J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Brian Rosebury (University of Central Lancashire)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1937

Places

South Africa (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Originally conceived quite independently of the vast cycle of legends on which Tolkien had already been working for some fifteen years, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, a children's story, is the work in which elements of these legends are, for the first time, glimpsed within a more or less novelistic narrative. It was not the first story told to Tolkien's own children that achieved written form (Roverandom, published posthumously, preceded it), but it is the longest and most effective. Partially drafted around 1931-32, it attracted the attention of the publishers Allen & Unwin and was completed in 1936. Its success on publication in 1937 motivated the composition of The Lord of the Rings which is its sequel and …

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1249 words

Citation: Rosebury, Brian. "The Hobbit". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2001 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=586, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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