   #copyright

The Hobbit

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Novels

   CAPTION: Title The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again

   Cover to the 1937 first edition
      Author    J. R. R. Tolkien
   Cover artist J. R. R. Tolkien
     Country    United Kingdom
     Language   English
     Genre(s)   Fantasy novel
    Publisher   George Allen & Unwin (UK) & Houghton Mifflin Co. (USA)
     Released   1937
    Media type  Print ( Hardback & Paperback) & Audio book
       ISBN     NA
   Followed by  The Lord of the Rings

   The Hobbit is a fantasy novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien in the
   tradition of the fairy tale. It was first published on September 21,
   1937. While it also stands in its own right, it is often seen as a
   prelude to Tolkien's monumental fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings
   (published in 1954 through 1955).

Writing the Book

   In a 1955 letter to W. H. Auden, Tolkien recollects in the late 1920s,
   when he was Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, he began The
   Hobbit when he was marking School Certificate papers. He found one
   blank piece of paper. Suddenly inspired he wrote the words "In a hole
   in the ground, there lived a hobbit." He did not go any further than
   that at the time, although in the following years he drew up Thror's
   map, outlining the geography of the tale. It was eventually published
   when a family friend named Elaine Griffiths was shown a typescript of
   the story in the early 1930s. When she later went to work for George
   Allen & Unwin, she revealed the existence of the story to a staffmember
   named Susan Dagnall, who in turn asked Tolkien if she could look at the
   (still incomplete) manuscript. He complied and Ms. Dagnall, impressed
   by it, urged him to complete the book. Once this was done in late 1936,
   she then showed the book to Stanley Unwin, who then asked his
   10-year-old son Rayner to review it. Rayner wrote such an enthusiastic
   review of the book that it was published by Allen & Unwin.

   Tolkien introduced or mentioned characters and places that figured
   prominently in his legendarium, specifically Elrond and Gondolin, along
   with elements from Germanic legend. But the decision that the events of
   The Hobbit could belong to the same universe as The Silmarillion was
   made only after publication, when the publisher asked for a sequel and
   Tolkien began work on what would become The Lord of the Rings.

   The novel draws on Tolkien's knowledge of historical languages and
   early European texts — many names and words derived from Norse
   mythology, it makes use of Anglo-Saxon runes, and is filled with
   information on calendars and moon phases, detailed geographical
   descriptions that fit well with the accompanying maps — attention to
   detail that would also be seen in Tolkien's later work.

Plot summary

   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

   A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is smoking on the front step of his
   comfortable hole one morning when Gandalf the Wizard passes by. They
   discuss the many meanings that Bilbo puts into the phrase "Good
   Morning", and the lack of adventurers in the neighbourhood. The thought
   of going on an adventure flusters Bilbo into offering one last "Good
   Morning", inviting Gandalf to tea the next day, and escaping back into
   his hole. An amused Gandalf scratches a secret mark on Bilbo's front
   door, which translated means 'Burglar wants a good job, plenty of
   excitement and reasonable reward'. The next day, thirteen dwarves (
   Thorin Oakenshield, Óin, Glóin (whose son Gimli would be one of the
   main characters in The Lord of the Rings), Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur,
   Bombur, Fíli and Kíli, Dori, Nori, and Ori) show up at the hole, along
   with Gandalf, and begin excitedly discussing their planned treasure
   hunt while the hapless Bilbo provides the obligatory hospitality. After
   the dwarves clean up their mess, a map is produced which shows the
   Lonely Mountain (Erebor) and environs; once ruled by Thorin's
   grandfather, it was seized by the dragon Smaug, who now lurks in its
   depths. The map shows a secret door into the mountain, which the
   dwarves hope to use to defeat Smaug and reclaim their home. This, along
   with the fact that Bilbo's presence will break the unlucky number 13,
   is why the expedition needs a burglar. At first Bilbo wants nothing to
   do with the scheme, but then in a moment of anger and courage, commits
   to joining.

   The next morning, after oversleeping and nearly missing the start of
   the journey, Bilbo goes off with the dwarves and the wizard. They are
   nearly eaten by three trolls, but Gandalf tricks the trolls into
   staying up all night arguing, whereupon they are turned into stone by
   the first light of dawn. In the trolls' cave they find a mound of
   stolen treasure, including Elvish weapons. Bilbo acquires the dagger
   Sting, which glows blue in the presence of Goblins.

   The party travels to Rivendell where they enjoy the hospitality of the
   Elves and receive useful information and advice from Rivendell's master
   Elrond, then proceed eastwards into the Misty Mountains. While seeking
   shelter from a storm, they are ambushed by Goblins and carried down
   under the mountains. Gandalf manages to free them, but during the
   escape Bilbo loses the dwarves. Alone in the dark, Bilbo finds a ring
   on the floor of a cave passage and puts it into his pocket.

   Continuing on, he arrives at the shore of an underground lake. The
   creature Gollum paddles up, and the two enact a game of riddles, under
   the condition that if Bilbo wins, Gollum will show him the way out, but
   if he loses, Gollum will eat Bilbo. After several turns, Bilbo,
   fiddling in his pocket unable to think of a riddle, asks himself aloud
   "What have I got in my pocket?" Gollum thinks this is supposed to be
   the next riddle; despite being allowed three guesses, he fails to
   correctly answer. Bilbo demands his reward, but Gollum refuses and
   paddles off to his small island home where he searches for his most
   precious possession, a magic ring which turns its wearer invisible.
   Unable to find it, he belatedly realizes the answer to Bilbo's riddle,
   and goes storming back to the shore. Bilbo in turn realizes his life is
   in mortal danger and attempts to flee. When Gollum gives chase, Bilbo
   trips and finds the ring slipping on his finger. Before Bilbo realizes
   what has happened, Gollum has run right past him. Quickly deducing the
   ring's power and following Gollum to the only exit, Bilbo controls his
   impulse to destroy the wretched creature and instead merely jumps over
   him and escapes. Bypassing the Goblins, he returns to the surface and
   rejoins the dwarves and Gandalf.

   Descending from the mountains, they are carried away from a deadly
   encounter with Wargs (wild wolf creatures) and Goblins by Giant Eagles.
   They then visit the home of Beorn, an enormous and solitary man who can
   transform into a bear, where they rest and recuperate for several days
   before pushing on. At the edge of the black forest Mirkwood, Gandalf
   departs on a private errand. The others enter the forest, travelling
   for days on end and eventually running out of supplies. Gandalf had
   warned them not to leave the path, but glimpsing Wood-elves feasting,
   the group goes to beg food. They promptly get lost and are captured by
   giant spiders, but Bilbo rescues the dwarves using the ring and Sting.
   The Elves then capture the dwarves and imprison them (inadvertently
   saving them from starvation), but an invisible Bilbo manages to sneak
   into the Elvenking's palace unnoticed; he then helps the dwarves escape
   in provision-barrels floated down the river which runs under the
   palace.

   After spending more recovery-time at Laketown, the treasure-seekers
   proceed on to the Lonely Mountain. They locate the place where the
   secret entrance must be, but are unable to open it. As they sit
   despondent on the stoop, a thrush knocks at the snails on a nearby
   stone. Bilbo looks up to see the last rays of the Sun of Durin's Day
   shining on the cliff wall and magically revealing the lockhole for the
   secret door (as was foretold by moon letters upon the company's map).
   Bilbo twice goes down to meet Smaug, who sleeps deep in the mountain on
   an enormous pile of treasure. The hobbit makes off with a large handled
   cup and learns that the dragon has a bare patch on his left chest. The
   enraged dragon, while very puzzled by the existence of Bilbo, does
   correctly deduce that the Company received help from the people of
   Laketown and sets out to destroy the community. However, the thrush was
   no ordinary bird, but one of an ancient race with whom the men of the
   lake could communicate, and it overhears Bilbo's report to the dwarves
   about Smaug's weak point. As the dragon ravages Laketown, the thrush
   conveys this information to one Bard the Bowman, who dispatches the
   dragon with a heirloom of his family, a dwarf-made arrow. When Smaug
   does not return, the dwarves take possession of the Mountain and its
   treasure. While scouting the dragon's lair, Bilbo finds the prized
   Arkenstone and tucks it away in his possessions.

   The citizens of Laketown arrive at the Mountain to make historical
   claims and demand compensation for the help they had rendered, as well
   as reparations for the damage Smaug inflicted during his attack. They
   are joined by the Elves, who also demand a share based on historical
   claims. Thorin refuses all negotiations and summons his kin from the
   north to strengthen his position. Bilbo attempts to use the Arkenstone
   as ransom to head off a war, but the various parties are intransigent.
   Thorin expels Bilbo from the Mountain and a fight seems inevitable.

   But suddenly Gandalf is standing on the battlefield, warning the
   various leaders that a new more dire threat has appeared: an army of
   Goblins and Wargs has come from the Misty Mountains. The dwarves,
   humans and elves immediately put aside their differences, and a bitter
   battle ensues, named the Battle of Five Armies. Losses are heavy on all
   sides, but with the timely arrival and assistance of the Giant Eagles
   and Beorn, the anti-Goblin forces prevail. Thorin is among the
   casualties, but he lives long enough to part from Bilbo as friends. The
   treasure is apportioned fairly, but Bilbo refuses most of his
   contracted share of the riches, having no need for it and no way to get
   it home if he did; he nevertheless takes enough with him to make
   himself a wealthy hobbit and live happily thereafter.
   Spoilers end here.

Joining The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings

   In the first edition, Gollum willingly bets his magic ring on the
   outcome of the riddle game. During the writing of The Lord of the Rings
   Tolkien saw the need to revise this passage, in order to reflect his
   new concept of the One Ring and its powerful hold on Gollum. Tolkien
   tried many different passages in the chapter that would become chapter
   2 of the Lord of the Rings, "The Shadow of the Past". Eventually
   Tolkien decided a rewrite of The Hobbit was in order, and he sent a
   sample chapter of this rewrite ("Riddles in the Dark") to his
   publishers. Initially he heard nothing further, but when he was sent
   galley proofs of a new edition he learned to his surprise the new
   chapter had been incorporated as the result of a misunderstanding.

   In the introduction of The Lord of the Rings, as well as inside "The
   Shadow of the Past", the differences of the first edition are explained
   as a "lie" that Bilbo made up because of the One Ring's influence on
   him, and which he originally wrote down in his book. Inside The Lord of
   the Rings, Bilbo finally confesses the true story at the Council of
   Elrond, although Gandalf had deduced the truth earlier. As Tolkien
   presented himself as the translator of the supposedly historic Red Book
   of Westmarch, where Bilbo and Frodo's stories were recorded, he further
   explained the two differing stories in The Hobbit by stating he had
   originally used Bilbo's original story, but later retranslated the work
   with the "true story" recorded by Frodo.

   This first edition also uses the word " gnome", which Tolkien in his
   earlier writing had used to refer to the second kindred of the High
   Elves – the Noldor (or "Deep Elves"). Tolkien thought that "gnome",
   being derived from the Greek gnosis (knowledge), was a good name for
   the Noldor he created to be the wisest of the other Elves. But with its
   English connotations of a small, secretive, and unattractive creature
   (see garden gnome) Tolkien removed it from later editions.

   He made other minor changes in order to conform the narrative to events
   in The Lord of the Rings and in the ideas he was continually developing
   for the Quenta Silmarillion.

Differences and inconsistencies

   When finally revised, The Hobbit still has many differences from The
   Lord of the Rings. Examples include the following:
     * Matches are only featured in The Hobbit.
     * The trolls have English first names (Tom, Bert and Bill), and Bill
       has the English last name Huggins. Also, they speak fluent
       (although accented) English, while trolls in Tolkien's other works
       do not speak English (in fact, they do not seem to speak at all).
     * The elves in Rivendell appear very happy, active and playful,
       contrasting highly with their noble, sombre portrayal in the rest
       of the Legendarium.
     * There is lighthearted use of "magic"; Gandalf is said to have given
       the Old Took a pair of diamond studs that "fastened themselves and
       never came undone till ordered", and when Bilbo tries to steal a
       purse from the trolls, the purse shouts. Magic is not used so in
       The Lord of the Rings, and is more often an enhancement or
       corruption of natural phenomena.
     * The narrative style features many asides where the narrator
       addresses the reader directly.
     * The hobbits' " pipe-weed" which is also featured in The Lord of the
       Rings is explicitly referred to as "tobacco".
     * Orcs are called Goblins in The Hobbit, but more often referred to
       as Orcs in The Lord of the Rings (particularly when the speaker is
       not a Hobbit).

   Many of these inconsistencies occur because Tolkien originally wrote
   the book as a children's story separate from (but connected to) his
   mythological work, and his concept of Middle-earth was to change and
   evolve throughout his life and writings.

   As told in " The Quest of Erebor" in Unfinished Tales, Tolkien later
   had Gandalf say that Bilbo's account would have been very different, if
   he had written it instead. Humphrey Carpenter's biography of Tolkien
   also claims that when he had to revise the book, he had to restrain
   himself from rewriting it entirely.

Publications of early drafts

   In May and June 2007, HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin are publishing
   in two parts The History of The Hobbit. Much like The History of
   Middle-earth, The History of The Hobbit will examine previously
   unpublished original drafts of The Hobbit with extensive commentary by
   John Rateliff.

Editions

   George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London published the first edition of The
   Hobbit in September 1937. It was illustrated with many black-and-white
   drawings by Tolkien himself. The original printing numbered a mere
   1,500 copies and sold out by December due to enthusiastic reviews.
   Houghton Mifflin of Boston and New York prepared an American edition to
   be released early in 1938 in which four of the illustrations would be
   colour plates. Allen & Unwin decided to incorporate the colour
   illustrations into their second printing, released at the end of 1937.
   Despite the book's popularity, wartime conditions forced the London
   publisher to print small runs of the remaining two printings of the
   first edition.

   As remarked above, Tolkien substantially revised The Hobbit's text
   describing Bilbo's dealings with Gollum in order to blend the story
   better into what The Lord of the Rings had become. This revision became
   the second edition, published in 1951 in both UK and American editions.
   Slight corrections to the text have appeared in the third (1966) and
   fourth editions (1978).

   New English-language editions of The Hobbit spring up often, despite
   the book's age, with at least fifty editions having been published to
   date. Each comes from a different publisher or bears distinctive cover
   art, internal art, or substantial changes in format. The text of each
   generally adheres to the Allen & Unwin edition extant at the time it is
   published.

   The remarkable and enduring popularity of The Hobbit expresses itself
   in the collectors' market. The first printing of the first English
   language edition rarely sells for under $10,000 US dollars in any whole
   condition, and clean copies in original dust jackets signed by the
   author are routinely advertised for over $100,000. Online auction site
   eBay tends to define the market value for those who collect The Hobbit.

Translations

   The Hobbit has been translated into many languages. Known languages,
   with the first date of publishing, are:
     * Breton (2000): An Hobbit, pe eno ha distro. Lakaet e brezhoneg gant
       Alan Dipode. Argenteuil: Éditions Arda. ISBN 2-911979-03-6.
       Contains both maps with place-names in Breton; the runes are
       translated into Breton.
     * Bulgarian (1975): Билбо Бегинс или дотам и обратно. Превод
       Красимира Тодорова. Издателство „Народна младеж“, София.
     * Catalan (1983): Titled El Hòbbit on the cover and El Hòbbit o
       viatge d'anada i tornada on the title page. The runes and both maps
       (the one for the Wildlands and the other one for the Lonely
       Mountain) are in Catalan. Some names, though, remain in English
       (such as Baggins or Took, which in the Lord of the Rings are
       translated as Saquet and Tuc respectively). The book was directly
       translated from the original English version by Francesc Parcerisas
       in 1983. Published by La Magrana (Edicions de la Magrana, SA.
       Pàdua, 83, 08006, Barcelona) in April 1983 (first edition); the
       last edition was in May 2001 (20th edition). ISBN 84-8264-277-4.
     * Traditional Chinese (2001)
     * Croatian (1994) [Serbo-Croatian - 1975]
     * Czech (1973)
     * Danish (1969): Hobbitten, eller ud og hjem igen. På dansk ved Ida
       Nyrop Ludvigsen. København: Gyldendal. 2002. ISBN 2-253-04941-7.
       Contains Thror's map in English; the runes remain in English,
       though "Hobbiten eller ud og hjem igen" is given in Danish in the
       author's preface.
     * Dutch (1960)
     * Esperanto (2000): La Hobito aŭ Tien kaj Reen, translated by
       Christopher Gledhill, poems translated by William Auld, Sezonoj:
       Kalingrad. Rereleased in 2005.
     * Estonian (1977): "Kääbik, ehk, Sinna ja tagasi".
     * Faroese (1990)
     * Finnish Hobitti, eli sinne ja takaisin (1973; retranslated in 1985)
     * French (1969): Bilbo le Hobbit. Traduit de l'anglais par Francis
       Ledoux. Paris: Le Livre de Poche. 2002. ISBN 2-253-04941-7.
       Contains both maps with place-names in French; the runes remain in
       English.
     * Galician (2000)
     * German (1957): Der kleine Hobbit; (1998): Der Hobbit.
     * Greek (1978): Το Χόμπιτ.
     * Hebrew (1976): ההוביט או לשם ובחזרה. Ganei-Aviv: Zmora-Bitan (זמורה
       – ביתן). Contains no maps. Four Israeli combat pilots, held as
       prisoners of war in Egypt between 1970 and 1973, whiled away their
       time of captivity by translating "The Hobbit" to Hebrew from a book
       sent to one of them by family members, via the Red Cross. The
       pilots' translation was published in Tel-Aviv following their
       return, and many Israeli critics still consider it the best of
       several Hebrew translations.
     * Hungarian (1975): A babó.
     * Icelandic (1978)
     * Indonesian (1977)
     * Irish (expected 2007)
     * Italian (1973): Lo hobbit, o la Riconquista del Tesoro. Traduzione
       di Elena Jeronimidis Conte. Milano: Adelphi Edizioni (The Hobbit,
       or Reconquest of the Treasure. Translation by Elena Jeronimidis
       Conte. Milan: Adelphi Editions). ISBN 88-459-0688-4. Contains both
       maps with place-names in Italian; the runes are translated into
       Italian.
     * Japanese (1965):「ホビットの冒険」
     * Korean (1979)
     * Lithuanian (1985)
     * Luxembourgish (2002)
     * Norwegian (1972): Hobbiten, eller fram og tilbake igjen. Oversatt
       av Nils Ivar Agøy. Trondheim: Tiden Norsk Forlag. ISBN
       82-10-04300-5. Contains both maps with place-names in Norwegian;
       the runes are translated into Norwegian.
     * Persian (2004): هابيت يا آنجا و بازگشت دوباره. Translator: رضا
       عليزاده (Reza Alizadeh). Tehran. 2004 (١٣٨٣). ISBN 964-334-200-X.
       Contains both maps with place-names in Persian; the runes remain in
       English.
     * Polish:
          + (1960) Hobbit, czyli tam i z powrotem. Tr. Maria Skibniewska.
          + (1997) Hobbit albo tam i z powrotem. Tr. Paulina Braiter.
          + (2002) Hobbit, czyli tam i z powrotem Tr. Andrzej Polkowski
     * Portuguese-Portugal:
          + (1962) O Gnomo. Porto: Livraria Civilização Editora. Tr. Maria
            Isabel Morna Braga, Mário Braga; il. António Quadros.
          + (1985) O Hobbit. Mem Martins: Publicações Europa-América. Tr.
            Fernanda Pinto Rodrigues.
     * Romanian (1975)
          + Moldavian (1987; in Cyrillic)
     * Russian (1976): Хоббит, или Туда и обратно. Перевод Н. Рахмановой.
       Ленинград: Издательство «Детская литература» (The Hobbit, or There
       and Back Again. Translation N. Rakhmanovoy. Leningrad: Publishing
       house "Children's literature").
     * Serbo-Croatian (1975) "Хобит или тамо и назад"
     * Slovak (1973)
     * Slovenian (1986): Hobit ali Tja in spet nazaj , Translator: Dušan
       Ogrizek , Ljubljana : Mladinska knjiga, 1986
     * Spanish: El hobito, 1964, Fabril editora, Argentina. El hobbit.
       Traducción de Manuel Figueroa. Barcelona: Ediciones Minotauro.
       1983. ISBN 84-450-7141-6. Contains only Thror's map with
       place-names in Spanish; the runes remain in English.
     * Swedish: Bilbo – En hobbits äventyr. (1947; retranslated 1962)
     * Thai (2002)
     * Turkish (1996)
     * Ukrainian (1985): Гобiт, або Мандрiвка за Iмлистi гори. Переклад О.
       Мокровольського. Київ: «Веселка».
     * Vietnamese (2003) Vietnamese version already completed in 2002 but
       publishing cancelled. This version leaked onto the internet in
       2003.

Adaptations

   Over the years, The Hobbit has been adapted for other media multiple
   times.

TV

   An animated version of the story produced by Rankin/Bass debuted as a
   television movie in the United States in 1977.

   The BBC children's television series Jackanory presented an adaptation
   of The Hobbit in 1979. Unusually for the programme, the adaptation had
   multiple storytellers.

Film

   A live action film version of The Hobbit is scheduled to be released in
   2009. New Line Cinema has producing rights, while MGM retains worldwide
   distribution rights. Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings
   film trilogy, was slated to direct the film, but has bowed out due to
   pending litigation with New Line.

Spoken word

   BBC Radio 4 broadcast The Hobbit radio drama, adapted by Michael
   Kilgarriff, in eight parts (4 hours) from September to November 1968,
   which starred Anthony Jackson as narrator, Paul Daneman as Bilbo and
   Heron Carvic as Gandalf.

   Nicol Williamson's abridged reading of the book was released on four LP
   records in 1974 by Argo Records.

   Robert Inglis adapted and performed a one-man theatre play of The
   Hobbit. This performance led to him being asked to read/perform the
   unabridged audiobook for The Lord of the Rings for Recorded Books in
   1990. In 1991 he read the unabridged version of The Hobbit.

Comics

   A three part comic book adaptation with script by Chuck Dixon and Sean
   Deming and illustrated by David Wenzel was published by Eclipse Comics
   in 1989. A reprint collected in one volume was released by Del Rey
   Books in 2001.

Games

   The Hobbit has been the subject of several board games, including "The
   Lonely Mountain" (1984), "The Battle of Five Armies" (1984), and "The
   Hobbit Adventure Boardgame" (1997) all published by Iron Crown
   Enterprises.

   Games Workshop released a "Battle of Five Armies" (2005) tabletop
   wargame using 10mm figures, based on their Warmaster rules.

   Several computer and video games, both official and unofficial, have
   been based on the story. One of the first was The Hobbit, an award
   winning (Golden Joystick Award for Strategy Game of the Year 1983)
   computer game developed in 1982 by Beam Software and published by
   Melbourne House for most computers available at the time, from the more
   popular computers such as the ZX Spectrum, and the Commodore 64,
   through to the Dragon 32 and Oric computers. By arrangement with
   publishers, a copy of the novel was included with each game sold.

   Sierra Entertainment published a platform game titled The Hobbit in
   2003 for Windows PCs, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube. It
   was a similar version of which was also published for the Game Boy
   Advance.

Influences on other works

   Led Zeppelin's song " Misty Mountain Hop" contains references to The
   Hobbit, whilst other songs are thought to be influenced by The Lord of
   the Rings. " The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins", performed by Leonard Nimoy
   as part of his 1968 Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy album, is the most
   pertinent because it recounts the book's storyline in its two minutes.
   The ballad's music video became a minor Internet phenomenon in the
   early 2000s when The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was released.
   Another well-known reference is Blind Guardian's The Bard's Song: The
   Hobbit. A trance track was released in 1995 by Dynamix Maniax,
   featuring the title "Calling Middle-earth", containing a muffled sample
   from the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit. The Canadian rock trio
   Rush references the elven refuge of Rivendell on their 1975 album Fly
   by Night in a song of the same name.

   In the episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog " Journey to the Centre of
   Nowhere", Courage's master Muriel is held captive by three large
   eggplant monsters that roughly resemble trolls. The eggplants argue
   amongst themselves over how to cook Muriel, whether they should fry
   her, grill her, bake her, or sit on her until she becomes jelly, a
   scene taken directly from The Hobbit.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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