"Mr Baggins began as a comic tale between conventional and incoherent fairy-tale dwarves, and was dragged to the margins - so much so that even Sauron the Terrible peered over the edge." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay -JRR Tolkien, letter to his editor (quoted in Carpenter 1977, 182). The Hobbit began as little more than a bedtime story for Tolkien's Children. Like most of his academic colleagues, Tolkien considered fantasy to be limited to childhood. The result was a book written in a chatty, informal style that contrasts sharply with that of his serious successors. The narrator makes frequent condescending and intrusive digressions, such as "And what would you do, if an uninvited dwarf came and hung his things in your hall without a word of explanation?" (H, 18). The language sometimes approaches childish speech (unpleasant, dirty, wet, slimy smell of a hole"), and modifiers abound ("terribly", "lots and lots"). Many critics, including Tolkien himself, have seen this as the language's major weakness. Although the tone evokes the oral tradition through which the myths were originally created, it detracts from the book's power. It makes the villains more comical than truly menacing, its heroes more endearing than majestic believes that The Hobbit "lacks a certain intellectual weight" and "deserves little serious, purely literary criticism" (Helms 1974: 53). The novel cannot be studied in isolation, but it must be studied be seen in the broader context of Tolkien's literary philosophy and the entire mythical tradition, since the writing of The Hobbit influenced and was influenced by the profound intellectual change that its author was undergoing, namely the development of the philosophy of art. mythopoiesis, or myth-making. In his lecture "On Fairy Stories", given only a few months after the publication of The Hobbit, Tolkien expressed the opinion that myth represents the truth about humanity and its environment far better than the stark fact of science can. A. It allows people to see in a new light what has become banal and monotonous. Although Elves, for example, do not “exist” in the scientific sense, they embody the creative ability and immortality of the human spirit, and therefore exist. As Tolkien says, the narrator “creates a secondary world that your mind can enter. Inside it what he tells is "true": it agrees with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, so to speak, in it." He called this process sub-creation: by creating a parallel world, the creator of the myth emulates God, the supreme creator. The Bible is the divine and definitive fable because it reconciles the truth historical with mythical, and all man-made myths will reflect this. He famously disliked allegory and saw myth as an entirely different art form. darkness of modern life and, through the eucatastrophe, or happy ending, provide a joy akin to religious ecstasy However, he could not find any indigenous mythology in his home country, and so, in his own words, he decided to. create "a body of more or less connected legends, ranging from the broad and cosmogenic level to the level of the romantic fairy tale that I could simply dedicate it to England" (quoted in Rogers & Rogers 1980: 30). borrowed extensively from ancient and medieval, only some of which can be detailed in this essay. The Old English poem Beowulf inspired his, among othersmain villain, Smaug. In his other famous lecture, entitled Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, Tolkien dismissed scholars critical of the central theme that monsters occupy in the poem, and argued that "they are essential [and] give it its elevated tone and its high seriousness". They embody radical evil, he argues, and create the true heroism possible. So when Bilbo encounters the dragon's treasure, he takes a cup, just as Beowulf's nameless servant does. Both works end with the slaying of a dragon, but, more interestingly, they begin with the defeat of quite similar creatures: Grendel in Beowulf, Gollum in Hobbit. Smaug is a creation of many other sources, some that the author himself would dispute. Its name comes from the Germanic verb smugan which means "to push through a hole". It is a fusion of serpent and bird, symbolizing the union of earth and sky or, in psychoanalytic terms, id and superego. Therefore, his death determines the balance of both the slayer and the community. The dragon also resembles the biblical serpent and with great skill causes Bilbo to doubt his party (Nitsche 1979: 44). There are even echoes of parables in which Smaug's vanity and greed cause him to reveal his weakness and thus bring about his downfall. Tolkien was also heavily influenced by Norse mythology. The elves, trolls and especially the dwarves of the Hobbit, who forge wonderful and precious treasures in the depths of the mountains, are Nordic creations. The dwarf leader's name, Thorin Oakenshield, is found in the Prose Edda and comes from the Icelandic words Thorin, meaning "brave," and Eikinskjaldi, meaning "with oak shield." Another typically Nordic feature is the importance of luck in the composition of a hero, although in Tolkien Catholic "luck" certainly contains elements of divine providence. The riddle contest, which has been called the centerpiece of the story and which the narrator assures us is "sacred and of immense antiquity" (H, 84), mirrors The Saga of the Gentle Hedrik the Wise, where Odin disguises himself and wins a contest of puzzles by asking a question that is not a riddle. As in fairy tales around the world, rhyme and music play an important role in The Hobbit in reflecting the order or disorder of nature. Rituals, in general, and banquets in particular, signify communion and balance. This explains why a period of intense danger and suffering on the company's journey is always followed by a feast hosted by a hospitable representative of Middle-earth. The character of Beorn has a rich mythical heritage. Bears are revered by the Celts and respected by the Norse for their primitive power. Beorn derives its name from the Nordic words for warrior, beorn, and bear, bjorn. Perhaps it is modeled on the legendary beserkers, warriors who would go into such a frenzy during battle that they performed extraordinary feats. As both man and bear, he represents the unity of nature and society, longed for by humanity since the fall. It embodies both the cruelty and honesty of nature. For this reason, shamans often took on animalistic qualities during rituals (O'Neill 1979: 118). The fact that both the Bear (earth) and the Eagles (sky) offer their help on more than one occasion symbolizes once again the unity between all aspects of nature and the human psyche once evil has been defeated. However, "you learn little by digging deep into" the compost pile to see which dead plants originally ended up there. It is much better to observe its effect on the new and growing plants which it is enriching" (Carpenter 1977: 182). Despite the influences mentioned above, and many others, Tolkien was not interested simply in rehashing other people's stories, but in mythopoeia .Although Tolkien did not begin The Hobbit withthis intention, he soon found himself, quite unexpectedly, "discovering" a world with its scientific laws, races, and even proverbs, such as "escaping goblins to be captured by wolves" (H, 101). If there is a specific point at which The Hobbit begins to transcend its modest beginnings, it is surely with Bilbo's discovery of the ring. The importance of this part of the book creates a strange and unconventional structure, certainly not planned by the author himself. The phrase "It was a turning point in his career, but he didn't know it" marks the beginning of a change in tone: it remains simple and informal, but begins to deepen and mature. The enchanted talisman is a powerful mythical symbol, and with the words "slid silently on his groping forefinger", Tolkien already implies that the ring has a will of its own. It is Bilbo's (and the reader's) first experience of true magical power, unlike Gandalf's first fireworks. The ring is the link between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and its discovery represents a turning point in both Tolkien's career and that of his protagonist. Another link is the troglodyte Gollum, the first incarnation of real, adult evil. He is the ancient figure of the "non-human", made even more disconcerting by the fact that he was once a hobbit and therefore, in Jungian terms, represents Bilbo's dark side. It is fitting that Bilbo discovers this aspect of himself on the shore of a deep, murky lake, after a physical descent into the mountain. This is representative of the descent into his psyche. The hero's journey into the underworld, of which Orpheus' is the best known, has always been accompanied by isolation, entrapment, and the loss of control over the spell. His quest is to emerge with some powerful symbols that will mark his initiation into adulthood. To keep the ring, Bilbo must face his long-suppressed Took side, a side he does not fully embrace until he has descended once more, into the mountain of Smaug. The death of the dragon is another turning point in The Hobbit in both theme and character development. . The previously clear boundaries between good and evil begin to blur and the theme of the nature of heroism is developed. Thorin, until now the character closest to the conventional fairy tale hero, becomes stubborn and greedy. Although he remains firmly on the side of good, his position is usurped by Bard, who embodies the courage and selflessness required of a fairy tale hero. Of course, none of these traditional heroes are the Hobbit's most important hero. That title belongs to Bilbo, the "non-hero" with his many flaws. Because he is all too human, his growth gives hope and inspiration to ordinary people. Tolkien certainly identified with him, writing "I am indeed a hobbit (in everything except size)" and equating hobbits, in their lack of imagination but potential for courage, with the English in general (quoted in Rogers & Rogers 1980 :126) Bilbo's sacrifice of the Arkenstone, his noblest act, develops the very Christian theme that renunciation can be a more powerful act than acquisition. The approval of Gandalf, the guide and teacher who is in this world but not quite, reinforces the religious overtones. It is he who, at the end of his journey, reminds Bilbo that he was simply a small player in a divine plan: Surely you will not disprove the prophecies just because you helped fulfill them yourself? You don't really believe, do you, that all your adventures and escapes have been managed by pure luck, only for your sole benefit? [You are] just a small individual in a vast world, after all! (H, 285). Because Tolkien wanted to maintain a remoteness and fantastical quality, there is no explicit mention of a Christian God in The..