[narfforc]

Although Tolkien created a lot of The Silmarillion by the time The Hobbit was released, I try to treat it as one might look upon The Lesser Rings, a mere essay in the craft of writing, by the time he forged The One Book, he was a Master Wordsmith. His attempts to put the story (The Hobbit) into context with his later writings ie:- Of the finding of The Ring(LotR) and The Quest of Erebor(UT) I find quite fascinating. When first reading The Hobbit (If you read it first), you cannot fully understand the vastness of what you are reading, in fact Middle-Earth is not mentioned at all. Elements of greater things are touched on ie:- Elronds ancestry, Durin, The Necromancer and Gondolin. The problem is if you read The Hobbit after LotR, you may well find it less than what it is. If you look at some of the names I have mentioned, you will notice how ancient they are in Middle-Earth, my own view is that The Hobbit was Tolkiens first attempt to show us his Sub-Creation. I treat The Hobbit as neither a childrens nor an adult book, the way I see it, is this is how you may try to teach a younger person of greater things, a small glimpse at The Marvelous.