Middle-earth

Character

Bilbo Baggins

Also known as Bilba Labingi (earlier draft name), Ringwinner, Luckwearer, Barrel-rider

A respectable Shire hobbit who is swept into the quest of Erebor and becomes the first hobbit to bear the One Ring.

Tolkien’s textsSupported by the narratives published in Tolkien’s lifetime.
Race & kind
Hobbits & Halflings
Allegiance
The Shire
Titles
Mad Baggins (local nickname)
Gender
Male
Born
T.A. 2890
Died
Sailed West, T.A. 3021
Languages
Westron
Bilbo Baggins

Overview

Bilbo Baggins begins as a comfort-loving gentlehobbit of Bag End and ends as a poet, wanderer and the reluctant keeper of the most dangerous object in Middle-earth. His growth from timid burglar to compassionate hero sets the moral tone for everything that follows in The Lord of the Rings.

HobbitsThe Shire
Ancestry
Son of Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took. Cousin (and, through adoption, uncle) of Frodo Baggins.

Biography

A respectable hobbit

Bilbo was born in the Shire in T.A. 2890 to Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took. He inherited Bag End and a taste for comfort, but also the adventurous Took blood that Gandalf remembered when he came seeking a burglar in T.A. 2941.

The Quest of Erebor

Recruited by Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield’s company of thirteen Dwarves, Bilbo travelled east to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug. He found the One Ring in the tunnels beneath the Misty Mountains, riddled with Gollum, and escaped partly by luck and partly by pity — refusing to kill Gollum when he had the chance. He proved his worth by facing the spiders of Mirkwood, freeing the Dwarves from the Elvenking’s halls, and speaking with Smaug.

The Battle and after

Bilbo gave the Arkenstone to the Elvenking and Bard to force a peace, an act of theft that nonetheless prevented a war. He was knocked unconscious during the Battle of Five Armies and returned home to find himself presumed dead. He carried the Ring quietly for decades.

The last journey

In T.A. 3001 he passed the Ring to Frodo, left the Shire, and settled in Rivendell. He accompanied Frodo as far as the Ford of Bruinen, and at the end of the Third Age he sailed west from the Grey Havens.

Arc & development

Bilbo moves from acquisitive respectability to a hard-won generosity, learning that the heroic act is often the merciful one. His later admission that the Ring felt like “a thing to be rid of” foreshadows its corruption.

Character

Personality

  • Comfort-loving
  • Curious
  • Witty
  • Compassionate
  • Surprisingly resilient

Fears

  • Losing his reputation
  • The growing power of the Ring over him
  • A quiet, respectable life
  • A latent longing for adventure
  • Loyalty to his friends

Abilities & limits

Strengths

  • Sharp wit and diplomacy
  • Unexpected courage
  • Poetry and song
  • Near-invisibility while wearing the Ring

Limitations

  • No skill in arms
  • Tempted by the Ring
  • Physically unassuming

Deeds

  • Won the riddle-game with Gollum and showed him mercy
  • Became the first bearer of the One Ring
  • Freed the Dwarves from Thranduil’s dungeons
  • Gave the Arkenstone to broker peace

Relationships

Places

In the histories

Artifacts

Appearances

In adaptation

Adaptation note

  • Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy expands his role and adds a longer stay in Rivendell and the Battle of Five Armies.

Quotations

“I am looking for someone to share in an adventure.”

— The Hobbit, “An Unexpected Party” (paraphrase of Gandalf’s opening)

Sources

  • The Hobbit · 1937

    Published in Tolkien’s lifetime. The primary narrative of Bilbo’s journey.

  • The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55

    Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.

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