There is a lot more in him than you guess,
and a deal more than he has any idea of himself.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Summary
Hobbits, the narrator explains, are little people, roughly
half the size of humans, with thick hair on their feet, round bellies,
and a love of good food, comfort, and security. Though some hobbits
live in houses, they traditionally live in holes in the ground.
The holes are not dank and smelly but comfortable, cozy underground
dwellings with all the amenities of their aboveground counterparts.
The hole occupied by the hobbit known as Bilbo Baggins is called
Bag End. It is quite a pleasant dwelling, with comfortable furniture
and a well-stocked kitchen, nestled in a snug little village under
a hill.
Bilbo’s ancestry is somewhat noble by hobbit
standards: his father was from the well-to-do, conventional Baggins
family, but his mother was from the Tooks, a wealthy, eccentric
family infamous for their unhobbitlike tendency to go on adventures.
Despite his Took blood, however, Bilbo prefers to stay at home and
live a quiet life.
On the day the story begins, Bilbo is enjoying a pipe
outside his front door when an old man with a long cloak and a staff
arrives. After the old man introduces himself, Bilbo recognizes
him as the wizard Gandalf, who has created spectacular fireworks
displays on holidays in Hobbiton, but Bilbo still looks on the old
wizard with a suspicious eye. When Gandalf asks if Bilbo would be
interested in going on an adventure, Bilbo declines and quickly
excuses himself. He invites the wizard to come over for tea sometime
but only so as not to seem rude—in reality, he wants nothing to
do with Gandalf and his adventures.
When the doorbell rings the next afternoon, Bilbo assumes
it is Gandalf. To his surprise, a dwarf named Dwalin pushes past
him and promptly sits down to eat. Soon, other dwarves begin to
arrive, and as Bilbo’s neat little home becomes crowded with dwarves, Bilbo
becomes increasingly confused and annoyed. At last, Gandalf arrives
with the head dwarf, Thorin. The thirteen dwarves and the wizard
nearly clean out Bilbo’s pantry before finally settling down to
discuss their business.
It soon becomes clear that Gandalf has volunteered Bilbo
to be a “burglar” for the dwarves on their adventure. The hobbit
protests, and the dwarves grumble that the soft little hobbit does
not seem suited to their adventure. Gandalf, however, is certain
that Bilbo is useful, and insists that there is more to the hobbit
than meets the eye.
The wizard then brings out an old map of a great mountain
and points to a mysterious secret entrance, a door to which Thorin
holds the key. Bilbo demands some clarification about the point
of the whole expedition. Thorin explains that his grandfather, Thror, mined
the mountain shown on the map and discovered a wealth of gold and
jewels. Thror then became King under the Mountain, but his fantastic
treasure attracted unwanted attention. Before long, the dragon Smaug
came and killed or scattered all of Thror’s people. The
dragon has been guarding the treasure ever since. Thorin and the dwarves
are out to reclaim their rightful inheritance, even though they are
unsure of what to do with Smaug when they find him.
