Race: Hobbits
Date of Birth: September 22, 2890
Date of Death: Sometime after September 29, 3021
Residence: Bag End in Hobbiton; later Rivendell
Parents: Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took
Siblings: None
Spouse: None
Children: None
Heir: Frodo Baggins
Sword: Sting
Bilbo Baggins had settled
into a comfortable life in the Shire
when thirteen Dwarves and one Wizard
showed up on his doorstep and whisked him off on an adventure. Bilbo
was reluctant at first, but his adventurous spirit was awakened and
he used his quick wits to help his companions out of a number of tight
situations. The quest was a success, but even more important was Bilbo's
discovery of the One Ring that had long been
lost.
Bilbo was born on September
22, 2890. His father was Bungo Baggins and his mother was Belladonna
Took, a spirited Hobbit-lass who passed on her Tookish adventurousness
to her only child. The family lived in Hobbiton at Bag End, a luxurious
Hobbit-hole that Bungo built for his wife.
As a child, Bilbo was
bright-eyed and curious and eager for news of the outside world. The
Wizard Gandalf noticed these qualities
in the young Hobbit on his visits to the Shire. As Bilbo grew older,
he still enjoyed looking at maps and taking long walks and even talking
to Outsiders who passed through the Shire.
But he had also become rather complacent, and when Gandalf arrived one
spring morning in 2941 talking of adventure, the Wizard
did not find Bilbo as interested as he'd expected.
"We are plain
quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable
things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in
them."
The Hobbit: "An Unexpected Party," p. 12
The next day Bilbo was surprised by the arrival of Thorin Oakenshield
and twelve other Dwarves named Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur,
Bombur, Oin, Gloin, Dori, Nori, and Ori. They were on their way to reclaim
the treasures of the Lonely Mountain from Smaug and seemed to think
that Bilbo was a Burglar who could help them achieve this goal. Bilbo
was alarmed at the prospect of encountering a Dragon, but the Dwarves'
story awoke something Tookish inside him. And when he heard Gloin express
doubts about his fitness for the task, Bilbo was determined to prove
his worth. Gandalf gave Bilbo a nudge out the door the following morning,
and Bilbo found himself running down the road to meet the Dwarves without
even a pocket handkerchief.
The first test of Bilbo's burgling abilities arose when the wet and
hungry company spotted a campfire in the Trollshaws. Bilbo was sent
to investigate and he found the Trolls Bert, Tom, and William Huggins.
Bilbo decided to try his hand at pickpocketing and was caught; the Dwarves
were also captured in quick succession. Gandalf arrived just in time
and tricked the Trolls into arguing over how to eat their captives until
the dawn, when the Trolls turned
into stone. In the Trolls' hoard Bilbo found a long knife that made
the perfect Hobbit-sized sword.
After a short rest
in Rivendell where Bilbo met Elrond,
the company climbed the High Pass in the Misty Mountains where they
were captured by Orcs. Again
Gandalf came to the rescue, and Dori
carried Bilbo into the tunnels under the mountains but dropped the Hobbit
when an Orc grabbed him from behind. Bilbo was knocked unconscious and
when he awoke his companions were gone.
As Bilbo groped along
the dark tunnels, he found the one Ring lying
on the ground and slipped it into his pocket. By a subterranean lake
Bilbo met Gollum, the creature who had lost the Ring. Gollum was hungry
and Bilbo looked tasty so he proposed a Riddle Game. If Bilbo won, Gollum
would show him the way out; if Gollum won he would eat Bilbo.
Bilbo was naturally
anxious, and when he ran out of riddles just as he touched the Ring
in his pocket he said aloud, "What have I got in my pocket?"
(Hobbit, p. 89) Though he didn't intend this as a riddle and it was
technically against the rules, Gollum tried to answer and failed. Angered,
Gollum went to the island in the middle of the lake to get the
Ring so he could kill Bilbo, but the Ring was gone. Gollum realized
that Bilbo had the Ring in his pocket and went after the Hobbit.
The
Ring slipped onto Bilbo's finger and he soon realized that he'd
become invisible. He followed Gollum to the exit but could not get past
the creature crouching at the door. Bilbo considered killing the creature,
but pity stayed his hand.
Bilbo almost stopped
breathing, and went stiff himself. He was desperate. He must get away,
out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must
fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant
to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had
no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to
yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity
mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless
unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold
fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thoughts passed in a flash
of a second. He trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash,
as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.
The Hobbit: "Riddles in the Dark," p. 97
As Bilbo fled, he heard Gollum cry, "Thief, thief, thief! Baggins!
We hates it, we hates it, we hates it for ever!" (Hobbit, p. 98)
When he rejoined his friends, he didn't mention the Ring but later said
that Gollum had intended to give the Ring to him as a present if he
won the game. Gandalf was suspicious of this tale and it disturbed him
that the Hobbit appeared to be lying.
That night the company were attacked by Wargs and rescued by Eagles
and the next day they visited a strange Man named Beorn who could turn
into a bear. They proceeded to the edge of Mirkwood where they parted
company with Gandalf. Despite the Wizard's warnings they strayed from
the path and the Dwarves were captured by Great Spiders. Bilbo rescued
his friends using his wits and his new sword, which he then named Sting.
Still lost and hungry,
the company followed the lights of the Wood-Elves through the forest
and were taken prisoner. Bilbo used the Ring to evade capture and to
steal the keys to the Dwarves' cells. He packed the Dwarves into empty
barrels that were dropped into the Forest River. Bilbo rode on one of
the barrels and they floated down the river to Lake-town.
From Lake-town the
company continued to the Lonely Mountain. On the doorstep, Bilbo solved
the riddle on Thror's map when he heard a thrush knocking and he told
Thorin to hurry with the key as the light of the setting sun of Durin's
Day illuminated the hidden keyhole on the door.
Inside, Bilbo mastered
his fear and crept down the tunnel to Smaug's lair. While the dragon
slept Bilbo took a great two-handled cup from the hoard. The second
time Bilbo ventured into the dragon's lair Smaug was awake. Bilbo, wearing
the Ring, bandied words with Smaug and tricked the dragon into showing
his underbelly where Bilbo noticed a weak spot. Bilbo later mentioned
this bare patch in the hearing of the thrush who in turn told Bard the
Bowman. This inside information enabled Bard to kill Smaug when the
dragon, angered by the intrusion into his domain, left the Mountain
and attacked Lake-town.
Bard and the Men of
Lake-town, accompanied by the Elves of Mirkwood, came to the Lonely
Mountain seeking reparations and the share of the treasure that had
been stolen from them by Smaug. But Thorin refused to listen to their
claims while their armies were camped outside.
Bilbo thought that
the claims made by Bard were reasonable. Hoping to prevent a battle
and to end the matter so he could go home, Bilbo came up with a plan.
The Hobbit had found the Arkenstone - the treasure that Thorin most
desired - and had hidden it without telling anyone. Now he took the
Arkenstone to Bard and Thranduil the Elven-king so they could use it
to negotiate with Thorin. Gandalf had returned in time to witness Bilbo's
ploy and said, "Well done! Mr. Baggins! There is always more about
you than anyone expects!" (Hobbit, p. 284-85)
Thorin was enraged
when he discovered what Bilbo had done and would have thrown him to
the rocks had Gandalf not stopped him. As Thorin's kinsman Dain approached
with an army of reinforcements, trouble seemed imminent. But then an
army of Orcs and Wargs led by Bolg arrived and the Dwarves, Elves, and
Men had to join forces to face them. At the Battle of the Five Armies,
Bilbo made his stand with King Thranduil and Gandalf. He saw the Eagles
coming to the rescue just before he was knocked unconscious.
Thorin was mortally
wounded in the battle and asked to see Bilbo in order to part with the
Hobbit in friendship.
"There is more
in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage
and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer
and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or
merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!"
The Hobbit: "The Return Journey," p. 301
Bilbo was ready to return home. He had forfeited his fourteenth share
in the treasure when he gave the Arkenstone to Bard, and in the end
he took only two small chests, one of gold and one of silver, as well
as the mithril shirt that Thorin had given him. When he arrived in Hobbiton,
Bilbo learned that he had been declared dead and that the Sackville-Bagginses
were preparing to move into Bag End. They were sorely disappointed.
Bilbo continued to receive visits from Gandalf and various Dwarves including
Balin and he took long walks in the woods and spoke to Elves. He studied
the Elvish language and the legends and lore of Middle-earth. Bilbo
shared his love of learning and adventure with his young cousin Frodo
Baggins. When Frodo was orphaned, Bilbo invited him to live at Bag End.
By 3001, when Bilbo
was turning 111, the Ring had begun to have an effect on him. Outwardly
he had not aged, but inside he felt "thin, sort of stretched ...
like butter that has been scraped over too much bread." (FotR,
p. 41) He decided he wanted to roam once more and then find a quiet
place to finish his memoirs. On September 22, he held a final birthday
party at which he announced his intention to leave the Shire for good.
Bilbo intended to leave
the Ring behind for Frodo, but he found himself strangely reluctant
to do so. With the help of his old friend Gandalf, Bilbo was able to
voluntarily give up the Ring. He felt better at once, though without
the Ring he soon began to age.
Bilbo journeyed to
Dale and the Lonely Mountain and then settled in Rivendell. There he
met Aragorn, a Ranger
who was heir to the throne of Gondor. Between 3003 and 3018, Bilbo worked
on the memoirs of his journey - later part of the Red Book of Westmarch
- and he also compiled a three-volume history of the Elder Days called
Translations from the Elvish.
Frodo arrived at Rivendell
in October of 3018. Bilbo asked to see the Ring one last time, but when
Frodo showed it to him Bilbo came to understand something of the nature
of his desire for the Ring. At the Council of Elrond, Bilbo volunteered
to take the Ring to Mordor, but that burden was now Frodo's to bear.
After Frodo returned
from his quest, Bilbo had become sleepy and forgetful and yet a desire
for the Ring remained even then.
"... what's become
of my ring, Frodo, that you took away?"
"I have lost it, Bilbo dear," said Frodo. "I got rid
of it, you know."
"What a pity!" said Bilbo. "I should have liked to see
it again. But no, how silly of me! That's what you went for, wasn't
it: to get rid of it?"
The Return of the King: "Many Partings," p. 265
Because Bilbo had also been a Ring-bearer, he was allowed to pass into
the West to keep Frodo company. Bilbo set out from Rivendell and with
Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel he met Frodo in the Woody End on September
22, 3021. That day he turned 131 and passed the Old Took as the longest-lived
Hobbit. They rode to the Grey Havens and on September 29 they boarded
the ship that would take them away from Middle-earth. It is believed
that Bilbo lived the remainder of his days with Frodo on Tol Eressea.
Bilbo
Family Tree
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