Riddles, Fate, and Darkness: Analysis of The Hobbit and "Tom Tit Tot" Natasha Borden College

A riddle, unlike a common question, contains its own solution, and cleverly using word play and double meanings, it both exposes as well as obscures the answer. This type of mental puzzle requires creative thinking to solve.One must see past the obvious, the mundane, and look deep into the realm of the mysterious.It is not surprising that riddles in literature are often associated with magic and power such as in the story of The Hobbit and the fairy tale "Tom Tit Tot". There are common threads running through both stories that bind together not only the importance of riddles in creating an altered way of thinking but also the implication of magic, luck, or the Divine, which manifests immediately before, during, or after, these altered states. Riddles bring to the surface what is hidden deep in the unconscious mind. They both invoke and provoke, summon and stimulate, calling forth the unseen: the psychological, the emotional, and the magical.

In the story The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, the unlikely hero Bilbo goes on a quest and journeys far from his homeland, and, as is common in questing tales, his character develops both internally as well as externally by the challenges he meets, and defeats, along the way.Bilbo is hired as a...