Public Libraries of Suffolk County, New York

The riddles of The hobbit, Adam Roberts

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

contains biographical information

index present

non fiction

The riddles of The hobbit

bibliography

Adam Roberts

Riddles have lost none of their power over us: we are as fascinated by mysteries, from sudoko to whodunnits, from jokes to philosophical conundrums. The Hobbit is a book threaded through with riddles; most obviously in its central Riddles in the Dark chapter, but everywhere else too. What is a burrahobbit? How many versions of the Hobbit are there? What is the buried secret in the nine riddles Bilbo and Gollum swap between one another? What are Ents? Dragons? Wizards? What is the magic of the magic ring? All these questions, and more, are answered in this book, the first critical engagement with Tolkien's great novel to take the riddle seriously as a key structuring principle of the novel. Riddles are more than a diverting pastime; they are expressive and beguiling rebuses that touch on larger mysteries, powerful questions and paradoxes also embodied in the Catholicism that informed so much of Tolkien's imaginative life. Ringing widely across Tolkien's creative life, this book explores the importance of riddles to the Anglo Saxon and Norse cultures that inspired him, and discusses scores of riddles offering more than one answer for each. This is a critical study of the playful aspect of a great writer that takes his playfulness seriously; it explores and embodies ingenuity; and comes to some original and startling new conclusions

The Anglo-Saxon riddleworld -- Cynewulf and the Exeter Book -- Riddles in the dark -- The puzzle of the two hobbits -- The riddle of Bilbo's pocket -- The riddle of the ring -- The Lord of the rings and the riddle of writing -- The Volsung riddle : character in Tolkien -- The enigma of genre fantasy -- ...And back again?

adult