The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins before the events of The Lord of the Rings.
Published in 1937, the novel tells how Bilbo leaves his quiet home in Hobbiton and joins Thorin Oakenshield and a company of dwarves on a journey to the Lonely Mountain. Their goal is to reclaim the dwarves’ treasure from Smaug, the dragon who occupies it.
The story also introduces Bilbo’s discovery of a mysterious ring in the tunnels beneath the Misty Mountains. In The Hobbit, the ring is initially presented as a useful magical object that helps Bilbo escape from Gollum. Tolkien later revised its significance while writing The Lord of the Rings, making it the central instrument of Sauron’s power.
The book is therefore both a complete adventure and a predecessor to the later epic. Its tone, narration, and characterization are generally lighter than those of The Lord of the Rings, even though the two books share places, characters, and historical events.