A Call to Adventure: Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and the Christian Story

A meditation on The Hobbit and Christ's call to us to go on the Christian adventure.

From Voyage Comics & Publishing

By Hunter Leonard

Like J.R.R. Tolkien’s magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings, his prequel, The Hobbit, is a “fundamentally religious and Catholic work”[1] that is saturated with Christian elements and offers a mythic and mystic telling of the Christian story.

Bilbo Baggins, the unlikely hero of Tolkien’s short novel, is a creature of comfort, amply described as being surrounded by his favorite and most prized possessions in his comfortable, little hobbit-hole. When the angelic wizard, Gandalf, shows up unexpectedly, interrupting the hobbit’s cozy morning with talk of adventure, Bilbo is flustered and bewildered at the idea of such a thing.

Content to stay in the safety and comfort of his home, surrounded by his own treasures, Bilbo rejects Gandalf’s famous invitation to an adventure. Nevertheless, Gandalf calls the company of dwarves to meet in the hobbit-hole to discuss their grand venture, to take back the Lonely Mountain from the terrible dragon named Smaug. The unlikely key in this seemingly impossible quest is the quite unimpressive and extremely hesitant hobbit, Bilbo.

After much coercion on the part of his guardian, Bilbo rushes off to join the company of dwarves and turns out to be central and necessary, not only to this quest and adventure, but to the fate of all Middle-Earth.

This story is not merely a fascinating children’s tale about hobbits, dwarves, and elves that would later sprout into Tolkien’s more famous and complex novel. Like its successor, The Hobbit contains great spiritual truths and bears much fruit when read with an eye towards its Christian roots. In particular, we should see that this seemingly simple hobbit tale presents a much greater story to us – the story of the Christian adventure.

Tolkien explains that a good fairy-tale holds up a mirror to man, so we should not be surprised if we see ourselves reflected in Bilbo Baggins. Even Tolkien recognized his own hobbit tendencies, famously stating, “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size).”[2] Like Bilbo, we too can become addicted to comfort and convenience. We can become possessed by our possessions and dread the idea of stepping outside of our homes and ourselves and pursuing the work that Christ calls us to.

It is easy to read this story and wonder how Bilbo might so easily turn down such an intriguing and rewarding journey. We might assure ourselves that if we were in his position, we’d be quick to join Gandalf and the dwarves in their noble quest, eager to partake in the great journey to destroy the wicked dragon.

Yet, how often do we wrap ourselves with comfort and convenience? So tightly are we bound by pleasure and niceties that a mere inconvenience can ruin our day. The English writer G.K. Chesterton quipped, “An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.” Yet, if we cannot bear a measly inconvenience, there is little hope that we would throw ourselves into such a wild adventure.

We must see how similar we are to Bilbo Baggins at the beginning of the story. We are far more likely to retreat into the coziness of our homes than we are to step out and follow the call of Christ. We are much too concerned with our selves, our possessions, our pleasures. Like Bilbo, we are creatures of convenience, possessed by our own possessions, and addicted to comfort.

It should not be so. As Pope Benedict XVI famously stated, “We are not made for comfort, but for greatness.” We are not made to waste away in coziness and luxury, we are not made to be enslaved by vice, rather, we are made to pursue greatness, we are meant to be people of heroic virtue. Throughout the course of The Hobbit, we witness Bilbo choose virtue over vice as he places the plans of Gandalf and the needs of the dwarves before his own safety and comfort.

Near the end of the book, we read about the dreadful dragon sickness that plagues the dwarves, most especially the dwarf-king, Thorin Oakenshield, as they behold with greed the hoard of gold that lies within the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo, however, was in a way already struck with dragon sickness at the beginning of the novel. Like the dragon Smaug, Bilbo wanted nothing other than to lay alone and in comfort with his great treasures and possessions.

We too might be tempted to value our things more than the people around us. We might be so consumed with ourselves that we think nothing of others. We might not realize how complacency in our lives has slowly corrupted into vice. Like Bilbo, however, we have the opportunity and the capacity to pursue heroic virtue. The beauty of the story is that Bilbo is able to step outside of himself, outside of his hobbit-hole into the world beyond. He courageously travels and fights alongside Gandalf and the dwarves to destroy the evil Smaug, and in so doing, breaks free from his own dragon sickness. Even more than this, Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum, his capturing of the Ring, sets the stage for the salvation of all Middle-Earth.

Bilbo’s story is more like our own than we might realize. We might not be aware, but we play a key role in the Christian story. Just as Bilbo’s actions had enormous repercussions on the fate of Middle-Earth, so too, our decisions play a role in God’s providential plan for the universe. Each one of us is invited by Christ to enter into the grand adventure of discipleship.

Like Bilbo, we are called to run from our hobbit-holes. We are called to follow the voice of Christ and pursue a life of virtue. Our adventure consists in destroying the vices and dragon sickness that plague us, and aiding others in this task as well. This is indeed a tremendous task and a lifelong one, and this adventure involves the whole world. Our journey of discipleship, our growth in virtue, and pursuit of Christ will have repercussions far greater than we would ever imagine. God’s providential hand guides all the happenings of this earth, and not a single thing is inconsequential.

For a Christian, Tolkien’s novel truly holds up a mirror to see ourselves reflected in Bilbo Baggins. For far too long we have sat comfortably in our homes with our treasures. The Lord comes to us, each and every day, inviting us into something greater. Just like Gandalf, the Lord meets us where we are and says, “I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.”

[1] J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 142.

[2] J.R.R Tolkien, Letter 213.