What date is shared by Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’s birthdays in Tolkien’s stories?

Bilbo and Frodo Baggins share the birthday date of 22 September in Tolkien’s stories.

Bilbo was born on 22 September 2890 of the Third Age, while Frodo was born on 22 September 2968. The date is especially important in The Lord of the Rings because Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday party is held on that day, and Frodo turns 33, the age at which Hobbits traditionally come of age.

The birthday celebration opens The Fellowship of the Ring and creates the circumstances for Bilbo’s farewell from the Shire. Bilbo gives Frodo the One Ring before leaving, although the wider significance of the gift is not immediately understood by the guests.

The year is not the same for the two Hobbits, so 22 September is the shared date rather than a shared birth year. Tolkien’s use of the date also helped make the opening of the story memorable and easy to place chronologically.