Bilbo Baggins is 50 years old when J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit begins.
The novel opens on 22 September 2941 of the Third Age, Bilbo’s fiftieth birthday. He is living a comfortable, respectable life in Bag End when Gandalf and thirteen dwarves arrive and draw him into Thorin Oakenshield’s quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug.
Bilbo’s age helps explain the contrast at the heart of the story. He is not introduced as a young warrior or an experienced adventurer; he is a settled hobbit whose Tookish ancestry makes him more adventurous than he first appears.
Readers sometimes confuse this age with other important dates. Bilbo turns 111 at the start of The Lord of the Rings, and Frodo is 33 when he comes of age. Bilbo’s birthday is 22 September, a date shared with Frodo.