In 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit, his first major work to see print. Many of you probably read this book as a child, or even listened while a parent read it to you, as Tolkien read it to his own children. As we walk through this little book together, however, I think you’ll be amazed at how complex and sophisticated it really is.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door…. You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. Do you realize that this is the very path that goes through Mirkwood, and that if you let it, it might take you to the Lonely Mountain or even further and to worse places?” - Bilbo Baggins
I strongly encourage you to read each section of the book before listening to the lecture; you will find them much richer and easier to follow that way. If you need a good edition of the book, or if you would like to use the same edition that I am using, you can find it through my Bookstore.
Heard