Great Fictional Characters: Bilbo Baggins

 Continuing with the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2015

On to B, and the most awesome of all hobbits, Bilbo Baggins.

"Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.

"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain."

 

My first encounter- I still have the book!

I read The Hobbit back in primary school, though not on the recommendation of any teacher, sadly. I stumbled across it in a volume called Magical Tales, which lured young readers in by giving them snippets of lengthier works- a technique still used by wily authors and, probably, drug dealers.

The chapter I read was called Riddles in the Dark, and I was thoroughly hooked. The clever word play between Bilbo and Gollum, as well as the intensity and tension nine-year-old me felt waiting to discover whether Bilbo would escape or be eaten, meant that I just had to find the whole book and see what other scrapes Bilbo would get himself in and out of.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

 

I re-read The Hobbit, and the LOTR trilogy, most years, when autumn rolls around and the nights start coming sooner. I find them comforting. Like most hobbits, Bilbo enjoys his comforts too: good food, good wine, good books and good music. Maybe that's why I empathise with him so strongly... I too seem to be constantly fighting the battle between luxuriating in cosy familiarity and the urge to run off and have adventures.

“Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not Today. Good morning! But please come to tea -any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Good bye!”  

I'm not sure if it's ever been established, but I feel certain Bilbo is your typical Taurean (just like me) and, if we ever met in real life, we'd make excellent housemates- or burglars...