On what date is Bilbo Baggins’s birthday in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth?

Bilbo Baggins’s birthday in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth is 22 September.

Bilbo was born on 22 September 2890 of the Third Age, according to Tolkien’s chronology. The date is also Frodo Baggins’s birthday: Frodo was born on 22 September 2968 of the Third Age. Their shared birthday is important because Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday party opens The Fellowship of the Ring and sets the story’s main events in motion.

Bilbo’s birthday celebration is held in Hobbiton, with fireworks, a large gathering, and his famous farewell speech. He uses the occasion to leave the Shire and pass the One Ring to Frodo. Tolkien chose the date as a recurring chronological link between uncle and nephew, not merely as a detail of character biography.

Fans sometimes call 22 September “Hobbit Day,” a modern celebration associated with both Bilbo and Frodo.