Luck always finds a way to people; whether it be through narrowly avoided accidents or through something smaller. In The Hobbit, J.R.
R. Tolkien suggests the possibilities that arebetween luck and divine intervention. Throughout the book, Tolkien suggests that prophecy ordivine intervention is above luck, as shown when Gandalf tells Bilbo that not all of hisadventures were the product of luck, or when Gandalf first takes the dwarves to meet withBilbo to be their fourteenth crew member. First of all, Tolkien implies that luck wasn’t the only thing making Bilbo and the dwarves’journey successful. When Bilbo and Gandalf are talking at the end of chapter nineteen, Bilbomentions that he is surprised that “…
the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to betrue, after a fashion!” (Tolkien Chapter 19). Prophecies in books often come true by the end ofeach story, so luck would not have much to do with the entire story. Gandalf even replies, “Youdon’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck,just for your sole benefit?” (Chapter 19). This hints that luck, while playing a part in Bilbo’smeritorious adventures, wasn’t the only thing playing its hand in the overall scheme of the huntfor the treasure.
Because of this, one can ascribe that something of a higher power isinfluencing the direction of the journey. Second, when Bilbo first meets the dwarves with Gandalf, Thorin is apparently unhappyand vitriolic with Gandalf’s decision about Bilbo being the fourteenth member of theiradventure team. Gandalf retorts, “You asked me to find the fourteenth man for yourexpedition, and I chose Mr.
Baggins. Just let anyone say I chose the wrong man or the wronghouse, and you can stop at thirteen and have all the bad luck you like, or go back to diggingcoal” (Tolkien Chapter 1). The way Gandalf happened on Bilbo to be the fourteenth person forthe expedition is no ordinary luck. Though later on in the chapter he is noncommittal about theidea, at first, Bilbo flat out despises the fact that he was chosen. When Gandalf first approachesBilbo and suggests the idea of an adventure, Bilbo says, “”We don’t want any adventures here,thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water.
” By this he meant that theconversation was at an end” (Chapter 1). But he’s wheedled into going, which is exactly whatGandalf and the dwarves needed, since Gandalf wasn’t going to stay with them forever. Luckdidn’t bring Gandalf to Bilbo; necessity did. Choosing Bilbo and the success of all of his adventures were not lucky; they happeneddue to a higher fate that transcends our understanding.
Choosing Bilbo was out of necessityand the achievements of his adventures were product of prophecies coming true. People canrelate to being lucky, like winning the lottery, and they can also relate to things happening inwhich they have no explanation for.
