Customer Reviews

The Hobbit Companion

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3 star:		(1)
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From its title, I assumed that The Hobbit Companion was similar to other `companion' books I have seen before. I expected to find a kind of encyclopedic volume full of descriptions of hobbitish people, places, and things, and all accompanied by colorful illustrations (judging by its cover, the illustrations would be quite nice). It would no doubt include the backgrounds of the members of Thorin and Company and, of course, a complete history of Gandalf and Smaug.

Well, I was right about the illustrations (they are wonderful), but I was way off on the content, for "The Hobbit Companion" is no ordinary read-along helper designed to explain hobbits and their funny ways. It is not even a look at the story of "The Hobbit". Instead, it is an in-depth look at the particular names used by J.R.R. Tolkien to describe the tale of Bilbo Baggins. The author, David Day takes an etymological scalpel to Bilbo's adventure and lays each invented (and sometimes reinvented) word on the table.

The whole idea of the book is that Tolkien was not just a wordsmith, but also a word trickster. Day shows how names and words such as `hobbits', `Baggins', and `Gollum' (and many, many others) were not picked randomly out of the air, but rather were intentionally molded to convey a multitude of hidden meanings. An example of such cleverness is given in `Baggins' in which `bag' shows what a `money-bags' Mr. Bilbo and his wealthy family were and `bag man' describe the burglar that he became.

The book is full of many interesting and often funny uses of such word-roots, but it is sometimes difficult to tell where the author is citing Tolkien's admitted reasoning for his word choices or if Day is just making them up from his own deductions. And with the occasional major blunder by the author (Sauron did not live in Isengard, nor did Bilbo's parents drown in an accident) I began to becoming skeptical and to wonder where Day was getting all this stuff from (the book could use a good prologue by the author).

But I kept reading, and regardless of if JR.R. Tolkien's `jests' were all intentional or if they were cleverly discovered later by David Day, they still make for very interesting reading. I particularly found the examiniation of the naming of Smaug to be facinating, especially the reminders that `smeagol' is Old English for burrowing and `smugan' is Prehistoric for to squeeze through a hole. Put them together and you get Smaug, one nasty hole-squeezing dragon!

Overall, this book is a good read, but what makes it one that I highly recommend is its beautiful `pillowed' cover featuring a scene of "The Party" and the gorgeous illustrations on nearly every of its 91 pages (including a central foldout showing Bilbo, Gandalf, and the 13 Dwarves). Lidia Postma did a great job!

For those of you who expect The Hobbit Companion to give you step-by-step insight into Tolkien's prequel of the Lord of the Rings, this might not be the book for you.
The book actually details hobbits as a race; not the book of the same name. But it does so in a very surprising manner.
The study of hobbits (which includes Frodo--this volume does not refer just to one book) delves into the meanings of the words that Tolkien carefully selected and crafted.
Tolkien's mastery of vocabulary and language is made evident as it is broken down and explored, so you can see how the words shaped the story, rather than the other way around. Learn the meanings behind words such as Hobbit, Bilbo, Baggins, Smaug, Frodo, and more. And see how 13 consecutive words in the dictionary from hob to hobo created how we think of hobbits.
If you're an author or wish to become one, you may find this book very enlightening, as it explores Tolkien's thought processes. You'll look at and think of words in a way you never have before.
If you're not, you may find the masterfully done illustrations of hobbit life, which evoke a classic style of art, fascinating in themselves including large illustrations of Gollum, floorplans of Bilbo's home, and a 4-page foldout of Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves.
Finally, the book is exquisitely crafted, which you can tell as soon as you feel the cover. It's meant as a keepsake, and if carefully preserved, it can be a treasured part of your library for generations to come.

I will agree with several of the other reviews - this book is not what you 'expect' it to be - but a very good book nonetheless. When I saw the word "companion", I assumed the book would read more as a study guide. I assumed it would read more like a dictionary of people, places, and things, etc.

This book is more like a walk through Tolkein's head. Have you ever wondered "Where did the word 'Hobbit' come from?" "How did Tolkein come up with the names of his characters?" "How did he build their personalities?"

I found it interesting that Tolkein felt his characters more or less "already existed in another realm and he needed to learn more about them as oppposed to him actually developing them."

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I found it very interesting to learn how such a wonderful story actually came to be... and I thoroughly enjoyed the illustrations.

...just sort of mediocre. Primarily I was greatly disappointed with the horrible illustrations which depict the Hobbits as dirty, ugly Troll-like creatures who don't bathe or comb their hair and have spent to much time in Hawaii or someplace tropical since they all seem to have a rich "Coppertone" tan. That said, some might find this merely an "illustrated version" of the prologue to "Fellowship Of The Rings", giving a back history of the Hobbits as a race of creatures, where they came from and what the meanings of their names might be. On this level, the book works and at times can be quite interesting and useful, especially to someone who is reading Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" for the first time. It could also be a spoiler to the very same reader so be prepared to be let in on future accounts as told in the Ring trilogy. I think I might have really enjoyed this book much better had they used another illustrator and not the one that did the work for this book, for that is really my only problem with "The Hobbit Companion" and certainly not with the caring thought and detail that the author put into depicting Hobbit lore as a genuine society and race. So to sum it up, for true Tolkien fans this book is probably a must but may disappoint on the level of illustrations. One can only hope that if it is ever reprinted they do so with another artist.

This book was published originally by Pavillon Books in Europe, and the US edition by Barnes & Noble in 2000. Text by David Day, and the illustrations are by Lidia Postma. The text explores the way that Tolkien used language, and how the Hobbit is full of puns, riddles, hidden meanings, and associations with historical myths and folklore. It explores how J.R.R. Tolkien built a whole society and mythology from the word Hobbit. The author also tackles Gandalf, trolls, giants, and delves into the Lord of the Rings books too.

This book is great as long as you realize what it is about. It is not a companion in the sense it explains the book and takes you by the hand to show you the hows and whys of everything. What the book does is explain how the language is used taking you from the formation of the word Hobbit to how the name of Bilbo Baggins explains both sides of his nature, rich upper-class do little hobbit to burglar for hire.The author looks at the importance of word play and word choice through out the novel. Overall an interesting look by David Day at the use and meanings used by Tolkien throughout the Hobbit.

Fans of Tolkien's Hobbit and the new movie will relish this companion volume by David Day. The Hobbit Companion features gorgeous illustrations by Lidia Postma as it presents a history of hobbits, places, and links between Hobbit settings and mythology.