# “The Annotated Hobbit” by Douglas A. Anderson



## Deleted member 12094 (Aug 3, 2020)

This book is frequently referred to here but a real introduction to it was as yet outstanding (unless I overlooked it) so I will try to do that here.

Its first edition appeared in September 1988, in recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of the first American publication of The Hobbit, but the version discussed here is the revised and expanded edition of 2002 which took into account the appearance of “many volumes of previously unpublished writings by Tolkien” since its first publication, as the author says (although its timing might not have been entirely unrelated from the movie frenzy of the moment, I suspect).

The core of this publication is typically structured as follows. Its pages are divided into two columns. In one column the entire text of TH is reproduced, along with reference numbers wherever applicable. These reference numbers refer to annotations in the second column aside. In attachment hereto you can check a typical sample of such pages.

The book is illustrated as well, with photos, early sketches and illustrations from various editions, although their importance is somewhat secondary.

The main point of interest are of course Anderson’s annotations. I would broadly categorize these in three subject types:

*1. Inspiration sources and comparisons to other writings*

These are often cross references to old myths or legends, to writings of authors that JRRT has known, or just mentions of striking analogies in other literature. A typifying example of such annotation for the riddle on darkness is as follows:​
_In his copy of the first edition of The Annotated Hobbit (now with the Tolkien collection at Marquette University), the late Tolkien scholar Taum Santoski noted a riddle analogue from Jon Arnason’s Izlenzkar Gdtur (1887), a collection of about twelve hundred Icelandic riddles:_​​_It will soon cover the roof of a high house._​_It flies higher than the mountains_​_and causes the fall of many a man._​_Everyone can see it, but no one can fetter it._​_It can stand both blows and the wind,_​_and it is not harmful._​_[No. 352, p. 52. Answer: darkness]_​
*2. Explanations of the text*

These clarify or deepen the meaning of aspects of the original text; they may also occasionally point out contradictions, e.g the sentence _“He drew from a pocket in his old jacket (which he still wore over his mail), crumpled and much folded, Thorin’s letter that had been put under the clock on his mantelpiece in May!”_ gets as annotation:​​_“The statement here that Thorin’s letter had been put under Bilbo’s mantelpiece in May is incorrect. It was done on April 28. See note 3 to Chapter 2, where the “fine morning just before May” is cited. Tolkien also mistakenly refers to “that May morning” on page 202._​
*3. Editorial changes between the versions from 1937 and 1951*

A large part of these annotations highlights changes to the original text in order to align TH to LotR, and it concerns really more than just “Riddles in the Dark”. Very interesting!​
Other editorial changes are also of similar interest. Here is an example of such a change in Thorin’s famous phrase _“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”_:​​_1937: “ If more men” > 1951: “ If more of us”_​_This change was suggested by Arthur Ransome in his letter to Tolkien of December 13,1937. Ransome felt that men referred to humankind alone, and thus misrepresented Thorin’s concerns. Tolkien discussed the change in his letter to Allen 8c Unwin of December 19,1937, and it was adopted in the second edition of 1951._​
At the end, the book adds “The Quest of Erebor” (a somewhat superfluous copy from the “Unfinished Tales”, I thought), a discussion on the runes used, and a bibliography.

In conclusion, I warmly recommend it. On Amazon, eBay e.a. a typical price is 25-35$, which is futile compared to the pleasure it can bring you. ISBN is 978-0-00-713727-5.

*Tip:* should you wish to buy it, then do make sure you get the 2002 edition.

View attachment The Annotated Hobbit Sample.jpg


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## Olorgando (Aug 3, 2020)

I have a 2012 German translation of Anderson's 2002 Edition.
Very likely the impetus for the translation was the scheduled appearance of the three "Hobbit" films in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The translators / editors of this 2012 edition added some updated information, which led me onto the trail of the 2005 and 2006 tomes on LoTR and JRRT by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, which I ended up ordering.

Perhaps ironically, I only read the annotations, not the German translation itself (so my only German reading of TH is the 1992 German Translation in three hardcover comic books - originally published by Eclipse Comics in 1989).
But now I have progressed quite far in John D. Rateliff's 2011 edition single-volume hardcover "The History of The Hobbit", and Rateliff does pay tribute to the help Anderson's annotated version was for his book.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 3, 2020)

I have the Second Edition as well, and refer to it often. 


BTW, Merroe -- you may want to edit your thread title.


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## Olorgando (Aug 3, 2020)

The literature-ignorant spellchecker strikes again? 🤨


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## Deleted member 12094 (Aug 3, 2020)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> BTW, Merroe -- you may want to edit your thread title.



Damn spell checker !!!  


_{Hobby -> Hobbit}_


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## Olorgando (Aug 3, 2020)

Merroe said:


> Damn spell checker !!!
> _{Hobby -> Hobbit}_


Doesn't yours have an "add to dictionary" function?
I wanted to write "Aragon", as in the Spanish province recently, but wrote "Aragorn" instead, and mine waved that through ... 🙄


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 3, 2020)

Merroe said:


> Damn spell checker !!!


I call mine the Auto-Dolt. It now knows enough that when I type "Auto", it automatically supplies "-Dolt".

You gotta show these things who's boss.


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## Boffer Balsashield (Aug 13, 2020)

I have a copy of this too. I used it as a reference for making my fan edit, The Hobbit: the Middle Earth Mod.


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## Alcuin (Aug 14, 2020)

Merroe said:


> Damn spell checker !!!





Olorgando said:


> Doesn't yours have an "add to dictionary" function?
> I wanted to write "Aragon", as in the Spanish province recently, but wrote "Aragorn" instead, and mine waved that through ...





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I call mine the Auto-Dolt. It now knows enough that when I type "Auto", it automatically supplies "-Dolt".
> 
> You gotta show these things who's boss.


I added hundreds of Tolkien spellings to my spellchecker. Now the Spanish province of Aragon becomes the province of Aragorn, as it does for Olorgando, and Turin, Italy, becomes Túrin, Italy, &c.


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## Olorgando (Aug 14, 2020)

A dangerous relative of the spell-checker is the "correct all" function in Word etc.

I don't remember if the following happened in the real world, or if it was described in a (fairly recent, obviously) novel.
Anyway, an author has written a fairly voluminous novel with a hero - or at least main protagonist - named David.
As we know about JRRT, names may not stay constant from first drafting to publication.
Anyway, the author felt a sudden dissatisfaction with the name David for the main protagonist, changing it to Charles.
Having the option of a "correct all" function for the master digital typescript (manuscripts *do* have their advantages) this function was employed, as it seemed successfully.

Except that it left readers puzzling about the assertion that Michelangelo (yes, the one with the Sistine Chapel) had supposedly created a world-famous statue to be seen in Florence, Italy, named Charles ...


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## Alcuin (Aug 15, 2020)

Olorgando said:


> A dangerous relative of the spell-checker is the "correct all" function…


I had a friend many years ago who was a bank examiner. In the days before Windows, MS-DOS, he had inherited a computer from his predecessor at work that had several “correct all” settings, some of which appeared to be at the very least mischievous if not borderline malicious. I remember sitting in his office one evening after work while he labored to produce a warning letter to some institution while the machine attempted to change “bank” to “broke”, for instance, or “bond” to “bread”. IT support personnel were not as sophisticated twenty-five years ago, nor were word-processing programs. (Word was widely eschewed as “bloatware” because a small file in WordPerfect, for instance, became a monster file a thousand or ten thousand times larger in Word. Microsoft eventually forced companies into accepting Word and Excel by threatening to withhold technical support for their operating system, and although they lost the resulting antitrust lawsuit, their competitors were ruined: Their second-rate software continues to dominate the market to this day.) We eventually discovered the “autocorrect” toggle and turned it off, but only at the cost of disabling the spell-check system altogether.


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## Elthir (Aug 16, 2020)

I annotated my own Hobbit to save money to buy eggs I can't stop.

🐾


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 16, 2020)

That's OK -- saving dough is the same as bringing home the bacon.


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## Elthir (Aug 16, 2020)

I've been saving my doh too!


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## Olorgando (Aug 16, 2020)

Elthir said:


> I annotated my own Hobbit to save money to buy eggs I can't stop.





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> That's OK -- saving dough is the same as bringing home the bacon.


Perhaps you need to annotate your shopping list so that you don't forget S-eS's suggestion ... 🥓🤪


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 16, 2020)

Or, just wear "reminder clothing".


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## Olorgando (Aug 16, 2020)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Or, just wear "reminder clothing".
> View attachment 7856


You go shopping wearing *just* boxer shorts?!?  (Wearing them in an orthodox fashion would be of little help, is my opinion based on unsubstantiated rumor.)


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 16, 2020)

Well, personally, I'd certainly also wear a shirt.


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## Olorgando (Aug 16, 2020)

OK.
toast = bread = carbohydrates
egg = proteins
bacon = fat
So generically, you have reminders about the three basic necessities of eating.
But what do you do (wear?) to remind yourself that you need to fill up your car's gas tank?
Or, of more recent relevance, to buy *toilet paper*?!?


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 16, 2020)




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## Olorgando (Aug 16, 2020)

Still confused.
Do you wear the hat *with* or *without* the TP rolls? 🤔


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