Who wrote the 1937 novel The Hobbit?

Who wrote the 1937 novel The Hobbit? J. R. R. Tolkien wrote it.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, was written by the English philologist and author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. It follows Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving hobbit who joins Gandalf and thirteen dwarves on a quest to reclaim their homeland and treasure from the dragon Smaug.

George Allen & Unwin published the first edition on September 21, 1937. Tolkien illustrated the book and designed its dust jacket, while the first printing of 1,500 copies sold out rapidly. The story began as a children’s fantasy adventure but became connected to Tolkien’s wider mythology of Middle-earth, eventually leading to The Lord of the Rings.

A common mix-up concerns C. S. Lewis, Tolkien’s friend and fellow Inkling. Lewis praised The Hobbit, but he did not write it. Tolkien also revised the “Riddles in the Dark” chapter for later editions so Gollum and the Ring better matched the darker history developed for The Lord of the Rings.