Historical Analysis
Events that influenced the shaping of The Hobbit
Historical
Tolkien reportedly came up with the idea of the ring following a visit to an archaeological dig in Gloucester in 1929. An archaeologist found a Roman relic there in 1785.
https://www.newsweek.com/hobbit-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-inspiration-668989
Various locations Bilbo visits during his journey were inspired by Tolkien’s own travels. In many ways, the Shire, where Bilbo lived, was influenced by the rural town Sarehole, near Birmingham, where Tolkien grew up.
https://www.newsweek.com/hobbit-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-inspiration-668989
There are echoes of the battle of Somme throughout many of Tolkien’s stories. Tolkien detested the reduction of the individual will and personality that soldiers experienced through their training and wartime experiences.
https://middle-earth.xenite.org/where-did-j-r-r-tolkien-get-his-inspiration/
There were many innocent cities that wanted nothing to do with the war. But they still were caught in many of the crossfires and many of these innocent and peaceful towns and villages were irreparable. This is just like the city of Lake-town against the attacks of Smaug.
https://silmarillion.weebly.com/historicism.html
the Elvish settlement of Rivendell to the Misty Mountains was based on a 1911 trip to Switzerland. Tolkien's drawing of Rivendell in the illustrated edition of The Hobbit is almost identical to a view of Lauterbrunnen Valley.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29787528
Social
Tolkien once told publishers that the Shire was representative of a preindustrial England and said that his creation was “more or less a Warwickshire village of about the period of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee,” which was held in 1897
https://www.newsweek.com/hobbit-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-inspiration-668989
The Hobbit’s plot and characters combined the ancient heroic Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian epics Tolkien studied with the middle-class rural England in which he lived. In many ways, the novel’s charm and humor lie in transplanting a simple, pastoral Englishman of the 1930s into a heroic medieval setting.
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hobbit/context/
As for the hobbits' homes and their eye-catching round doors, some people claim they were based on ruins at Lydney Park, in Gloucestershire.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29787528
Tolkien's effect on society
Middle Earth was a literary escape hatch for a generation haunted by the Vietnam War and the atomic bomb, a return to simple living
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies
Certain aspects of Tolkien’s worldview matched the perspective of hippies, anti-war protestors, civil rights marchers and others seeking to change the established order.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies
Cultural
The Hobbit’s character and place names are derived from Icelandic linguistic traditions and echo those given in Old Norse sagas such as the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-hobbit-80-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-published-lord-of-the-rings-middle-earth-fantasy-inspiration-a7957321.html
He created the 15 different Elvish dialects, along with languages for the Ents, the Orcs, the Dwarves, the men and the Hobbits and more. These languages were influenced by many other languages from, old English to Greek to Finnish.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/31/books-bcst-question-tolkien-languages
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as much to satisfy his natural literary curiosity as to create an amusing and entertaining story that enriched his relationship with his children.
https://middle-earth.xenite.org/why-did-jrr-tolkien-write-the-hobbit/
* Throughout history and literature, some very special swords have been given names that represent their legendary status. Just as Charlemagne treasured his Joyeuse and King Arthur his Excalibur, some swords in The Hobbit stand apart.https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-hobbit-symbols.html
* Pearce also has written about J. R. R. Tolkien and sees environmental implications in Tolkien’s portrayal of Hobbits. In an essay entitled “Tolkien as Hobbit,” Pearce discusses Tolkien’s anti-industrialism in connection with Schumacher’s, seeing both writers as participants in “a long tradition of opposition to the evils of the industrial age.”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZtdOKDlPddueBH2QbnxRsq0frhiLCCdezOGfgLa3ZEs/edit
4. How does this source illuminate the historical and cultural values of the novel?
These sources illuminate the historical and cultural topics of the novel by providing facts of Tolkien confessing what his inspirations were relating to historical and cultural values. They also provided comparisons of The Hobbit to the real world’s cultural and historical events that occurred during the time period before or during the writing period. The comparisons were too comparable to not deny that Tolkien was influenced by those events.
5. Explain how this work or situation affected thinking about the topic of the time. Did it reject or reflect that thinking?
This work was very interesting and caused a reflection of thinking about the topic of the time. This work helped my thinking towards the book and was enjoyable to make the comparisons between The Hobbit and the real world.
Historical
Tolkien reportedly came up with the idea of the ring following a visit to an archaeological dig in Gloucester in 1929. An archaeologist found a Roman relic there in 1785.
https://www.newsweek.com/hobbit-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-inspiration-668989
Various locations Bilbo visits during his journey were inspired by Tolkien’s own travels. In many ways, the Shire, where Bilbo lived, was influenced by the rural town Sarehole, near Birmingham, where Tolkien grew up.
https://www.newsweek.com/hobbit-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-inspiration-668989
There are echoes of the battle of Somme throughout many of Tolkien’s stories. Tolkien detested the reduction of the individual will and personality that soldiers experienced through their training and wartime experiences.
https://middle-earth.xenite.org/where-did-j-r-r-tolkien-get-his-inspiration/
There were many innocent cities that wanted nothing to do with the war. But they still were caught in many of the crossfires and many of these innocent and peaceful towns and villages were irreparable. This is just like the city of Lake-town against the attacks of Smaug.
https://silmarillion.weebly.com/historicism.html
the Elvish settlement of Rivendell to the Misty Mountains was based on a 1911 trip to Switzerland. Tolkien's drawing of Rivendell in the illustrated edition of The Hobbit is almost identical to a view of Lauterbrunnen Valley.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29787528
Social
Tolkien once told publishers that the Shire was representative of a preindustrial England and said that his creation was “more or less a Warwickshire village of about the period of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee,” which was held in 1897
https://www.newsweek.com/hobbit-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-inspiration-668989
The Hobbit’s plot and characters combined the ancient heroic Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian epics Tolkien studied with the middle-class rural England in which he lived. In many ways, the novel’s charm and humor lie in transplanting a simple, pastoral Englishman of the 1930s into a heroic medieval setting.
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hobbit/context/
As for the hobbits' homes and their eye-catching round doors, some people claim they were based on ruins at Lydney Park, in Gloucestershire.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29787528
Tolkien's effect on society
Middle Earth was a literary escape hatch for a generation haunted by the Vietnam War and the atomic bomb, a return to simple living
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies
Certain aspects of Tolkien’s worldview matched the perspective of hippies, anti-war protestors, civil rights marchers and others seeking to change the established order.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies
Cultural
The Hobbit’s character and place names are derived from Icelandic linguistic traditions and echo those given in Old Norse sagas such as the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-hobbit-80-jrr-tolkien-anniversary-published-lord-of-the-rings-middle-earth-fantasy-inspiration-a7957321.html
He created the 15 different Elvish dialects, along with languages for the Ents, the Orcs, the Dwarves, the men and the Hobbits and more. These languages were influenced by many other languages from, old English to Greek to Finnish.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/31/books-bcst-question-tolkien-languages
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as much to satisfy his natural literary curiosity as to create an amusing and entertaining story that enriched his relationship with his children.
https://middle-earth.xenite.org/why-did-jrr-tolkien-write-the-hobbit/
* Throughout history and literature, some very special swords have been given names that represent their legendary status. Just as Charlemagne treasured his Joyeuse and King Arthur his Excalibur, some swords in The Hobbit stand apart.https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-hobbit-symbols.html
* Pearce also has written about J. R. R. Tolkien and sees environmental implications in Tolkien’s portrayal of Hobbits. In an essay entitled “Tolkien as Hobbit,” Pearce discusses Tolkien’s anti-industrialism in connection with Schumacher’s, seeing both writers as participants in “a long tradition of opposition to the evils of the industrial age.”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZtdOKDlPddueBH2QbnxRsq0frhiLCCdezOGfgLa3ZEs/edit
4. How does this source illuminate the historical and cultural values of the novel?
These sources illuminate the historical and cultural topics of the novel by providing facts of Tolkien confessing what his inspirations were relating to historical and cultural values. They also provided comparisons of The Hobbit to the real world’s cultural and historical events that occurred during the time period before or during the writing period. The comparisons were too comparable to not deny that Tolkien was influenced by those events.
5. Explain how this work or situation affected thinking about the topic of the time. Did it reject or reflect that thinking?
This work was very interesting and caused a reflection of thinking about the topic of the time. This work helped my thinking towards the book and was enjoyable to make the comparisons between The Hobbit and the real world.
Scroll down to LOTR map. Or just go to this better map that I had troubles embedding:
lotrproject.com/map/#zoom=3&lat=-1315.5&lon=1500&layers=BTTTTT
lotrproject.com/map/#zoom=3&lat=-1315.5&lon=1500&layers=BTTTTT
These maps provide a visual idea of where the dwarves and bilbo were located on their journey to lonely mountain. It also provides a visual of the distance between each location and the location of surrounding areas that were mentioned in the book. This story map also briefly mentions things that take place in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Maps like these help the reader further understand and create a visual of what it was like for Bilbo.