The Hobbit or There and Back Again

Előszó

The Hobbit is a tale of high adventure, undertaken by a company of dwarves, in search of dragon-guarded gold. A reluctant partner in this perilous quest is Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving, unambitious hobbit, who surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and his skill as a burglar.
Encounters with trolls, goblins, dwarves, elves and giant spiders, conversations with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent, and a rather unwilling presence at the Battle of the Five Armies are some of the adventures that befall Bilbo. But there are lighter moments as well: good fellowship, welcome meals, laughter and song.
Bilbo Baggins has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of children's fiction. Written for Professor Tolkien's own children. The Hobbit met with instant acclaim when published. It is a complete and marvellous tale in itself, but it also forms a prelude to The Lord of the Rings.
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This is a story of long ago. At that time the languages and letters were quite different from ours of today. English is used to represent the languages. But two points may be noted, (i) In Enghsh the only correct plural of dwarf is dwarfs, and the adjective is dwarfish. In this story dwarves and dwarvish are used*, but only when speaking of the ancient people to whom Thorin Oakenshield and his companions belonged. (2) Ore is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kinds). Ore is the hobbits' form of the name given at that time to these creamres, and it is not connected at all with our ore, ork, applied to sea-animals of dolphin-kind.
Runes were old letters originally used for cutting or scratching on wood, stone, or metal, and so were thin and angular. At the time of this tale only the Dwarves made regular use of them, especially for private or secret records. Their runes are in this book represented by English runes, which are known now to few people. If the runes on Thror's Map are compared
* The reason for this use is given in The Lord of the Rings, III, 1136. Vissza