From BookJive
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| Name: | Bilbo Baggins | |||
| Description: | Ring-Finder, Ring-Winner, Luck Wearer, Lucky Number, Stinging Fly, Barrel Rider, Burglar | |||
Character
He is the central character in the author's first novel, The Hobbit, and a minor character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings. He is the first Ring-bearer in the history of Middle-earth to give up the One Ring voluntarily. While Bilbo is the chief protagonist in Tolkien's first published major work of fiction (The Hobbit), Bilbo later takes under his wing (and into his home) the chief protagonist of Tolkien's second published major work (The Lord of the Rings), Frodo Baggins.
Profile
According to the Appendices of the Lord of the Rings, Bilbo was born on September 22, 2890 of the Third Age, son of Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took. The Bagginses were sub-aristocratic landowners, quite rich and (until Bilbo's adventures) supremely respectable. In 2941, he joined Gandalf the Grey, Thorin Oakenshield and his 12 Dwarves on the quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the Dragon Smaug. This led to an adventure which takes Bilbo and his companions to Rivendell and through the forest of Mirkwood, eventually reaching Erebor. Here, after the mountain has been reclaimed by Thorin Oakenshield, the Battle of Five Armies takes place.
During his adventures in The Hobbit, Bilbo also found the One Ring, and escaped from Gollum when he won a riddle competition with the question "What have I got in my pocket?" The answer of course being "The One Ring," which Gollum could not guess. However, during the contest, he also revealed the names of Baggins and The Shire to Gollum. Bilbo was the Ring-bearer for 60 years afterward, with no idea of its significance, and it prolonged his life beyond normal limits. He used the Ring to its fullest ability when the expedition was captured by giant spiders in Mirkwood, and also when Thorin and his companions were imprisoned by the Wood-elves. At the Battle of Five Armies, Bilbo used the Ring to prevent himself getting hurt. However, he was struck by a flying rock, leaving him unconscious and invisible, making it difficult for his companions to find him after the battle. Eventually he regained consciousness and took the Ring off himself.
In 2989, Bilbo adopted Frodo, the orphaned son of his first cousin Primula Brandybuck and his second cousin Drogo Baggins, and made him his heir. Though Frodo was actually "his first and second cousin once removed either way", the two thought of each other as uncle and nephew.
As time passed, Bilbo mostly used the Ring to hide from his obnoxious cousins, the Sackville-Bagginses, when they came to visit. While the Ring didn't corrupt Bilbo as it had its previous owners, it did have some negative effects upon him; over the years, he began to obsess over it, losing sleep and feeling "stretched out and thin" when he was out of its sight. On the night of his 111th birthday party, the opening event of The Fellowship of the Ring, he reacted with panic and suspicion when Gandalf tried to persuade him to leave it. The last straw was when Bilbo referred to the Ring as his "precious" — the same name the wretched Gollum had given it — and Gandalf lost his temper with his old friend, putting some sense into him. Bilbo then admitted he would have liked to be rid of it, and left it behind.
In The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo left the Shire on the night of his eleventy-first (111th) birthday, (September 22, 3001), leaving the Ring and all the rest of his estate, including his home, Bag End in Hobbiton, to Frodo. He put on the Ring and vanished from sight at his own birthday party, and was never seen in Hobbiton again. This, coupled with his (for a hobbit) eccentric doings and a flash that Gandalf, in on the joke, set off at the moment of his disappearance, led to him being immortalized in hobbit folklore as "Mad Baggins", who disappeared in a flash and returned with gold and jewels.
He travelled to Rivendell, accompanied by three Dwarf friends, where he lived a very pleasant life of retirement: eating, sleeping, writing poetry, and working on his memoir, There and Back Again, known to us as The Hobbit. He also wrote a book called Translations from the Elvish, which formed the basis of what is known to us as The Silmarillion.
At the end of The Return of the King, Bilbo accompanied Frodo, Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel to the Grey Havens, there to take ship for Valinor across the sea, on September 29, 3021. He had already celebrated his 131st birthday, becoming the second oldest living Hobbit ever in Middle-earth (the oldest being Gollum).
