The Hobbit and the Renewal of the Church (3)
4. Beginning at the End Let’s remember as we make our way through TH that even though it is a prequel of sorts for TLOR , the latter took on a life of its own that distanced it somewhat from TH . For instance, the ring of invisibility Bilbo finds and uses in TH is not yet the One Ring of Power that becomes the focal point of TLOR . And Sauron, the Dark Lord of the trilogy, is known only as the Necromancer in TH and is little more than a literary device to enable Gandalf’s movements in the story. These two staples of the latter work play small roles in TH . This should alert us that in this prequel Tolkien is doing something different than he does in the trilogy and that we should adjust our reading expectations accordingly. Oddly enough, we will begin at the end. TH concludes so...