Editing Bilbo Baggins (section)

=== ''The Lord of the Rings'' ===

''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' begins with Bilbo's "eleventy-first" (111th) birthday, 60&nbsp;years after the beginning of ''[[The Hobbit]]''. The main character of the novel<!--yes, one novel, in either one or three volumes depending on edition--> is [[Frodo Baggins]], Bilbo's cousin,{{efn|Although Frodo calls Bilbo his "uncle", they were in fact first ''and'' second cousins, once removed either way (Bilbo is Frodo's paternal great-great-uncle's son's son and his maternal great-aunt's son).}} who celebrates his 33rd&nbsp;birthday and legally comes of age on the same day. Bilbo has kept the magic ring, with no idea of its significance, all that time; it has prolonged his life, leaving him feeling "thin and stretched". At the party, Bilbo tries to leave with the ring, but Gandalf persuades him to leave it behind for Frodo.<ref group=T name="Expected Party">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 1 "A Long-expected Party"}}</ref> Bilbo travels to [[Rivendell]] and visits the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain before returning to retire at Rivendell and write books.<ref group=T name="Many Meetings">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 2 "Many Meetings"}}</ref> Gandalf discovers that Bilbo's magic ring is the [[One Ring]] forged by the Dark Lord [[Sauron]], and sets in motion the quest to destroy it.<ref group=T name="Shadow of the Past">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 2 "[[The Shadow of the Past]]"}}</ref> Frodo and his friends set off on the quest, finding Bilbo, now obviously old, but spry, in Rivendell.<ref group=T name="Many Meetings"/> When they have destroyed the Ring, they return to the Shire, via Rivendell, where Bilbo looks "very old, but peaceful, and sleepy".<ref group=T name="Many Partings">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 6 "Many Partings"}}</ref><ref group=T name="Scouring of the Shire">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 8 "[[The Scouring of the Shire]]"}}</ref> Two years later Bilbo accompanies Gandalf, [[Elrond]], [[Galadriel]], and Frodo to the Grey Havens, there to board ship bound for [[Tol Eressëa]] across the sea.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=Prologue, "Of the Ordering of the Shire"}}</ref>