The Hobbit
core novel 1937 Middle-earth
Record
| First published | 1937 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.30 (4,487,047 ratings, collected 2026-08-06) |
| Page count | 366 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780345339683 |
Synopsis
The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving hobbit content with a quiet life in his home in the Shire, whose routine is upended when the wizard Gandalf arrives and talks him into hosting an unexpected gathering of thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield. The dwarves explain that they intend to reclaim their ancestral kingdom beneath the Lonely Mountain and the treasure hoard that once belonged to their people, both lost long ago when the dragon Smaug descended upon their halls and drove them into exile. Reluctantly recruited as the company's burglar, Bilbo sets out with the dwarves on a journey that carries him far from the comforts of home into increasingly dangerous territory. Along the way, he draws on reserves of courage and cleverness he never suspected he had, as the group makes its way steadily closer to the mountain and the dragon that guards it.
Where it sits
- Universe: Middle-earth
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within Middle-earth (standalone work): position 1 of 28: next The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
Sources
← Middle-earth dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.