright © 1979 by George Allen and Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., and are reprinted
by permission: The Three Trolls are turned, to stone copyright © George Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1978,1979; Rivendell looking East copyright © George Allen
and Unwin Ltd. 1978,1979; The Elvenking’s Gate (I) copyright © George Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1978,1979; Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves (I) copy­
right © George Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1978,1979. Illustrations from the Folio Society edition of The Hobbit are by Eric Fraser, 1979. Used by permission. Jacket
and front matter from die first and second American printings of The Hobbit are reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.
Quotation from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo translated by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright © 1975 by George Allen and Unwin
(Publishers) Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. Quotation of poems from The Fellowship of the Ring, Part One, and The Two
Towers, Part Two, of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright © 1954,1965 by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright © renewed 1982 by Christopher R.
Tolkien, Michael H. R. Tolkien, John F. R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. Quotations
from The Letters ofJ.R.R. Tolkien selected and edited by Humphrey Carpenter. Copyright © 1981 by George Allen and Unwin (Publishers) Ltd. Reprinted
by permission. Quotations from unpublished letters and material by J.R.R. Tolkien © The J.R.R. Tolkien Trust and the Tolkien Trust 2002. Quotation
from letter to G. E. Selby by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright © 1987 by Unwin Hyman Ltd. Reprinted by permission. “Elvish Song in Rivendell,” “Glip,” and
“The Quest of Erebor” © The Tolkien Trust 2002. “Enigmata Saxonica Nuper Inventa Duo” © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1923,2002. “Progress
in Bimble Town” © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1931,2002. Quotations from The Marvellous Land of the Snergs © 1927 by E. A. Wykc-Smith, ©
1996 by Edward S. Wykc-Smidi and Nina Wyke-Smith. Used by permission.
Frontispiece: Lafayette. “Tolkien’s Desk”: Photograph copyright © The Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Photographed
by Jon Martyn Carter. Used by permission. “The house at No. 20 Northmoor Road”: First reproduced in J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Car­
penter, copyright © 1977 by George Allen and Unwin Ltd. “Troll’s Hill”: Estate ofJ.R.R. Tolkien; first reproduced in Marquette University Catalogue,
copyright © 1987 Marquette University. Troll illustration from “Soria Maria Casde”: Lancelot Speed in The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, copyright
© 1890 by Longman Group UK Ltd. Used by permission.
Illustration by Virgil Finlay © 1975 by Lail M. Finlay. Used by permission of Lail M. Finlay. J.R.R. Tolkien: Der Kleine Hobbit © for die illustrations
by Klaus Ensikat: 1997 Dcutscher Taschenbuch Vcrlag, Munich/Germany. Used by permission.
The author is grateful for permission to use illustrations from the following foreign cdidons of The Hobbit: Bulgarian, Bilbo Begins, illustrations © 1975
by Peter Chuklcv. Used by permission of the illustrator, Peter Chuklev. Estonian, Kdabik ehk Sinnaja tagasi. Eesd Raamat copyright © 1977. Reprinted
by permission of the illustrator, Mrs. M. Kernumces. French, Bilbo le hobbit. Bibliothfeque Vcrte copyright © Hachette, 1976. German, Kleiner Hobbit und
der GrosseZauberer. Copyright © 1957,1968 by Georg Bitter Verlag, Recklinghausen. Hungarian,^ Babo. Copyright © 1975 Mora Ferenc, Budapest. The
drawings ofTamas Szccsko have been reproduced by courtesy of his successor. Japanese, Hobbit No Boken. Illustrator: Ryuichi Terashima. Reproduced
by permission of Iwanami Shotcn, Publisher, Tokyo. Portuguese, 0 Gnomo. Livararia Civilizac£o copyright © 1962. Russian, Hobbit, ili Tuda I obratno.
Detskaya Literatura copyright © 1976. Slovak, Hobbitis. Bradslava: Mladl Let4 copyright © 1973. Reproduced by permission of die illustrator, Nada
Rappensbergcrovti-Jankovi£ovd. Swedish, Hompen, eller, En resa dit och tillbaksigen. Koopcrativa Forbundets Bokforlag copyright © 1947, and Bilbo en
Hobbits Aventyr. Rabin 8c Sjogern copyright © 1962. Reproduced by permission of Tove Jansson, Moomin Characters, Ltd. Yugoslavian, Hobit. Mirna
Pavlovec—Mladinska knjiga Ljubljana.
The audior has made every effort to locate all owners of illustrations and copyrighted material and to obtain permission to reproduce diem. Any er­
rors or omissions are unintendonal and corrections will be made in future printings if necessary.
I cannot imagine a pleasanter old age than one spent in the
not too remote country where I could reread and annotate
my favorite books.
— Andre Maurois
What we read with pleasure we read again with pleasure.
— Horace

Contents
Preface to the Second Edition xi
INTRODUCTION 1
1. AN UNEXPECTED PARTY 29
2. ROAST MUTTON 60
3. A SHORT REST 87
4. OVER HILL AND UNDER HILL 100
5. RIDDLES IN THE DARK II5
6. OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN INTO THE FIRE 137
7. QUEER LO DGINGS l6l
8. FLIES AND SPIDERS igi
9. BARRELS OUT OF BOND 222
10. A WARM W ELCOM E 241
11. ON THE DOORSTEP 255
12. INSIDE INFORMATION 267
13. NOT AT HOME 289
14. FIRE AND WATER 302
15. THE GATHERING OF THE CLOUDS 314
16. A THIEF IN THE NIGHT 326
17. THE CLOUDS BURST 333
18. THE RETURN JOURNEY 346
19. THE LAST STAGE 355
Appendix A. The Quest ofErebor 367
Appendix B. The Runes 378
Bibliography 380
Map of Wilderland 399