The Hobbit
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Party
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat; it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. (1)
Thank goodness for that blank page in an exam book Tolkien was grading; he used that page to begin his first novel, a children's adventure tale. And thus hobbits were born.
Gandalf! If you had heard only a quarter of what I have heard about him, and I have only heard very little of all there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale. (3)
This is our first glimpse of the wizard and it establishes that there will be more to him than can be explained in this tale. This allowed Tolkien to show the more serious sides and enhance the role of Gandalf in the LOTR. To the hobbits, his fireworks are admirable and about the only thing they really know about Gandalf.
"Good morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was
shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from
under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you
wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or
not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good
on?" (4)
Part of the humor in The Hobbit is playing with words. This is a precursor to the riddle game Bilbo will play with Gollum, and obviously important to the linguist Tolkien.
"I will give you what you asked for."
"I beg your pardon, I haven't asked for anything!"
"Yes, you have! Twice now. My pardon.
I give it you. In fact I will go so far as to send you on this
adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you--and profitable, too,
very likely, if you ever get over it" (6).
Again, humor comes from language taken literally. But also, Bilbo seems to have drawn attention to himself by first speaking to Gandalf, which could be fate, or could be Bilbo bringing his adventure onto himself.
"So you have got here at last!" was what he was going to say to Gandalf this time. But it was not Gandlaf. Instead there was a very old-looking dwarf on the step with a white beard and a scarlet hood; and he too hopped inside as soon as the door was open, just as if he had been invited. (7)
Gandalf's method of sending a few dwarves at a time to the door since he hasn't previously made sure that a group of thirteen dwarves and a wizard would be welcome for tea or dinner or overnight presages his similar tactic when the Company gets to Beorn's house.
Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates--
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!
Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!
Pour the mild on the pantry floor!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;
Pound them up with a thumping pole;
And when you've finished, if any are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!
So carefully! carefully with the plates! p 12
Humor comes from the danger of doing these things which the dwarves seem to threaten to do. But since the last line suggests that they will be careful, this can be seen as teasing Bilbo over what he values. But when we hear the next song about the loss of the dwarves of their homestead, the mountain and lifestyle they had carved out for themselves, a few broken glasses or plates seems insignificant. The hobbits' lifestyle, thereby, seems simplistic when compared to the Wide World.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.
For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.
On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day.
To claim our long-forgotten gold.
Goblets they carved there for themselves
And harps of gold; where no man delves
There lay they long, and many a song
Was sung unheard by men or elves.
The pines were roaring on the heights,
The winds were moaning in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
The trees like torches blazed with light.
The bells were ringing in the dale
And men looked up with faces pale;
The dragon's ire more fierce than fire
Laid low their towers and houses frail.
The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall to dying fall
Beneath his feel, beneath the moon.
Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away ere break of day
To win our harps and gold from him!
As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick. (13-15)
This song of the dwarves provides a sense of their skill with metals and precious gems and also the sense of loss when the dragon came and drove them out. Bilbo's reaction shows that even within the mild-mannered hobbits can lie the courage and desire for adventure that Bilbo feels and that will eventually awaken the leader in Bilbo which will allow him to rescue the dwarves and discover the heroic side of himself.
Old Took's great-granduncle Bullroarer, who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he cold ride a horse. He charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the Battle of the Green Fields, and he knocked their king Golfimbul's head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit-hole, and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same moment. (17)
Tolkien's tone in The Hobbit is whimsical, and the omniscient point of view narrator provides unnecessary but humorous information. However, also this quote shows the courage and adventurous nature of the Tooks who were Bilbo's ancestors. But again, the idea of the declining world, that Bilbo is less courageous or able as a fighter than his ancestors.
"You asked me to find the fourteenth man for your expedition, and I choose Mr. Baggins" (18).
Bilbo is, of course, the Lucky Number 14. His valuable traits seem to be his luck, his wits, and his sharp eyes, rather than his physical prowess, strength, or ability with magic to accomplish his role as hero of the Company.
"There is one point that you haven't noticed," said the wizard, "and that is the secret entrance. You see that rune of the West side, and the hand pointing to it from the other runes? That marks a hidden passage to the Lower Halls" (19)
The secret entrance will be essential for the completion of the dwarves' goals, in fact, necessary for Thorin and Company to believe they could accomplish their goal, though at this point it is unclear exactly what they do expect. Perhaps they think their burglar (Bilbo) will stealthily steal much of the stolen property back.
"Long ago in my grandfather Thror's time our family was driven out of the far North, and came back with all their wealth and their tools to this Mountain on the map" (22).
Even in Tolkien's "children's" tale, he couldn't help referencing the depth of history in the world, the interconnectivity between all the generations of each group of people. So Thorin and Company are influences by the actions of their ancestors. But also the suggestion is that this generation of dwarves can at best hope to regain something lost in the past not create their own new stronghold in a new mountain. This reinforces the Golden Age in the past vision on the world.
