For Thursday: The Hobbit, Chapters 5-7

NOTE: At the end of these questions is a link to an article I published a few years ago in Oklahoma Humanities magazine about Tolkien, the Hobbit, and the purpose of fantasy literature (some of which we discussed in class today). If you're interested in getting more context into the way I read this book, and how I position it within the framework of older fantasy writing, you might find it interesting. It has pictures, too! :)  

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In Beowulf, a work which Tolkein not only translated but was highly influenced by, the phrase “wyrd” is often used, which translates to fate or chance.  In one significant passage, Beowulf claims, “Wyrd saves oft/the man undoomed if he undaunted be.”  How does fate (or luck?) seem to function similarly in The Hobbit?  Is this a book where Bilbo is guided by a higher power…or does he make his own luck? How might Tolkien want us to read this?

Q2: One of our clever students made a connection between Grendel and the Grinch in class, and we see another connection to a character with a ‘G’ in their name: Gollum. How might Gollum share more than a passing resemblance to Grendel, and related to this, how does Tolkien re-write Beowulf’s epic confrontation with him in the chapter “Riddles in the Dark”? How might Bilbo (another ‘B’ name) be a conscious re-writing of Beowulf in a more humane, more heroic light?

Q3: Tolkein purposely went back and revised The Hobbit to bring it in line with his evolving mythology and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Though we can read The Hobbit as a stand-alone work, where do we see foreshadowings and links to the later works in this one? How, for example, do we know the ring isn’t just a magic trinket but a true “ring of power”? In other words, how do we know this work is being written in a ‘present’ time where the readers know that this story is the ancient past?  

Q4: How does Bilbo live up to his name and pedigree in these chapters and become, in a small way, a hero of legend? What causes him to do this? Is it an accident, like the way Gandalf tricked him into undertaking the Quest, or is it a conscious decision of Bilbo’s? Discuss a scene where you see him renounce his identity as a "burgher" and become a "burglar."  

Link to my article, "Roads Go Ever On: Fantasy Literature's Quest for Home" (begins on page 42): https://www.okhumanities.org/doccenter/d66870df8ad249eb8b9ca560123d1db4