ARCHETYPES AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY IN J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S THE HOBBIT: A MYTHOCRITICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

This article examines the role of archetypes and the hero’s journey in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937). Drawing on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth theory and Carl Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious, the article analyses the four central characters of the novel — Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Thorin Oakenshield, and Smaug — as embodiments of universal mythological archetypes. The Hero, the Wise Old Man, the tragic King, and the Shadow-Dragon are shown to function simultaneously as individual characters and as representatives of deep psychological patterns. The analysis also considers the figure of Gollum as Bilbo’s Shadow and the trickster dimension of Bilbo’s character. The article argues that the enduring appeal of The Hobbit rests not on narrative entertainment alone but on its mythological depth: Tolkien did not borrow mythological elements as decoration but continued a living tradition from within. The study draws on primary Tolkien texts and selected secondary scholarship in the fields of fantasy theory, Jungian criticism, and Tolkien studies.