Comment by lakkal
16 hours ago
That's how I've always imagined it - The Hobbit as published is the story told as if intended for children (hobbit or otherwise), but the 'actual' in-universe events were just as dark and realistic as the tone of The Lord of the Rings.
He did try to rewrite The Hobbit in the literary style of LotR, but it just didn't work and he abandoned it after a few chapters.