The Marvellous Land of Snergs

The Marvellous Land of Snergs is set on a fictional island somewhere on Earth, but difficult to reach, and inhabited by the Snergs, a race of little and kind people. Unfortunately, the ogre Golithos, and the wicked witch Mother Meldrum also live there, as well as wild animals, dragons, ghouls and unicorns. When the children Sylvia and Joe come to the island and fall into the clutches of Golithos and Mother Meldrum, Gorbo the Snerg, and Baldry, the court jester, come to the rescue. J. R. R. Tolkien is known to have read The Marvellous Land of Snergs to his children and used that story as inspiration to write The Hobbit. Snergs and Hobbits are similar in their physical descriptions, their love of communal feasting, and their names, particularly Gorbo and Bilbo. In both books, there are also journeys through dangerous forests and underground caverns.