The first word of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is “In.”
The novel opens with the sentence, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” This immediately introduces the story’s central creature and establishes the comfortable underground home that contrasts with Bilbo Baggins’s later adventures.
The opening is one of the most recognizable beginnings in fantasy literature. It presents Bilbo’s home as unusually pleasant rather than primitive, emphasizing the hobbit preference for food, comfort, routine, and respectability. Gandalf’s arrival and the dwarves’ unexpected visit soon disrupt that settled life.
Readers sometimes remember “a hobbit” as the first phrase, but the actual first word is “In.” The full opening sentence also explains why “hobbit-hole” became such a distinctive image in Tolkien’s fiction: Bilbo’s dwelling is both a literal burrow-like home and a symbol of the sheltered world he leaves behind.