WHY DID TOLKIEN MAKE BILBO DISAPPEAR?

Baggins, Bilbo

AT THE START of LOTR, Bilbo Baggins puts on the Ring so he can disappear from his birthday party as if by magic. Soon after, it seems, he disappears from the story just as suddenly. We see him again only briefly, and when we do, we learn he has been spending his time reading old Elvish books and writing. If you haven't read The Hobbit, you might not realize he was quite an adventurer himself. The sword Sting, so deadly to Orcs, was his. He fought giant spiders, and a dragon. In fact, none of the events of LOTR could have happened without him: he was the one who found the Ring in Gollum's cave.

So why isn't he the hero of LOTR? How did our beloved Frodo come into the story?

WHAT'S SO FUNNY?

Actually, in Tolkien's first attempt at LOTR, Bilbo was the main character. The story was going to be another Bilbo adventure, to satisfy readers of The Hobbit. The idea was that Bilbo had spent all his fortune from the first adventure and needed to look for more.

Tolkien says LOTR is a translation of an ancient book that started as Bilbo's private diaries. He called this book the Red Book of Westmarch -- similar to an important ancient book in our world. The Welsh legends of King Arthur and others are found in the Red Book of Hergest, written in the 1300s.

Eventually Tolkien decided the story would be more serious. But that created a problem. It didn't fit with Bilbo, who is often a fun-loving prankster. For instance, his speech at his birthday party in LOTR is filled with jokes. Then he leaves behind gifts with notes that tease his family and friends.

Had it been Bilbo's task to return the Ring, readers would have expected the same comic adventure they had enjoyed in The Hobbit. They would have been disappointed. So to create a new mood, Tolkien shifted Bilbo aside.

EXIT BILBO, STAGE LEFT

That's when Tolkien introduced a new character, Bilbo's son. But that didn't work perfectly, either. Why would Bilbo let his son face danger? How would Tolkien explain where the son is during The Hobbit -- or, more difficult, Bilbo's wife?

Tolkien eventually found the answer in legends. Both history and literature have many examples of important uncles and nephews. This goes back to early times, when custom required that uncles play the role of guardian, in case a father died early (as often happened then). In legends, these nephews often become as great or greater than their uncles, and inspire stories of their own. King Arthur's nephew is Sir Gawain, the shining example of what Arthur desires in Knights of the Round Table: honor, wisdom, loyalty, and courtesy. The legends of Charlemagne, a medieval king of Europe, had tales about Charlemagne's nephew, Roland -- another knight of tremendous bravery and loyalty. Charlemagne's niece, Bradamante, is also a great knight. The hero of Beowulf, an Old English poem that was an important source for LOTR, is the nephew of a king. He slays monsters no one else can defeat, and becomes king himself.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of many Old English and Middle English poems Tolkien translated into modern English.

These favorite stories gave Tolkien the explanation he needed. Bilbo's replacement became a younger cousin, with the official status of nephew and heir.

See also:
Baggins, Frodo
Beowulf
Gollum

It may have hurt Tolkien to retire Bilbo, but for the generation of fans who had already read The Hobbit, nothing less would have been convincing. It was time for a new hero. Enter Frodo.

Copyright © 2002 by David Colbert