The Hobbit tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who lives in The Shire in his hobbit hole. Bilbo doesn't like adventures, and prefers to stay in his hobbit hole away from danger.

Gandalf the wizard turns up and informs Bilbo of an adventure that he is arranging and manages to trick Bilbo into participating. Unknown to Bilbo, Gandalf places a sign on Bilbo's front door, which encourages a band of dwarves to show up. The dwarves assume that Bilbo has agreed to take part in the adventure, much to Bilbo's dismay.

Because of Bilbo's reluctance, the dwarves begin to criticise him, which makes Bilbo determined to prove them wrong.

The adventure consists of Bilbo and the dwarves claiming treasure that is being guarded by a dragon named Smaug. Whilst on the journey, Bilbo discovers a ring, which is in fact the same ring that Frodo Baggins destroys in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

After a number of riddles with Gollum, who was the owner of the ring until Bilbo took it, Bilbo escapes, though persued by goblins.

The end of the story sees Bilbo claiming a share of the treasure after a battle of the five armies, all of whom have the same as Bilbo and the dwarves - to claim the treasure. Three of the dwarves are killed in the battle, and the story ends with Bilbo returning to The Shire, with the ring in his possession. This leads up to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was released in 1954, seventeen years later.