The Hobbit films provide many examples of the famous quote, "you can learn all there is to know about hobbits in a day, and yet after a year they can still surprise you." There are so many times in which Thorin, the head dwarf of the company on the quest to reclaim Erebor, doubts Bilbo, and believes he never should have been chosen to go on the quest with them. So why did Gandalf pick this particular hobbit, even though Oakenshield was so against it?

There are 3 very important reasons. The first has to do with Bilbo’s lineage. He is a peculiar blend of hobbit, combining the stoic and steadfast Baggins genes with the adventurous and mischievous Tooks. It is explained during the films that Gandalf knew Belladonna Took, Bilbo’s mother, and thus knew Bilbo himself as a small boy.

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Bilbo was brave and full of wild delight, not afraid to be himself even when others thought him queer, and loved tricks and games. He was very good at riddles, even then, and this becomes a key quality that Gandalf seeks in him later when appointing him to the role of Burglar. He knows that the hobbit, being neither strong and tall, nor battle-worn and experienced, would have difficulty fighting his way out of conflict, but he knows that Bilbo has a talent for words, and would be able to talk his way out and mediate between both friends and enemies. Mr Baggings is clever, and this trait saves his life and the lives of others on many occasions, such as using the barrels to escape the elven prison in Mirkwood, and distracting the trolls who are about to eat them long enough for the sun to rise and turn them to stone.

Riddles In The Dark 2

The second reason why Gandalf picks Bilbo, is because he has no family left. Bilbo, like his adopted heir Frodo, never finds love, marries, or has children. This is very unusual among hobbits, which makes him uniquely qualified to be able to leave for an adventure in the middle of the night without being missed and longed for by anyone that he has left behind. Gandalf would never let any harm come to his hobbit friend, but nonetheless the quest to reclaim the dwarven home under the mountains is very dangerous. It is therefore important that Bilbo leave behind no grieving relatives.

During the journey, Gandalf finds a beautifully crafted elven sword, which glows when Goblins are near, and gives then warning that the enemy is approaching. Even so, there are several near misses on Bilbo’s life, including when all of the dwarves are stuck in the tree on the edge of a cliff, and must use Gandalf’s fire magic to get out, and when Bilbo is nearly eaten by the vicious Gollum in the caves below the goblin tunnel.

The third reason is precisely because of Thorin’s lack of faith in the "puny half breed" to be able to undertake the task demanded of him. Thorin, and indeed the other dwarves underestimate Bilbo every step of the way. And according to The Unfinished Tales, Gandalf chooses Bilbo because he knows that the enemy will do the same. At this point in Middle Earth, hobbits have passed out of knowledge of almost every other race of peoples. They have been left to their own devices, and forgotten about in the larger affairs of men, dwarves, and elves.

This is why the Ents in Fangorn Forest are suspicious at first of Merry and Pippin, believing them to be orc tricksters, and why Eomer of Rohan also doesn’t know what they are when he meets Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in the plains, who explain ‘they would be but children to your eyes.’ Subsequently, when Bilbo does come face to face with Smaug, the great dragon who has stolen the treasure beneath the mountains, the dragon doesn’t know what sort of creature he is, and thus is curious to learn about him, instead of killing him on sight. This gives Bilbo the valuable time he needs to find the Arkenstone and escape.

Thorin Hugging Bilbo

In the film adaptation by Peter Jackson, Galadriel asks Gandalf at their meeting “why the Halfling?” to which he explains that the small things in life make the most difference, “simple acts of kindness and love,” and that Bilbo gives him courage. Throughout the journey, Bilbo proves himself over and over again, showing himself to be as loyal and true as anyone in the company, and Thorin even admits that there could have been no better choice, when he says "Did I not say that you would be a burden? I have never been so wrong in all my life."

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