Bilbo Baggins
| House / Order | The Bagginses of Bag End |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Hobbit |
| Status | Departed |
| Origin | Bag End, Hobbiton, the Shire |
| Born | 22 September T.A. 2890 |
| Died | Sailed over Sea, 29 September T.A. 3021 (aged 131) |
| Weapon | Sting; the mithril coat |
| Fate | Found the One Ring; gave it up freely; sailed into the West, the oldest Hobbit ever to live in the Shire |
| Portrayed by | Ian Holm (and Martin Freeman in The Hobbit films) |
Bilbo Baggins of Bag End was the Hobbit whose unlooked-for adventure in the Quest of Erebor first brought the One Ring out of the dark and into the affairs of the Free Peoples. Burglar of Thorin Oakenshield's company, finder of the Ring, and the beloved eccentric of Hobbiton, he is the protagonist of The Hobbit and the figure on whom the whole later history of The Lord of the Rings silently turns.
It was Bilbo who, in the caves under the Misty Mountains, chanced upon the Ring and — crucially — spared the life of Gollum out of pity rather than slaying him. And it was Bilbo who, alone of all who ever bore the Ring, gave it up of his own free will. From him passed to his heir Frodo both Bag End and the perilous inheritance that would unmake Sauron.
Origins
Bilbo was born on 22 September T.A. 2890, the only child of Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took. From his father's respectable Baggins line he had comfort, wealth, and propriety; from his mother's adventurous Took blood, a buried streak of wildness and wonder. He lived a quiet bachelor's life of meals and pipe-smoke at Bag End until, in his fifty-first year, Gandalf arrived to upend it.
Biography
The Quest of Erebor
- Main article: Quest of Erebor
Gandalf chose Bilbo as the "burglar" for Thorin Oakenshield and his company of thirteen Dwarves, who sought to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its hoard from the dragon Smaug. Reluctant at first, Bilbo proved his worth many times over: he outwitted trolls, escaped the goblins of the Misty Mountains, freed the Dwarves from the spiders of Mirkwood and the cellars of the Woodland Realm, and spoke in riddles with Smaug himself. At the Battle of Five Armies he sought peace even at the cost of the treasure, giving the Arkenstone to Thorin's foes to force a settlement, and was reconciled to the dying Thorin at the last.
Riddles in the Dark
The most fateful moment of the Quest was the least heralded. Lost in the tunnels beneath the Misty Mountains, Bilbo found a small golden ring on the cave floor and put it in his pocket. He then met Gollum and won a riddle-contest for his life, escaping by the Ring's power of invisibility. Though Gollum pursued him murderously, Bilbo — having the chance to kill him unseen — held back his hand out of pity. He did not then know that the trinket was the One Ring of Sauron, nor that his mercy would prove the salvation of the world.
The long years and the Party
Bilbo returned to the Shire rich, eccentric, and unaccountably unaged — for the Ring stayed the years upon its bearer. He adopted his young cousin Frodo as his heir. In T.A. 3001, at his "eleventy-first" (111th) birthday party, Bilbo used the Ring to vanish before the whole Shire as a parting jest and left for Rivendell. Only Gandalf's firm pressing made him leave the Ring behind for Frodo — and even then he gave it up grudgingly, the one sign of how deep its hold had grown.
Rivendell and departure
Bilbo settled at Rivendell, where he wrote poetry and worked at his book and translations from the Elvish, "There and Back Again" and the lore that became the Red Book of Westmarch. He gave Frodo two parting gifts that saved his life: the sword Sting and the priceless mithril coat. By the war's end Bilbo was very old and drowsy, the Ring's long influence ebbed from him. On 29 September T.A. 3021, as one of the Ring-bearers, he was granted passage over Sea, and sailed from the Grey Havens with Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, and Frodo into the Undying Lands — at 131 the oldest Hobbit the Shire had ever known.
Character
Bilbo embodies the unexpected heroism of the small and homely. Fond of comfort, food, and his own front door, he is nonetheless capable, when called, of courage, cleverness, generosity, and — most importantly — mercy. His pity for Gollum is the moral seed of the entire legendarium's climax, the deed Gandalf later names as having "ruled the fate of all." His freely surrendering the Ring sets him apart from every other bearer and measures the soundness of his heart. Curious, kindly, and quietly brave, Bilbo is the bridge between the Shire's snug world and the wide, perilous one beyond it.
Relationships
- Frodo Baggins — his cousin, adopted heir, and the one to whom he passed the Ring.
- Gandalf — his old friend, who first drew him into adventure.
- Gollum — whom he bested and, crucially, spared.
- Thorin Oakenshield — leader of the Dwarf-company, reconciled to Bilbo at his death.
- Elrond — his host and friend in the long years at Rivendell.
- Sam — whom he taught his letters and his love of Elvish tales.
Appearances
- The Hobbit
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Return of the King (departure)
- Unfinished Tales ("The Quest of Erebor")
In Peter Jackson's adaptations, the elder Bilbo was portrayed by Ian Holm in The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), and the younger Bilbo by Martin Freeman in The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014).
Quotes
I am old, Gandalf. I don't look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts... I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.
Roads go ever ever on, / Over rock and under tree, / By caves where never sun has shone, / By streams that never find the sea.