With the movie having recently debuted across cinemasworldwide, a look at Tolkien’s work seems but natural.
A thrilling prelude to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, ‘TheHobbit’ takes the reader into the deepest mountains of the author’s imagination.Staring right into the face of terror, Bilbo Baggins (the hobbit and also knownas ‘The Burglar’ to the rest of his peers) encounters ‘Smaug the Magnificent’,who lives in the lonely mountain. Smaug is a dangerous dragon and the keeper oflooted gold.
The story begins at the home of Bilbo Baggins, a bustlinghobbit village of Hobbiton where he led a peace and quiet life devoid of anyadventure. This idyllic life of Baggins quickly goes out the window with thearrival of Gandalf the Wizard. He introduces the hobbit to the 13 militantdwarves who have planned to set out on a journey to the Lonely Mountain toreclaim the gold stolen by Smaug, (who also drove them away from their homes inthe mountain). Bilbo is now the reluctant 14th member of this group set out tovanquish the dragon.
There are various encounters with the different creatures ofmiddle earth, the most significant of which is Gollum and the attainment of themagic ring that makes him disappear when he wears it. This is the turning pointof the book as the hobbit now has the means to help his friends and even comeface to face with the dragon without being harmed. The book then goes intovarious battles with the ‘Wood Elves’ kidnapping the dwarves, battles withGoblins, transportation to safety via eagles, Smaug being killed by a Bard andthe final journey culminating in the ‘Battle of The Five Armies’. After thetrilling adventure (the conclusion of which will not be revealed as you willhave to experience it yourself when you read the book or watch the movie!), theHobbit and Gandalf return to Hobbiton where Bilbo continues to live a long andpeaceful life.
While the movie barely does justice to the book, the vividimagination of the author comes through in every page. One can follow thejourney and adventures of The Hobbit and relive the very first battles ofmiddle-earth whilst meeting for the first time, the beloved characters of theLord of the Rings.
