On what date is Bilbo Baggins’s birthday in J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories?

Bilbo Baggins’s birthday in J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories is 22 September.

Bilbo was born on 22 September 2890 of the Shire-reckoning, and the date is also shared by Frodo Baggins, who was born on 22 September 2968. Bilbo’s famous eleventy-first birthday party opens The Fellowship of the Ring and provides the story’s transition from Bilbo’s generation to Frodo’s.

The birthday celebration is more than a social event. Bilbo uses it to make his sudden departure from the Shire, disappearing with the help of the One Ring and leaving Bag End to Frodo. Gandalf remains suspicious of the Ring and later investigates its history.

Readers sometimes remember 22 September as Tolkien’s own birthday, but Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892. The date is celebrated as Hobbit Day in some fan communities, while 22 September is also associated with Tolkien Week.