The Hobbit was written by Tolkien before he did The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So it is indeed a prequel in that sense, it was also much lighter in its tone than LOTR was.
The events in the Hobbit take place roughly 50 years before The Lord of the Rings (I could be off on that).
The Hobbit takes place before LOTR, but didn't Tolkien write it after?
The Hobbit takes place before LOTR, but didn't Tolkien write it after?
Nope, it was written before. As mentioned it has a much lighter feel, and that is because it was based on stories he wrote for his children. It is, in a lot of ways, suited as a childrens book.
It was after he was persuaded to publish it, and it became popular with old audiences as well as young, that he started writing LotR which he made as a sequel for the older audiences that liked The Hobbit.
I enjoyed the Hobbit more as well. I could have been that I was only about 12 when I tried to get through LOTR and I didnt have the attention span for it.
I think I enjoyed the Hobbit more, and I've read it a couple times now.
For me, LOTR was a harder read. I don't mean more difficult, it was just that I found myself taking notes halfway through the first book. There was a huge amount of history weaved in, plus all the characters and locations and languages and songs and poems...
As a young Dwarf prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when a great fire-breathing Dragon attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. After slaughtering many of Thorin’s kin, the great serpent, Smaug, entered The Lonely Mountain and took possession of its vast store of gold and jewels. No-one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, and thus, a once proud and noble race was forced into exile. Through long years of hardship, Thorin grew to be a strong and fearless fighter and revered leader. In his heart a fierce desire grew; a desire to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that had brought such misery upon his people. So when fate offers him an unusual ally, he seizes the chance for revenge.
This is being nerd-discussed over at the somethingawful forums:
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Middle-earth fantasy lesson time:
Dwarrows live for an average of 250 years and stay middle-aged in appearance until fairly close to death by old age (a few decades). Thorin's only ~200 years old at the time he sets out for Erebor.
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Balin was 17 years younger than Thorin but described as "very old-looking" and with a white beard.
One of my biggest worries was how they were going to make 13 dwarves all look different enough from one another that you could easily keep track of who was who. But this is pretty great character design. There's 13 different styles of beards alone. I particularly like that Gloin has a strong resemblance to Gimli.
