Tolkien Trivia

J.R.R. Tolkien Forum

In this thread, we quiz eachother on what we know. someone asks a question and someone else answers it. if they get it wrong, well they just have to wait until someone gets it right. I'll start off.
ps. and no you may not look in the book or on the web for your answer...it must be off the top of your head.

What was the name of the Mountain that the Fellowship tried to climb, but couldn't. because of this they had to go through Moria. what is the mountains name?

I know I am going to spell it wrong, but was it Caradhras.?

yes indeed it was...ok someone ask a new question!

What was the REAL reason for Denethor's madness?? As to why he did not want to join Gandalf in the battle agaisnt Sauron???

Denethor had a Palantir, and he, like Saruman, was ensnared by Sauron with it. While Sauron could not make the Palantir show things that were not true, he did use it to show Denethor how ridiculously powerful he was. Denethor therefore thought that nothing could defeat Sauron and that anything done against him would amount to naught.

i guess i'll ask the next question then: what did the elves call Sauron?

Wasn't it Necromancer???

Or the Dark Lord???

I thought it was the Necromancer too. Shadow?

Gorthaur the Cruel actually. Necromancer is a title, as is Dark Lord. someone else ask the next question.

um I must of missed that one thanks for the new info Shadow


How many Palantirs are there and who created them?

there are 7 Palantiri (not palantirs) and they were brought to Middle Earth by the Numenoreans, though i'm not exactly sure who created them...so i'll take a wild stab in the dark and say the Noldor (elves) and yes there is possible evidence they did in the Silmarillion.

7 and I will say Feanor.

You are right Fuscia. The 7 Palantiri were in fact created by Feanor and brought to Middle-Eart by Elendil and his sons.

who's next

What other name was Thingol known by?

Elwe i'd think...thats his name before he meet Melian.

Go Shadow

Next question?

sure why not...*snickers evilly* ok class is Morgoth a name, or a title, and what does it mean?

o o o o. I read this last night. It is a title given by the elves. It means Black Enemy. I think Feanor gave it to him when he stole the Silmarils. Did I get it?

mmm...sorta...i'll let it go as right but technically it mean Black Enemy of the World.

Well, I told you I had a hard time remembering the stuff from the book. At least I was in the ball park.

Name the sons of Finwe.

Feanor, Fingolfin, and Finarfin.
now name all their children. nahh i'm just kiddin, even i couldn't do that...
ooo i know...which one of those 3 was Galadriels father?

Finarfin was her father, Earwen was her mother.

are these trivia questions only to be related to the Silmarillion?? If not then here is this one:

Who was Orald??

Who??? i've never heard of this guy... who is it?!
*wait to see if Fuscia knows*

Me? Shadow, if you don't know, then I certainly don't.

alright Jokers...whats the answer? its seriously driving me nuts that i don't know!!

hahahahaha you 2 are going to HATE me but this is trivia after all.................

Orald is the name that the Northern Men used to refer to Tom Bombadil...........

I guess this means Erika 1 point, you 2 0 points j/k...... come on you 2 know just how MUCH I love his character........ so its obvious I'd know all the names that we used to refer to him........

Hmm. I am thinking that we should have a showdown between the two experts-Shadow and Erika.

Does this mean I get to ask another question?

Sure

What was the name of Elrond's brother?

a showdown........... *singing theme to the good,the bad & the ugly* "well get ready then partner

Elros

too easy it seems ........... who's next?

i'll go...this is fun...fuscia should ask more questions.
all right lets see....aha...did any of the Nazgul have names?

names before they became Nazgul or as Nazgul............. please clarify

and yes Fuscia you need to ask more questions!!!!

Well since you didn't answer I thought I'd answer with what I had........... Let's see if I am right.......... I think Tolkien only gives name to one, the second in command was Khamul........ aka Black Easterling?........ I think this was from the unfinsihed tales.........

yep you got it! good job.

What year did Tolkien begin LOTR and when, approximately, was it finished.

wow...i know neither of these...uh guessing here...i'd say he started mid 1935 and finished 1949

Ah-ha !! I remember this (I hope!) he started with the writing for LOTR in 1937 after the publishing of The Hobbit and completes it in 1948 *crossing fingers*

Well, Shadow was the closest. He began the book before the Hobbit was published in 1937. He finished 1949. So Shadow, you could be right.

What was the name of the first dragon?

Glaurung the Father of All Dragons.
who was the strongest dragon?

Ancalagon the Black who was slain by Earendil

yes...

so okay here is one since Fuscia is MIA at the moment..............

What was Nenya wrought of?

adamant.

I did not mean the stone but rather the band itself Shadow

oh...uh...its either silver of gold...i'll say silver...
watch it be platinum somehow...

hahaha nope unless platinum and Mirthril were the same thing

it's not fun just being the only 2 playin trivia, uh?

ill join in....but i dont know very much...must find silmarillion!

Welcome Pippin !!!!

im here! it took me a long time on my little legs but i finally made it!

Welcome Peregrin. We are happy to have you. AND I am not very good at the trivia. Erika and Shadow are in a whole other class.

yep!

ok...an easy one because im bored...
who were Pippin's three sisters?

Pearl, Pinpernel & Pervinsa Took (?) sorry if the spelling is a bit off.................

Pippin this one is for you

What was the name of Pippin's son?

Faramir

so someone ask another question

Pippin had sisters??! oh...geez..i really need to learn more about those hobbits...uh lets see...
jokers lets see if you know this one: what is the elven name for the Nazgul?

Only othername I can recall having seen aside from Ring-wraiths is Ulairi.................. and it sounds elvish so that must be my guess!!! *crossin fingers*

oh your good...dang and here i thought you'd be stumped...all right..you ask one...

or since you're not on...what was the name of the Witch King's lieutenant?

I don't know army ranks and such so wouldn't his lieutenant be the second in command?? If that is so then it is Khamul, aka Black Easterling! If my ranks are TOTALLY off, please rephrase

sorry..its Gothmog...some random guy...its speculated that he is also the Mouth of Sauron...i think...:shugs:

I didnt ask you to give me the asnwer!!! I tld you to rephrase the question Shadow............... oh well


This is from the Silmarillion:

Who was the wife of Turgon and where did she die????

hey....no fair...i haven't gotten their yet... oh well...uh...oh wait...i can't remember her name...but didn't she die in Gondolin?

ohhhhhhhh okay I am sorry, how far into it are you Shadow so that I know what kinda questions to ask???

and her name is Elenwe and she dies in Helciraxxe.............. dont mind my spelling and I cant even recheck it bcuz my book is at home!!

you ask a question now

lets see..i've gotten to the point where the Noldor have fled...but stupid school has prevented me from reading further...
uh...what does the name Melkor mean?

that is an easy one Shadow..... Melkor means "(He who) Arises in Might"....... now that I got all cocky watch me have confused that one with someone elses name.......... hahaha

ok.....name three inns in Eriador.

yes harley your right! Prancing Pony, Green Dragon, and the Golden Perch. so my knowledge of the land isn't that bad....
what is the definition of the name Ancalagon?

is it something to do with a dragon??? i just recognise that name...

well..uh yes it has to do with a dragon...but i didn't expect you to get it because you haven't read the silmarillion (or have you?) btw i'm assuming my answer to your question was correct.

yep very correct! well done!
I havnt READ the silmarillion but i have a tendency to read the index before i read the book...thats why i recognised the name.

so can noone answer my question?

i'll take that as a yes...Ancalagon means rushing jaws.
someone else ask a question.

What was ultimately the death of Turin, son of Hurin and Morwen from the House of Hador???

This is from the Unfinsihed Tales so you guys might not get it .... sorry

he jumped into a river...because he had married his sister, who had forgotten who she was, and whom he had never really seen. when she commited suicide, he couldn't live with himself, and quickly followed her. all this because of Glaurung.

and yes, Turin Turumbar has his own chapter in the Silmarillion.

well he did not jump into the river as did Ninien Shadow but he did kill himself because of her............. he actually shis-kabobed himself on his sword after finding out the truth........... and yes all because of Glaurung............

ooh thats right...dang...who was that jumped into the river after Ninien...
ah well i'll ask the next question...why do Orcs fear the sun?

I'm sorry if I am interupting but you have me stumped

I have absolutly no idea why orcs fear the sun and it's driving me mad trying to find out

I wonder...is it anything to do with the Maiar that pulls the sun across the sky?I can't remember the name

you hit near the mark Tiger! the sun is actually a maia, of the same type as the Balrog...and i just forgot her name...but the orcs fear her gaze, so they hide when the sun is up.

THANK YOU!!!

That clears things up. I thought that it might be something to do with that, but I wasn't sure, and now I know why orcs fear the sun.

So do I just put up a question now or what?

yep, thats how it works. if you answer the question right, then you get to post a question

OK then how about this one?

Why did Dain Ironfoot order the retreat from Moria in the final battle of Dwarves and Orcs?

because he had seen Durin's Bane just inside the shadowed entrance to Moria, waiting for them.

You are 100% correct!

Right your turn.

right...sorry i haven't replied to this in a while
well here's the question: where was the the fortress used by Meadhros the Tall?

That's a hard one, it depends, I think, because he did used Dorthonion (or Taur-nu-Fuin) for a while and he was mostly in what is called the march of Meadhros.

But to answer your question I don't know for certain where it was.

Technically it was the Hill of Himring. The March of Meadhros was the pass that he marched through, and eventually gaurded during the Seige of Angband. you might want to check me on that one though.

See the annoying thing about that is that I knew it as soon as I woke up this morning (in England incase your wondering)

So is it my question now or what?

yep your turn man.

Here you go.

What are the names of the five Istari?

Saruman, Gandalf (Mithrandir), Radagast, and the 2 blue wizards. I don't think their names were ever mentioned.

Well done! you got three now only the other two are needed.

Sorry, only know them as the blue wizards. Don't know their names.

Oh well, just tell me if you want to ask a different question.

What's the answer?

The blue wizards names were Alatar and Pallando. They went into the east with Saruman but were never seen again.

Go ahead and ask another, Tiger.

I'll see if I can think of one.



who of the sons of Eorl the young was the last of his line to be king of Rohan?

This is just a guess, and probably wrong, Theoden???

Twas a good guess but no, he is from a different line of Eorl's family and not directly decended from Eorl.

I'm not sure if we have to limit questions to the books... so if so, just delete my post or something...

What religion was Tolkien?

No, you don't have to limit your questions to the books. It's a Tolkien forum, after all.

I think he was Catholic.

That's correct!

And he had a patron saint... anyone know who it was?

Is it Saint John the Evangelist?

Shall I take it that my question has been forgotten then?

i think it was either helm, or Helm's son, whose name i can't remember...but i'm not sure

Peregr!n is correct...

Tolkien mentions (Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #309) that he took St. John the Evangelist as his patron because Tolkien was born on John's Octave.

Good job!

What is Gríma called, and who is his father?

Wormtongue..and...dang..his father...i can't remember his father's name...good question Mike!

Anyone want to take the spot of INReview's resident Tolkien genius?

Grima had a father?

(I don't want to ask this when there's a question in session but I might not have a chance.)

What languages did Tolkein learn? I

The answer to my question:

[[ Gálmód ]]

In Ch. 6 of LotR:TT (The King of the Golden Hall), Gandalf is talking to Wormtongue... Right after he (Gandalf) gets done singing his little song, he says: "The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód."

The answer to your question:

Tolkien was a master linguist... he spoke AND created languages masterfully.

His specialty was the Germanic crop of languages... German, Russian, Slavonic, Norse, Welsh all on the list. Also, Latin.

In order to make a truly complete list, we have to also think of all the languages he made up: All of tongues of Arda... Quenya, Sindarin... Telerin, Doriathrin, Nandorin... Black Speech (of Mordor), Valarin... Rohirrim... Gnomish.... etc. etc.

The Elven languages had primarily Finnish and Welsh inspiration. Seems to me (a Hebrew speaker) that Dwarvish seems to have a bunch of Hebrew roots. It is also my opinion that his influence for the Valarin language was Babylonian.

At some point, he was quoted as disliking the Swedish translations of his works (though I can't remember when or where), so he must have had some knowledge of Swedish as well.

He may have also had to know Greek to read the mythology in their native language, but that is just my speculation.

Lastly, he worked for two years or so on the New English Dictionary, and God only knows how many dialects of how many languages he became familiar with during that time. He wrote somewhere that he learned more with that project than with anything else he ever did.

So, to be really honest with you, I have no earthly idea if a list exists of all of the languages he must have learned... but those are the ones I can think of. Does that work for you?

Haha.. I completely forgot the most important one: ENGLISH

Oh, and I'm pretty sure he sung in Gothic, too...

The answer to my Forgotten question, except Shadowstalker who didn't forget it, Is Helm Hammerhand his son was killed by invading forces.

Hey Mike, when did you learn Hebrew?! and where are you getting all this info on his personal life? i'm guessing a biography or Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

He also knew Gothic and Anglo-Saxon. Which is really great. I only know the Anglo-Saxon one. Abit of Finnish, Welsh, Gaelic, and French, not much of Chinese but I can understand it. NONE of Hebrew. Tagalog (some kind of language in the islands of the Philippines, which was used in Star Wars, if I am correct. I don't know how I knew but I heard it from somewhere.) and once I knew Putongua, but ended that since it was simply too boring. And yes, Germanic was his main specialty. Romanquise (sp?) was his second, wasn't it?

What I want to learn is Swedish, Italian, Portugese, Gothic (I can't find a book for this), and of course, Hebrew.

My friend is thorough in The Elvish language. I swear, this one say she cursed in it. It was both scary and cool. and she'd write nearly everything in elvish....

Oh, and I want to learn Greek, German, and Latin.

There was a book about Tolkien and his works called, "Elves, Wizards, and Hobbits." I forgot who the author was but he made such a thourough job of it! Though I was looking for more information on Wizards in Tolkien's world instead of the usual information.

So what's the question right now? Or are we still answering the "What languages did Tolkien learn?"

from that question was done and good. I don't know what was previously asked... so I don't know what to ask.

I'll go...How many characters from Tolkien's works were named Boromir?

2 or 3...

3

The first Boromir was a descendant of Beor the Old
The second Boromir was the son of Denethor I
The third Boromir was the son of Denethor II (This is the Boromir most familiar to Ringers)

So any one going to ask a question or should I jump in?

Go ahead and ask one.

Ok, Which Elf and Dwarf built the doors of Durin in the west entrance?

that is the door that the fellowship come to.

oh man...i think nain was the dwarf and...the elf...i think it was one of those many elves whose names start with the letter C...

To be a hundred per cent honest I didn't think that you would even get close, I think it is a bit hard so I will tell you.

The Elf was Celebrimbor, son of Curufin and lord of Eregion.

The Dwarf was Narvi who was Celebrimbors greatest friend in that age.

Narvi thats right...arg...i knew it started with an N...
and i knew who the elf was, i just couldn't remember his name...good question tiger! you up for asking another, or should i or someone else?

Ok this question has nothing to do with the stories.

What band in the 1970s based their early work on the Lord of the Rings trillogies?

OOh! Good question.

I have no idea, but thats something I would like to know!

Tell you what, if no one gets it in two more guesses I will tell you the answer.

I have no idea, but I would like to hear a band like that!

???? i'm stumped....

Technically the last two were not guesses but if you want I will give you the answer.

But first a few clue;

1. the band had the longest standing number#1 single of the 1970s in england

2.one of their songs were recently use in a Mobile phone advert (I think that is what the advert was for).

3.the leads singers brother works for Provincial Busses in Portsmouth and is called Harry Feld.

Right the answer,

T-Rex or Tyrannosaurous rex as they were know originally wrote songs for lord of the rings characters.

Like their song The Wizard which went like this:

The Wizard

Walking in the woods one day
I met a man who said that he was magic
Wonderful things he said
Pointed hat upon his head
Knew why people laughed and cried
Why they lived and why they died

Shadows followed him around
He walked the woods without a single sound
Golden eagles at his door
Cats and bats played on the floor
Silver sunlight in his eyes
The wizard turned and melted in the sky.

or

DWARFISH TRUMPET BLUES

I saw a little man who had a toy trumpet
He sat on a stone with his lips to the mouthpiece
He was deaf dumb and blind so he couldn't quite make it
When out of the horn came a solid silver genie
Who was made just to make the little man happy
As the man made sounds the genie painted fluid,
Mind-blowing visions on the little man's brain-box

Everybody small with no lips to play the trumpet
Everybody living inside a giant deaf aid
Everybody's eyes crucified to the tapestry
Woven by the giant with the solid silver genie
Who plays the trumpet

That was a great question Tiger! Someone else ask a question!

I'll ask another;

What is the Elessar?

(I do not mean Aragorn I mean what was the first Elessar)

Another great question Tiger...The only thing I can think of is his sword, just a wild guess, probably not right

Basically it Heather, except it was made in Gondolin and worn by a elf-maiden in Gondolin (who I cant remember the name off) and Earendil, and it had healing poers but I didn't ask for its history did I?

your go

What farthing is Hobbiton in?

blind guess here...North, east, south, or west?
uh..seriously though...i'm gonna guess east.

I will guess South.

in that case, I'll guess north

Ouch! You're all wrong!

Farthing is what the devision of the shire is. So you get South Farthing, East Farthing, West Farthing and North Farthing. It was Tolkiens way of splitting up the Shire. The name itself is from old English currency meaning a quarter.

Hobbiton is in the West Farthing. Tiger, since they were all wrong and you threw in an interesting piece of info, I guess you can ask the next question. What do you say?

Ok I'll try and think of one,

What race is Tom Bombadil?

It never says

That is the most asked question in Tolkien history. A lot of Tolkien Encyclopedias say he is a man because that is the form he takes, but his true race is a mystery.

Well it was a trick question because he doesn't have a race. he is Tolkiens enigma in the myths of middle-earth.

both answers were right so one of you ask a question.

Go ahead Heather

Who is Kalimac Brandagamba?

Merriadoc Brandybuck