Original artwork, not a still
The Hobbit: or There and Back Again
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the most famous first line in fantasy, and its power is how small it is: a hole, a hobbit and a promise of comfort, with no dragons or kings yet. Tolkien did not plan a world; he wrote a sentence that made him ask what a hobbit was, and Middle-earth followed. Fans quote it as shorthand for how big stories begin, and every reader who learns it enters the book's cosy door.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Hobbit: or There and Back AgainShow the scene
The sentence opens Chapter I, 'An Unexpected Party', of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, published by George Allen & Unwin on 21 September 1937. Tolkien told W.H. Auden in a 1955 letter that he wrote it while marking School Certificate exam papers, when he came to a blank page and was suddenly inspired. He did not yet know what a hobbit was; the story grew over the following years and was finished by late 1932. The paragraph goes on to say the hole is no nasty, dirty, wet one but a hobbit-hole, which means comfort, and then Bilbo meets Gandalf in the sunshine.
Sources (2)
- The Hobbit, WikipediaDevelopment and Publication sectionsReference checked
- The Hobbit, WikiquoteChapter I: An Unexpected PartyReference checked
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