Riddles in the dark: a theoretical approach to Tolkien’s The Hobbit

Abstract

The aim of this work was to reassess notions of the fairy tale genre in order to apply these to an examination of Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937). For that purpose, the conceptions of a variety of authors, including the British author himself, related to fairy tales had been examined and assessed. Tolkien’s notion of the fairy tale as a “story about humans in Faërie” has proven itself satisfactory as a theoretical basis for the development of The Hobbit, as well as other considerations such as Propp’s functions of the dramatis personae, or Bettelheim psychological approach to the genre. Moreover, Zipes’ analysis of Tolkien’s theory was rather helpful in clarifying the ideas that the British author tried to explain in his essay On Fairy Stories (1947), and in expanding his theory towards a socio-political perspective.