Thanks to the English writer John Ronald Roel Tolkien, in the middle of the 20th century a great interest arose in the genre of high fantasy. But 20 years before the publication of the famous book The Lord of the Rings, in 1937, Tolkien publishes a novel written for his children about the adventures of Hobitt Bilbo Baggins. The writer himself did not yet suspect what would eventually come out of this children's fairy tale.
The beginning of the famous epic about Middle-earth
The story "The Hobbit" was created in conjunction with the children of Tolkien. He made up a story, and his sons helped draw a map of Middle-earth - a fabulous country where hobbits, gnomes, elves, people and many other mysterious and magical creatures live side by side.
In this fairy tale, which described the amazing adventures of Bilbo Baggins, for the first time many key figures of the next, serious and even tragic story about Middle-earth - “The Lord of the Rings” appear. “The Hobbit” is the happy past of a magical land, its last carefree days before the upcoming threat.
The main intrigue of the book was the question of who was waiting for Bilbo Baggins in Lonely Mountain. Once upon a time, the dwarves fled from there because of mortal danger - they were attacked by the last dragon of Middle-earth - Smaug. But these tragic events happened centuries ago (the dwarves, as you know, live very long), so everyone was sure that the terrible monster that destroyed the great gnome kingdom had long disappeared. If Bilbo Baggins knew about this sad story in advance ... Whoever was waiting for him in the caves under the mountain, he did not even imagine, and therefore agreed to a crazy adventure - to go on a long trip in the company of the dwarves.
Hobbits, gnomes, elves and other amazing creatures
Talking about who was waiting for Bilbo Baggins in Lonely Mountain, you need to stop on his companions. Tolkien took his heroes (except the hobbits) from the Scandinavian, Old English and Finnish epics. Elves, gnomes, orcs, goblins, dragons were their main characters. Tolkien made the magician Gandalf, who for one guided reason selects Bilbo as a companion to the dwarves, made him look like the Scandinavian supreme god Odin. An old postcard pushed him to this idea, on which was a tall old man in a long cloak, a pointed hat and with a staff in his hands. That is how we now see the great magician of Middle-earth.
Bilbo Baggins Travel : Trekking to Lonely Mountain
The plot of the story about the adventures of a hobbit adventurer is simple: he is hired by the dwarves to go to his kingdom, which had been abandoned many years ago, under the mountain. Gandalf presents him as a great cracker, able to penetrate anywhere. In fact, Bilbo is a completely ordinary hobbit, leading a quiet and measured life. The only thing that distinguishes him from the rest of his brothers is his craving for travel. It was she who made him embark on an adventure. If at first the gnomes treated their small companion with distrust and some degree of contempt, then the opinion about him gradually changed. The hobbit saved them from the clutches of the terrible creatures of the Dark Forest, helped to escape from the elven dungeon and solved the mystery of the secret door leading into the Lonely Mountain. Gandalf chose Bilbo for good reason. For a long time watching the small folk, he realized that the hobbits possess resourcefulness and courage.
Horrible secret
So who was waiting for Bilbo Baggins in Lonely Mountain? When, thanks to the hobbit's ingenuity, the Dwarves managed to open a secret passage to their abandoned kingdom, they sent Bilbo to scout. By agreement, it was he who was supposed to help get their main treasure - a relic of the dwarves - the Arkenstone stone.
In the treasury - a huge hall full of gold and precious objects, the hobbit with horror saw a sleeping dragon. It was the great Smaug, who took possession of the kingdom of the dwarves under the mountain. Bilbo did not know anything about dragons, because they had long been considered extinct, and he did not realize that they were the most ingenious creatures in the world with the gift of hypnosis. Smaug could be outwitted using his two weaknesses: love of riddles and vanity. It was on this that Bilbo played, who eventually managed to slip out whole from the dragon's den.
Screen adaptation of the works of Tolkien. Who played Smaug?
According to the books of the “father of fantasy”, more than once attempts were made to create a film, but their adaptation in the end was recognized as practically impossible. That was what was thought before Peter Jackson got down to business. He filmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which received worldwide fame and revived interest in Tolkien's work. In 2012, Jackson presented his new work - the first part of the trilogy about the adventures of Bilbo, the film "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Thanks to his work, viewers now know who was waiting for Bilbo Baggins in Lonely Mountain, and how terrible this character was.
Smaug in the film was created using special motion capture technology. He was played and voiced by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. The dragon in his performance turned out not only terribly formidable and deadly dangerous, but also not devoid of a peculiar grace and charm.