What was the original subtitle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit?

The original subtitle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was There and Back Again.

The book’s full title is The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. The subtitle summarizes Bilbo Baggins’s journey from his comfortable home in Hobbiton, across dangerous lands, and back to the Shire. It also resembles the kind of retrospective travel title that Bilbo might give to his own account of the adventure.

The story follows Bilbo as he joins Thorin Oakenshield and a company of Dwarves seeking to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasure from Smaug. The subtitle remains part of the canonical title even though most editions and conversations use the shorter name The Hobbit. The phrase also appears in Tolkien’s wider fictional tradition of written records and memoirs. It should not be confused with The Lord of the Rings, whose three volumes have separate titles such as The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King.