2020 Hobitas (Jokūbas Bareikis)

The Hobbit

Release Date: 2020
Reader: Jokūbas Bareikis
Language: Lithuanian
Translator: Bronė Balčienė
Organisation: Audioteka.lt
ISBN: 9786098212754
Duration: 10 hours 46 minutes
Unabridged: Yes
Country: Lithuania
Licenced: Yes
Formats: Digital

Produced by Audioteka, it was part of a push to professionalize the Lithuanian audiobook market with high-tier acting talent. Jokūbas Bareikis (born 1980) is a well-known Lithuanian theater, film, and television actor, and a member of the Vilnius Small Theatre (Vilniaus mažasis teatras).

Originally published in 1985, Balčienė’s translation is famous for its linguistic richness. She managed to translate Tolkien’s invented names and toponyms into Lithuanian in a way that feels organic rather than forced. Her translation of the songs is highly rhythmic, which Bareikis delivers with great attention to metre.

The 2020 release arrived just as the global pandemic led to a massive surge in audiobook consumption in Lithuania. It quickly became one of the top-selling titles on Audioteka.lt and remains a bestseller in their catalog today. It was marketed as the essential Tolkien experience for a new generation of Lithuanian listeners who might have seen the films but never read the original text.