Bilbo as adventurer/'burglar'

Can anyone tell me why Gandalf chose Bilbo to go with the dwarves on their quest for their lost fortune? He always hints at a purpose... but it's never been clear to me!null

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Gandalf already knew Bilbo's mother, the fabulous Belladonna Took, who had an adventurous streak before she married Bungo Baggins. He assumed that that streak would be present in Bilbo as well.

More specifically, Gandalf tells why he chose Bilbo in the Unfinished Tales.

Somehow I had been attracted to Bilbo long before, as a child, and a young hobbit: he had not quite come of age when I had last seen him. He had stayed in my mind ever since, with his eagerness and his bright eyes, and his love of tales, and his questions about the wide world outside the Shire. As soon as I entered the Shire I heard news of him. He was getting talked about, it seemed. Both his parents had died early for Shire-folk, at about eighty; and he had never married. He was already growing a bit queer, they said, and went off for days by himself. He could be seen talking to strangers, even Dwarves.

[Liriodendron]

I like to believe that Gandalf could sense the ominous importance of Bilbo in the scheme of things to come. Of course, there is no ring yet, but somehow, Gandalf gets this intuitive feeling about Bilbo, and he is wise enough to listen to his inner voice and include Bilbo in the quest of the dwarves. What Estelyn says is much more concrete and goes to support the hunch Gandalf has about Mr Baggins.

[ July 26, 2002: Message edited by: Liriodendron ]

[Galorme]

The immediate reason was because of Bilbo's smell. Gandalf says that Smaug would not recognise a hobbit scent, and also hobbits are naturally quiet. He chose Bilbo because he felt that of all the hobbits he would be the most eager for adventure.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Excellent point, Galorme - the smell!! Hadn't thought of that one! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[*Varda*]

Hobbits seemed to be generally quieter than the dwarves as well.

"Hobbits move without effort more quietly than any Dwarf in the world could manage, though his life depended on it. They are, I suppose, the most soft footed of all mortal kinds.

Gandalf thought they needed 'professional stealth'.

Smaug has probably never heard of Hobbits, and he has certainly never smelt them.

[Aldagrim Proudfoot]

It does say Smaug didn't recognize the smell when Bilbo went into the cave. Plus he might have had the same feeling he had about Gollum.

He might have some important part to play before the end.

[The Barrow-Wight]

From what I recall from the UT, Gandalf was a bit dismayed when he discovered that Bilbo had grown rather portly and decidedly unadventurous by the age of 50. Still, with his uncanny sense of fate, Gandalf stuck by his choice, and it worked out well in the end.

[The Silver-shod Muse]

Smell? That is strange.

I suspect that Gandalf had an inkling that Bilbo's fate lay outside the Shire. After all, he wasn't just an outfitter for some dwarven expedition, he was an Istari, and was always thinking about the greater purpose for his presence in ME.