Ok folks, I'm starting to get worried. It's now April 24, six days before the end of the quiz, and I haven't received any answers yet.

Who's working on it? When do you think you'll have finished it? Do you need some more time? If yes, how much?

Let me know, please. Thanks!

I haven't worked on it for a couple weeks, but I've answered the first half, having only drawn four blanks that I couldn't easily find their answers. I will finish the rest and work on those hard ones in the time remaining.

I have just finished fine tuning my rendition of Pachelbel's Canon in D for my String Sextet on my Commodore and will now have a tad bit more time to spent on Tommie's quiz.

A point of clarification if you would please:



My friend and i were talking about this one and we came to the conclusion that you might be asking for the cases in which Tolkien uses the CORRECT form of "dwarfs" instead of his usual "dwarves"? Is this what you mean or are you asking when Tolkien uses "dwarves" as opposed to "dwarfs"?

Oh, my, i forgot all about the quizzes. I have not even looked at yours in so long. I think i have it about half done. Thanks for extending the due date.

Thank you Samwise! Just checking if I got your answers ok. And I did. I'll be correcting them over the weekend.

Sorry Tommie, I've some severe time problems at the moment due to selling/buying houses and something happening at work. Apart from struggling to keep abreast of the forum, I'm not finding much time to anything else at the moment.

Sorry to hear about that Val... I hope things get solved somehow soon.

Thanks Grondy, just sent you a reply. And just got uruk_slayer's as well.

So that makes three then. Anyone else working on it and/or in need of some more time? I would prefer 4 or 5 answerers (is that a word?) really.

Gotcha, thanks Grondy! I'll try to remember that one.

Ok as I don't think I'll have time to post the answers next week anyway, I'll give whoever is still working on it time to send in their answers until the 16th of May . And that's the final limit. Seriously. I mean it.

Awww, that's too bad Perwing. More luck next time!

Great. So with Mellie that makes at least four participants (see, I remembered, Grondy! ). Only waiting for Sam's and Uruk's reply now.

Don't worry Sam, take your time. Before the 16th will do. And Val's signed up after all, so that makes 4 already! God I'm happy now.

*drum roll* Tah-daaah! Here we are then, the official answers to Tommie's brainteaser quiz thingie!!!

Who got caught in a spray of some liquid fire?
1) Beechbone
What dwarf was once transported in a cask that had previously been filled with apples?
2) Fili
Who said: ’Harrowdale at last! Our journey is almost at an end.’?
3) Eomer
What did the air near Rivendell smell like, according to Bilbo?
4) I was actually looking for "Elves", but only Val answered that, and it did smell like pine-trees too. So yes, you all got it right.
In what chapter does Sam recite the poem ’Oliphaunt’?
5) The Black Gate is closed
What were Smaug’s first words in "The Hobbit"?
6) "Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air! I hear your breath. Come along! Help yourself again, there is plenty to spare!" But as Grondy cleverly remarked, Smaug thought to himself earlier on, with no quote marks: There was a breath of strange air in this cave. Could there be a draught from that little hole? But I was looking for the previous one, anyway, thanks Grondy!
Who said to Gandalf: ’Die now and curse in vain!’?
7) The Lord of the Nazg’l, Witch King of Angmar
In English, the only correct plural of ’dwarf’ is ’dwarfs’ and the adjective is ’dwarfish’. You may have noticed though, that professor Tolkien sometimes uses the (incorrect) ’dwarves’ and ’dwarvish’. In what case only does he use these incorrect forms?
8) Ok in the introduction to "The Hobbit", it says this: "Only when speaking of the ancient people to whom Thorin Oakenshield and his companions belonged." But I don't think anyone got this, but all your answers looked quite plausible, so I counted them all as correct.
What was the name of the Elvenking of Mirkwood’s butler?
9) Galion
Who said: ’Now we had better have it again.’?
10) Lindir
What was the colour of Dwalin’s beard?
11) Blue
Who said: ’Yes, whichever side wins, his outlook is poor.’?
12) Merry (on Saruman, btw)
Who was the last king at Fornost?
13) Arvedui
How were the soldiers in the army of Dain clad?
14) They wore a hauberk of steel mail down to their knees, their legs were covered with a hose of a fine and flexible metal mesh. They also had caps of iron and their shoes were shod with iron as well, their beards were tucked in their belts. And to make it complete they also carried with them heavy two-handed mattocks, a short broad sword and a roundshield.
What did Gandalf answer to the question: ’What did the Men of old use them for?’ and who asked this question?
15) "To see far off and to converse in thought with one another." (about the palantiri)
16) Pippin
Who murmured: ’Cold be hand and heart and bone, and cold be sleep under stone.’?
17) the Barrow-Wight
Who was Ro’c’s father?
18) Carc
What chapter begins with the words: ’They rode on through sunset, and slow dusk, and gathering night.’?
19) The King of the Golden Hall
In what year did Sam Gamgee marry Rosie Cotton?
20) Shire Reckoning 1420 or Third Age 3020
Of what was Bilbo so terrified when he managed to get outside the Elvenking’s palace?
21) of losing himself in the forest
Who said: ’Wizards are always troubled about the future.’?
22) Treebeard
What was Gollum talking about when he ’sang’: ’Alive without breath, as cold as death; never thirsting, ever drinking; clad in mail, never clinking.’?
23) fish
Who said: ’I drew it forth, and staunched the wound.’?
24) Imrahil
Name one of the three trolls Bilbo and the dwarves encountered.
25) William (Bill), Bert, Tom
Of whom did Frodo speak when he said: ’Miserable fool, but I am sorry for him.’?
26) Lotho Sackville-Baggins (no, not Gollum )
What was it that Bilbo couldn’t find when he wanted to smoke a pipe down under the Misty Mountains?
27) matches
Who said: ’A pawn did Gandalf say? Perhaps, but on the wrong chessboard.’, and to whom do these lines refer?
28) Pippin
29) to himself
Who said: ’I count many things: stars in sky, leaves on trees, men in the dark.’?
30) Gh’n-buri-Gh’n
Who sang he/she was in a hurry?
31) Tom Bombadil
Balin expected the halls within the Lonely Mountain to be filled with what?
32) Smaug's foul reek
Who was Beregond’s father?
33) I meant Beregond, the Gondor soldier, and his father would be Baranor
What was the first name of the Appledore Butterbur spoke of?
34) Rowlie
Of whom do harpers sadly sing?
35) Gil-Galad (was an Elven king, of him the harpers sadly sing)
What is it that no dragon can resist? (part from a mountain of gold and all the other obvious things, the answer I’m looking for is clearly mentioned in these words somewhere)
36) the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it
What were Faramir’s first words in The Lord of the Rings?
37) "Nay! Not Elves! Elves do not walk in Ithilien these days. And Elves are wondrous fair to look upon, or so 'tis said."
How was the game of golf invented according to a tale by Tolkien?
38) Bullroarer Took charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the Battle of the Green Fields, and knocked the head of their King Golfimbul off with a wooded club. It went straight down a rabbit hole. The battle was won and the game of golf invented at the same time.
Who stammered: ’Well, er, yes, I suppose so’?
39) Bilbo
Who was the leader of the D’nadan that came riding south in search of Aragorn?
40) Halbarad
Gandalf said to Bilbo on their first meeting: ’To think that I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took’s son as if he was what?’
41) selling buttons at the door
What was the Hobbits’ name for the Plough or Great Bear?
42) the Sickle, the Wain
Who said: ’Not well. That would be the study of many lives. But I come here now and again.’?
43) Gandalf (the White)
What was Gollum’s answer to the riddle: ’A box without hinges, key, or lid; yet golden treasure inside is hid.’? (I want you to put down Gollum’s exact words here!)
44) "Eggses! Eggses it is!"
Who died in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and would therefore never return to Pinnath Gelin?
45) Hirluin the Fair
Who laughed amid his tears at the Grey Havens?
46) Pippin
What was the colour of the handkerchief Bilbo borrowed from Elrond?
47) red
Who said: ’Nay, time does not tarry ever, but change and growth is not in all places alike.’?
48) Legolas
Who was Bombur’s cousin?
49) Bifur (Bofur was his brother)
Before they had supper, Beorn clapped in his hands and in trotted what?
50) four white ponies and several large, long-bodied grey dogs
How many times does Tolkien mention in The Hobbit that Bilbo wished he was back home in his own Hobbit-hole? (Only count the ones where he literally says he WISHES or WANTS to be back home, in his own Hobbit-hole, or in some part of it!)
51) five (p. 31, 44, 57, 163, 271)
In what year did Tolkien get married and what was the name of his wife?
52) 1916
53) Edith (Mary) Bratt
Who chanted: ’O’er stony mountains cold and grey; trough halls of iron and darkling door.’?
54) Aragorn
With who did Tolkien write the book "The road goes ever on and on"?
55) Donald Swann
How many bearers has the One Ring had ( including its Master, counting only the ones who had it for a longer period)?
56) 6 (Sauron, Isildur, Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo, Sam)
In what year was Priscilla Tolkien born?
57) 1929
When did Tolkien retire? (the year will do)
58) 1959
When was professor Tolkien born and when did he die?
59) 3 January 1892
60) 2 September 1973


Hall of fame

uruk_slayer 57,5
Grondmaster 52
Samwisegamgee 50,5
Valedhelgwath 38,5

Thanks to everyone for playing, especially to Val for sending in his answers because he was having some troubles with his house (selling and buying and stuff, if I remember well), and he didn't have time to look it all up.
I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.

I'll be sending you a mail soon in which I tell you how I counted the points because otherwise I don't think you'll understand where you lost points and why.

I'll be looking forward to the next quiz, I think Mellie was working on one though I don't know if she had the time to finish it. Or maybe Val has one? Or someone else?

Way to go uruk_slayer, Samwisegamgee, Val, and especially Tommie Bombadillo whose quiz weeded out we users of the indices and the 'Encyclopedia of Arda'.

I was wondering if I could post a set-amount of say 30 quiz questions like the one at the start of the post? Though be warned they will be HARD, and I will use all the books ,from 'the Hobbit' to 'HoME 12; Peoples of M-E'.

Sure, do it Findekano. But don't be surprised if some of us get less than 21 correct, not having read or even having access to the H.O.M.E. volumes. All we can do is try. I own the first five, but have only read Lost Tales I (many moons ago) and am still working my way through Unfinished Tales.

I could do a quiz too, when Mellie's and Findekano's are finished.

That's really great! Looking forward to it all (though it will be very hard for me indeed, not having access to the HOME books and the other stuff), but I'll give it a try once my exams are over (on the 23rd).

Sorry, Moonstar, you've lost me a bit. Which one are you referring to?

Sorry about that Val,
It's the one that was posted on 31/8/2002. I would also like the one posted on 6/10/2002. I thought they were awesome and even though everyone sent there answers in already I'd still like to try them and see how well i know middle-earth.

Also Mellie I would love to try your first quiz as well.

thank you both.

- moonstar
p.s. my email address again is angeleyes1785@yahoo.com

No actually. I'm in the regular session (undergraduate, first year). And we actually finish quite early. I know people who start when I finish (which is on the 23rd) and who end on the 3rd of July. Now that's what I call a downtoner. At secondary school we finished somewhere near the 20th to get our report card some week later. So here in Belgium it's quite normal. Do you finish earlier, or later, or whatever?


Moonstar: would you like my quiz too?

[Edited on 16/6/2003 by TomBombadillo]

i'm an undergraduate in the States. school ended for me in the first week of May. that's why i was shocked!

If it's any comfort Grondy, I have a few friends who are well in to their 50's and 60's. Nothing wrong with old-timers, you guys know all the best places to eat! But alas, yes my school year begins in late August. In addition to this, my school only goes for 16 week semesters instead of the 18 of most schools. We even get a fall break to even out our spring break. Everyone else hates us!!!

Anybody working on another Trivia Quiz for us? Do we have to wait until school starts again when many won't have the time to participate in a new quiz? Just wondering?

I don't have time to do one now either, I'll be gone until the beginning of August, but I thought Findekano and Uruk_slayer had one ready?

I can start working on one somewhere in September, I think. Meanwhile, enjoy the other quizzes all, and if you have one ready yourself, I think you're free to post one, right council?

Mine will be some time yet.

Just as with any other quiz, I'll give everyone up to a month to complete it. Unfortunately, since my computer isn't working and I only use my girlfriend's computer, I do my best to get back to everyone on answers and corrections.