Walne, Toby (21 November 2007). "How to make a killing from first editions". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022 . Retrieved 5 July 2008.

Books by J.R.R.Tolkien - The History of Middle-earth". Tolkien Library . Retrieved 13 October 2023. The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey welcomed the book, noting that until its appearance, the best-known history of The Hobbit was contained in Humphrey Carpenter's 1977 biography of Tolkien, which was clear, famous, and left several questions unanswered. Rateliff's account goes into much greater detail. Shippey commented that the two volumes "lead us into the very engine-room of [Tolkien's] creation." [3] He was surprised to discover that Tolkien was initially "rather unconcerned about names"; for instance, Thorin's grandfather, who made the map of the Lonely Mountain, was initially called "Fimbulfambi" rather than "the appropriately dwarvish name Thror". "Fimbulfambi" is Eddic, but it means "great fool, a person who cannot make conversation". [3] Shippey discussed whether the text of The Hobbit could now be described as final, given all the variants that Rateliff documents, and noting Tolkien's struggles with the mistaken corrections made by proof-readers and copy-editors; he concluded that it was possibly now time to leave the text alone. He added that they "will take a great deal of digesting", providing "vital primary evidence for scholarship" and "great entertainment" for Tolkien fans. [3] Silvey, Anita (2002). The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators. Houghton Mifflin. p. 448. ISBN 978-0-618-19082-9. The History of The Hobbit was first published in 2007, and across two volumes features Tolkien’s drafts and notes on The Hobbit, previously unpublished artwork, and even Tolkien’s abandoned attempt at rewriting The Hobbit. All of this is collected together with commentary from Rateliff. A revised one-volume was published in 2011, which included additional information including on runes and Tengwar, and timeline of events. Like Christopher Tolkien’s The History of The Lord of the Rings before it, this is a thoughtful yet exhaustive examination of one of the most treasured stories in English literature. Long overdue for a classic book now celebrating 70 years in print, this companion edition offers fascinating new insights for those who have grown up with this enchanting tale, and will delight those who are about to enter Bilbo's round door for the first time.Bertenstam, Åke (1 September 2002) [1996]. "A chronological bibliography of the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien". The Road to Middle-earth · The Keys of Middle-earth · The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion · The Hobbit was first published on September 21,1937. Like its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, it is a story that "grew in the telling," and many characters and plot threads in the published text are quite different from the story J.R.R. Tolkien first wrote to read aloud to his young sons as one of their "fireside reads." Tolkien's works show many influences from Norse mythology, reflecting his lifelong passion for those stories and his academic interest in Germanic philology. [25] The Hobbit is no exception to this; the work shows influences from northern European literature, myths and languages, [26] especially from the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Examples include the names of characters, [27] such as Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Dwalin, Balin, Dain, Nain, Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf (deriving from the Old Norse names Fíli, Kíli, Oin, Glói, Bivör, Bávörr, Bömburr, Dori, Nóri, Dvalinn, Bláin, Dain, Nain, Þorin Eikinskialdi and Gandálfr). [28] But while their names are from Old Norse, the characters of the dwarves are more directly taken from fairy tales such as Snow White and Snow-White and Rose-Red as collected by the Brothers Grimm. The latter tale may also have influenced the character of Beorn. [29]

The only occurrences of Hobbits speaking in other tongues as if naturally are the times in The Return of the King when Frodo and Sam find themselves invoking Elbereth out loud, or when Frodo cries the Quenya phrase Aiya elenion ancalima! to break the spell of the Watchers at the Tower of Cirith Ungol. [5] LifestyleContains the second half of Tolkien's original manuscript draft, with commentary and later drafts and appendices.