Eldest
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50 free Eldest trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Eldest is the second book of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, and it is where the story splits in three. Eragon and Saphira leave the dwarves to finish their training among the elves, his cousin Roran turns a quiet farming community into a band of fugitives, and Nasuada learns to lead a rebel army that is running out of money. This quiz follows all three threads, from the ambush that opens the novel to the revelations on its final pages. Expect questions on characters, settings, creatures and magic, plus a few on how the book was published and what the critics made of it. It suits readers who have just finished the novel, students preparing for a reading quiz such as Accelerated Reader, and long-time fans who want to see how much of Alagaësia they still remember. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which former companion of Eragon is unmasked as the enemy Dragon Rider at the climax of Eldest?
Murtagh
Murtagh was thought dead after an ambush, but he had been carried off to Galbatorix, where a red dragon hatched for him and both were forced to swear loyalty.
Q 02Which luxury fabric does Nasuada have her magicians make cheaply to fund the Varden in Eldest?
Lace
Lace made by magic sold so cheaply that a king's own weavers lost their customers. The idea came to Nasuada after spilled acid ruined the trim on her dress.
Q 03What is the name of the red dragon pictured on the cover of Christopher Paolini's Eldest?
Thorn
Thorn hatches for a captured young Rider and is magically grown to a great size, yet he still has the mind of a child.
Q 04Which everyday tool becomes Roran's signature weapon when soldiers attack his village in Eldest?
A hammer
A hammer serves Roran so well against the Empire's soldiers that the Varden later know him as Stronghammer.
Q 05Which child, cursed by Eragon's botched blessing, saves Nasuada from an assassin in Eldest?
Elva
Elva grows from a baby into a seeming four-year-old within weeks, driven by a spell that makes her sense other people's pain and rush to shield them.
Q 06Which aged elf, the last free Dragon Rider of the old order, trains Eragon in Eldest?
Oromis
Oromis has hidden among the elves for a century, crippled by a Forsworn spell that leaves him able to control only the smallest magic.
Q 07Which horned race, once tricked into serving Galbatorix, joins the Varden late in Eldest?
Urgals
Urgals come seeking revenge on the king: a Shade's enchantments had bound them to his service, and the Shade's death in the previous book set them free.
Q 08Which herbalist poisons thousands of Empire soldiers on the eve of the final battle in Eldest?
Angela
Angela brewed the poison with a king's laboratory equipment, a tactic Nasuada approved because the Varden were so badly outnumbered.
Q 09When Eldest came out, Christopher Paolini's dragon saga was still planned as what kind of series?
A trilogy
A trilogy was the plan until 2007, when Paolini announced that the story had grown too complex to finish in just three books.
Q 10Which leader of the Varden is ambushed and killed in the opening pages of Eldest?
Ajihad
Ajihad dies only three days after the Varden's great victory over the Empire, and command passes to his daughter Nasuada.
Q 11Which dwarf king adopts Eragon into his own clan in Eldest, then dies in the book's final battle?
Hrothgar
Hrothgar takes his name from a legendary Danish king who appears in the Old English epic Beowulf.
Q 12Which dwarf becomes Eragon's foster brother and travels with him to the elves in Eldest?
Orik
Orik was reluctant to go, partly because the journey delayed his spring wedding. In the next book he is elected king of the dwarves.
Q 13Which elven capital, hidden deep in a northern forest, is where Eragon trains as a Rider in Eldest?
Ellesméra
Ellesméra borrows its name from Ellesmere Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. In the story, the elves sing living trees into the shape of its houses.
Q 21Which sword, once carried by Brom, does the enemy Rider take from Eragon at the end of Eldest?
Zar'roc
Zar'roc is claimed by the victor as his rightful inheritance, which leaves Eragon without a Rider's blade until he makes his own in the next book.
Q 22At the end of Eldest, which dead Forsworn Rider is Eragon told was his father?
Morzan
Morzan was the first of the thirteen Riders who betrayed their order, but the next book reveals that Eragon's real father was Brom.
Q 23On which battlefield beside the Jiet River do the Varden face Galbatorix's army late in Eldest?
The Burning Plains
The Burning Plains see Roran's villagers and a dwarf army arrive in mid-battle, turning a losing fight into a victory for the Varden.
Q 14Which vast northern realm of Alagaësia do Eragon and Saphira enter to reach the elves in Eldest?
Du Weldenvarden
Du Weldenvarden is sealed by magic: nobody can enter the forest by arcane means, and no spell can carry a message in from outside.
Q 15To which southern land does Nasuada move the Varden in Eldest so they can oppose the Empire openly?
Surda
Surda is the one human country Galbatorix does not rule, and its kings had armed and supplied the Varden in secret for generations.
Q 16Which butcher's daughter does Roran plan to marry before the Ra'zac carry her off in Eldest?
Katrina
Katrina is seized soon after a quarrel between her father and Roran cost her both her inheritance and her dowry.
Q 17Which village butcher betrays Roran's neighbours to the Ra'zac in Eldest to protect his daughter?
Sloan
Sloan murdered a fellow villager to let the creatures in, and they repaid him by carrying him off, then blinding and torturing him.
Q 18Which northern village does Roran persuade to leave home and flee over the mountains in Eldest?
Carvahall
Carvahall's people cross the mountains on foot, then travel south by barge and stolen ship to join the Varden.
Q 19Which golden dragon tutors Saphira in Eldest and grows annoyed by her constant flirting?
Glaedr
Glaedr has spent more than a century in hiding with his Rider, and a portrait of him became the cover of the series' third book.
Q 20Which treacherous magicians, presumed dead early in Eldest, are killed by Roran in the last battle?
The Twins
The Twins had worked for Galbatorix all along, and the raiders in the ambush that opens the book were under their command.
Q 24Which elven festival, held only once a century, transforms Eragon's body in Eldest?
The Blood-Oath Celebration
The Blood-Oath Celebration ends with a spectral dragon that heals Eragon's old wounds and gives him the speed and strength of an elf.
Q 25Which part of Eragon's body, scarred by the Shade Durza, brings on crippling seizures in Eldest?
His back
His back was wounded in the duel that ended the first book, and the nerve damage leaves it unclear how Eragon could ever defeat Galbatorix.
Q 26Which third book of Paolini's series follows Eldest and was previewed in its deluxe edition?
Brisingr
Brisingr takes its title from the Alagaësian word for fire, part of an invented vocabulary that Paolini modelled partly on Old Norse.
Q 27Eldest reveals that Eragon's blessing of a baby became a curse through a slip in which tongue?
The ancient language
The ancient language word for shielded is a single letter longer than the word for shield, so the child must shield others from harm instead of being protected.
Q 28Which merchant and old friend of Brom helps Roran's villagers steal a ship in Eldest?
Jeod
Jeod had once helped Brom steal Saphira's egg from the king, and in return for his plan he asks only for passage south.
Q 29In which port city does Roran find the merchant who helps his villagers seize a ship in Eldest?
Teirm
Teirm's docks lie outside the city wall, so the villagers could walk straight aboard, and they escaped by setting the wharf ablaze behind them.
Q 30Which elf queen is revealed in Eldest to be the estranged mother of Arya?
Islanzadí
Islanzadí had been estranged from her daughter for roughly seventy years, ever since Arya took the dangerous post of ambassador to the Varden.