Which day is Bilbo Baggins’ birthday in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit?

Bilbo Baggins’ birthday in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is 22 September.

Bilbo is born in the year 2890 of the Third Age, making him 50 when Gandalf and the dwarves arrive at Bag End to begin the quest for Erebor. His birthday is especially important because Tolkien later gives Frodo Baggins the same birthday.

The shared date connects the two protagonists of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday, meaning his 111th, forms the opening setting for The Fellowship of the Ring, where he gives a large party before leaving the Shire.

Readers sometimes confuse Bilbo’s birthday with the publication date of The Hobbit, which was 21 September 1937. The fictional birthday is 22 September, one day later. Tolkien’s use of the date also helped inspire the annual celebration known as Hobbit Day.