Bilbo Baggins is 111 years old at the beginning of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday is the opening occasion of The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien uses the unusual phrase “eleventy-first” for 111, giving the birthday a distinctly Hobbit-like flavor. The celebration takes place in Hobbiton, where Bilbo gives a famous farewell speech before disappearing with the help of his magical ring.
Bilbo’s age is important because Hobbits are portrayed as unusually long-lived compared with modern humans. His birthday party also connects the apparently cozy opening of the story to the larger history of the One Ring. Bilbo acquired the Ring during the events of The Hobbit and secretly kept it for decades.
Readers sometimes confuse Bilbo’s age with Frodo’s. Frodo is 33 when he comes of age, but he is 50 when the main action involving the Ring begins. Bilbo is 111 at the party, while Frodo is 33 years younger than his uncle.