Bilbo Baggins’s birthday in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional history is 22 September.
Bilbo was born on 22 September in the year 2890 of the Third Age. His birthday is important because it is also shared by Frodo Baggins, who was born on the same date in 2968 of the Third Age. Tolkien uses the date to connect the two Hobbits and their roles in the history of the One Ring.
Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday begins The Fellowship of the Ring. At the party in the Shire, Bilbo gives a speech, uses the One Ring to disappear, and leaves Hobbiton. He later gives the Ring to Frodo, though Tolkien’s revised account makes clear that Bilbo did not originally tell the whole truth about how he acquired it.
Readers sometimes confuse the birthday date with the party date or with the date Frodo leaves the Shire. The celebration occurs on 22 September, while Frodo’s departure for Rivendell follows later in the year. Both Hobbits’ shared birthday is a major calendar detail in Tolkien’s legendarium.