Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Like I said, it can all be made to work in the context of LotR. But I think the biggest thing that changed between the two books was JRRT himself.
Re-reading the Hobbit, it almost feels like a distinct setting from LotR's Middle-Earth
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Well, himself and the intent of the work. The Hobbit was written as a story for kids; his own kids, originally, as I recall. The narrator's voice in it, with its modern asides, and the tonal differences all make sense for such a story.
Yeah, well, The Hobbit was published in 1937. LotR was published in 1954. Are you the same person as you were 17 ears ago, back in 2005?
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
I'm actually aging backwards, like Merlin or Benjamin Buttons (has anyone ever seen those two together?), so it remains to be seen.
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Cordwainer Fish
Imp. Int. Scout Svc. (Dishon. Ret.)
I've come to think of The Hobbit as being the version of the story told by Samwise to his grandchildren.
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Well, I'm still here at EN World, so yeah pretty much.
Nephilim00
Explorer
Maybe if you listen to Serkis reading LOTR they would seem more similar.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
It's the first sentence of the thread, my man.
MarkB
Legend
That you're listening to his reading of The Hobbit. Not that you've listened to his reading of LotR.
Tolkien really wanted to write about the Elder Days and get that published, but knew that would be a tall order. 'The Hobbit' was written to drum up interest in the themes he wanted to explore, but it wasn't originally the same world as the Elder Days. When 'The Hobbit' was successful he went back to his publisher to drum up support for the Elder Days, but they just wanted more stories with Hobbits. We didn't even get his Elder Day stories until after he passed away and his son, Christopher Tolkien (his literary executor), put together the stories he liked best and called it the Silmarillion.
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