Lyrically Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lorelei

You might have heard about the Rhine. In Germany there are quite a few rocks close to Father Rhine.

The Lorelei rock is a 132-metre-high (433 ft), slate rock- quite steep- on the right bank of the river in the Rhine Gorge at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is an amphitheater at the top, and in good weather a lot of tourists who search for the famous maiden combing her hair. Or want to listen to some rock at the amphitheater.

Answer: Lorelei

In 1801, Clemens Brentano told a story about a good-looking girl, Lore Lay who jumped from a high rock in the Rhine, committing suicide because she thought her loved one was there. Stories with a medieval touch were quite the rage then.

The best known story came some twenty years later, written by poet Heinrich Heine. His Lorelei was sitting on a rock, combing her hair and singing and therefore distracting a young fisherman working on the stream. With a sad end, he drowned. The 1824 ballad became so popular that even the Nazis couldn't erase it from books and Rhine tourists using cruises simply loved it. The only thing they could do was to write "Unknown German Author" in the books. Nazis didn't like Heine, because he was born Jewish and also had a sharp tongue sometimes. And he immigrated to arch enemy France, where he died. You can find an excellent quiz about him, I wrote it.

Answer: Lorelei

"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was a bestselling book by Anita Loos in 1925. It was turned into a musical and, in 1953, most famously, into a movie. In this movie, the girl Lorelei Lee (played by Marilyn Monroe) from Little Rock, Arkansas travels to Paris together with her friend Dorothy (Jane Russell). Lovely diamond-loving Lorelei performs "Diamonds are a girl's best friend", and gets accused of stealing a tiara. But in the end, both girls get their boys.

Answer: Hercules

Hercules, called Heracles in Greece, cleaned stables, caught wild bulls and birds. Statues of him were made from marble, pictures of him were painted in oil. His story was told in Italian sword and sandal films. One of the strangest movies was the Franco-Italian movie "Hercules Against the Moon Men" from 1964.

In 1997, a sanitized animated version of his life, produced by Disney, was shown on the silver screen.

Answer: Hercules

Between the year 1920's "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and 1975's "Curtain", Agatha Christie wrote about a dapper, green-eyed mustached former Belgian policeman and war refugee, Hercule Poirot, solving crimes, mainly in England. But his most famous cases happened abroad: a chain of murders on the Nile and one stabbing on board the Orient Express.

At one time, Hercule chose to solve cases based on the elder Hercules' labors. "The Labours of Hercules", was released 1947. The Nemean lion was changed into a Pekingese. Woof!

Answer: Hercules

Sir Elton Hercules John CH CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight) on 25 March 1947 chose in 1972 to change his name. I read that he was inspired by a character in the British sitcom "Steptoe and Son". He chose the horse Hercules who was, in the series, pulling the cart of the rag and bone men. He is the only artist I know to name himself Hercules and the only one who was inspired by a horse.

Answer: Tristan

"Tristan Otto", or just call him "Tristan", is the black well-preserved skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. It was found in 2012 in Montana. It is now displayed in a museum in Berlin. With 98% of the skull preserved, it is the top of his kind. But this isn't proof that s/he was the most intelligent when still alive. Size does not matter.

Answer: Tristan

The year is 1865. Munich in Bavaria. Composer Wagner presents his new opera "Tristan and Isolde". At the end, the "Liebestod" (Love death) is sung by "Isolde" Malvina Garrigues, over the supposed-to-be dead body of "Tristan" Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld (Malvina's husband in real life). Sadly, Ludwig died the same year, just 29, and his widow retired from stage.

Answer: Tristan

Tristan (1878-1897) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse whose career lasted from 1880 until 1884. In this time, he won 27 of 51 races, including three runs of the Grand Prix de Deauville in a row. This is the only hat trick I read about. Like many really successful ones, he was not talked about nicely. One described him as a very vile-tempered animal. But I guess this was just spite.

Answer: Eleanor

The crosses are about a love story. Edward I of England married his first wife, Eleanor of Castile in 1254. It was a teenage wedding, between the then 15-year-old boy and the 13-year-old Eleanor. His father and her half brother and king of Aquitaine wanted this for political reasons.

The bride brought a nice dowry, too, including great parts of Ireland. Considering this was an arranged marriage, they seemed to have a good life together. They had several children, including the later king, Edward II.

When Eleanor died in 1290 in Nottinghamshire, aged 49 years, her husband was at her side. The embalmed body of the late Queen was transported from there to London. To memorize her, her widower committed the erection of twelve crosses, starting in Lincoln, ending in Charing Cross.

There are only two crosses surviving. The one at Charing Cross is a "new" one. The Victorians of 1863 were responsible for this. They loved everything medieval at that time.

Answer: Eleanor

"Elenore, gee, I think you're swell
And you really do me well
You're my pride and joy, et cetera
Elenore, can I take the time
To ask you to speak your mind?
Tell me that you love me better"

"Elenore" is a 1968 song by the Turtles, released on "The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands". It was composed by band member Howard Kaylan, but every band member was credited for it. It was released at a time when the Turtles gained more self-esteem and started writing their only material. They made fun of their happy songs like "Happy Together" from a few years earlier. It was a solid top ten hit in the USA and UK, and a number one in New Zealand.

Another famous Eleanor of the 60s was "Eleanor Rigby" from the Beatles. She belonged to the lonely people and was buried in the song by Father McKenzie. Very sad.

Answer: Eleanor

The Eleonora cockatoo, "Cacatua galerita eleonora", also known as medium sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a subspecies of the sulphur-crested cockatoo. It is native to the Aru Islands in the province of Maluku in eastern Indonesia, but has also been introduced to the Kai Islands. Somehow, they managed to get well-established in the USA and Europe.

They are not considered endangered. But they are very loud and not very talkative. But pretty.