A Tolkien of Gratitude Trivia Quiz

Answer: Númenor

Númenor (Land in the West) was a star-shaped island situated in the Great Sea between Middle-earth and Aman, the Undying Lands. It was also known as Elenna (Starwards), Westernesse, and Andor (Land of Gift). At the beginning of the Second Age, the Edain who had lived in Beleriand (which had been destroyed in the War of Wrath) were led there by Elros, Elrond's twin brother, son of Eärendil and Elwing. Unlike his brother, Elros chose to be a mortal man, and became the first king of Númenor. The island was later swallowed by the sea when King Ar-Pharazôn attempted to invade Aman, and was then known as Atalantë, the Downfallen - Tolkien's own take on the myth of Atlantis.

Tol Eressëa (the Lonely Island) was the island off the eastern coast of Aman where the Elves dwelt. On the other hand, Erebor was the Sindarin name of the Lonely Mountain, and Nimrodel one of the rivers that ran from the Misty Mountains.

Answer: Anglachel

Forged by Eöl, the Dark Elf, from meteoric iron, Anglachel (Iron of the Flaming Star) was given by Eöl to Thingol, king of Doriath, as payment for letting him dwell in the forest of Nan Elmoth. The king gave the blade to Beleg, the leader of the Doriath marchwardens, to help him in his search for Túrin Turambar, who had been captured by Orcs. Unfortunately, as Thingol's queen, the Maia Melian, had remarked, the blade was imbued with its forger's malice, and indirectly caused Beleg's death when he tried to free Túrin from his bonds. Later Túrin reforged the sword, which had turned black as a sign of mourning for its master, and gave it the name Gurthang (Iron of Death). With it he killed the dragon Glaurung, and eventually himself.

The remaining three options are also famous swords: Glamdring and Orcrist are the Gondolin-forged swords owned respectively by Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield, while Andúril is Aragorn's sword, forged from the shards of Elendil's sword Narsil.

Answer: Aragorn

The Ring of Barahir was an ornate silver ring, representing two entwined serpents with emerald eyes beneath a crown of golden flowers. It was one of the oldest objects in Middle-earth, and symbolized the eternal bond of friendship between the Elves of Finrod's house and the Men of the House of Barahir.

When Barahir was killed by Orcs, his son Beren took the ring from his father's severed hand, and used it to prove his lineage to Thingol, father of his beloved Lúthien. The ring came to Dior, the only son of Beren and Lúthien, then to his daughter Elwing, wife of Eärendil and mother of Elros and Elrond.

Then it became an heirloom of the kings of Númenor, and was brought to Middle-earth by Elendil when the island was swallowed by the sea. It passed to the descendants of Elendil, the Kings of Arnor, and then to the Dúnedain of the North after the death of Arvedui, the last king of Arthedain.

The ring, kept safe in Rivendell, was eventually given by Elrond to Aragorn, who gave it to Arwen upon their betrothal (as narrated in Appendices A and B to "The Lord of the Rings").

Answer: Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

Before he disappeared from the Shire, Bilbo had prepared gifts for friends and family, as hobbits used to do. Some of them were meant to be ironic, as was the case of the set of silver spoons he had left to his cousin Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. As narrated in "The Hobbit", she and her husband Otho had tried to get her hands on Bag End when Bilbo was away on the quest for the Lonely Mountain. Although he returned just in time to stop his possessions from being sold at auction, he found that many of his silver spoons had disappeared.

While Gaffer Gamgee, Sam's father, was the recipient of several gifts from Bilbo, he was the gardener of Bag End, and not a member of his family. Both Peregrin (Pippin) Took and Fredegar (Fatty) Bolger were indeed related to Bilbo, albeit distantly.

Answer: a mithril mail-coat

Bilbo's mithril shirt had been given to him by Thorin as an advance on his payment for his role as a burglar in the quest for Erebor. In Rivendell he also gave Frodo his short sword, Sting, which, however, had been found in the trolls' hoard during the journey to the Lonely Mountain. Mithril, or truesilver, was a priceless, silver-coloured metal found only in the Mines of Moria. Though lightweight, it was stronger than steel, and never lost its bright sheen. Bilbo's mail-coat saved Frodo's life in Moria, when it deflected an orc's spear-thrust, and also during the Scouring of the Shire, when Gríma Wormtongue tried to stab him.

Answer: cloaks

Woven by the Lady Galadriel and her handmaidens, the Elven-cloaks were made of a silken, lightweight yet warm material whose colour changed with the light, and blended very effectively with the environment. Each of them had a hood, and fastened at the neck with a leaf-shaped brooch.

It was a rare honour for the Fellowship to be outfitted with clothing that was normally worn only by the Wood-Elves.

Answer: a strand of her hair

Though Galadriel had prepared parting gifts for the other members of the Fellowship, she had nothing ready for Gimli, so she asked him what kind of gift a Dwarf would ask of the Elves. The Dwarf asked for a lock of her golden hair, which he intended to set in crystal and keep forever as a heirloom of his house. Moved by Gimli's courteous words, the Lady complied gladly, and later in the book referred to him as "Lock-Bearer".

Answer: her place on the ship bound to the West

When she married Aragorn, Arwen Evenstar renounced the immortality of her Elvish kin, and became a mortal woman. Her gift allowed Frodo, just one year after the return of the hobbits to the Shire after the fall of Sauron, to board the ship bound to Valinor from the Grey Havens and leave Middle-earth, to be healed of his hurts before he died (as Tolkien made it clear in one of his letters).

Answer: Éowyn

The horn of the Mark was a small silver horn engraved with a spiral line of horsemen, as well as runes. Made by the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains, it came from the hoard of Scatha the Dragon, killed by Fram, one of the ancestors of the House of Eorl. Éowyn gave the horn to Merry in remembrance of Dernhelm, the alias under which she had ridden to Gondor taking the hobbit with him.

After Saruman and his henchmen were driven away from the Shire, every 2 November a festival was held in Buckland to commemorate those events.

Answer: Red Book of Westmarch

Named after its red leather cover, the Red Book of Westmarch contained Bilbo's account of the quest for Erebor, Frodo's account of the War of the Ring, and Bilbo's translations from the Elvish. When Sam left Middle-earth, he left the book to his daughter Elanor, who, together with her husband Fastred, brought it to Westmarch. The Thain's Book was the first copy made of the original, brought to Gondor by Peregrin Took, Frodo's cousin and companion, who became the 32nd Thain of the Shire.

The Book of Kings was the official roll of the kings of Gondor, while the Book of Mazarbul was the record of Balin's return to Moria, which was found by the Fellowship in the old Chamber of Records, near Balin's tomb.