Critical Paper The Hobbit

The Hobbit: Between The Past and The Present
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien epitomizes the very ideals of fantasy itself. Most emblematic of these is
portrayed in that of Bilbo and Smaug; the former being a Hobbit that prefers to live by himself in a
comfortable environment, and Smaug, a dragon that has stolen the ancient treasure of the dwarves.
Both characters represent two different ideals, namely the past and the present. Their dynamic is like
that of a dichotomy between two sides seeking to find a certain commonality with each other to better
understand more about themselves.
Tolkien himself recognized that the hobbits have a certain nature that was based on the rustic, middle-
class English individuals which he lived among. This image allowed Tolkien
to investigate the differences between both the ancient and the present-day worldviews as the Bilbo of
the more modern age takes on a voyage to the old world of Middle-Earth. Bilbo himself, with his
common sense, peacefulness, and cordial self-doubt, is in numerous ways an Englishman of the rural
landscapes of the 1930's transplanted into a medieval experience1. This is in contrast to that of Smaug; a
dragon of the old world that fought Thorin Oakenshield’s grandfather, Thror, to seize the golden hoard
of the dwarves for himself. Smaug also has a personality to himself beyond being just a legendary
dragon in the form of a sardonic and mordant sense of humor; mostly about how he’d maim and kill
Bilbo and the dwarves2. Both of them are completely different beings that are repulsed by the other, but
there exists a much closer concept that they both share.
1
Shippey, Tom. J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. HarperCollins. p. 41. (2001). ISBN 978-0-261-10401-3.
2
Porter, Lynnette Tarnished Heroes, Charming Villains and Modern Monsters: Science Fiction in Shades of Gray on
21st Century Television. McFarland. p. 37. (2014). ISBN 978-0-7864-5795-3.
To answer how both characters’ dynamic that both are equal in, this can be surmised in Bilbo’s
conversation with Smaug in the 12th Chapter. Bilbo’s internal monologue describes the events that
happen as it does:
“This of course is the way to talk to dragons, if you don’t want to reveal your proper name (which is
wise), and don’t want to infuriate them by a flat refusal (which is also very wise). No dragon can resist
the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it. There was a lot here which
Smaug did not understand at all (though I expect you do, since you know all about Bilbo’s adventures to
which he was referring), but he thought he understood enough, and he chuckled in his wicked inside.” 3
The answer that connects both Bilbo who represents modernity of the early 20 th Century, specifically the
era of pre-World War 2 1930’s, and Smaug who represents old traditions and ancient codes of European
folklore and the stories of Viking poems, is that of riddles.
It is with riddles that both entities come to an understanding of each other; Smaug and Bilbo both use
riddles to describe one another’s ways of life. While it may seem that the idea of the riddle has a deeper
connection to Smaug given his representation of the old world, riddles have been a significant part of
children’s nursery rhymes during the time of Tolkien’s era 4. The contemporary period of the 1930’s had
a significant part of many fairytales in children’s books rife with riddles and other puzzles to test the
mental acuity as their brains developed. Both characters stand as narrative foils to each other, however,
it is with riddles that both beings are able to see beyond each other at face value and look inward at
what they really represent. In such a manner, this understanding culminates to cultivate a deeper
familiarity and interpretation for what they stand for. The Germanic mythology of which Smaug draws
3
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit (1st ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. (1937).
4
Burrows, Hannah, "Wit and Wisdom: The Worldview of the Old Norse-Icelandic Riddles and their Relationship to
Eddic Poetry", in Eddic, Skaldic, and Beyond: Poetic Variety in Medieval Iceland and Norway, ed. by Martin Chase
(New York: Forham University Press, 2014), 114–35; Hannah Burrows, "Enigma Variations: Hervarar saga's Wave-
Riddles and Supernatural Women in Old Norse Poetic Tradition", JEGP: Journal of English and Germanic Philology,
112 (2013), 194–216, doi:10.5406/jenglgermphil.112.2.0194, JSTOR 10.5406/jenglgermphil.112.2.0194.
great inspiration from, and the surroundings of the conventional home life, qualities, and standards of a
person raised during the pre-war era, all of which unites them in a time-honored literary form of the
riddles, which dates back to the very beginnings of oral tradition in a time where not even record
keeping or chronicling was conceived. That brings to light a more poetic dynamic for the power of the
riddle and its presence in human thought as an unchanging part of the human being and from which
literary devices and archetypes can draw inspiration from as well.
In a metaphorical sense, both characters representing the far ends of ideological and cultural periods of
time, alien to each other, find commonality with the riddle. The riddle being ever-present in modern-day
children’s books, while also having origins in the ancient world as tests of cunning and wits for the
heroes of old. With the riddle, the rural but civilized and cultured Englishman of the early 1930’s in the
United Kingdom and the dragon of classical tales told through word of mouth that were inspired from
plenty of myths and legends, can now finally understand and get to know who they are and what they
mean to each other.

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The Hobbit: Between The Past and The Present

understand more about themselves.

class English individuals which he lived among. This image allowed Tolkien

to investigate the differences between both the ancient and the present-day worldviews as the Bilbo of

common sense, peacefulness, and cordial self-doubt, is in numerous ways an Englishman of the rural

there exists a much closer concept that they both share.

folklore and the stories of Viking poems, is that of riddles.

literary devices and archetypes can draw inspiration from as well.

mean to each other.

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