Tolkien Gallery #1: Gandalf Trivia Quiz

Answer: Olorin

Olorin was a Maia, one of the lesser Ainur who followed and served the Valar. We do not know who gave him the name Olorin, or what it means. Since the name is an Elvish one, we can speculate that it derives from the Quenya root "Olos", meaning "dream".

In "The Silmarilion", we are informed that Olorin was the wisest of his order and that he often walked among the Elves assuming forms similar to theirs. Morinehtar and Romestamo were alternative names for the Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, who journeyed to the East of Middle-earth and are absent from the tales. Aiwendil was the real name of Radagast the Brown.

Answer: Manwe

Olorin was a servant of Manwe and his wife, Varda. During his time at Valinor he often dwelled in the gardens of the Vala Irmo, also known as Lorien. He often went to the house of Nienna and from her he learned pity and patience, which helped him in his tasks. One of the reasons he cared for the Shire during his mission as one of the Istari was the fact that it reminded him of the gardens of Irmo.

Answer: He was afraid of Sauron.

He told Manwe that he was afraid of Sauron, but his master replied that this was one more reason for him to go. He did as he was bidden, but he was the last of the five Istari to arrive in Middle-earth.

Answer: Narya

Narya previously belonged to Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor. At some point before his stand against Sauron and death at the slopes of Orodruin (which happened at the 3441th and last year of the Second Age), Gil-galad entrusted Narya to Cirdan.
Nenya was wielded by Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien, while Vilya belonged to Elrond the Half-Elven, Lord of Imladris.

Answer: Mithrandir

Mithrandir means "Grey Pilgrim" in the Sindarin language. It is known that, at the opening phase of his stay in Middle-earth, he walked among the elves as a stranger and exchanged knowledge and lore with them.
Curunir was what the Elves called Saruman. It means "Man of Skill".
Alatar and Pallando were the names of the Blue Wizards.

Answer: The Necromancer

Initially the Wise suspected that the Necromancer was either a human sorcerer who studied the Dark Arts or one of the Nazgul. Gandalf went into Dol Guldur in the year 2063 of the Third Age and the Necromancer fled before him.
"The Shadow of the East" was the epithet of Khamul, the Second Chief of the Nazgul.
"The Lord of Gifts" was a name Sauron had fashioned for himself during the Second Age, when he had tried to corrupt the Elves via the forging of the Great Rings.
"The Undead" is a category of beings, such as the Nazgul and the Barrow-wights.

Answer: Galadriel

Gandalf had Galadriel's support, but Saruman came to be the leader. Although Saruman was initially more knowledgeable, at least in matters pertaining to the Great Rings, and more powerful than Gandalf, he later grew jealous of him and this was one of the reasons for his betrayal.

Answer: He saw it as essential in order to protect the North.

Gandalf saw that Sauron's only obstacle against domination in the North and revival of the evil kingdom of Angmar were the Dwarves of the Iron Hills and that, in the abandoned Dwarvish realm of Erebor now stood the fearful dragon Smaug, whom Sauron could use in order to achieve the end he desired.

He saw in Thorin Oakenshield's quest to reoccupy Erebor his chance to eliminate the potential threat of Smaug.

Answer: Turgon, the King of Gondolin.

Turgon was the second son of the High King Fingolfin and lived during the First Age. Turgon was the King of Gondolin, a hidden Elvish stronghold feared even by the Dark Lord Morgoth. Its end came after Turgon's nephew, Maeglin, betrayed the location of the realm to Morgoth under fear of torment and because of unrequited love.
Gandalf found the sword in a troll hoard alongside Orcrist, which was given to Thorin Oakenshield and the knife which became known as Sting and was wielded by Bilbo and later Frodo Baggins.

Answer: Radagast

It is stated that Radagast the Brown was enamored by the flora and fauna of Middle-earth and thus he strayed from his mission and played little to no role in the downfall of the Lord of the Rings. It is not known what happened to him after the War of the Ring and whether he journeyed back to the Undying Lands.