Bradford Lee Eden, a former Dean of Library Services at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction (Bradford Lee Eden)

Part I: The Evolution of the Dwarven Race

Anchoring the Myth: The Impact of The Hobbit on Tolkien's Legendarium (John D. Rateliff)

From Nauglath to Durin's Folk: The Hobbit and Tolkien's Dwarves (Gerard Hynes)

Part II: Durin's

"It passes our skill in these days": Primary World Influences on the Evolution of Durin's Day (Kristine Larsen)

A Scientific Examination of Durin's Day (Sumner Gary Hunnewell)

Part III: Themes

Tolkien's French Connection (Verlyn Flieger)

Tolkien's Hybrid Mythology: The Hobbit as Old Norse "Fairy-Story" (Jane Chance)

From "The Silmarillion" to The Hobbit and Back Again: An Onomastic Foray (Damien Bador)

Civilized Goblins and Talking Animals: How The Hobbit Created Problems of Sentience for Tolkien (Gregory Hartley)

Seeing in the Dark, Seeing by the Dark: How Bilbo's Invisibility Defined Tolkien's Vision (Michael A. Wodzak)

A Victorian in Valhalla: Bilbo Baggins as the Link Between England and Middle-earth (William Christian Klarner)

Beorn and Bombadil: Mythology, Place and Landscape in ­Middle-earth (Justin T. Noetzel)

Travel, Redemption and Peacemaking: Hobbits, Dwarves and Elves and the Transformative Power of Pilgrimage (Vickie L. ­Holtz-Wodzak)

A Baggins Back Yard: Environmentalism, Authorship and the Elves in Tolkien's Legendarium (David Thiessen)

Polytemporality and Epic Characterization in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Reflecting The Lord of the Ring's Modernism and Medievalism (Judy Ann Ford and Robin Anne Reid)

The Wisdom of the Crowd: Internet Memes and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Michelle Markey Butler)

About the Contributors

Index