Bilbo Baggins says “All that is gold does not glitter” in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
The lines appear in a poem about Aragorn that Frodo finds in Bree. The poem begins with “All that is gold does not glitter” and describes a figure whose true identity and worth are not immediately visible. Frodo initially encounters Aragorn as the weathered ranger Strider, so the verse becomes a clue about his hidden heritage.
Bilbo composed the verse after hearing accounts of Aragorn’s life and character. It is one of the literary links between Bilbo’s earlier role as a poet and storyteller and the larger history unfolding in The Lord of the Rings. The poem also foreshadows Aragorn’s eventual return as king.
The quotation is frequently attributed to Aragorn because it describes him, but Tolkien’s text identifies Bilbo as its author. It is also commonly remembered as “Not all those who wander are lost,” the poem’s next famous line, though that wording is not the opening of the verse.