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That makes the recording particularly fitting to revisit on Hobbit Day, September 22, which celebrates Bilbo Baggins’ birthday, and, in Tolkien’s fictional world, Frodo Baggins’ birthday too. The date falls during Tolkien Week, making it an annual moment for fans to return to the books, characters and world that began with The Hobbit. But Tolkien’s relationship with reading aloud began well before the tape recorder. According to the Tolkien Estate, he regularly read The Lord of the Rings to his friends in the Inklings while writing it. For Tolkien, the written word was never entirely separate from sound: rhythm, language, pronunciation and voice were deeply connected to the worlds he created.