In the beginning was the word 'HOBBIT'. It was to be the single most important word to ever inspire Professor Tolkien to write a story. And what a story it was! Most authors create characters and then find names for them, but for Tolkien it was words themselves that suggested characters, creatures, plots, places, and even entire worlds to him. He was a scholar who studied words and as one of the compilers of the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary, words themselves proved to be his chief source of inspiration. In The Hobbit Companion Tolkien expert David Day explores the brilliant language that unfolds in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, exposing the crafty puns and riddles, hidden meanings, and mythical associations beneath the saga's surface. The Hobbit is the subject of a forthcoming three-part film adaptation; filmed in New Zealand with the first instalment, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, due to be released in December 2012.