The Hobbit

1. bibliografische gegevens
Auteur: J. R. R. Tolkien
Titel: The Hobbit
Ondertitel: or There and Back Again
Plaats: London
Jaar: 1975
Eerste druk: 1937

2. Samenvatting
This story is about Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, a small human-like creature, who lives in a nice hobbit-hole. On a morning in April, Gandalf, an old wizard, comes along and asks him if he wants to come with him on adventure. Hobbits don’t like adventure so he says no. The next day thirteen dwarves, by the names of Ori, Nori, Dori, Oin, Gloin, Kili, Fili, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Balin, Dwalin and Thorin Oakenshield, and Gandalf come for tea. They talk and sing about a treasure which was stolen by Smaug, a dragon, and now lies in the former kingdom of the dwarves under the Lonely Mountain in the East, where Thorin's grandfather was the king. At last Bilbo decides to go with them, and the next day they left on ponies.

In the beginning Bilbo liked the adventure but later, when the weather turns bad, he wished to go home. One day the pony with the food fell in the water, so they had lost much of their food. They are cold and wet and they are looking for a fire. They can see one burning in the forest. Bilbo, who had been appointed as the burglar, has to see who is at the fire and sees that there are three trolls. He wants to show something and he tried pick-pocketing one of them. The troll noticed it and grabed him. The dwarves came to help him and they are all caught too, but Bilbo escapes. The trolls quarrel about the best way of preparing the dwarves for breakfast. At that moment Gandalf came back – he had been away for some hours – and he saved the dwarves by saying some things with one of the trolls’ voices, so they kept quarrelling until sunrise and they turned into stone, because that is what all trolls do in sunlight.


The dwarves are freed and the have a look in the hole of the trolls where they find food, gold and weapons from the famous city of Gondolin. They buried the gold and took some of the swords and went on further, over the edge of the wild where danger is everywhere. Soon Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves arrived at Rivendell, the Last Homely House where Elrond lived with other elves. They staied there for two weeks to rest. Elrond studies Thorins map of the Lonely Mountain and read the moon-letters (which can only be read in the same season and with the same moon phase as when they are written), which say how they can find the secret door on the West Side of the mountain.

On Midsummer Day they left and headed for the Misty Mountains. When the company approached the pass over the mountains it started thundering and the group of fifteen took shelter in a cave. At night this turned out to be the front door of the goblins’ complex. They are all captured except for Gandalf, and the ponies were killed. Gandalf used some magic to free them again and he also killed the leader of the goblins. Then he led the flight through the goblins’ tunnels. On that flight Bilbo is lost.
He tried to find the exit on his own in the dark. He found a magic ring and he met Gollum, a nasty creature who lived alone in the dark, had no friends and ate  fish and sometimes a goblin. They started telling riddles to each other; if Bilbo is the first who doesn’t know the answer he’ll be eaten by Gollum, and if Gollum is the first he’ll show Bilbo the way out. Bilbo won, but not in a very fair way; he was wondering aloud what he had in his pockets, and Gollum thought that this was a riddle. Gollum started looking for his magic ring and he wouldn't help Bilbo till he has found it, so Bilbo leaves without Gollum, who thinks that Bilbo has found the ring.

Bilbo slipped the ring on his finger and fought through the tunnels, for Gollum was chasing him. Bilbo fell and Gollum ran past him without noticing, at that moment Bilbo knew that the ring makes him invisible. Gollum expected for Bilbo to flee to the exit of the tunnel and he ran there. Bilbo followed and outside he met his friend again. The company is left quickly because they expected an attack of the goblins. At a certain moment there was indeed an attack, but one of the wargs, a kind of wolves. They withstand the attack by using some magic fire but the soon arriving goblins lit the trees on fire in which they have climbed and the dwarves expect to lose the fight. Then the eagles arrived and picked them up, gave them some food and dropped them on the carrock the next morning.

The group of fifteen went to Beorn, who doesn’t really like people. They had a short rest and they headed for Mirkwood on Beorn’s ponies. On the edge of the wood they had to send the ponies back to Beorn and Gandalf left them because he has some urgent business in the south.

Mirkwood is a very dark and dangerous forest where is nearly nothing to find to eat or to drink. At a certain point they had to cross the enchanted river, which Beorn had warned them about. They used a boat to cross it, but the last dwarf, fat Bombur, feel in the river and feel asleep, so the others had to carry him. When he woke up there was no food left, but they saw fire and heard singing in the wood north of the path at night. When they reached the fire (Gandalf had warned them not to do that) they saw the wood-elves having a feast. When one of them stepped into the circle of light all the lights went out and some new ones appeared a little further ahead. This happened three times-the last time they lost each other completely and the next morning Bilbo found the dwarves – except Thorin, who was already captured by the wood-elves – captured by spiders. By using his magic ring Bilbo freed them but soon the dwarves are captured by the wood-elves because they interrupted their feast. Bilbo used his magic ring again to stay free. Thorin didn't tell the truth about why they are in the forest, namely the gold under the mountain, so they had to stay there. Regularly empty barrels are sent by the river to Esgaroth, the Lake-town. After two weeks Bilbo helped the dwarves to escape again in the barrels, and in this way they reach Esgaroth.

In Esgaroth Bilbo and the dwarves got a warm welcome, because the songs have come true. The king is back and gold will flow again from under the mountain. When the dwarves were healthy again (they were sick due to travelling in cold wet barrels) they left and went to the foot of the mountain.

After some time Bilbo discovered the place where the secret side-door in the mountain is, but they couldn't open it. At the beginning of winter, when the sun sets and the young moon is on the horizon (the dwarves call this Durin’s day, new year; this day was mentioned on the map of the mountain in moon-letters. At sunset the sun would shine on the keyhole) there appeared a crack in the rock in which Thorin can turn his key to open the door. Bilbo went down to take a look at the dragon. Smaug was asleep and Bilbo saw that there is still a treasure. He picked one golden cup out of it and brought it to the dwarves, who were happy to see it. Later Bilbo went down again and talked to the dragon, which had noticed there was a thief in his hall, and Bilbo found Smaug's weak spot. He told the dwarves about the weak spot, while a thrush listened. Then Smaug attacked them. They fled into the tunnel, and the mountainside with the tunnel is ruined. Smaug flew to Esgaroth, where the people could see him coming, and he attacked the town.

The citizens jumped into the water, even the master fled tothe lake, but a few men stayed to fight the dragon. One of these men was Bard, a direct descendant of Girion, lord of Dale, the town near the foot of the mountain. The thrush came and sat on his shoulder and told him Smaug's weak spot. With his last arrow Bard killed the dragon. Many people were wounded so the master got help from the wood-elves, who were already coming. In the meantime Thorin and his company went down and found out that Smaug was not at home. Thorin is looking for the Arken stone but he couldn't find it (Bilbo has found it and put it his pocked). He gave Bilbo a part of the treasure. When he heard that Smaug is dead Thorin sent a raven, aged over hundred years, to Dain, another dwarf-king who lived in the Iron-hills in the east,  telling him he needs to come.


The men from Esgaroth went to the mountain armed because the dragon, who they had killed, had demolished their town and they wanted a part of the treasure. The wood-elves came with them. Birds tell Thorin that armed people were coming and he fortified the mountain. When they arrived they asked for a part of the treasure, but Thorin didn’t give it to them. Bilbo went to Bard and gave him the Arken stone so that he would have a better position in the negotiations. Bilbo saw that Gandalf was back. Later Bilbo went to a safe lookout post on the side of the mountain when Dain arrived to attack the men and the wood-elves. At the same moment goblins and wargs came from the north. What follows is called the Battle of Five Armies, in which Thorin, Fili and Kili are killed. First it seemed that the goblins and the wargs were winning, but then the eagles from the Misty Mountains and Beorn arrived. After that, Bilbo went home with Gandalf. Since most of the goblins were killed in the battle it was safe and there wasn't many problems. At the point where the met the trolls they dug up the pots with gold and soon Bilbo is back home, where the Sackville-Bagginses were selling his property, asuming that he is dead. Bilbo had to buy things back. He had lost his reputation, but what did it matter? Some years later Balin and Gandalf came for tea. Balin said that gold is running again in the river and that Bard has rebuilt Dale.

3. Vertelinstantie
De vertelinstantie van dit verhaal is de auctoriale verteller. Meestal ligt het perspectief bij Bilbo maar soms worden er zaken vermeldt waar Bilbo niets van af wist. De verteller weet alles over de personages, verwijst naar de toekomst en is altijd objectief. Bewijzen zijn: But he did not tell Bilbo that there was one smell he could not make out at all, hobbit-smell; it was quite outside his experience and puzzled him mightily. (blz. 189) It was not the last time that he wished that! (blz. 37) De verteller kent de toekomst. But as that comes in at the end of this tale we will say no more about it just now. (blz. 101) Alleen de auctoriale verteller wendt zich wel eens tot de lezer. De functie van deze vertelinstantie is het verkrijgen van objectiviteit waardoor het verhaal duidelijker word. Door het geven van aanwijzingen over wat er in de toekomst gaat gebeuren wordt spanning opgebouwd.

4. Ruimte
Fysische ruimte. De fysische ruimte in dit boek is voor een groot deel al in de samenvatting ter sprake gekomen. Verder kunnen nog een aantal zaken opgemerkt worden. Het hol van Bilbo is gemaakt in een heuvel, met een ronde deur en ramen aan een zijde van het huis. Het onweer in de Misty Mountains kondigt onheil aan. Over de scène waar Bilbo Gollum ontmoet kan gezegd worden dat dit gebeurt in de donkere gangen van de orks. Er is daar een onderaards meertje met een eiland waar Gollum op woont. In het meertje leeft vis. Het bos waar ze later doorheen moeten is erg donker: overdag kun je er al haast niets zien, het bootje over de Enchanted River kunnen ze maar met moeite zien: … they knew Bilbo had the sharpest eyes among them. ‘Not at all far. I shouldn’t think above twelve yards.’ (blz. 124)
Psychische ruimte. Hierover kan ik vrij kort zijn. De eerste dagen van het avontuur is het zonnig en vindt Bilbo het nog leuk, als het een tijdje later gaat regenen vindt hij het niet meer leuk. Op de momenten dat het donker is, zoals in de tunnels van de orks, in Mirkwood of in de berg bij Smaug is er telkens sprake van groot gevaar.
Zintuiglijke ruimte. Deze speelt geen grote rol. Er kan opgemerkt worden dat op de momenten dat er groot gevaar is Bilbo en de dwergen soms meer gevaar zien of horen dan er is. In Mirkwood zien zij ‘s nachts vaak allerlei ogen zien, in de berg, wanneer Smaug dood is maar de dwergen en Bilbo dat nog niet weten schrikken zij ook heel erg van vleermuizen, terwijl die onschuldig zijn.

5. Tijd
Historische tijd
In het boek wordt vermeld dat het verhaal lang geleden speelt, op andere plaatsen geeft de schrijver dat iets preciezer aan: ongeveer 7000 jaar geleden. De omgeving in het verhaal doet echter vrij middeleeuws aan: On some of them were old castles with an evil look, as if they had been build by wicked people. (blz. 36) De tovenarij is eigenlijk in geen enkele tijd te plaatsen, evenals de vele niet-menselijke levensvormen als draken, elven, trollen en orks. Het is misschien het beste het verhaal in geen enkele tijd te plaatsen.
Verteltijd
De verteltijd van dit verhaal is 253 pagina’s. De vertelde tijd is ruim een jaar. Het verteltempo varieert aanzienlijk, de tijd die wordt doorgebracht bij Smaug in de Eenzame Berg wordt heel uitgebreid verteld, de terugweg heel kort.

Verwijzingen
Er wordt door de verteller af en toe expliciet naar de toekomst verwezen, zie ook het citaat bij de vertelinstantie. Er wordt ook een aantal keer naar het verleden verwezen, bijvoorbeeld als Gandalf vertelt wat zijn belangrijke zaken in het zuiden waren. Flashbacks komen niet voor.
Chronologie
Het verhaal wordt geheel chronologisch verteld.
Ab ovo – In medias res
Het verhaal wordt ab ovo verteld. Het begint met een beschrijving van wat een hobbit is waarna wordt verteld wat voor een avontuur er gaat komen.

6. Mening
Dit is het soort verhalen waar ik van houd. Alles wordt redelijk recht toe recht aan verteld en gaat niet te zeer om de psychologie van de hoofdpersonages – ik ben geen psycholoog. Alle personages met de al sterk verschillende fysieke kenmerken maken het verhaal ook erg interessant. Er is ook sprake van een zekere spanning en van komische situaties.

7. Opdracht B6
Het eerste tekstfragment dat mij erg aansprak kwam al in het begin van het boek op pagina 18: they have begun to arrive. Dit is een erg komische passage omdat Bilbo in feite enigszins in paniek raakt maar zich nog wel goed probeert te gedragen.
Een vergelijkbare situatie treedt op rond pagina 107: ‘Do you call two several?’ ‘Well, no. As a matter of fact there were more than two.’ Ook hier komen veel personen achter elkaar binnen, terwijl Gandalf vertelt wat ze hebben meegemaakt en daarbij een steeds groter aantal metgezellen noemt, waar Beorn op reageert waarna weer de volgende dwergen binnenkomen, wat weer een erg komisch effect geeft.

De derde passage op pagina 71-74 betreft het voorleggen van raadsels. Als lezer probeer je zelf het raadsel ook op te lossen, wat een hele kunst is. Ik had het verhaal al eens eerder gelezen, maar dit blijft leuk.
This thing all things devours;
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays kings, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
(blz. 74) Het antwoord was tijd.
Enkele passages spraken mij vooral aan vanwege het gevaar dat gesuggereerd word. De eerste hiervan is te vinden op pagina 44-45. ‘You’re a liar,’ said William; and so the argument began all over again. In the end they decided to mince them fine and boil them. (blz. 44) De trollen maken ruzie over de wijze waarop de dwergen klaar moeten worden gemaakt voor de maaltijd. Gandalf houdt de ruzie op gang.
In de laatste passage die ik hier wil noemen werd ook vooral gevaar gesuggereerd. Het geheel speelt zich af wanneer Bilbo in het hol van Smaug een gesprek met hem voert rond pagina 189. I know the smell (and taste) of dwarf – no one better. Bilbo waagt zich hier erg dicht bij de draak, ondanks dat hij onzichtbaar is blijft het gevaarlijk. Een draak die van dwergen houdt lust vast ook wel een hobbit.


8. Opdracht B7
De stroming waartoe dit boek behoort wordt genoemd fantasy. De belangrijkste kenmerken van deze stroming zijn het voorkomen van fictieve wezens en een zekere dosis magie. Dit boek was eigenlijk het eerste boek van deze stroming dat in enigszins moderne tijden is geschreven. De schrijver had voor het schrijven ervan Beowulf bestudeerd, en je kan duidelijk merken dat dit boek daar enigszins op is gebaseerd. Omdat dit boek, en het latere werk van Tolkien The Lord of the Rings, in feite voor het ontstaan van deze stroming zorgden zijn de kenmerken van deze stroming vooral op dit boe gebaseerd, en behoort niet het boek op grond van de kenmerken, zoals het voorkomen van een tovenaar als Gandalf of de aanwezigheid van draken, tot deze stroming. Een ander kenmerk is vaak de aanwezigheid van oorlogen en veldslagen en zo uiteindelijk de overwinning van goed over kwaad. Zelf ben ik niet erg goed bekend met andere schrijvers van deze stroming, maar navraag bij klasgenoten leverde enkele namen en titels op, zoals Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time, Robin Hobb, The Farsier Trilogy, Margareth Wein, The Darksword Trilogy.