Anyone read the original Hobbit?

The 1932 version, long out of print, had some significant changes. I read somewhere that Chapter Five, Riddles in the Dark, was completely redone at the same time the Lord of the Rings was released to give the ring new importance and make Gollum's character more like that in LoTR. I was wondering if anyone has actually read the original version of the chapter and if so, what it is like.

Nope, I had only heard vague rumors of it before now anyway. Perhaps a used bookstore somewhere has it...

A friend of mine has it... U've made me curious, I'll have to get it off her.

Well, please report back when you've read it

I think I've read it....

Wow, now I'm really curious! If someone gets a copy they have to scan that chapter in or something for us!

ive only read half of the hobbit. it was impossible to get through. (this message was not created to offend tolkien fans. i respect their love for the book, but i just didnt like it)

Must stay strong. Must not ban him for personal reasons.

Greg takes forever for books... it took him months to get through that half too . Hey, Jae only got to page 17 of the Hobbit :P.

So does my friend... The one who is borrowing my FotR book... Grrrr...

Oh well.... my Silmarillion was lost by a friend who borrowed. Please report in when you've read the chapter!

Yes, someone please scan that chapter through. I`m so curious to see the differences. jd196, I think the Hobbit is probably my least favorite of all of the books, including the Silmarillion. It`s good, but to me, it`s just not as exciting as the other books. Keep reading, though, because there are some good parts to it. Elrond: Lend out your Tolkien books? I don`t know about that. They would have to be very spcial friends to do that. I`m very particular about my books! I don`t like people creasing the pages or damaging the covers. I know it`s very anal, but it`s just how I am when it comes to my book collection.

I have 2 coppies One is a special one, and is only read by me. No one else is alowed near it. I only lent the other one to Gandalf because she is carefull with books, and I trust her. However, she is a slow reader...

It is SO annoying when you people talk about other people by their real names, or other people you know. Elrond, I went to Rivendell, and couldn't understand half of what you were talking about! try not to do that too much.

I only have one copy, so I don't let anyone else touch it, despite that fact that it's falling apart anyways. I want to see that chapter!

Me too. Some one scan it!

The original version of "The Hobbit" was published in 1937 by George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. Your right when you say that the version of "The Riddle Game" (as we call it) was changed with the second edition in 1951, a few years before the "Rings" trilogy was issued in 1954-55. If you're interested, and don't have an issue of the first edition which is quite probably since they run in the four to five digit numbers, then you can check it out in the back of the Annotated "Hobbit" by Douglas A. Anderson.

Basically the only aspect that's different is that Gollum gives up the Ring as a free gift to Bilbo in order to try and persuade him that he didn't cheat at their game. In the end, Gollum takes Bilbo to the exit, and gives him the Ring.

This, of course, had to be changed in time for the publication of LOTR since there would be no battle between Gollum and Frodo at the end if it hadn't been the new revision.

This is probably the largest change every made to the text, but there were plenty of other errors throughout that have been changed over the years. For more info on those, check out the standard bibliography on Tolkien by Wayne G. Hammond and Douglas A. Anderson called "J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography".

By the way, I don't think that the moderators should delete people from the board just because they don't think "The Hobbit" was the greatest piece of literature in the world. I think it was one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, but there are plenty of other books that come close. Tolkien was the first, but isn't the ONLY best writer of all time.

David

Don't worry, we were joking.

Gdl96 is posting under a new name now (adidas96), but I guess disliking Tolkien isn't a good enough reason to permanently ban someone

I've tried to get ahold of The Annotated Hobbit in the past but I was told it was out of print

It is out of print, although not too difficult to locate. I have no idea why it went out of print so quickly; it was only published in 1988. I didn't really think it was THAT bad! Anyway, you can probably find a copy at www.abebooks.com, although I wouldn't suggest purchasing one simply because you want to read the original version of the Riddle Game. It's interesting, but not worth $50.00.

David

Greetings All,

I have posted scans of the "Riddles in the Dark" chapter from the First American edition of the Hobbit at the following website...

www.geocities.com/dnvilla...ddles.html

It's very interesting, and I hope that everyone enjoys it! I apologize for the quality of the scan, but the text is certainly legible.

Of course no rights whatsoever are assumed or implied, they all remain with the original copyright holders, I'm sure. I am not certain of the copyright status of out of print items, and pray that this isn't infringing in any way, and expect it should be a decent service to members of the Entmoot.

Enjoy!