Looking for the Hobbit

2014•5.5/10

Sci-Fi & FantasyDocumentary

Ratings

🎬TMDb

5.5/10(5)

À la recherche du Hobbit (French for Looking for the Hobbit) is an exploratory documentary series directed by Olivier Simonnet in 2014, in which illustrator John Howe, story-teller Nicolas Mezzalira, and Professor Leo Carruthers of the University of Paris-Sorbonne explore real-world settings and famous myths that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology. The documentary explores many locations of Medieval significance.

Open in PickFlick

Production

ARTE GEIE, WDR, Cerigo Films

Language

Status

Ended

First Aired

November 30, 2014

Last Aired

December 26, 2014

Networks

ARTE, ARTE

Created By

Yannis Metzinger, Alexis Metzinger

Where to Watch

Region US · Lang EN

No providers available for this region.

Available in Your Library

Seasons & Episodes

Select a season to view episodes. Reddit links may contain spoilers.

Season

Tolkien's Worlds

Air date: 2014-11-30

In New Zealand, John Howe takes us on an exclusive tour of a film set, which has since been destroyed. In the United Kingdom, Professor Leo Carruthers reveals that the writer Tolkien was also a professor, and an expert on European legends. We must look to these legends for his sources of inspiration. Perhaps they could tell us where the mysterious Hobbits come from.

The Magical Forest of Brocéliande

Air date: 2014-12-07

Tolkien took his inspiration from European legends. The first stage of our quest for the sources of the imaginary world takes us to the forest of Brocéliane. Nicolas Mezzalira reveals the legend of Merlin: his birth, romance with the Lady of the Lake, and his first prophecy. The numerous resemblances to the character of the magician Gandalf reveal the extent of Tolkien's force and originality.

In the Footsteps of King Arthur

Air date: 2014-12-14

Storyteller Nicolas Mezzalira tells him about the birth of King Arthur and then about the origins of the Knights of the Round Table and the Quest for the Holy Grail, and Professor Leo Garruthers highlights the links between these legends and the Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings. For John Howe, this episode is also an opportunity to examine the links between legend and history.

The Lost Gold of the Rhine

Air date: 2014-12-21

John Howe travels to Germany, the birthplace of the legend of the Niebelungen or the "Gold of the Rhine". There he meets Canadian writer David Day, the author of several works on Tolkien. Will they discover the origins of the Hobbits in this legend, which is full of dwarfs, dragons and a magic ring?

The Creatures of the North

Air date: 2014-12-26

This final episode takes us to Iceland. Yet it is in Oxford, among students of the Tolkien Society, that the answers to the long search for the Hobbits lie. What if the Hobbits were born entirely from Tolkien's imagination? And what if they were purely and simply a projection of human beings, with their weaknesses and faults - and their capacity to change the world?