Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit of the Shire, a Ring Bearer, an adventurer, and an Elf-friend. Bilbo's journeys began in 2941, when Gandalf came to Hobbiton with the Dwarves and recruited Bilbo as a thief. Bilbo found the One Ring on the quest, and played a major part in the death of Smaug. Bilbo became very wealthy from these journeys, but of all his prizes, his most loved was the One Ring, which he didn't show anybody. In 2980 Bilbo adopted his young nephew Frodo Baggins, making him Bilbo's heir. On Bilbo's 111^st birthday he vanished, leaving everything, even the Ring, to Frodo. He settled in Rivendell and save for a trip to the Lonely Moutnain in 3001 he remained there until 3021 when he sailed over the sea with the last of the Ring Bearers save Sam.

Bilbo wrote a book about his journey to Erebor, which he called There and Back Again, which was later added to the Red Book of Westmarch, which Professor Tolkien translated into The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo also wrote many famous poems, the two most famous being a walking song, and even more famous, especially among Elves, the story of Eärendil, which Bilbo called Errantry. He also wrote a famous book entitled Translations from the Elvish which arguably became The Silmarillion.

Bilbo lived most of his life, save the end, in Bag End in Hobbiton. Unlike most other hobbits he remained unmarried for his entire life. And it was a long life, for Bilbo became the oldest hobbit in history, primarily due to the effects of the Ring; he achieved an age of 131 before his sailing. Aside from his love of Elves and skills in languages Bilbo was a very normal hobbit.