Literary Talking Animals Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tobermory

Tobermory is a talking cat from a story of the same name by Saki; a cat of outstanding superior intellect, he was taught to speak English by Mr. Cornelius Appin. The other answer choices are language-using mice. Matthias is a warrior monk and a mouse of Redwall, in a world of language-using animals invented by Brian Jacques. Reepicheep is a warrior and a mouse of Narnia (where many animals talk) in the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C. S. Lewis. Stuart Little is a talking mouse eponymously invented by E. B. White.

Answer: cat mice

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) [I accept "womble" as a correct answer for Tobermory's species, because I am told there is a series of children's books with this made-up species in it, with a "Tobermory" among them.] Other language-using mice I can come up with include Frankie and Benji from the "Hitchhiker's Guide" series by Douglas Adams (the mice who originally commissioned the construction of Earth) and the various Frisbys in the "NIMH" books by Robert C. O'Brien. I am surprised not to remember more. Before I started racking my brains, I would have guessed it would be easy to people a talking-mouse convention. I just keep getting stuck on Loony Tunes and Hanna Barbara characters. Are there other literary talking mice, other than the other mice of Redwall, and Reepicheep of Narnia?

Answer: Zephir

Zephir is a monkey in the "Babar" books by Jean de Brunhoff. The other answer choices are all talking horses. Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah (Bree for short) is a horse of Narnia (where all animals talk) in the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C. S. Lewis. Clover is a horse in George Orwell's "Animal Farm;" Clover resists the growing tyranny of the new order, and it is Clover who observes at the end that the pigs can no longer be distinguished from humans. Xanthos, of course, is Achilles' horse in "The Iliad".

In "Iliad XIX", being given voice by Hera, Xanthos turns his head and speaks to his master, informing him that he will soon be numbered among the dead.

Answer: monkey horses

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Again, with the restriction that the talking horse must be literary, I find equus locquacius to be scarcer on the grounds of memory than I would have guessed. I vaguely recall a talking demon horse in a fantasy novel that I read more than twenty years ago, but I am not sure that horse had a name.

There may be more of them in mythology than I am able to call to mind at time of writing; I'd be interested if anyone else can come up with more - bear in mind, I know about the other horses from the "Chronicles of Narnia" and "Animal Farm" already.

Answer: Cornelius

Cornelius was a chimpanzee scientist, and fiancé to Zira, in Pierre Boulle's classic "Planet of the Apes." The other answer choices are all language-using foxes. Reynard is the name of many foxes, and indeed the name is often used to refer to any fox in general. Most notably, and first, Reynard was the vulpine trickster hero of the medieval Beast Epics. Lord Russell is the "Fox of Good Sense" of "The Book of the Dun Cow" by Walter Wangerin, Jr; a fox of the same name is also a key player in Chaucer's Nun's Priest's tale.

The Tod is a language-using fox encountered by Snitter and Rowf in Richard Adams' "The Plague Dogs."

Answer: chimpanzee foxes

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Almost all foxes are named Reynard. This tradition began with the Medieval Beast Epics, where the trickster hero is given the name Reginhard/Reynard, meaning "absolutely hard," or pitiless. The Beast Epics and their somehow loveable vulpine anti-hero gained such currency in the middle ages that the Middle French word for fox, goupil, fell into disuse, and was replaced by the word renard. Lord Russell, meaning red, is a close second in popularity. "Tod" is an Old English and Middle English word meaning fox, still surviving in some English regional dialects. Foxes are also sometimes traditionally given the name Lawrence, but I do not know why.

Other language-using foxes include Slinkey the Narnian fox (who sides against Aslan in C. S. Lewis' "Last Battle"), Slagar the Cruel, a fox (among others) appearing in "Mattimeo" and "Redwall" by Brian Jacques, and Tags, a language-using fox in Rudyard Kipling's "Thy Servant a Dog." Asian myth abounds with fox deities and fox spirits, as well. Fox spirits are particularly important in Shinto lore, where kitsune are shape-shifting vulpine tricksters with a complex society existing in parallel to human society.

In Japanese, a sunshower is referred to as Kitsune no Yomeiri, the wedding of the kitsune; this bit of folklore is illustrated in Akira Kurosawa's film "Dreams." The Japanese tell stories of Kuzunoha, a vixen who became a human woman to marry a human man who saved her life; later when her human son saw her animal form, she returned to the forest permanently. Tamamo no Mae was likewise a fox spirit who assumed human form, in this case to interfere with Imperial politics.

Answer: Keharr

Keharr is a language-using seagull in Richard Adams' "Watership Down". The other answer choices are all language-using wolves. Isegrim ("iron helm") is Reynard's lupine enemy in the medieval Beast Epics. Raksha is Mowgli's den-mother in Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Books". Fenris is the lupine son of Loki and Angerboda who will slay Odin at the Ragnarok and in turn be slain by Vidar Odinsson; Fenris is also a cognomen taken by Maugrim the Narnian wolf who is the head of the White Queen's secret police in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C. S. Lewis. (Yes, Virginia, the Norse Fenris can talk.)

Answer: seagull wolves

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Other literary language-using wolves I have come up with include Simple Joe Malarkey from Walt Kelly's "Pogo" strip and innumerable werewolves. Can anyone remember any other "true" wolves given voices in books?

Answer: Baloo

Baloo is a language-using bear, a mentor and friend of Mowgli in Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Books. The other answer choices are all language-using mustelids. John Wesley is a weasel in "The Book of the Dun Cow" by Walter Wangerin, Jr. Mudge is a talking otter in Alan Dean Foster's "Spellsinger" books. Trufflehunter is a Talking Badger in C. S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia".

Answer: bear weasel

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Baloo is a honey bear, also known as a sloth bear. The other three animals are all mustelids, or members of the weasel family. The largest subfamily of the mustelids is also the weasel subfamily, the mustelinae, which includes weasels, stoats, polecats, minks, martens, fishers, and wolverines.

The various otters are all members of the lutrinae subfamily, and most badgers are members of the mellinae subfamily (although the ratel, considered by some to be a badger, is the sole member of the mellivorinae subfamily). Skunks are also mustelids, belonging to the mephetinae subfamily.

Answer: Thorondor

Thorondor is the King of the Eagles of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth books (see esp. "Silmarillion"). The other answer choices are all language-using rabbits. Silvio is the eponymous hero of The Rabbit Prince by A. A. Milne. Hazel is the leader of the rabbits of Watership Down in Richard Adams' book of that same name. Mopsy Bunny is a language-using rabbit invented by Beatrix Potter.

Answer: eagle rabbits

Two words separated by a comma and a space; first word singular, second word plural; all lowercase
(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Other talking rabbits include, of course, Woundwort, Fiver, Bigwig, and all the others from Richard Adams' "Watership Down;" Camillo, the Talking Hare of Narnia who helps Prince Caspian save his country in the book of that same name by C. S. Lewis; and Kyward (or Cuward), the hare in the medieval Beast Epics.

Answer: Tibert

Tibert is the cat in the medieval Beast Epics. The other answer choices are all language-using elephants. Babar is the eponymous hero of Jean de Brunhoff's classic children's books. Hathi is a friend of Mowgli in Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Books". Horton is another eponymous hero, this time of Dr. Seuss' classic children's books.

Answer: cat elephants

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Other literary language-using elephants arguably include Tantor, from Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan" novels, but there aren't too many others out there, to my knowledge. Am I wrong?

Answer: Napoleon

Napoleon is the porcine stand-in for Josef Stalin in George Orwell's "Animal Farm." The other answer choices are all language-using birds. Billina is a talking hen who gains the gift of speech when she arrives in the land of Oz in the books by L. Frank Baum. Hugi is one of Odin's two ravens, who spy out information for their master and then report it back to him; his name means "Thought." (Odin's other raven is called Muni, or "Memory.") Polynesia is the parrot in Hugh Lofting's "Doctor Doolittle" books; it is she who teaches the good doctor the languages of the animals.

Answer: pig birds

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Nursery rhymes and fairy tales are another good source for talking chickens, including Chicken Little and Henny-Penny. Other talking chickens include Beryl, the spokeshen of the hens in "The Book of the Dun Cow," by Walter Wangerin, Jr. Chauntecleer is the standard literary name for a rooster or cock, and has been since the medieval Beast Epics; indeed, Chanticleer is the name of the hero of "The Book of the Dun Cow."

Answer: Behemoth

Behemoth is the huge, talking, black cat in "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov. The other answer choices are all sentient rodents. Algernon is the eponymous, intelligence-enhanced mouse hero of Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon." Cluny the Scourge is the rat villain of Brian Jacques' "Redwall." Ebenezer is the evil rat in "The Book of the Dun Cow" by Walter Wangerin, Jr.

Answer: cat

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Other literary language-using rodents include the various rats of "NIMH" in the books by Robert C. O'Brien.

Answer: Charlotte

Charlotte is a language-using spider in E. B. White's "Charlotte's Web." The other answer choices are all language-using insects. Old Green is the talking grasshopper in Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach." Scarce is the name of all mosquitoes in "The Book of the Dun Cow" by Walter Wangerin, Jr; Tick-Tock is a black ant in the same book.

Answer: spider insects

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Spiders, of course, are not insects, but rather arachnids. Both arachnids and insects are arthropods (that is, they have exoskeletons and jointed legs) but there the resemblance ends. Arachnids, which include scorpions, ticks, and mites, as well as spiders, have eight legs, no antennae, and two main body parts (a cephalothorax and an abdomen).

Insects, by contrast, have six legs, antennae, and three main body parts (head, thorax, abdomen). Now, I was able to remember a whole host of talking insects from myth and literature - King Solomon talks to ants, Melampus understands the language of insects, there is a talking butterfly in Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn" - but almost never are the insects given names! Can anyone remember any additional literary talking insects with names?

Answer: Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is the hedgehog heroine of the book bearing her name by Beatrix Potter. The other answer choices are all language-using bears of one kind or another. Bruin is the standard name for a bear, and has been ever since the ursine character Bruin (named for his brown coat) in the medieval Beast Epics. Paddington Bear is an ursine children's book hero invented by Michael Bond; Winnie-the-Pooh is another, invented by A. A. Milne.

Answer: hedgehog bears

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Other literary language-using bears include the Narnian Bulgy Bears (C. S. Lewis), Philip Pullman's Iorek Byrnison (from the "His Dark Materials" trilogy) and Michael Moorcock's ursine princes, as well as Baloo from Kipling's "Jungle Books", who has already been mentioned here.

Answer: Barrister

Barrister is an augmented shark who links his mind with a human named Minsky to create a new mind and entity, called Saturn, which tries to take over the world in Larry Niven and Steven Barnes' "Saturn's Race." The other answer choices are all talking dolphins. Blu'ip is the dolphin criminal mastermind of "Dr. Who: Storm Harvest" by Robert Perry and Mike Tucker, featuring the seventh doctor of that distinguished name. Creideiki is the dolphin captain of the Streaker, a small starship in David Brin's "Startide Rising." Howard is a scuba-using talking dolphin who assists Hagbard Celine in Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's "Illuminatus!" Trilogy.

Answer: shark dolphins

(See explanation for the question immediately above.) Interestingly (to me), although mythology is full of hints that dolphins may be as intelligent or nearly as intelligent as humans, and classical literature is full of references to intelligent behavior by dolphins, I find that you need to go to the late twentieth century before you start seeing references to talking dolphins. Real phenomenon or artifact of my ignorance? Your feedback welcome!

Answer: Aslan

See the "Chronicles of Narnia", by C. S. Lewis.