The History of the Hobbit

The History of the Hobbit #1-2

by John D. Rateliff (Editor), J.R.R. Tolkien

In one volume for the first time, this revised and updated examination of how J.R.R. Tolkien came to write his original masterpiece The Hobbit includes his complete unpublished draft version of the story, together with notes and illustrations by Tolkien himself.

The Hobbit was first published on September 21,1937. Like its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, it is a story that "grew in the telling," and many characters and plot threads in the published text are quite different from the story J.R.R. Tolkien first wrote to read aloud to his young sons as one of their "fireside reads."

Together in one volume, The History of the Hobbit presents the complete text of the unpublished manuscript of The Hobbit, accompanied by John Rateliff's lively and informative account of how the book came to be written and published. Recording the numerous changes made to the story both before and after publication, he examines--chapter by chapter--why those changes were made and how they reflect Tolkien's ever-growing concept of Middle-earth.

As well as reproducing the original version of one of the world's most popular novels--both on its own merits and as the foundation for The Lord of the Rings--this book includes many little-known illustrations and draft maps for The Hobbit by Tolkien himself. Also featured are extensive commentaries on the dates of composition, how Tolkien's professional and early mythological writings influenced the story, the imaginary geography he created, and how Tolkien came to revise the book years after publication to accommodate events in The Lord of the Rings.

Endorsed by Christopher Tolkien as a companion to his essential 12-volume The History of Middle-earth, this thoughtful and exhaustive examination of one of the most treasured stories in English literature offers fascinating new insights for those who have grown up with this enchanting tale, and will delight any who are about to enter Bilbo's round door for the first time.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Reference, Literature, Literary Criticism, Young Adult

1545 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2007

About the author

JOHN D. RATELIFFmoved to Wisconsin in 1981 in order to work with the Tolkien manuscripts at Marquette University. He has been active in Tolkien scholarship for many years, delivering papers on Tolkien and the Inklings. While at Marquette, he assisted in the collation of their holdings with those Christopher Tolkien was editing for his History of Middle-earth series. A professional editor, he lives in the Seattle area with his wife and three cats, only one of whom is named after a Tolkien character.

Reviews

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this (quite scholarly) book on the history of my all-time favourite: The Hobbit. In this work the published version is compared to first and second drafts, and the changes are explained using many references of other Tolkien scholars, letters that Tolkien himself wrote, etc. It's a really interesting insight into the process of how the story is formed, but I don't recommend it to casual readers. It's very in depth. Though I have read a lot on Tolkien's work already, this one definitely taught me new things.

[Maggi LeDuc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, it took 3 months, but I have finished! Completely worth it and I am filled with knowledge about and love for JRRT like never before.

[Sarah Zama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic!
This is a presentation of Tolkien’s process in creating The Hobbit. The reconstruction on when it happened, the possible circumstances of why he even decided to write this story, his motivations. Then the author follows each chapter very closely, examining all the surviving material concerning The Hobbit through seven revisions, though the bigger chunk is dedicated to the first draft.
All texts are presented in their entirety and commented page by page, exploring the evolution of the story and Tolkien’s likely inspiration or motivation for using one element rather than another.
I loved Tolkien’s synopsis best of all. The story as it was firstly conceived was quite different from the one we know today and seeing how Tolkien worked the plot and the characters was just fascinating.
It’s a great companion. A demanding read, I’ll admit, but so rewarding for a Tolkien fan.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into the writing of the original, so much detail that I could definitely appreciate even more now that I’ve read The Lost Tales & Silmarillion stories, so much great stuff about the writing process & writing at that period of time that I find particularly interesting. Now I feel like picking up The Hobbit and just reading the original completed tale again.

[Stephanie Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Rateliff is a star. This extensive bindup of what was originally two volumes, cataloguing and commentating upon the known composition history, inspiration for, and rewrite journey of Tolkien’s classic title The Hobbit, is absolutely fascinating from start to finish. Following the early manuscript, as a reader intimately familiar with the published text, is a delight, narrowly but delightfully beaten out by Rateliff’s own commentary essays on such wide-ranging topics as British Dragon myth, Switzerland hiking excursions, and spider anatomy. This wide-ranging work of scholarship is just so much fun to sift through, with such a helpful structure (typically, a chapter from manuscript or typescript, followed by textual notes, followed by original essays with their own explanatory footnotes). My nerdy little heart devoured everything, and I was able to note down several referenced titles (on Tolkien and related topics) that I would like to consult next.

If you know anyone in your life who is deeply invested in Tolkien lore, looking to become a children’s fiction or general fantasy author, or is a nerd about all things mythological and fantastical, this would be an excellent present. The single-volume hardcopy is absolutely beautiful in person, and held up with admirable fortitude through my heavy-use cover-to-cover reading.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gandalf the Wizard was originally named Bladorthin. Bilbo was supposed to kill Smaug the dragon. After the publication of Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien began work on a revised version of the Hobbit in which Bilbo stopped at Bree. These are some of the delightful tidbits included in "The History of the Hobbit."
Dense and exhaustively researched, this is THE definitive volume regarding the process by which Tolkien wrote The Hobbit. Containing an extraordinarily faithful transcript of the first draft of the novel, this book also documents various phases of writing. Half textbook, half alternate universe version of the beloved tale, this book is essential reading for the sort of person who has read through the entirety of the History of Middle Earth series.

[Pamela Bronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is interesting and sometimes fascinating for hardcore Tolkien geeks (like me) who are curious about how the story came about, how it changed in the writing, and what literary and even real-world sources influenced it. Some examples: Bilbo was originally going to slay the dragon; Tolkien's aunt lived on a farm nicknamed Bag End (which of course is English for cul de sac.)

But even more casual fans will enjoy many parts of it.

The most famous and important changes are to the chapter about Gollum.

It was interesting to see how much his prose improved from one draft to the next. It might be worthwhile for writers to study how he changed it.

There were a few parts I skimmed over, but they were quite few considering the size of this book, which I read slowly over more than five months.

I'm so glad that some revisions he worked on in 1960 did not make it into print. He was trying to make The Hobbit more serious and grown-up to match the sequel, either not recognizing or not accepting that they were fundamentalIy different kinds of literature. I greatly enjoyed reading a scene of the group crossing a river in troll country with the ponies trying to run away, but Tolkien ruined the Bag End party scene by taking out much of the whimsy. Happily, when he asked a trusted friend to read it and she said, "It's wonderful, but it's not The Hobbit", he believed her and desisted.

I enjoyed reading his correspondence with Arthur Ransome. Tolkien was awed that one of his sons' favorite authors liked his book. He was also eccentric enough to copy some of the letters into Feanorian script for his own amusement.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of research put into this book is staggering. The scholarly value is, I dare say, above that of History of Middle Earth (while maintaining proportions, of course). I'm so glad I saved this book for last, so to speak, and read it only after a thorough study of all the materials Christopher Tolkien published. Because without that thorough study, I'd have been drowned in references to History of Middle Earth knowledge. I was not and, in fact, I enjoyed connecting the dots to the Legendarium as much as I had fun with the actual Hobbit writing process.

It was fascinating to see how much of the initial drafting of the Hobbit story remained unchanged in the published form. It was also fascinating to see that many years later, Tolkien actually began to re-write the whole thing in LoTR mode. Most people think that's a failed experiment and one of the happier instances in which Tolkien abandoned a project he embarked on. Personally, I would have LOVED a serious version of The Hobbit, but I'm sure it would have been a completely different book and even the main plot threads would have been transformed, if Tolkien had carried on re-writing.

To my mind, this book is mandatory for any Tolkien and Middle Earth scholar.

[Jeff Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must if you are a diehard Tolkien fan. A weighty tome, deeply researched and thoroughly annotated, it provides a unique look into the drafting of the book as well as revisions and a never before view into a revision Tolkien abandoned to try and shift The Hobbit into the feel of the Lord of the Rings.
The annotations can be a bit deep and intimidating, but the author himself encourages the reader to utilize only what they feel they need.
Highly recommended

[Boris Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

In-depth look at the writing process that one of the greatest children's books of all time went through. Picked this up to read the 1960 revised chapters of the Hobbit but everything else seems very well-researched and interesting.

[Ettelwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nevím, jestli mi spadl kámen ze srdce nebo je tohle první krok k ještě hlubšímu, nezlomnému závazku. Závazku, u kterýho se budu pravidelně vztekat.

Díky Tolkiene, že nejseš bez chyby.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed, in-depth, fascinating for a fan of the deep-lore of MiddleEarth. Reading this book, and seeing more clearly the reflections of the larger legendarium (Silmarillion and History of MiddleEarth) in The Hobbit I gained a far greater appreciation for The Hobbit itself.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scholarly tour de force

Superb. An achievement of literary scholarship on a par with anything published by anyone whose last name was not Tolkien. Will enhance anyone’s appreciation of the published work. Highly recommended.

[Josh Olds · Rating 4 out of 5]

The History of the Hobbit is a massive work. At nearly one thousand pages and almost three inches thick, John Rateliff’s work of literary archaeology stands alone—literally and figuratively. Originally published in 2007 as a two-volume work, The History of the Hobbit traces Tolkien’s journey from the first sentence of The Hobbit scrawled on a bit of paper through all the various name, plot, and stylistic changes that developed both pre- and post-publication. In 2011, those two volumes were revised, expanded, and updated into a one-volume edition, which has now been given a new cover and reprinted in 2023.

The first thing I should comment on in Rateliff’s methodology. Following Christopher Tolkien’s example in The History of Middle Earth, Rateliff errs on the side of leaving too much in. Speaking of Christopher Tolkien, The History of the Hobbit comes vetted by the man himself, who saw it a worthy companion to his own extensive attempts to chronicle JRR Tolkien’s work. Each chapter begins with a headnote by Rateliff, followed by a piece of The Hobbit, then a tailnote by Rateliff. After this comes text notes discussing difficult readings, various changes made between manuscript, typescript, and published versions; Rateliff’s commentary on the topics arising out of the chapter; and then concluding with notes on that commentary. If it sounds like a lot, it’s because it is.

Rateliff writes in the introduction that he attempted to keep his commentary typographically distinct from Tolkien’s work. This is accomplished in The History of the Hobbit by using smaller text for the commentary and larger text for story proper. While this does a bit of the work, I think more could have been done to delineate the structure and create better narrative flow between The Hobbit and its commentary. Some of the notes would have been integrated better as footnotes. Others could have been inserted into the commentary rather than as endnotes which aren��t truly endnotes. This is not Rateliff’s fault and I’m sure that much of what would have made the book more easily readable would also have expanded its size.

The bulk of The History of the Hobbit is dedicated to the pre-publication Hobbit. Rateliff divides the book Five Phases: The First Phase is divided into “The Pryftan Fragment,” so named because Pryftan is the original name Tolkien gave Smaug the dragon, and “The Bladorthin Typescript,” so named because Bladorthin is original name of Gandalf. (The name Gandalf originally being for Thorin.) These sections set up the history of the book—when Tolkien began to write and what his original idea looked like.

Phase Two begins a different and later manuscript but continues its way through the first draft narrative. This phase is the longest, taking the reader from about Bilbo’s encounter with the trolls all the way to the siege of the mountain. Here, Rateliff gets into a bit of a stride and the book’s pacing and readability quickens. The commentary sections are structured as essays, so my advice would actually be to utilize this book as a reference tool rather than reading it alongside the first draft—or any published version of The Hobbit. That, to me, seems simpler and allows for both Rateliff’s work and Tolkien’s first draft to not lose focus to the other.

Phase Three takes readers from King Bard through to the end of the story. This text began with the creation of the First Typescript, where Tolkien returned to the beginning and reworked and polished everything he’d written previously. Interestingly, The History of the Hobbit is able to refute the popular notion that Tolkien stopped work on The Hobbit for a period of years and nearly gave it up. This notion, first printed in Humphrey Carpenter’s seminal biography of Tolkien, is the common one repeated over and over again, but Rateliff’s examination of Tolkien’s drafts shows that this isn’t really the case. Phase Three finishes off the story proper, incorporates all changes to the names and characters we know today, and serves as the basis for the first edition.

Because The History of the Hobbit is a work of literary archaeology and not literary history, Rateliff does not spend time on the publication of the first edition in 1937. I wish he had, if only to serve as a transition to Phases Four and Five. Instead, we skip publication and move into Phase Four—the 1947 second edition that substantially updated the work to better align with The Lord of the Rings. The differences between the first and second editions are intriguing. In the first edition, Gollum willingly gives Bilbo the ring (which was not already in its pocketses) and leads him out of the mountain. With The Lord of the Rings, Gollum’s role changes significantly and so must the story. Those interested in reading this first edition can either find one on eBay—if you’re willing to part with around $20,000—or there is a more recent facsimile first edition that will do the job as well. The second edition is the basis for today’s modern editions and Rateliff takes readers through the journey of altering what was already a classic in preparation for The Lord of the Rings. This section focuses on Tolkien’s own writing on the changes, as well as documenting what changes were made along with why. Hilariously, Rateliff shares an unpublished letter from Tolkien to a friend’s daughter saying “As for ‘the Hobbit’. There are a fair number of errors in it; and though I keep on sending corrections in to Allen & Unwin they don’t seem to get put right.”

The final phase of the book moves back from publication to speculation. Having substantially revised the book once after publication, and famously never being content to move on from his work (like most famous writers, it seems), in 1960 Tolkien began to work on another revision. This work was intended to rework The Hobbit into the larger Lord of the Rings story by making it align in tone, chronology, and style. Ultimately, Tolkien never completed this—a good thing in my reckoning, as the nature of the story as a children’s tale contains for me most of its allure. The History of The Hobbit documents some of these changes, a few of which did make into the 1966 third edition of the book. The final 150 pages of the book are appendices and index. The appendices include an attempt to derive the etymology of the word ‘hobbit,’ one of Tolkien’s letters to The Observer, a listing of the names of the dwarves, and other miscellanea.

Once again, The History of the Hobbit is a lot. It’s best chewed in small chunks over a period of time. I myself did a long and deep dive, reading a facsimile first edition, listening to the Andy Serkis audiobook version, and reading through The History of the Hobbit very closely. It’s not something I would do for just any book! My primary criticism is not in the book’s content, but its presentation. Rather than a reprint of the 2011 one-volume edition, I would rather have seen a division into two (or even three) volumes. This book is for the Tolkien collector and for those who interested in how great authors develop their work. Much of what Tolkien left for us in the form of scraps of writing, multiple typescripts, and so on simply doesn’t get left in the digital age. The History of the Hobbit shows readers the time, effort, and genius behind Tolkien’s most-celebrated work. Rateliff has accomplished the impossible, and while it’s not perfect—much like the book whose history it recounts, it’s a master-work.

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. my. gosh. What an incredible book. The amount of work that must have gone into this enormous volume is staggering. There is just so much information packed into this book, on every single topic you could want to know more about and many more you might never have considered (such as what kind of thrush Bilbo would have encountered at Erebor). At times I felt the book was a bit heavy on aspects such as related story inspirations or historical information, but really, if you're not interested in such things they are easily skimmed. Even more rarely, the book strayed more into Tolkien's mythology than seems related to The Hobbit (for example, a lengthy passage on Thingol) but these segments of course will be enjoyed by strong Tolkien fans and again, easily skimmed over by those only interested in The Hobbit. To be able to see so precisely how The Hobbit developed, and to read such insightful commentary on that development, is a very great treat for any Tolkien or Hobbit fan. Highly recommended!

[H. P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing a post on John Rateliff’s encyclopedic The History of the Hobbit isn’t the problem. The problem is writing one that doesn’t turn into a 3,000 word behemoth itself. I will try very hard to keep this post to a reasonable length while dropping as many nuggets of knowledge as possible.

Rateliff’s primary focus is Tolkien’s original draft of The Hobbit. A full, heavily annotated copy is included. The text itself is footnoted, and each chapter (there were no chapter divisions in the original draft, so according to the final book) is followed by a section digging into it. Most notable perhaps are the notes on the etymology of various words Tolkien invented and comparisons with the Silmarillion as it existed at that time (quite different than what would eventually be published). Rateliff also includes Tolkien’s occasional bouts of outlining, and notes the probable splits in the drafting (Tolkien tended to work in great spurts in between academic semesters).

Rateliff views The History of the Hobbit as complementary to Douglas Anderson’s The Annotated Hobbit (which I have not read). The Annotated Hobbit “takes as a starting point the first printing of 1937 and scrupulously records every change and correction to the text by Tolkien from that point onward, while [Rateliff looks] backwards from the moment of the first printing to tell the story of how the book was written.”

Rateliff’s book is particularly interesting for its examination of Tolkien’s source material. Many books note that, for example, Tolkien was inspired by Beowulf, but the length of Rateliff’s book and the focus on just The Hobbit allow for him to cast a far wider net. For example, Rateliff gives examples from Dunsany of “really good and legendary burglars.”

I find myself thinking a lot these days about the inherently derivative nature of fantasy. The History of the Hobbit makes that obvious. It isn’t that Tolkien directly copied someone else; it is that there were sometimes dozens of examples of a single motif that he could draw from. The idea that he drew heavily from Wagner’s Ring Cycle is a lot less convincing when you consider that his original conception of the ring was very different and that magic rings are a common motif in folklore. Even something like petrification, that he may have introduced to English fiction, was an example of Tolkien popularizing, rather than inventing, a motif. In Tolkien’s case, this was intentional. He saw great value in folklore, in the reinvention of folklore, and in “ancient belief over artificial invention.”

As I mentioned above, the ties to Beowulf are hardly unknown, but Rateliff’s analysis is robust and welcome. Even more so are his comparisons to Sigurd.

I have few points of contention, although Rateliff’s refusal to speculate on Beorn’s height and his dismissiveness toward those who have is weird coming from a guy who wrote a book analyzing and speculating on everything else in The Hobbit.

Rateliff makes a very convincing case that The Hobbit is and was always intended to be closely tied to Tolkien’s legendarium. Of course that legendarium would look very different by the time it was finally published. That created any number of problems for Tolkien, as did the elements pulled into The Lord of the Rings, but he had a knack for fixing seeming contradictions in worldbuilding with more worldbuilding, “solving a problem in the received text by addition, not contradiction or replacement.”

It is remarkable is how little Tolkien changed his original draft prior to its first publication. But there are some important differences from his first conception. Thranduil and the Mirkwood wood elves, not so heroic even in the published book, were originally worse. The biggest change, though, is that Tolkien originally planned a large battle near the Anduin on the return journey. This would have involved Beorn and the goblins, but not the dwarves. Eventually he settled on bringing Beorn and the goblins east for the Battle of Five Armies. In doing so, he avoided the problems the Scouring of the Shire would later create for The Lord of the Rings. Rather than place an important scene in an overlong denouement, he is able to incorporate it into a stronger climax.

More nuggets:
• Rateliff dates the drafting as starting in the summer of 1930 and ending in January 1933 (there is quite a bit about why he settles on these dates even though others, including Humphrey Carpenter, offer different dates)
• Tolkien started work on a full revision of The Hobbit in 1960 to match The Lord of the Rings in both tone and canon, but abandoned it early on after feedback; the new work simply wasn’t The Hobbit (Peter Jackson would later apparently receive no such feedback)
• According to Tolkien, “Mirkwood is not an invention of mine, but . . . probably the Primitive Germanic name for the great mountainous forest regions that anciently formed a barrier to the south of the lands of Germanic expansion”
• Tolkien toyed with the idea that “the original orcs were the least of the spirits corrupted by Morgoth, just as balrogs are greater spirits”—the orcs and goblins we see would have been their lesser descendants
• John the Evangelist was Tolkien’s favorite apostle
• Dunsany used man-sized spiders in his story The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save For Sacnoth
• Tolkiens’ elves were originally smaller than humans
• The Mirkwood chapter (one of the best, in my opinion) was the only chapter extensively rewritten prior to the book’s original publication (Tolkien cut Bilbo using a ball of spider-thread to find his way and added the enchanted stream)
• The Jewish influence on Tolkien’s dwarves both resulted in a much more positive depiction than that of the folklore from which he drew and long predated his 1965 radio interview in which he directly identified the influence
• Tolkien at one point made a note asking “what happened to the musical instruments used by the Dwarves at Bag-end?” (I’m glad I’m not the only one who wondered that)

[Josh Olds · Rating 4 out of 5]

The History of the Hobbit is a massive work. At nearly one thousand pages and almost three inches thick, John Rateliff’s work of literary archaeology stands alone—literally and figuratively. Originally published in 2007 as a two-volume work, The History of the Hobbit traces Tolkien’s journey from the first sentence of The Hobbit scrawled on a bit of paper through all the various name, plot, and stylistic changes that developed both pre- and post-publication. In 2011, those two volumes were revised, expanded, and updated into a one-volume edition, which has now been given a new cover and reprinted in 2023.

The first thing I should comment on in Rateliff’s methodology. Following Christopher Tolkien’s example in The History of Middle Earth, Rateliff errs on the side of leaving too much in. Speaking of Christopher Tolkien, The History of the Hobbit comes vetted by the man himself, who saw it a worthy companion to his own extensive attempts to chronicle JRR Tolkien’s work. Each chapter begins with a headnote by Rateliff, followed by a piece of The Hobbit, then a tailnote by Rateliff. After this comes text notes discussing difficult readings, various changes made between manuscript, typescript, and published versions; Rateliff’s commentary on the topics arising out of the chapter; and then concluding with notes on that commentary. If it sounds like a lot, it’s because it is.

Rateliff writes in the introduction that he attempted to keep his commentary typographically distinct from Tolkien’s work. This is accomplished in The History of the Hobbit by using smaller text for the commentary and larger text for story proper. While this does a bit of the work, I think more could have been done to delineate the structure and create better narrative flow between The Hobbit and its commentary. Some of the notes would have been integrated better as footnotes. Others could have been inserted into the commentary rather than as endnotes which aren’t truly endnotes. This is not Rateliff’s fault and I’m sure that much of what would have made the book more easily readable would also have expanded its size.

The bulk of The History of the Hobbit is dedicated to the pre-publication Hobbit. Rateliff divides the book Five Phases: The First Phase is divided into “The Pryftan Fragment,” so named because Pryftan is the original name Tolkien gave Smaug the dragon, and “The Bladorthin Typescript,” so named because Bladorthin is original name of Gandalf. (The name Gandalf originally being for Thorin.) These sections set up the history of the book—when Tolkien began to write and what his original idea looked like.

Phase Two begins a different and later manuscript but continues its way through the first draft narrative. This phase is the longest, taking the reader from about Bilbo’s encounter with the trolls all the way to the siege of the mountain. Here, Rateliff gets into a bit of a stride and the book’s pacing and readability quickens. The commentary sections are structured as essays, so my advice would actually be to utilize this book as a reference tool rather than reading it alongside the first draft—or any published version of The Hobbit. That, to me, seems simpler and allows for both Rateliff’s work and Tolkien’s first draft to not lose focus to the other.

Phase Three takes readers from King Bard through to the end of the story. This text began with the creation of the First Typescript, where Tolkien returned to the beginning and reworked and polished everything he’d written previously. Interestingly, The History of the Hobbit is able to refute the popular notion that Tolkien stopped work on The Hobbit for a period of years and nearly gave it up. This notion, first printed in Humphrey Carpenter’s seminal biography of Tolkien, is the common one repeated over and over again, but Rateliff’s examination of Tolkien’s drafts shows that this isn’t really the case. Phase Three finishes off the story proper, incorporates all changes to the names and characters we know today, and serves as the basis for the first edition.

Because The History of the Hobbit is a work of literary archaeology and not literary history, Rateliff does not spend time on the publication of the first edition in 1937. I wish he had, if only to serve as a transition to Phases Four and Five. Instead, we skip publication and move into Phase Four—the 1947 second edition that substantially updated the work to better align with The Lord of the Rings. The differences between the first and second editions are intriguing. In the first edition, Gollum willingly gives Bilbo the ring (which was not already in its pocketses) and leads him out of the mountain. With The Lord of the Rings, Gollum’s role changes significantly and so must the story. Those interested in reading this first edition can either find one on eBay—if you’re willing to part with around $20,000—or there is a more recent facsimile first edition that will do the job as well. The second edition is the basis for today’s modern editions and Rateliff takes readers through the journey of altering what was already a classic in preparation for The Lord of the Rings. This section focuses on Tolkien’s own writing on the changes, as well as documenting what changes were made along with why. Hilariously, Rateliff shares an unpublished letter from Tolkien to a friend’s daughter saying “As for ‘the Hobbit’. There are a fair number of errors in it; and though I keep on sending corrections in to Allen & Unwin they don’t seem to get put right.”

The final phase of the book moves back from publication to speculation. Having substantially revised the book once after publication, and famously never being content to move on from his work (like most famous writers, it seems), in 1960 Tolkien began to work on another revision. This work was intended to rework The Hobbit into the larger Lord of the Rings story by making it align in tone, chronology, and style. Ultimately, Tolkien never completed this—a good thing in my reckoning, as the nature of the story as a children’s tale contains for me most of its allure. The History of The Hobbit documents some of these changes, a few of which did make into the 1966 third edition of the book. The final 150 pages of the book are appendices and index. The appendices include an attempt to derive the etymology of the word ‘hobbit,’ one of Tolkien’s letters to The Observer, a listing of the names of the dwarves, and other miscellanea.

Once again, The History of the Hobbit is a lot. It’s best chewed in small chunks over a period of time. I myself did a long and deep dive, reading a facsimile first edition, listening to the Andy Serkis audiobook version, and reading through The History of the Hobbit very closely. It’s not something I would do for just any book! My primary criticism is not in the book’s content, but its presentation. Rather than a reprint of the 2011 one-volume edition, I would rather have seen a division into two (or even three) volumes. This book is for the Tolkien collector and for those who interested in how great authors develop their work. Much of what Tolkien left for us in the form of scraps of writing, multiple typescripts, and so on simply doesn’t get left in the digital age. The History of the Hobbit shows readers the time, effort, and genius behind Tolkien’s most-celebrated work. Rateliff has accomplished the impossible, and while it’s not perfect—much like the book whose history it recounts, it’s a master-work.

[Clinton Tibbitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

For 2022 I decided to read essentially all of the books that contained Tolkien's writings' of middle-earth. This book was the culmination of all of that reading. I had saved it until last as I had just finished reading the 12 volumes of History of Middle Earth as well as the adopted 13th Volume; 'The Nature of Middle Earth' by Carl Hostetter. This book seemed like the next logical step as it was a history of the writing of The Hobbit (in the same vein as The History of Middle Earth) like was compiled by an author that was not Christopher Tolkien (just like 'Nature of Middle Earth). In a way I was glad that I saved this one until the end; because I actually enjoyed this more than all of the History of Middle Earth volumes and more than Nature of Middle Earth.

Of all the Middle-Earth books I read in 2022; The History of the Hobbit was by far the longest endeavor (if you discount the Index this book comes in at a hefty 912 pages). Not to mention this is much more of a deep dive than even the History of Middle Earth volumes were. While this book does go into the different drafts and versions of The Hobbit that existed throughout the years that tolkien wrote it; John D. Ratliff examines that possible origins of almost every aspect of the stories. Relating the possible influences that Tolkien drew from Chaucer, Shakespeare, Old Norse and Greek Mythology, Egyptian Mythology and especially his own family interests (we get frequent reminders that the drew audience of The Hobbit was his children).

I loved reading the History of Middle Earth volumes; but let me be the first to tell you, they can be dry as a dessert when it comes to reading them from cover to cover and realistically should be bought and kept as references more than novels to just sit down and read. For all intents and purposes; 'The History of the Hobbit' should have felt the same way...but it just didnt. The deep doves became super interesting and actually managed to keep me reading (despite the Herculean length of the book).

The Hobbit will forever be my favorite JRR Tolkien writing and perhaps that is my bias for loving this book as much as I did. If you love the hobbit and just want to know all you can about how it was written and the POSSIBLE influences behind Tolkien's writing of it; pick this one up and just dive in!

[Ludvig Solnør · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spennende å kunne følge utviklinga av historien. Den opprinnelige planen var for eksempel at Bilbo skulle drepe dragen, istedenfor å bare stjele en kopp. Mange andre til kom heller ikke med i utgivelsen av boka i 1937. Bilbo skulle navigere seg gjennom Myrkskog ved hjelp av edderkoppspinn, slik som Tesevs gjennom Labyrinten for eksempel.

Man får også lese de ulike revisjonene av boka etter den ble utgitt. For eksempel i første utgave ga Gollum fra seg ringen frivillig til Bilbo, mens i den andre utgaven fra 1951 ble den endret til den historien som siden har vært på trykk for å tilpasse seg Ringenes Herre. Man får lese om endringer som aldri ble utgitt fra 1960 der de første kapitlene ble endret for å tilpasse seg geografien fra Ringenes Herre.

I tillegg til selve manuskriptene og teksten fra Tolkien får man lese essay om ulike tema som dukker opp i teksten og mulige inspirasjonskilder. Dette innebærer blant annet folketro fra Storbritannia på 1700- og 1800-tallet, norrøne sagaer, greske myter, konflikter mellom studenter og borgere i Oxford, kjente rettsaker fra 1800-tallet, Tolkiens egne opplevelser på ferie i Sveits, og MYE MER!

Det eneste negative med boka er at originalteksten til tider blir beskrevet veldig nøye. Jeg bryr meg ikke veldig mye om hva slags papir eller blekk som har blitt brukt. Men jeg skjønner at dette har vært viktige hint for å datere teksten.

Uansett en veldig interessant bok. Anbefales!

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the creation of one of the world's most endearing fantasies.

John D. Rateliff does a fantastic job examining all the various manuscripts. The book is thoroughly researched and well-written, providing the reader with a wealth of knowledge and a deeper understanding, and thus enjoyment, of The Hobbit.

Rateliff opts for semantic precision more than reader accessibility with his writing, using words like "recalcitrant" and "suzerainty" instead of "troublesome" and "dominion". I was grateful to be reading this on the Kindle app, where I could simply highlight a word and obtain the definition. I also do not think the manner in which Rateliff treated the 1960 Hobbit was entirely fair - he seemed biased in his judgment and dismissed most of what was good about it.

These small manners aside, The History of The Hobbit is an excellent book that I would recommend to serious Tolkien fans. If you enjoyed Christopher Tolkien's The History of Middle-earth, you will enjoy this book as well.

[Victoria Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

An incredibly thorough and interesting at The Hobbit and its development over the years. Despite the fact that the book is rather long, I positively devoured it (as seen by my reading speed) and enjoyed reading not only the original manuscripts of the novel but also Rateliff's annotations, notes, and explanations. Rateliff's additions were also very well done as they are not only detailed and well researched, but also do not disturb the reading of the manuscript text itself but are rather added at the end of each chapter. To see the changes in Tolkien's writing and (to some extent) his mythology was incredible as it truly shows how Middle- Earth changed in the mind of its creator. To compare these changes to the finished Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other Middle-Earth works is very fascinating. The history of The Hobbit is a very interesting read for every Tolkien fan and I can only recommend the book!

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tolkien enthusiasts will have a great time wading through this sizeable tome. Rateliff has thrown his heart and soul into exhaustively researching the drafting and crafting that went into Tolkien's quintessential fable. There's pretty much all you ever wanted to know about how The Hobbit evolved as a written text. For those with a passion for Middle Earth, or those with a literary bent, this is well worth your time. Casual Fantasy readers on the other hand will likely find the discussion overly dense.

[Bob Cooling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understanding JRR Tolkien

I gave this book five stars since the author was able to expound about Tolkien's thought process when creating his fictional world and the creatures living in, on and under Middle Earth and Arda. This is a scholarly work and will only be appreciated by those readers of Tolkien's created universe who appreciate the effort Tolkien expended in creating his fictional world.

[Pony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sustained and substantial read best suited to serious JRRT fans. The author does not just consult the written material, but in a scholarly way interleaves it with the film material. It does go on (and on) so you certainly get value for money, with heaps and heaps of footnotes, Read this and you'll be ready to a 3 year degree course in LOTR studies! I enjoyed it immensly, but then I'm a bit odd that way!

[JD Shaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly I did not read every page of this book. I read perhaps every page of the first 10-15%, but then realized that it makes a wonderful reference volume and not really a "sit down and read" volume. I will be very happy to slowly dip into it as I re-read "The Hobbit" or have any particular themes I wish to explore in the future.

[Chris Seltzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggle to rate this one because if you view it as a work of scholarship for diehard Tolkien fans then it's exceptional.

However, outside of that small niche I can't really recommend the book. If you are that diehard literary scholar then you probably have already decided to read this and don't care about my opinion.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable achievement however I would encourage reading the physical copy as it is as much a reference work as it is a narrative. You'll also want to have your copy of the Hobbit handy as well. I got tired of trying to page back and forth on my Kindle but that is a deficiency of the medium and not the book itself.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic in proportion - obviously, just look at the page count! Well-written coverage of the history of the writing of The Hobbit, I learned quite a lot about the writing process Tolkien undertook and how the story leaned on his previous (and future, as pertains to subsequent editions post-Lord of the Rings) writings, both publishing and unpublished.

[Joe Kitchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative and detailed history of the writing of The Hobbit. This book includes the original manuscript/typescript as well as that of the 2nd edition. There is an account of the origin/inspiration of each "race" in the story, from elves, to dwarves, and from spiders to wargs. I highly recommend this to all Tolkien fans.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Rateliff clearly did his research into the writing history of one of the most beloved children's books. I loved learning about Tolkien's process of writing and re-writing The Hobbit. The facsimile of the first edition of The Hobbit was a great addition to the book.