What is the full subtitle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit?

The full subtitle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is There and Back Again.

The complete title is The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. It describes Bilbo Baggins’s journey from his home in the Shire to the Lonely Mountain and his eventual return. The phrase also reflects the traditional shape of a travel narrative: departure, adventure and homecoming.

The subtitle is sometimes mistaken for a chapter title or for the name of a later adaptation. It belongs to Tolkien’s original novel, first published in 1937. The book’s plot concerns Bilbo’s role as a burglar in Thorin Oakenshield’s expedition, the dragon Smaug’s occupation of Erebor, and the discovery of the One Ring during Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum.