Found this quiz “Test Your Knowledge of Middle Earth” over on Llama Butchers (along with many other fun Tolkien links) and thought I would post the questions here. Feel free to participate in the comments if you like. There is an element of whimsy to the questions, at least the beginning ones.
Beginning Questions
1. Just exactly what was the nature of the friendship between Gimli and Legolas?
2. If Aragorn had the option, would he have ditched the Fellowship for a date with Pamela Anderson?
3. Why didn’t Gandalf just blow up the armies that got in his way, if he was so powerful?
4. How many times is the word “passed” used in LotR? (No peeking!)
5. What exactly was in lembas? (Hint: in Letters #210, JRRT says quite explicitly that lembas is not a “food concentrate”.)
6. Why didn’t the hobbits in the Shire rise against Sharkey and his men sooner? (Were Frodo, Sam and the lads a cut above hobbitdom and thus extraordinary?)
7. If Aragorn truly spent uncounted years as a lone Ranger, then where the hell is Tonto? And why doesn’t he wear that mask?
8. If Frodo hung the Ring on a chain, why didn’t the chain turn invisible?
9. When Isildur had control of the One Ring, why didn’t he use it to command the Ringwraiths? Or the Elven-rings? Or the Dwarven-rings? He could have ruled the whole of Middle-earth with that Ring, yet he decided instead to just write a couple of letters and then go for an unfortunate swim. What’s his problem, anyway? Was he stupid?
10. When Legolas introduces Gimli to Treebeard, Gimli bows low and his axe falls to the ground. Treebeard notices this, but merely comments “Hoom! A Dwarf and an axe-bearer!” rather than smash Gimli to Play-Doh. Doubtless you’ve heard of the poem, “Woodsman, Spare That Tree!”; did Tolkien have plans to write another version, titled “Tree, Spare That Woodsman!”?
11. Why is the tale of Beren and Luthien subtitled “Release from Bondage”, when we never even once get to see her tied up? (And I was really hoping, too.)
12. And if, as is likely, a bacterium had landed on the inner surface of the Ring, would the Ring corrupt it into an evil bacterium? Would it be invisible to other bacteria? Would its’ life stretch out and become an unending weariness? Would it use its’ increased strength and stature to rule over other bacteria? Would it fight to keep other bacteria from adhering to the Ring? Would it still evolve genetically, or would it instead become a Bacteria-wraith?
Advanced Questions
13. When the Dwarves of beautiful Khazad-Dum built their Western door, why did they allow it to be inscribed with the insulting name of “Moria” (“Black Pit”), a name that would only be earned long years afterwards?
14. Reconcile Tom Bombadil’s statement that he is “Eldest” with Gandalf’s statement that Fangorn is “the oldest of all living things”. Extra Credit: suggest a valid date of birth for each of them. Document your answers.
15. Aragorn states (Two Towers, p. 18 hardback) that Sauron never uses the name “Sauron”, nor does he “permit it to be spelt or spoken”. Reconcile this text with the text of Return of the King, p. 164 hardback, where the Lieutenant of Barad-Dur clearly states, “I am the Mouth of Sauron”.
16. Though Moria is, by rightful ownership, Dain’s, Balin nonetheless referred to himself as “Lord of Moria”. Helm’s Deep is clearly the property of the Rohirrim, being part of lands granted to them by Gondor long years ago, yet in Return of the King p. 360 hardback Gimli declares himself “Lord of the Glittering Caves”. Explain the laws and history pertaining to Dwarven property rights, and how those differed from the customs of Elves and Men. For full credit your answer must also reconcile Dwarven property laws with the generous nature of Aule, the Dwarves’ creator.
17. How would the history of Middle-earth have differed if Sauron had returned to Aman and received the judgement of Manwe at the end of the First Age, rather than remaining in Middle-Earth (Silmarillion p. 285 hardback)? Describe resultant cultural differences which would have taken place in the Second, Third and Fourth Ages. Special emphasis should be given to the cultures of the Grey Havens, Numenor (including the Dunedain and the Black Numenoreans), the Rohirrim, the Dunlendings and others descending from the peoples of the White Mountains, the Ents, the peoples of Khand, the Orcs (particularly those tribes living in the Grey, Misty and Ash Mountains and the Mountains of Shadow), the Elven peoples of Gil-Galad (include Elrond and the likelihood of Rivendell’s being constructed), the Hobbits (beginning from when they were living in the Vales of Anduin), and the Haradrim (both Near and Far Harad must be covered for full credit). Also speculate on the differences in culture which would take place in Aman as Sauron describes his experience with evil to the Valar, Maiar, and Eldar living there. On Silmarillion p. 65, it states that “Manwe was free from evil and could not comprehend it”; would he gain an understanding of evil from the experiences of Sauron? Be prepared to defend your answer.
I have a question, too. I mean, if Gandalf can harness eagles and everything, why didn’t he just *fly* Frodo to Mount Doom? He really could have saved everybody a lot of trouble.
The eagles were always problematic for me as well. Guys, just pluck Frodo up, fly him to the crack of Lava-Death, drop the ring in, and fly on home….
I am sure Dave J will be able to address this concern of ours.
Question 16 is straight out of a first-year Property exam in law school, although it lacks the all-important hypothetical situation to actually apply the law to.
As for the eagles, they couldn’t use them to get the Ring to Mount Doom for the same reason they couldn’t use an army to do the same thing: it would be too easily noticed. Moreover, if the Wise themselves feared taking the Ring, they would have surely had similar fears about giving it to Gwaihir, who seemed fairly full of himself and thus even more likely to take it.
The eagles are fussy, they only come when they’re absolutely needed. Otherwise, the weaker creatures of Middle Earth toss around insults like “unilateral” and “arrogant”.
1. It’s open to interpertation. I think there’s a reason Orlando Bloom keeps tossing longing looks over to John Rhys-Davies’ stunt double.
2. No, I think he’s pretty faithful to Arwen.
6. Because Hobbits are, by in large, far too concerned with food or drink to get off their asses to do anything about it.
7. Tonto died of old age back when Aragorn was 70.
8. It follows Terminator rules, it needs to be a living thing.
9. I thought man couldn’t wield the power of the ring.
12. Bacteria are evil already, and they’re too stupid for the ring to control.
“The eagles are fussy, they only come when they’re absolutely needed. Otherwise, the weaker creatures of Middle Earth toss around insults like ‘unilateral’ and ‘arrogant’.”
Gosh, that double meaning sure is subtle. WHATEVER could you be talking about? ;-)
Dave,
I am on record as stating that I feel a certain surge of pride as I watch the eagles fly in to aid a mass of brave people who speak with a vaguely British accent.
“9. I thought man couldn’t wield the power of the ring.”
No, I suspect that if you were inherently incapable of wielding it, it would have no power over you because it would have nothing to tempt you with: see Tom Bombadil. Certainly, as a descendant of Numenor with a keen interest in such things, Denethor would have known if it would have been useless in his hands; he wasn’t always crazy, after all.
The three Elf-rings, it seems to me, were different from the One in kind, because they weren’t directly tainted in their making by Sauron’s working alongside Celebrimor, but the Seven and Nine only differed from it in degree: they were lesser versions of it. That being the case, since they obviously could be used by those they were granted to, it could have been as well.
All speculation, of course.
3. allegedly, there were creatures on the other side who were as powerful as gandalf. maybe gandalf was busy keeping them from blowing up his own army. the main nazgul was after all, the witch king of angmar.
6. i agree with Bill
9. the ring gave power according to the stature of the bearer. so obviously, isildur just didn’t have it in him to command the nazgul. as far as ruling the elven rings, they took their rings off at the forging of the one, and didn’t put them back on til it was lost.
11. sounds like someone needs to make a movie.
14. tom bombadil was clearly not alive. not as in the same sense of creatures of earth are alive. he was obviously some type of maiar or valar, same as gandalf, saruman, sauron, radagast, and the two blue wizards.
mlah, Tolkien said in one of his letters that Tom Bombadil was deliberately left an enigma, but he is tied to the land, to the Old Forest, in a way that seems utterly different from the Valar and Maiar. Indeed, Maiar like Gandalf, Saruman and, of course, Sauron, are susceptible to the Ring’s power while he is not…does that imply that a Vala would be impervious to it? We have no way of knowing, but I think not.
Elrond, I believe, refers to Tom as Iarwain Ben-Adar, “Oldest and Fatherless.” This has led to some to speculate that Tom is actually Iluvatar, the Creator. I think Tolkien, as a devout Catholic, would have regarded that as treading too close to blasphemy–he wanted his work to subtly foreshadow his understanding of Christianity, not be incompatible with it–so I don’t think that’s what Tom is. The Sil tells us how Aule made the Dwarves and Yavanna the Ents, but Tom and Goldberry are not in there at all, so they remain a mystery that, without Tolkien to tell us, can never really be definitively solved.
I will post the correct answers at Emily’s place soon.
I can hardly wait, Ken. :-)
Spoiler!
From this lovely Irish lass, I learn of this cinchy quiz (also found at Llama Butchers). For the benefit of any LOTR-geek wannabees, here are the correct answers:…
Spoiler!
From this lovely Irish lass, I learn of this cinchy quiz (also found at Llama Butchers). For the benefit of any LOTR-geek wannabees, here are the correct answers:…