The History of the Hobbit Read online

  • to Mrs. Henry, my junior high librarian who, when I returned The Hobbit to the library in September of 1973 (having read it twice back-to-back) and lamented that there weren’t any more like it anywhere, told me about The Lord of the Rings . . .

  • And to Susan Dagnall, for asking.

  The First Phase

  Chapter I(a)

  The Pryftan Fragment

  The original page from a student essay upon which Tolkien scribbled down the words ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’ does not survive, but a substantial fragment of six pages (three sheets) from the original manuscript has been preserved. This I have dubbed ‘The Pryftan Fragment’, after the name given the dragon at this earliest stage of the story. The fragment lacks both a beginning and an end, but it does form a continuous text which is given below.

  It is not clear now how far this initial stage of composition carried the story. According to Tolkien’s later recollections, the story halted before the end of the first chapter and may indeed have stopped at the point where the fragment ends.1 Nor is it clear what happened to the missing pages. They may have been given to some friend, as Tolkien gave away other bits of Hobbit material – specifically, the original of the Mirkwood picture (Christopher Tolkien, Foreword to the 50th Anniversary Hobbit, p. x; Pictures by Tolkien, plate 37) and a very fine unused picture of Smaug flying around the Lonely Mountain (Foreword, p. xiii). Nor was The Hobbit the only one of his works he treated in this way: he gave an elaborate illuminated manuscript of his still-unpublished poem ‘Doworst’ to his friend R. W. Chambers2 and similarly gave away both the manuscript of and copyright to the then-unpublished poem ‘Bilbo’s Last Song’ to his secretary Joy Hill in gratitude for her years of service.3 Inherently unlikely as it may seem from our historical perspective that Tolkien would give away the single most famous page of manuscript he ever produced,4 his generosity in other cases on record makes it a distinct possibility.

  Or the missing pages may have been deliberately destroyed by Tolkien after being translated into typescript. Contrary to legend, Tolkien did occasionally destroy manuscript material when, as in this case, it was rough draft workings that had definitely been superseded by a later fair copy or typescript. For example, in both The Book of Lost Tales (cf. BLT I.45, 64, 130, 174, 203; BLT II.3, 69, 138, 146, 221) and in sections of the Lord of the Rings material, Tolkien would often draft a passage in pencil, then write a revised form of the text over it in ink, typically afterwards erasing whatever pencilled jottings remained, completely obliterating the initial version. While it may be argued that such extraordinary measures were forced upon him by paper shortages in wartime, no such explanation will suffice in the case of Mr. Bliss. The little hand-made booklet reproduced in facsimile in 1982 is a carefully made fair copy that clearly required extensive preliminary drafting for both the art and the text, yet only a stray leaf or two bearing sketches for some of the illustrations survived to accompany the hand-painted manuscript book when it arrived at Marquette in the late 1950s; it seems clear, in this case at least, that Tolkien himself discarded the missing rough draft material. Furthermore, Christopher Tolkien notes an analogous case of missing rough draft for the 1937 Quenta Silmarillion, where only a small portion of the pages upon which Tolkien worked out the revisions incorporated in this text survive (HME V.199). Then, too, the Hobbit manuscript itself shows one clear, unambiguous case where Tolkien ripped a page of Ms. in half; the piece which survives does so only because its back was re-used for some outline notes.5 Tolkien kept a great deal of his own manuscript, probably so he could reconstruct the text should the final version be lost or mislaid6 (and of course because this would enable him to re-use elsewhere ideas and elements that had dropped out of this particular story), but even he did not keep everything.

  Finally, and most probably, the missing manuscript pages may simply have been lost by accident. According to Tolkien, C. S. Lewis on two separate occasions accidentally destroyed the only copy of a story Tolkien had loaned to him to read (Carpenter, The Inklings [1978], p. 48), and other mishaps doubtless occurred. Perhaps it would be better not to speculate on how the missing pages were lost, but to ask how the surviving pages happened to be preserved. Two of the sheets (four pages of text) from this first stage of composition (Marq. 1/1/22:1–4) came to Marquette in June 1957, mixed in with the rest of the Hobbit manuscript and typescripts but very distinct from them in the style of Tolkien’s handwriting and the type of paper used. The third sheet was retained by Tolkien, either inadvertently or because it bore the first sketch of what came to be known as Thror’s Map.7 Reproduced in facsimile in Christopher Tolkien’s Foreword to the 50th anniversary edition of The Hobbit (Unwin Hyman 1987, pp. ii–iii),8 it did not join its fellows at Marquette until July 1987 (MSS–1 Tolkien, Mss. 1/1/1).

  While the Marquette processors made no record of how the papers were arranged upon arrival, we are unusually fortunate in that some surviving correspondence relating to the sale casts valuable light upon both Tolkien’s own recollections concerning the papers and on how he had them stored before they came to Marquette.9 Tolkien initially told Bertram Rota, the London bookseller who acted as Marquette’s agent in the sale of the manuscripts, that there was no actual manuscript, only the ‘original typescript’ sent to the printer, the corrected proofs, and his illustrations for the book (Rota to Ready, 10th January 1957). After ‘looking through his cupboards’ he turned up the original Farmer Giles typescript (‘There is no hand-written version of this work, which was composed on the type-writer’) and asked for ‘a bit longer to dig around and see if he finds any more bits and pieces concerning “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”’ (Rota to Ready, 5th May 1957). By 13th May, he had discovered the manuscript of Farmer Giles, the very existence of which he had forgotten so completely as to deny a week before that there ever had been one (Rota to Ready, 13th May 1957); a month later when Rota arrived in Oxford to collect the first installment of the papers for shipment to Marquette, he discovered that ‘Tolkien has found . . . more than we expected . . . When I wrote on May 5th I reported that Tolkien said there was no hand-written manuscript of “The Hobbit”. Now he has found it . . .’ (Rota to Ready, 13th June 1957).

  Even allowing for mistakes or misunderstandings on Rota’s part (evidenced elsewhere in his letters to Ready), it is quite clear from this account that Tolkien’s memory of the Hobbit manuscript, superseded as it had been by the typescript some quarter-century before, was understandably vague. It is also clear that the material was not all kept in one file, but scattered among his papers,10 and that Tolkien had some difficulty in locating and pulling all the pieces together. In fact, as we shall see, some pieces evaded his search and are still retained by the family to this day.11

  The following is the complete text of the surviving fragment; comments and observations follow the transcription. I have provided punctuation as necessary and corrected a few obvious slips (e.g., replaced ‘the the’ with simply ‘the’) but otherwise have edited this first draft as lightly as possible.

  As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him; [added: A fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then] something Tookish awoke within [>inside] him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains and the seas, the pine trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves [of<] and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.TN1 He looked out of the window. The stars were out in a dark skyTN2 above the trees. He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caves. Then in the wood beyond the Water a flame leapt up – somebody lighting a wood fire probably – and he thought of plundering dragons lighting on his quiet hill and setting it all in flames. Then he shuddered, and quite suddenly he was plain Mr Baggins of Bag-end Under-Hill again.

  He got up trembling, he had [added: less than] half a mind to fetch the lamp, and more than half a mind to go out to fetch itTN3. and hide in the cellar behind the beer-barrel and no
t come out again till all the dwarves had gone away.

  Suddenly he found them all looking at him with eyes shining in the dark.TN4 ‘Where are you going?’ said Gandalf in a tone that seemed to show he guessed both halves of the hobbit’s mind.TN5

  ‘What about a little light?’ said Bilbo.

  ‘We like the dark’ said all the dwarves: ‘Dark for dark business. There are many hours before dawn’.

  ‘Oh’ said Bilbo and sat down again in a hurry – he sat on the fender and knocked the poker and the shovel over with a crash.

  ‘Hush’ said Bladorthin. ‘[Silence in the>] Let Gandalf speak.’

  [This is some part of what Gandalf said, > And this is how he began >]

  ‘Bladorthin, Dwarves, and Mr Baggins.TN6 We are met together in the house of our friend and fellow-conspirator, this most excellent and audacious Hobbit – praised be his wine, and ale –’ (but this praise was lost on Bilbo Baggins who was wagging his mouth in protest against being a fellow-conspirator and audacious, but no noise would come he was so upsettled). ‘We are met to discuss our plans. [Before we go forth>] We shall start soon before the break of day on our long journey – a journey from which some of us [cancelled: may] (or all of us with the probable exception of Bladorthin) may never return. The object of our journey is [all>] well-known to all of you. To Mr Baggins, and to one or two of the younger dwarves (Kili and Fili at any rate – if I am not mistaken) the exact situation [may be unknown>] at the moment may [be >] require explanation.’

  This was Gandalf’s style. In the end he would probably have said all he wanted to, and left a little time over for some of the others to have a word. But on this occasion he was rudely interrupted.

  Poor Bilbo could not bear it any longer. At ‘may never return’ he began to feel a shriek coming up inside, and very soon after it burst out like a whistling engine coming out of a tunnel.

  All the dwarves sprang up knocking over the table. Bladorthin struck a blue light on the end of his magic staff and [by the >] in its glare they saw the poor little hobbit kneeling on the hearthrug shaking like a jelly (a jelly that is melting). Then he fell flat and kept on calling out ‘struck by lightning, struck by lightning’ over and over again. And that was all they could get out of him for a long while. So they took him and laid him on the drawing room sofa with a lamp [added: and a drink] beside him, and went back to their dark business.

  ‘Excitable little man’ said Bladorthin as they sat down again. ‘Gets funny queer fits, but one of the best, one of the best – as brave [> fierce] as a dragon in a pinch –’ (if you have ever seen a dragon in a pinch you would realize that this was only poetical exaggeration applied to any hobbit, even the Old Took’s great uncle Bullroarer who so large he could sit on a Shetland pony; and charged the ranks of the goblins of the Gram Hill [> Mount Gram] in the battle of the Green Fields of FellinTN7 and knocked their king [> King Fingolfin]’sTN8 head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed two hundred yards and went down a rabbit hole, and in this way the battle was won [added: by checkmate] and the game [> games] of Golf [added: & chess] invented simultaneously).TN9

  In the meanwhile the dwarves had forgotten about Bullroarer’s gentler descendant, and he was recovering in the drawing room.TN10

  After a while (and a drink) he crept nervously to the door of the parlour. This is what he heard – Dwalin speaking.

  ‘Humph, will he do it, d’you think. It is all very well for Bladorthin to talk about his hobbit being fierce, but one shriek like that in a moment of excitement when we really get to work [> to close quarters] will [> would] be enough to kill the lot of us. Personally I think there was more fright in it than excitement, and if it hadn’t been for the secret sign on the door, I should have been sure I had come to the wrong house, as soon as [added: I] clapped eyes on the [added: fat] little fellow bobbing on the mat. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar!’

  Then Mr Baggins turned the handle & walked in. Took had won. He would [cancelled: ] go without bed and breakfast to be thought fierce, and never be called ‘a fat little fellow bobbing on the mat’ again. Many a time afterwards the Baggins part regretted his decision and his strange behaviour at that moment; but [added: now] he went right and put his foot in it without a doubt.

  ‘Pardon me’ he said ‘if I have overheard [part >] some words that you were saying. I cannot pretend to understand it all, but I think I am right in believing that you think I am no good. I am not – but I will be. I have no magic signs on my door and I am sure you have come to the wrong house – but treat it as the right one. Tell me what you wish me to do and I will try it – if I have to walk from here to [cancelled: Hindu Kush] the Great Desert of Gobi and fight the Wild Wire worm of the Chinese. I had a great-great-great uncle Bullroarer Took and –’

  ‘We know we know’ said Gloin (in embarrassment) ‘holed out [added: -checkmated] in one in the battle of the Green Fields. But I assure you the mark was on the door. The mark was here last night. Oin found it and we gathered tonight as soon as we could for the mark was fresh.’

  ‘I put it there’ said Bladorthin from the darkest corner. ‘With my little stick I put it there. For very good reasons. [cancelled: Now let’s get on] – I chose [cancelled: this] Mr Baggins for the fourteenth man and let anyone say He is the wrong man or his house the wrong house who dares. Then I will have no more to do with your adventure, and you can all go and dig [added: for] turnips or coal.’

  ‘Bilbo my boy,’ he said turning to the hobbit. ‘Fetch the lamp, and let’s have a little light on this dark matter.’

  On the table in the light of a big lamp with a red shade he spread a parchment map. ‘This I had from Fimbulfambi (?)TN11 – your grandfather, Gandalf,’ he said in answer to the dwarves’ excited questions. ‘It shows the Black Mountain and the surrounding country.TN12 There it is, that dark blob [> lump > tangle]. Over here is the Wild Wood and far beyond to the North, only the edge of it is on the map, is the Withered Heath where the Great Dragons used to live.’

  ‘We know all that’ said Balin. ‘This won’t help – there is a picture of a dragon in red on the Mountain, but [that won’t make it any ea[sier] >] it will be easy enough to find him without that.’

  ‘There is one point’ said the wizard ‘which you haven’t noticed, and that is the secret entrance. You see that runefn">† on the East side and hand pointing to it from the runes below [cancelled: them]? That marks an old secret entrance to the Mountain’s halls.’

  Written at the bottom of this page is the following footnote:

  † Don’t ask what that is. Look at the map, and you will see [added: that] one

  This clearly refers to the ‘F’ rune marking the secret door on Fimbulfambi’s map (see Frontispiece).

  ‘It may have been secret in the old days’ said Gandalf ‘but [how do you >] why should it be any longer. Pryftan has dwelt there long enough to find out all there is to know about those caves by now!’

  ‘He may – but he can’t have used it for years and years!’

  ‘Why so [> Why]?’

  ‘Because it is too small. “Five feet high is the door, and four abreast [> three abreast] may enter it” say the runes. But Pryftan could not creep in a hole that size, not even when he was a young dragon, certainly not in the [days >] after he had devoured so many of the maidens of the valley.’

  ‘[How >] It seems a big hole’ piped up Bilbo. He loved maps, and in the hall there was a large one of the County Round (where he lived), with all his favourite walks marked on it in red ink. [This was quite exciting>] He was so interested he forgot to be shy and keep his mouth shut. ‘How could such an enormous [hole >] door (he was a hobbit, remember) be secret’.

  ‘Lots of ways’ said Bl. ‘but which one of them we don’t know without looking.TN13 From what it says on the map I should say that there is a closed door which looks just like the side of the mountain – the ordinary dwarf’s way (I think I am night?)’

  ‘Quite’ sai
d Gandalf.TN14 ‘[added: But] This rather alters things. There are fourteen of us – unless you are coming, Bladorthin. I had thought of going up along Running River from the Long Lake – [if ever we could rea[ch] >] if we can get so far! – and so to the Ruins of Dale Town. But we none of us liked the idea of the Front Gate. The River runs out of that great door, and out of it the Dragon comes too. Far too often.’

  ‘That would have been no good’ said Bl. ‘without a mighty warrior even a hero. I tried to find one but I had to fall back (I beg your pardon, but I am sure you will understand – [cancelled: this] dragon slaying is not I believe your hobby [> speciality]) – to fall back on Mr Baggins [> little Bilbo]’.

  ‘A [> The] burglar’ said Dwalin. ‘Precisely’ said Blad, not allowing Bilbo time to object.TN15 ‘I told you last Thursday it would have to be a burglary not a battle, and a burglar I promised to find – I hope no one is going to say I put the sign on the wrong door again.’ He frowned so frightfully at Bilbo that the little man daren’t say anything though he was bursting with questions.

  ‘Warriors are very busy fighting one another in far lands’ went on Bld. ‘and in this neighbourhood [are >] there are none or few left of men dwarves elves or hobbitsTN16 not to speak of heroes. Swords are mostly blunt, and axes used for [> on] trees and shields for dishcovers, and dragons comfortably far off. But burglary is indicated in any case by the of the back door.’

  ‘What is your plan’ then they all said. ‘To go to the back door; sit on the step and think of one – if one does [added: not] sprout up on the way’ said the wizard. ‘There is no time to lose – You must be off before day break and well on your way – Dwarves