"I Am in Fact a Hobbit (in all but size)"

I lived as much of my life in fantasy as I could when I was growing up. I would lose myself into the worlds created by the likes of J.M Barrie, Rudyard Kipling, and Roald Dahl. Sadly, I was fifteen years old before I discovered what must be the most richly and masterfully created fantasy world ever penned.

“Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

I discovered that world when Peter Jackson released the first in a series of movies in tribute to the masterful storyteller J.R.R. Tolkien. The first time I watched The Fellowship of the Ring I was completely transported. I was not alone. The world was obsessed. Fans of the author, both old and new, flocked to the theaters and bought the costumes and books in mass.

It was then that I discovered that both my mother and sister were long-time Tolkien fans and had read his books. I felt betrayed. How had they not shared this passion with me? How had they not told me about this magical and beautiful world?

I immediately sought the book form of this world and before the second movie was released the following year, I had devoured The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I loved the books. I lived in those books. I always had one with me, reading and re-reading them until the next movie was released.

The movies remain a wonderful and cherished means to visually live and absorb this world, but I discovered just how rich and wonderful the writing was. I discovered that even the gifted cast and crew of those movies could not capture just how incredible the world of Middle-earth was. Its creator, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, was a writer unlike any.

"The story-maker proves a successful ‘sub-creator’. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is ‘true’: it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed."

― J. R. R. Tolkien

The world that he had created was external to our world. Most fantasy writers build upon the world we all already know and do not go to the depths that Tolkien went to create a new place. Tolkien, on the other hand, created not just a story, but a whole world. He skillfully and beautifully crafted languages and species and myths for his world.

He provided not just individual or familial backgrounds for his characters but complex origin stories and dense cultural histories. He went beyond brief descriptions of a place but drew intricate and logical maps for his new world. Tolkien went far beyond an introduction to the setting of the story; he created an entire history for his stories, including folklore and fables, legends and laws.

He wrote songs in his created languages and so masterfully wrote them down that the reader can feel and hear the music as they come alive from the page. The world of Middle-earth and the characters within become real and complete to the reader in a way that no other storyteller can claim.

I was regrettably delayed in discovering these books and the world that was within, but once I was introduced to this awe-inspiring world, I became determined to not only enjoy and absorb as much of it as I could, but also to learn about its creator. I discovered that the man who created this fantasy land was almost as much a legend as the heroes he wrote about. He lived an interesting life, but it was his mind and his craft that made him almost mythological. How could anyone write so beautifully?

I was in awe of the way Tolkien wrote. It made sense to me that he had intended these stories originally to be told to his own children. These beautiful stories read more like a song being sung than a story being told.

“The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

His descriptions of the characters are more like first-hand experiences of a trusted friend and admiring lover than that of a distant and impartial narrator. From the first page to the last, the reader is drawn into the world by the melodic and rich poetry that is the narration within.

Like any writer, Tolkien was influenced by his life experiences, but so much more than most writers, he poured his heart and soul into those characters, and they each reflect some aspect of his own personality or those of the heroes and villains he had come to meet, love, and hate in his life.

Ever reminiscent of the Englishman, the Hobbits of those stories mirror his own soul, with a flair for the dramatic and a passion for the simple pleasures of life.

“I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size). I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible).”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

The Elves in his world are retold more elegantly and mysteriously than those before him and reflect the honor and dignity that each of us crave and strive for.

The Men in his world are loyal and fierce in all the ways we want to be, and their weaknesses are those like our own. Ultimately, whether Human or Elvish, Hobbit or Dwarfish, they are all so relatable… so human, really.

The land contained within this world and the creatures are beautiful and mystical but also cozy. Who of us wouldn’t love to live in Hobbiton in a hole in the ground? “Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat,” but a Hobbit hole with all its coziness and comfort.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

These stories have influenced so much more than the imagination of the readers or the future generations of writers. These stories and the characters and lands within have influenced architecture, music, and more. The movie set for Hobbiton is a thriving and beautiful destination for many tourists, and one that I long to visit.

I have found delight and joy and tears in many a fantasy world and their creators, but none have ever nor will ever parallel that of the world of Middle-earth and its creator, “The Father of Modern Fantasy,” John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

“Keep up your hobbitry in heart, and think that all stories feel like that when you are in them. You are inside a very great story!”

— J.R.R. Tolkien