The Hobbit takes place in the years before Lord of the Rings while Bilbo Baggins was a young Hobbit, but long between the two trilogies?

Here's how much time passes between the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit movies. Published in 1936, The Hobbit was JRR Tolkien's magical story of the titular Bilbo Baggins accompanying a group of dwarfs and their wizard friend to steal treasure from a dragon. While Tolkien's introduction to Middle-earth is relatively concise (compared to later works at least), the author had an entire mythology mapped out, and The Lord of the Rings was eventually published between 1954 and 1955. Tolkien's sequel trilogy turned Middle-earth into literature's definitive fantasy realm.

So enduring is Tolkien's creation that as the new millennium began, Peter Jackson spent many years and a small fortune turning The Lord of the Rings into three wildly successful movies between 2001 and 2003. With the world hungry for more, three films based on The Hobbit released between 2012 and 2014, acting as a prequel to his original trilogy. Although various characters appear in both, the passage of time is most obvious on the face of Bilbo Baggins, who goes from Martin Freeman to Ian Holm during the interim, but how long is the gap between the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings?

The answer perhaps isn't as straightforward as many assume. Both stories take place in Middle-earth's Third Age, which started when Sauron was defeated by the Last Alliance of Elves & Men. The Hobbit begins in the year 2941 and ends in 2942. The Lord of the Rings picks up 60 years later with Bilbo's party in 3001, but then there's a time skip of 17 years between Bilbo leaving the Shire and Frodo beginning his quest, meaning the bulk of the Lord of the Rings is set in 3018, some 77 years after The Hobbit.

Confusion arises because while the 17-year gap is made explicit in Tolkien's original book, the film glosses over this period, giving the impression that Frodo leaves Bag End only a short while after his Uncle Bilbo. The timeline is corroborated when Bilbo reveals to Kili in The Hobbit that it's his 51st birthday while the company are in Laketown. The Lord of the Rings opens with Bilbo turning 111-years-old, giving the 60-year expanse of time. Shortly before Frodo's departure in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf remembers Bilbo leaving Bag End "nearly eighty years before" which then confirms the time jump and the 3018/3019 setting for the remainder of the story. In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gandalf confirms to Frodo that Bilbo kept the One Ring for 60 years, but the 17-year time jump is quietly brushed under the carpet, and none of the Hobbit characters seem to age from the day of Bilbo's party until their leaving the Shire.

While The Lord of the Rings jumps some way ahead of The Hobbit, plenty of fascinating events occur during those 60 years. Sauron rises to prominence, Aragorn learns about his royal lineage, and Frodo's parents pass away. Aragorn also begins dealing with Gandalf, who in turn is meeting with the White Council to discuss the growing threat of Sauron. Together, Aragorn and Gandalf try to uncover the whereabouts of the One Ring, and ascertain who might possess information, even capturing Gollum for this purpose.

More: Every Unmade Lord Of The Rings Movie (& Why They Didn't Happen)