Boekverslag: De Hobbit
Titel: The Hobbit
Subtitel: There and back again
Schrijver: J. R. R. Tolkien
Uitgever: Allen & Unwin, Londen
Jaar van eerste uitgave: 1937
Summary of the story.
The book is about Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, who lives in his hobbit-hole. He loves comfort, that is why he has a very comforting hole; nice and cosy. One day his friend Gandalf the wizard visits him in his garden. He makes an appointment for the next day at tea-time to talk with him. But the next day at tea-time Gandalf brings 12 dwarfs to his house. He of course does not like it, because he now has to serve tea for thirteen people. When the hobbit has served the dwarfs lunch (with much food, because dwarfs eat much), Gandalf explains why he brought so many dwarfs. The dwarfs want to recover an old treasure which belongs to one of the dwarfs: Thorin Oakenshield. They know it will be a dangerous trip to the treasure because it is guarded by Smaug, a large and dangerous dragon. When Bilbo asks why he has to travel with them (which the dwarfs also do not know, because a hobbit is very small and of no use to them) Gandalf answers that he is just perfect and that it will become clear to him and the dwarfs during the adventure. So that is why Bilbo has to leave his nice hole and the place where he was born and bred, to find a treasure guarded by a dragon. The first adventure on their road is with goblins. Because it storms, the group (with Grandal) decides to seek shelter in an nearby cave. And when they are all sleeping, Bilbo has a dream, in which he sees they are being attacked by goblins during their sleep. He wakes up and sees his dream had become the truth. When they killed some goblins, they flee in the cave to avoid the goblins. In this cave, Bilbo finds a ring which can make him invisible (so which can save your life). But Gollem the owner of the ring tries to eat Bilbo. Bilbo runs away and falls down, but the ring slippes on his finger and Gollem doesn?t see him. At the end all the dwarfs make it and the group travels further. They visit several friends and have some other adventures. After that Gandalf must leave to do some work somewhere else. Then they reach their last point before going to the Dragon, it is a village in the middle of a lake (as a protection for the dragon). From here they can see the mountain where Smaug (the dragon) lies with all the gold. The last part of the journey is from the village to the mountain. When they reached it, they only can find one entrance (Smaug blocked all others), and Bilbo decides to go and seek Smaug in the mountain with his invisibility-ring. But the dragon (of course he can not see him) smells him! Bilbo has a conversation with Smaug about a lot of things and Bilbo founds out how you can kill the dragon! When he returns the dwarfs can hear the Dragon fly away. Bilbo knows that the dragon is going to destroy the village because he told him the villagers helped them get there. In the meantime they found the treasure, but they are still afraid of Smaug to return, but a few days later a raven tells them that Smaug is killed by Bard who shot his last arrow into Smaugs weak point. When they all think they can return, the goblins come with thousands. But luckily elves, dwarfs and men fight together against those stupid goblins. That battle is called the: Battle of five armies, because the Wargs and the Goblins (one group) against the Men, the Elves and the Dwarfs (the other group). After a day the Goblins/Wargs were defeated, but Thorin Oakenshield, Fili and Kili were killed. They buried them by the Mountain, Bilbo gets his share of the treasure and returns home, where he lived very long and happily.
Style of the book: The style is of course: fairy-tale.
Opdracht 3: Schrijf een ander slot aan het verhaal.
Page 282: If he was surprised, they were more surprised still. He had arrived in the middle of an auction! Bilbo shouted: ?Give me my stuff back!! They are still mine because I am not dead!?
Bilbo?s cousins who started the auction gave the people their money back and together with all the people they wanted to give Bilbo some money, because he had been so long away. But Bilbo showed some of the gold he got from the Trolls and he held an auction for some golden things. With the money he got from the auction he held a big party! He invited Gandalf, the Dwarves and the men from Dale who had rebuilt the city destroyed by Smaug.
By the invited Dwarves there was a very pretty Dwarf named: Kilolin. It was love at first sight. Bilbo and Kilolin married, got 4 children: Bilon, Bomi, Kila and Kilog. They lifed all the time in the hobbit-hole of Bilbo.
Bilbo also got a new job: He is now the new leader of the city. They built the first windmill ever, designed by Gandalf the Wizard.
Opdracht 4: Bedenk zelf vijf mogelijke titels voor het boek en licht ze duidelijk toe.
1. The great victory!
Bilbo has got in this book 4 great victories:
- He took the gold from the trolls
- He wins the riddle-contest from Gollum
- He takes the gold from the dragon Smaug
- They win the Battle of the five Armies
2. Battle of the five Armies
During Bilbo?s adventures they have a war between a army of 2 groups and a army of 3 groups. The goblins and the Wargs against the Elves, the Men and the Dwarves. At the end Gandalf, Beorn and the Eagles come. The Elves, the Men and the Dwarves win the war but: Thorin, Fili and Kili were killed.
3. Friendship
Because the Dwarves and Bilbo (a hobbit) are very good friends they survive almost every adventury (except: Thorin, Fili and Killi who were killed during the Battle of the five Armies).
4. The gold of Smaug
The dwarves make this dangerous trip to get their gold back. Smaug stole it from them. Bilbo must be their leader during the end of the trip.
5. The ring of Gollum
Bilbo finds the ring of Gollum and then he wins the riddle-contest and he can make himself invisible. When he is invisible he is a very good thief and can free his friends three times.
Opdracht 5: Schrijf een brief naar een krant waarin je je boos maakt over een romanfiguur.
Dear Sunday Times, I read a book called: The Hobbit. It was a nice book. I read it with pleasure? But I was very angry about Thorin Oakenshield. He is the owner of the gold witch they steal from the Dragon Smaug. But if they have got the gold, the Men who helped them get the gold come and also want 1/12 of the gold. That would be fare! But instead of giving them the gold he want?s to keep al the gold for himselve. Almost a war starts between the Men and the Dwarves but Bilbo comes between them. Then come the Goblins on the back of the Wargs and they form one army together against the Goblins/Wargs! They win the battle, but Thorin dies. And thats what he deserves! Can?t you tell in a story about the book that it?s very righteous story? The spiders die, the trolls die, the Dragon dies, the Goblins and the Wargs die, and Thorin dies too!
Hij was een hoogleraar Angelsaksisch van 1925 tot 1945, hoogleraar in de Engelse taal- en letterkunde van 1945 tot 1959 aan de Universiteit van Oxford en schrijver van verschillende bekende werken. Met zijn boeken De Hobbit (The Hobbit) en In de Ban van de Ring (The Lord of the Rings) is hij vooral bekend geworden als de vader van de moderne high fantasy. J.R.R. Tolkien is geboren in Bloemfontein, Zuid-Afrika. Zijn vader Arthur stierf toen hij nog jong was. Zijn moeder Mabel bekeerde zich tot het katholicisme, ondanks hevige protesten van haar familie. Zij stierf aan diabetes toen hij een tiener was, maar hij voelde voor de rest van zijn leven dat zij een martelaar was voor haar geloof; dit beïnvloedde duidelijk zijn eigen katholieke geloofsbelijdenis. Tevens had Mabel J.R.R. de liefde voor talen en tekenen bijgebracht. Het boek "Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator" toont dat Tolkien, ondanks een negatief zelfbeeld over zijn tekenkunsten, goed met een pen overweg kon. In de periode nadat hij wees was geworden, ontmoette hij Edith Bratt (die later model stond voor Luthien) en werd verliefd op haar. Tolkien werd voortaan opgevoed door zijn tante en later door de katholieke priester Francis Morgan. Hij verbood Tolkien om te trouwen met zijn geliefde Edith op minderjarige leeftijd, iets waar Tolkien zijn biechtvader en opvoeder later dankbaar voor zou zijn. Wel kreeg Tolkien zijn fiat wanneer hij meerderjarig zou worden. Ondanks deze obstakels trouwde hij met haar zodra hij meerderjarig was en zo herenigde hij zich met zijn eerste en grootste liefde. Met haar kreeg hij vier kinderen: John Francis Reuel, Michael Hilary Reuel, Christopher John Reuel en Priscilla Anne Reuel. Tolkien diende in het Britse leger tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog, bij het meest gedecoreerde Britse legeronderdeel, de Lancashire Fusiliers. Hij zag een aantal van zijn medestrijders en een aantal van zijn dierbaarste vrienden het leven verliezen. Hijzelf kwam in oktober 1916 in een militair ziekenhuis terecht, lijdend aan loopgravenkoorts (trench fever). Daarna werd hij in november 1916 naar Engeland geëvacueerd. Tijdens zijn herstel begon hij met het schrijven van een serie sprookjes gebaseerd op zijn studie naar mythologie en folklore, die hij The Book of Lost Tales noemde.Kenners zeggen, dat de oorlog zijn werk heeft beïnvloed, dat hij fantasie zag als een ontsnapping aan de vreselijke realiteit van fabrieken, machines, pistolen en bommen van de twintigste eeuw.Tolkien had nooit verwacht dat zijn boeken populair zouden worden bij het grote publiek. Hij schiep de wereld van Midden-aarde (Middle-earth) als het verhaal achter de talen die hij ontwierp. Door tussenkomst van een voormalige student, publiceerde hij De Hobbit (The Hobbit) (1937), een boek dat hij voor zijn eigen kinderen had geschreven. Hoewel het boek was bedoeld voor kinderen, werd het ook door volwassenen gelezen. Het was zelfs zo populair dat de uitgever (Allen & Unwin) Tolkien vroeg een vervolg te schrijven.
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- De Hobbit
- John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
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