SIMPLICITY: Bilbo Baggins by Philip Harnden

From Journeys of Simplicity

Son of Bungo Baggins, grandson of the Old Took,
and diminutive hero of J. R. R. Tolkien’s mythological novel, The Hobbit.

A hobbit hole means comfort, Tolkien tells us, and Bilbo Baggins is a very comfortable hobbit indeed.  His bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and dining rooms have paneled walls and carpeted floors.  He has cellars and pantries full of food and entire rooms devoted to clothes.  To Bilbo, “adventures” are nasty and uncomfortable affairs that make you late for dinner.

But when he is visited by thirteen dwarfs and a wizard, “something Tookish” wakes inside him.  Before he can stop himself, he has left comfort behind to join one of the great adventures of modern literature.

BILBO SETS OFF ONE FINE MORNING

A borrowed dark-green hood
(a little weather-stained)

a borrowed dark-green cloak
(too large)

a lot of pocket-handkerchiefs

pipe
tobacco

Forgotten
hat
walking-stick
money