Humor in The Hobbit

[Nóm]

Alright, I keep waiting for the pace to pick up in this section and it does not. SO I'm sitting here trying to think of a new thread Idea. I figured one already exists for the funny moments in the book but I ran a search on both "laugh" and "funny"...I found no topics containing these words in the book section! I'm a little surprised by it. So we now have a topic for humor in the book.

I'll start off with this bit, since I've never heard anyone mention it.

When Bilbo realises that Gandalf has the Dwarves enter Beorn's in couples because he is smart. That Doing so would cause interuptions in his story causing Beorn to be more interested in it.
Does everyone agree that this is why Gandalf did this? Maybe Bilbo was mistaken, maybe Gandalf really did do this to keep Beorn from being displeased at a bunch of uninvited guests.
Anyhow, I laugh at this part because it reminds me of how Ganalf had the dwarves show up at Bilbo's first one at a time, then in smaller groups.
I always wait for Bilbo to think back to this part!

[mr underhill]

bombur fallin and bilbo forettin his hankerchiefs are classics....

i didnt find that bit at beorns house that funny really....

[DGoeij]

I think Gandalf was smart, and not only at that particular moment.:p

But, by not coming at Beorn's house with a small stampede of dwarves, he prevented the big guy from becoming angry. And by weaving the arrival of the dwarves in couples into his story, he kept Beron's attention more at the story than at the number of dwarves in his house. I guess Beorn at the end (or even halfway already) realized all too well that the wizard had tricked him somewhat. But he was interested in good stories and he wasn't a real bad man anyway. I somehow think that Gandalf had read 'Lonely Planet's Guide to Good Behavior in the House of Beorn' (available in the Rivendell Library) more than once.

[mr underhill]

Oh my god.... can you buy that from www.amazon.com?????

* realises he was jokin *


damn!

[Nóm]

I just keep waiting for Bilbo (after realising Gandalf's technique with Beorn) to think to himself back to the unexpected party.."I've been had by Gandalf!"
I think the unexpected party is the funniest chapter in the book.
Little Bilbo's personality and reaction to the constant inflow of dwarves...just becoming a by-stander in his own house. Also, his "good-morning" meeting with Gandalf, that is one of my favorite parts in the book.

[mr underhill]

naaaaaassssssssssty bains is too dim to realise... evil hobbits we hate them we hate them we...


* snaps out of trance *

sorry about that... i just kinda.... yessss massster nice smeaol..

* hits self and fihts self *

[Goldberry]

Another funny part was when the dwarves party arrives in Rivendell, and the Elves are singing songs making fun of them, and Gandalf says Elves have over merry tongues!

How about in Mirkwood, when Bilbo sang that silly song calling the spiders names? Attercop and Tomnoddy are names the English consider insulting, whatever they mean. I think it's pretty funny to draw your enemy away on insults.

[Nóm]

Yes.."Mind Bilbo doesn't eat all the cakes" is one my favorite lines from the Hobbit and among my first impression of Tolkien Elves. Tra la la lolly the valley is jolly, to leave would be folly...hehehe. Love them elves of The Hobbit. It also make me laugh when Bilbo complains during the first part of the journey. Or the way he was thinking of sneaking off to bed while the dwarves where at Bad End that night. Or worrying about running out of cakes or that the dwarves will crack the plates. No charactor in ANY book makes me smile so much as Bilbo Baggins...During my first viewing of PJ's movie, one would have thought I escaped from a padded room due to the hudge grins and smiles on my face during Bilbo's first scenes. Bilbo's antics are a mjor part of the Hobbit being an enjoyable book, not just for getting a laugh but they are touching. To see that relatively uptight Hobbit, in all of his innosence break free from the confines placed on him by the hobbits and be free at last is quite a thing. Children's book or not I think it is as good a book as the Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, just in a different way.

[Nenya Evenstar]

I can remember the very first time I read "The Hobbit" how hard I laughed during the songs. The song which the dwarves sing while cleaning up the table always makes me laugh! Just picture it! :) And then in the Misty Mountains when Bilbo and the dwarves are being driven down to Goblin Town. I know that part isn't very funny, but the song is - I can't help but laugh at it!

[Nóm]

Hey Nenya, have you saw the animated movie of the Hobbit? The songs are in it.... You should hear those Goblins' singing in it "down down to goblin town! you go my lad! ho ho my lad!"..:D It also has a lot of the other songs, as well as some lyrics wrote special special for the cartoon. Some people think the music is awful in it, but maybe you like it. I like every bit of music in it.

[Nenya Evenstar]

Yes, I have seen "The Hobbit" cartoon. I did like the goblin song's lyrics, but as I recal the musical accompaniment wasn't my favorite - it was too, I don't know, bouncy and too I-don't-know-the-word. I did like some of the other music, but then I didn't like some of it. I just didn't think some of it fit... But I loved the rest of the movie, as well as some of the music, and I hope it becomes part of my permanant collection someday! :)

[Theoden]

I loved the part when Bilbo floated them all down the river and then he caught a cold and said, "Fank you very mush". :D

-me

[Aragorn12345]

Actually he said Thag you very mush, Theoden

[Nenya Evenstar]

Actually, he said, "Thag you very buch!" :D

[Theoden]

Ok, so I didn't have my Hobbit copy handy to get the exact quote. But I really like that part anyway. (Sheesh, you two. You'd think you guys could give an old king a break!) :D

-me

[Nenya Evenstar]

lol, Your Majesty! At least you have two such wonderful pages who are at your service night and day to see that you do not need to bother yourself with looking up quotes. :D I would have left you alone, but when Aragorn12345 steped in with what he said, I just couldn't leave it. Anyway, we are glad that we could have been of some service to your esteemed self. :D ;)

[gate7ole]

Ok,you mentioned the most funny moments and I totally agree.
But I would like to mention my fav moment, when Bilbo runs out of Bag End to meet the Dwarves without his handkerchief, being a small, terrified hobbit and afterwards when he returned with Gandalf he had grown up, he had become another person and needed not a handkerchief.
This is all about, isn't it? The coming-of-age (though Bilbo was already 50 years old), the change of one's personality, the adventures that broaden our minds.

[Nóm]

I don't view it so much as a coming of age. I view it more as someone breaking free from their own doubts and fears, and from the restraints of their society to follow their heart and whims.. The Hobbit society looked down at this, but Bilbo Baggins could not be opressed. Hooray for Bilbo, the greatest Hobbit ever!

[Popqueen62]

Yeah, hurray for Bilbo, the coolest Hobbit ever!

[Aragorn12345]

sorry, your Majesty King Theoden

[Eledhwen]

Only English spiders get offended at being called these names.

I love Tolkien's dry humour; in The Hobbit, for instance: They debated long on what was to be done, but they could think of no way of getting rid of Smaug - which had always been a weak point in their plans, as Bilbo felt inclined to point out.

[Goldberry]

I was reminded of a funny line the other day. My youngest daughter eats pancakes for breakfast every single day. Every day I ask what she wants, and it is always pancakes.

It reminded me of the 3 trolls in The Hobbit, when one says something like, "Mutton today. Mutton yesterday. And blimey if it don't look like mutton tomorrow."

[Goldberry344]

i liked his convo with smaug. it made me laugh.

[Mrs. Maggott]

Interestingly enough, Beorn wasn't all that overwhelmed by the Wizard. In fact, he declared that if all of them (Wizards) had such good tales to tell (true or make believe), they would be more welcome in his home. Also interestingly, Gandalf seems more than a little circumspect about Beorn, calling him a dangerous enemy and acting in a very subdued manner in his presence.

Of course, this is the "Gandalf" of The Hobbit and not LOTR. When one is analyzing Tolkien's works, it is well to remember that his own conception of his characters change over the years. Gandalf's power (at the beginning of the book at least) is not nearly so great as it becomes later on the story or in LOTR. This is one of the reasons that with all the additional stuff that has been released (notes, threads, updates and changes in Tolkien's world), one can sometimes find two people arguing about an issue - and both will be correct depending upon what they have read and whether they are arguing from an older or newer version.

Also, in The Hobbit, it's rather fun to read how the tale changes from a true children's story with asides (yes, that's how trolls behave, even those with only one head) to a much more mature narration towards the end of the book. :)

[Hobbit-GalRosie]

I thought it was really funny when the Elves were rolling the barrels with the dwarves into the river. I kept wondering what would happen when the noticed how heavy they were, and then they were so drunk they basically said "Aw, to heck with it!" It's so delightfully improbable...

[Mrs. Maggott]

Yes, at that point, Tolkien's "Englishness" comes into play when he has one of the elves call another an "idle tosspot" (tosspot means someone who "tosses down" pots of wine/ale etc.). Another humorous point is Bilbo's baiting of the spiders and Tolkien explains that "tomnoddy" - an insult the hobbit has used - "is insulting to anybody!" I don't know if such a word exists, or if it is only another example of Tokien's droll humor which he used in his children's stories. :)

[Eledhwen]

I'm English and I've never heard the word 'tomnoddy' outside of The Hobbit; 'noddy' is an outdated word meaning silly or foolish person, and 'tom' is the male of several animal species. Draw your own conclusions. I have heard people referred to as being an 'owd tosspot' though (owd=old, northern dialect).

Mrs Maggot reminds me of something that ocurred to me recently: Gandalf managed to get all the dwarves into Bilbo's home by sending them one or two at a time. He then did the same at Beorn's home. I wonder if things would have worked out differently if Thorin had taken Gandalf's wisdom on board and approached the Elves in the Mirkwood with the same trick, or are Elves a bit too worldwise to fall for it, or could they, like Beorn, be beguiled by a story in progress (reminds me of Sheherezade).

[Mrs. Maggott]

I don't know. Remember, Bilbo went in alone and they just "poof" - disappeared, so I suppose that ANYONE approaching them would have created the same response. What I find interesting is the fact that after the elves 'disappeared' because someone walked into the light, they then showed up some distance away as if nothing happened! If they fled because they thought the hobbit/dwarves were enemies, why didn't some of them stick around to find out who disturbed them? Why just "pick up the party where you left off" somewere else?

Frankly, the behavior of the wood elves in The Hobbit was somewhat off putting. Whatever they may have thought of dwarves, once they learned from their first captive (I believe that they captured Thorin while the rest had gotten lost in the wood) that there were others, they must have known that they would fall prey to the spiders and so they should have attempted a rescue instead of doing nothing. I'm afraid for all of his joy in the elves, Tolkien's wood elves do not fare very well as far as manners are concerned. I definitely opted for the dwarves in that encounter! mad:

[Eledhwen]

Yes, I suppose sharing the same forest as the Necromancer won't have done a lot for the Elves' demeanour. They improved somewhat when push came to shove at the battle of the five armies. Like all racial suspicion, the Elves' opinions of the dwarves seemed to be based on ignorance, which turned to respect when they fought together against their common enemy.

Do you think that in the moving of their forest feast, the Elves were deliberately drawing the Dwarves from the path so as to cause them to be lost in the forest? If so, this puts Elf behaviour at this stage of Tolkien's writing into the 'mischievous' category found in other faerie stories (eg George Macdonald).

[Mrs. Maggott]

Originally posted by Eledhwen
Yes, I suppose sharing the same forest as the Necromancer won't have done a lot for the Elves' demeanour. They improved somewhat when push came to shove at the battle of the five armies. Like all racial suspicion, the Elves' opinions of the dwarves seemed to be based on ignorance, which turned to respect when they fought together against their common enemy.

Do you think that in the moving of their forest feast, the Elves were deliberately drawing the Dwarves from the path so as to cause them to be lost in the forest? If so, this puts Elf behaviour at this stage of Tolkien's writing into the 'mischievous' category found in other faerie stories (eg George Macdonald).

Of course, the wood elves were "dark elves" who never went into the West and so were more dangerous and unenlightened than their cousins. Also, there was a history of bad blood between dwarf and elf that somewhat excuses the behavior of BOTH groups. However, the elves of Mirkwood HATED the spiders and when they discovered that there were other dwarves lost in the forest, should have gone forth to seek them to prevent the spiders from getting them. Of course, they may have done just that since after Bilbo rescued the dwarfs, they ran into elves that appeared to be searching for them (if I remember the story correctly).

As far as "leading the dwarves off the path", they may have been doing so. But it may be that they were simply disinterested in them and merely wanted to put as much distance between their feast and the disturbance as possible. I would say from the description of the elves in succeeding chapters, they were hardly the will-o-the-wisp types that lead the unwary into bogs. They appeared to be much too civilized and intelligent rather than being mere wayward nature sprites dancing about mushrooms.

I have always been of the opinion that Legolas and his treatment of the Mirkwood elves in LOTR was Tolkien's apology for his treatment of them in The Hobbit. :)

[Nenya Evenstar]

A thought came to me while reading this. Perhaps the Wood Elves tried to lear the Dwarves off of the path because they 1: wanted to know who and what the Dwarves were doing and 2: because they did not like them trespassing. Perhaps... mischief could have been the problem as well, but I would say it was more curiosity and a wish to know more.

[Eledhwen]

I have always been of the opinion that Legolas and his treatment of the Mirkwood elves in LOTR was Tolkien's apology for his treatment of them in The Hobbit. I was going to say this myself, but felt that Tolkien had already exonerated the Elves by the end of The Hobbit, which was written in installments over a period of time.

I have written for a group of children, initially aged about six to ten, over a period of half a dozen years, and found the content of my writing 'grew' with the children. I believe this may have been the case in the writing of The Hobbit for Christopher Tolkien.

Hi Nenya! I didn't notice your reply until just now. I think you and Mrs Maggott are both right in saying the Elves were not mischievous, though it could have looked that way! They were rightly cautious, and may well have understood their peril from The Necromancer and Smaug (they will all have remembered his attack, unlike the people of Esgaroth) much better than the book intonates. I think that was a very unhappy time in the Elves long lives. If they had been from the blessed realm they may have had other remedies than alcoholic wine, but then The Hobbit would have been less funny (getting back to the subject of the thread!).

[Wolfshead]

I don't think this quite merits a thread of it's own, so I'll just put it in here.

When Dwalin rings the door bell in the first chapter, this happens.
He rushed and put on the kettle, and put out another cup and saucer and an extra cake or two, and ran to the door.
Now, we see how Bilbo is all surprised at seeing a load of Dwarves turn up. Which is understandable, but try and look on this from Dwalin's point of view. The door is opened to him and he sees a little Hobbit wearing a kettle!

And where would Bilbo have put this kettle, on his head? I don't think it would fit. Maybe as a slipper, or a glove? I suspect we shall never know.

And yes, I am being pedantic, I am well aware of what Tolkien really meant...

[Mrs. Maggott]

My Dear CraigSmith:

I think you are putting US "on"! ;)

[Wolfshead]

Yes, I do think you are right. I was merely being my usual pedantic self. Although it would be quite funny seeing a Hobbit turn up at the door with a kettle on his head! :D

[Hobbit-GalRosie]

A kettle on his head hahahahahahahahahahaha...

But anyway...
"Blimey, Bert, look what I've copped!" said William.
"What is it?" siad the others coming up.
"Lumme, if I knows! What are yer?"
"Bilbo Baggins, a bur--a hobbit," said poor Bilbo shaking all over, and wondering how to make owl noises before they throttled him.
"A burrahobbit?" said they, a bit startled.

I won't say more than that because I imagine just about everyone knows that scene by heart by now. But the really funny thing was, the first time I read that I had brought the book with me to the doctor's office, expecting to wait a while, and I could just hear "A burrahobbit?" in my mind, and they sounded so dumb I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair, and there was this sweet elderly woman sitting next to me who had to think I was nuts. She had this look of concentration on her face, like she was thinking "I will not stare, I will not stare..." and I tried to stop for her sake, really I did, but it was just too much! Later she commented "Well, if it's funny, laugh!" so she was really nice about it, but I'm still a little embarrassed every time I think about it.

[Nenya Evenstar]

Hehehe... Hobbit-GalRosie, I remember the first time I read the beginning of the Hobbit. I must have been about nine, and my mother read the book to me and my brothers every evening. We all laughed so hard at the troll part. In fact, I don't think I've laughed so hard for a book since! We also laughed for the songs of the dwarves and the orcs. Ahhh! Good times!

[Hobbit-GalRosie]

Oh, I loved the songs in The Hobbit, I think my fav is either the one the Dwarves sing about smashing Bilbo's dinnerware or the one the Elves were singing in the trees just before they got to Rivendell. Those were really funny.

Sometimes the best thing about great books like The Hobbit is the memories you get from it, not just of the book itself but whatever else was going on at the time. I'd have to say there are more nostalgic remembrances for me with The Hobbit than any other book.

[Hobbit-GalRosie]

"Great Elephants!" said Gandalf, "you are not at all yourself this morning -- you have never dusted the mantelpiece!"
It really is so unlike Bilbo, but it's such a little thing the reader would never think of it, and how would Gandalf know if Bilbo was in the habit of dusting his mantelpiece? Just a universally Hobbit thing to do, I guess.

I also wonder now that "Elephants" does not read "Oliphaunts,":D! Of course that's probably really because this is Gandalf speaking rather than a Hobbit, but I just had to point that out;).

[gandalfthegreat]

The Hobbit cartoon, is my all time favorite movie. It does a awesome job at telling Bilbo's story. My favorite scene is when he has the riddle competition with Gollum. And the music is the best part....they have very funky 70's bass beats to them. The best song though is the Carefully, Carefully with the plates song when Thorin and Company, and Gandalf first comes to Bilbo in Hobbiton. :)

[gandalfthegreat]

Bilbo forgettin his hanky...LOL

-*Gandalf*-

[Lasgalen]

I like the song from The Hobbit that starts "15 birds in 5 firtrees". Goblins with a sense of humor. Go figure.
-Lasgalen

[Goldberry]

How about Thorin & Gandalf's exchange after Gandalf rescues them from the trolls. Remember, Gandalf disappeared before they encountered the trolls.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.
"To look ahead," said he.
"And what brought you back in the nick of time?"
"Looking behind," said he.

[greypilgrim]

Has anyone said the part where the dwarves are getting laughed at by the elves, and they are making fun of their beards as they crossed into the Woodland Realm? that just tickles my ribs!
Also funny: The names Bilbo gave himself.
"Thats better! But don't let your imagination run away with you" I think is what Smaug told him. His names were getting more progressively "respectful", and compared with the identities in all the names in the LOTR,maybe thats why it was so funny.:rolleyes:

[Hobbit-GalRosie]

Omigosh, I love those parts. I haven't laughed so hard in a long while. And to think of a dragon with such a wonderful dry sense of humour, oh it's just too much:D :D :D :D :D!

What about when the Dwarves were complaining about the plan to go down the river in barrels, when Bilbo had just gone to great pains to get their hides out of prison. And they'd been in there for a long time all ready at that point. You have to wonder if maybe they were becoming institutionalized:D.

[Lasgalen]

When Bullroarer Took knocked the goblin kings head off "It sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit-hole, and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same moment."

Winning battles and inventing games at the same time. Funny stuff.

-Lasgalen

[Hobbit-GalRosie]

I shall not let this dear old thread die.

*goes in search of Frankensteinian electrodes*

LIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's hilarious when Tolkien talks about Hobbits quietly disappearing when "stupid people like you and me" come along making "noise like elephants". I was trying to read this passage aloud to a friend of mine to let her share in the laugh, and could hardly manage it because I interupted myself with guffaws every time.

[ingolmo]

My favorite humorous part of The Hobbit was when in the First Chapter, An Unexpected Party, the dwarves sing that song, That's what Bilbo Baggins Hates!
-Ingolmo

[Narya]

My favorite part is when Bilbo was rescuing the dwarves from Thranduil's dungeon and they were making so much noise he blurted, "Drat this dwarvish racket!" This became my favorite expression for many years.

[baragund]

I really love the process where all of the Dwarves arrive at Bilbo's house in "An Unexpected Party". Same thing when Gandalf gradually introduces all of them to Beorn.

Narya, it's so good to see you back!!:) :) Will you be kicking your shoes off and staying a while or are you just passing by? *Looks hopeful*

[Narya]

HULLO! BARAGUND!

No. I'm sticking around, Baragund, and will be annoying you all again in the RPG sections. harharhar!!! I've been reading lots of threads and I must admit, I am greatly impressed with the rp players now. They have matured a lot since last I was here.

[Noldor_returned]

The funniest part for me is easily the bit in the beginning when Bilbo first sees Gandalf...

"Good morning," Bilbo says
"Now when you say good morning, do you mean it is a good morning etc

a bit later...

"Good morning!" Bilbo says again
"My, what a lot of things you use good morning for"

...very witty...I think it's gotta be the best bit of humour in the book.

[Alcuin]

The funniest part for me is easily the bit in the beginning when Bilbo first sees Gandalf...
....
...very witty...I think it's gotta be the best bit of humour in the book. And that was Bilbo’s version of events! From Unfinished Tales, “The Quest of Erebor”, as Gandalf described it:

“So I [set off] to tackle the difficult task of persuading [Thorin] to ... take Bilbo with him. Without seeing Bilbo first. It was a mistake, and nearly proved disastrous. ... [Bilbo's] old desires had dwindled down to a sort of private dream. Nothing could have been more dismaying than to find it actually in danger of coming true! He … made a complete fool of himself...

“But you know how things went … as Bilbo saw them. The story would sound rather different, if I had written it. For one thing he did not realize at all how fatuous the Dwarves thought him, nor how angry they were with me. Thorin was much more indignant and contemptuous than [Bilbo] perceived...
My favorite part is when he’s on the floor hollering, “struck by lightning, struck by lightning!” followed by the business negotiation and then Gandalf’s hustling him out the door without any money or a walking stick or a change of clothes or even a pocket-handkerchief. (There is a parallel here to Christ calling the disciples to follow him: each of them immediately left whatever he was doing.) “Thag you very buch,” is most amusing, too, as is the scene when Bilbo returns home to find that he has been declared legally dead and that Grubb, Grubb, & Burrowes are selling his belongings.