Peter Jackson, director of Lard af the Rings, has filmed The Hobbit in three parts.

Part 1 is called An Unexpected Jaurney. Vou can see Part 1 from the 14th of December. Part 2 will be in cinemas in 2013.

"I'he wrter
J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor of Old English at Oxford University. One , day he was marking a student's exam paper when he came across a blank page. He suddenly started to write on the blank page: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." He was amazed. What was a hobbit? What kind of hole did it live in? Where did it live? And so Middleearth was born ..

The hobbits
What are hobbits? They are like

.smalt humans, but they have large,

hairy feet and pointed ears. They can move very quietly and find their way in the dark. They live in very comfortable homes in holes in the ground in Hobbiton and they love eating. If strangers knock on Bilbo's door, he will always invite them in fortea and cake.

The beginning
Bilbo was enjoying a cup of tea at home when Gandalf the wizard* arrived. "Thirteen dwarves are going on a journey," Gandalf told him. "They are going to the Lonely Mountain to get back their gold and return to their kingdom. Smaug the dragon stole their gold rriany years ago. Now he sits on it in a cave* in the Lonely Mountain"

TIte book
The Habbit came out in 1937, seventy-five years ago. lt's still very popular with teenage readers and many UK schools use it in English lessons.

6 TEAM NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2012

Watch the trailer at www.thehobbit.com

Tolkien set his story 6,000 years ago in Middle-earth, which is not a real place. Filming took place in New Zealand, however, which hasamazing scenery* and not many people.

Bilbo meets Gollum in a dark cave. If Bilbo can't answer Gollum's riddles, Gollum will kill him. If Gollum

can~t

answer Bilbo's riddles, Bilbo will be free. Can you answer their riddles?

"This box has 110lid al1d 110key, but there is goldel1 treasure il1side. "
What is it?

~ J----~---..J
If you don't like small, slimy* creatures, you won't like Gollum! When Bilbo meets hirn, he lives in a cave in the dark and he eats fish. Nobody knows that he has the Ring. , Gollum asks Bilbo:

"This thil1g eats everythil1g - birds, al1imals;

,

,:\trees, f1owers. It sars irol1 al1d steel, al1d

turl1s stol1e il1to dust*; it kills kil1gs al1d destroys tOWI1Sal1d high moul1tail1s."

The dwarves
Bilbo joins the thirteen dwarves on . their adventure (see :,lhe beginning). . The leader of the thirteen dwarves is Thorin Oakenshield. If they win back their kingdom, Thorin will be king. Gandalf and Bilbo help Thorin.

Riddle 3
i lhen Bilbo asks Gollum: "What have I got il1 my pocket?"
... Gollum guesses "hands", "a knife", "string" and "nothing". But ali his answers are wrong. What do you think Bilbo has got in his pocket? 's (Clue: Bilbo found it on the floor of the cave.)

The Ring
Sauron, the evil wizard of Middle-earth, made the Ring. He called it "the One Ring". If you find it and wear it, it will give you power over Middle-earth. But its power is evil, and Gandalf wants to destroy the Ring.

WOROWISE

wizard (n) - a wise, old man who can do magic cave (n) - a room in a mountain scenery (n) - the countryside (adj) - wet and sticky in a nasty way riddle (n) - a clever question that you must think hard about dust (n) - very small bits 01 dirt that you can see moving in the air

* slimy

lHE ANSWERS ARE ON

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2012 TEANI 7