Local Shire hobbit Bilbo Baggins, uncle of Frodo Baggins, is living a quiet, peaceful life until Gandalf the Grey knocks on his door. A band of wandering dwarves shows up one or two at a time. The goal? To hire poor Bilbo for a quest (as a burgler) that entails defeating a dragon and recovering (burgling) a treasure. Along the way there are adventures with trolls and elves, a battle with goblins, the naming of Bilbo's sword as Sting after a battle with some spiders, escaping from Wargs, and a barrel ride in a river. There is a great battle, The Battle of Five Armies, which includes men, dwarves, elves, goblins with Wargs, and more. Most importantly of all, part of this story leads Bilbo into Riddles in the Dark where he meets Gollum and in the process acquires a peculiar ring that has had and will have a great impact on the future of their world.