J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 children’s novel about Bilbo Baggins is titled The Hobbit.
The book follows Bilbo, a comfort-loving hobbit who is drawn into a quest with the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves. Their journey leads toward the Lonely Mountain, where the dragon Smaug guards the dwarves’ treasure. The story began partly from Tolkien’s habit of inventing and telling tales for his children.
The Hobbit was published by George Allen & Unwin on 21 September 1937. It introduced readers to figures and places later central to The Lord of the Rings, although Tolkien expanded and revised elements of the earlier story as his mythology developed. Bilbo’s encounter with the One Ring is one of the most important links between the two works.