Friday marked the 75th anniversary for the publishing of the book “The Hobbit.”

“The Hobbit,” written by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the prequel novel to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the first of three movies based in it will be released this December.

In honor of the date, English graduate appointee Sarah Delury invited students and staff to celebrate with her with “second breakfast.” Second breakfast is a Hobbit thing, because “one breakfast isn’t enough,” said Delury. “This is an international thing, to celebrate what Tolkien did with ‘The Hobbit.’”

In room 122 of Satterfield Hall, an hour before noon, various snacks filled the tables. Second breakfast is a meal eaten before lunch but after breakfast. It is a common tradition in Poland as well as to hobbits, the fictional characters in the book.

Even though “The Hobbit” is a fictional tale, Delury said some of its lessons could be applied to real life.

“The central theme in all of Tolkien’s text is that no matter how small you are … you have the potential to rise up,” she said.

Dara Sherman, freshman nutrition major, said she agrees.

“I love ‘The Hobbit’ … I love how it has so many themes in the book,” she said.

Kent State IT staff member Landon Kearns said he enjoyed the second breakfast.

“It was nice to see what I consider to be an important piece of literature is that important to somebody else,” he said.

Freshman English major Emily Carnahan came to the event to learn more about the book.

“My favorite part was the professor’s interpretation of ‘The Hobbit,’ and how inspiring it was to her,” she said.

Stephanie Oliveri, senior sociology major, explained why she thinks everyone should read “The Hobbit.”

“Tolkien created a world out of it, things that you don’t get out of other books and that you don’t get in real life,” she said.

A hobbit is described as being small and incapable of achieving anything great. In a way they symbolize an inferior group of beings. However, the main character of the story is a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and throughout the book he proves the stereotype wrong, faces many dangers and does many heroic things.

“What Bilbo’s character allows us to see is if we allow ourselves to go on these adventures, and push past things that inhibit us from getting towards our goals, we are significant no matter how small we are,” Delury said.

Contact Kevin Vinci at [email protected] .