Lord of the Rings
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This Lord of the Rings quiz has 184 free questions with answers and starts gently, with the Fellowship, the Shire and the One Ring, then climbs into genuinely hard LOTR trivia: the Elven Rings and who bears them, the only Ringwraith Tolkien ever names, Éowyn's alias, the two 'books' inside The Two Towers, the pirated 1965 American paperback, the Swedish translation that annoyed Tolkien into writing a naming guide, and the volcano he said looked most like Mount Doom. It draws on the novels, the appendices and the Peter Jackson films, so it suits book purists and movie fans alike, and it works as a ready-made round for a fantasy trivia night. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question shows its citation, so when the table argues about Glorfindel and Arwen you can settle it.
30 of 184 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which author penned the epic fantasy novel 'The Lord of the Rings'?
J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien's sequel grew far beyond The Hobbit, drawing on his philology and his experience of the First World War.
Q 02How does Frodo finally lose the One Ring at the Crack of Doom?
His finger is bitten off
His finger is bitten off: at the brink Frodo claims the Ring instead of destroying it, and his treacherous guide bites it from his hand, then topples into the fire still clutching it.
Q 03Which land of Sauron's holds Mount Doom, the volcano where the One Ring was forged?
Mordor
Mordor's Mount Doom, Orodruin in Sindarin, is where the Ring was forged and finally destroyed.
Q 04Which director helmed the critically acclaimed film trilogy adaptation of 'The Lord of the Rings'?
Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson directed all three films in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, earning widespread critical acclaim and numerous awards.
Q 05Which woodland Elven realm is ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn?
Lothlórien
Lothlórien's wood-elves are the Galadhrim; the power of Galadriel's ring keeps the forest rich and hard for evil to enter, and there Frodo and Sam look into her Mirror.
Q 06In The Lord of the Rings, what are the giant wolves that Orcs ride into battle called?
Wargs
Wargs are huge, cunning wolves; Peter Jackson's films make far more of them as cavalry mounts, sending Saruman's wolf-riders to ambush the people of Rohan on their retreat.
Q 07How many members were originally in the Fellowship of the Ring?
Nine
Nine was deliberate: the Nine Walkers were set against the nine Black Riders, a free company of Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits and a wizard opposed to Sauron's enslaved Ringwraiths.
Q 08In what year was the first volume of 'The Lord of the Rings' published?
1954
The first volume, 'The Fellowship of the Ring', was published on July 29, 1954, though Tolkien intended the work as a single volume.
Q 09What is the name of Aragorn's sword, which was reforged from the shards of Narsil?
Andúril
Andúril, 'Flame of the West', leaves Rivendell at Aragorn's side in the book; Peter Jackson's films hold it back until the third film, when it is brought to him in camp at Dunharrow.
Q 10Which race is Legolas Greenleaf a member of?
Elf
Legolas is an Elf of the Woodland Realm in northern Mirkwood, a Sindarin prince who came to Rivendell as a messenger from his father's court.
Q 11In The Lord of the Rings, which tree-like beings are called the shepherds of the trees?
Ents
The Ents march on Isengard, Tolkien reckoned, because Macbeth let him down as a schoolboy: its marching wood was only soldiers carrying branches, so he wrote trees that really go to war and tear down the walls.
Q 12What is the name of the giant spider that attacks Frodo and Sam near Mordor?
Shelob
Shelob, last child of Ungoliant, paralyses Frodo with her venom. Sam wounds her worse than anything ever had, then, believing Frodo dead, takes the Ring; her fate is never told.
Q 13Which Elven smith, manipulated by Sauron, forged the Rings of Power?
Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor forged the three Elven rings in secret, so Sauron never touched them; captured when Eregion fell, he died under torture without revealing where they were hidden.
Q 21Which birthday is Bilbo celebrating at the party that opens the story?
111th
111th, which hobbits call 'eleventy-one'; the party comes 60 years after the events of The Hobbit.
Q 22At which fortress does Rohan make its stand against Saruman's Uruk-hai?
Helm's Deep
Helm's Deep holds until dawn in both tellings, but Peter Jackson's film adds a company of Elven archers to its walls who never fight there in the book.
Q 23Whom does Aragorn summon to fulfil an oath sworn to Isildur?
The Army of the Dead
The Army of the Dead are oath-breakers cursed by Isildur; in the book they only rout the Corsairs at Pelargir, but Peter Jackson's film has them sweep the field before Minas Tirith too.
Q 14Barrels of which Shire crop turn up in the wreck of Isengard, hinting at Saruman's trade with the hobbits?
Pipe-weed
Pipe-weed is the hobbits' own tobacco, grown in the Southfarthing; the stray barrels betray dealings that end with Saruman's ruffians running the Shire by the time the travellers get home.
Q 15Which actor played Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy?
Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood won the part with an audition tape he filmed himself, dressed as Frodo and reading lines from the book, and he became the first actor Peter Jackson cast.
Q 16What job does Sam Gamgee do for Frodo before the quest begins?
Gardener
Sam is Frodo's gardener, as his father the Gaffer was Bilbo's; caught eavesdropping under the window while trimming the grass, he is sent on the journey as his 'punishment'.
Q 17Besides invisibility, what did the One Ring give Bilbo?
Long life
Long life: Bilbo looked unchanged for decades yet felt thin and stretched, and without the Ring the years caught up with him at last.
Q 18Which creature swears on the Ring to serve Frodo, then guides him and Sam toward Mordor?
Gollum
Gollum was born Sméagol, a river-hobbit; his family named him Gollum for the horrible swallowing noise he made in his throat, and he hid with the Ring deep under the Misty Mountains.
Q 19In which country was Peter Jackson's entire Lord of the Rings film trilogy shot?
New Zealand
New Zealand is Peter Jackson's home, and he shot all three films there at once; the Hobbiton set was kept on its Waikato farm afterwards and still draws visitors.
Q 20What is Bilbo's home in Hobbiton called?
Bag End
Bag End was the real name of the Worcestershire farm of Tolkien's aunt Jane Neave, and it doubles as plain English for the French 'cul-de-sac', literally 'bottom of the bag'.
Q 24Which two earlier films share the record of 11 Oscar wins with The Return of the King?
Ben-Hur and Titanic
Ben-Hur and Titanic each lost somewhere on the night, winning 11 from 12 and 14 nominations; The Return of the King is the only one of the three to win everything it was up for.
Q 25Who composed the score for all three of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films?
Howard Shore
Howard Shore recorded all three scores mainly with the London Philharmonic, then reworked them into a six-movement Lord of the Rings Symphony performed in concert halls around the world.
Q 26Which singer performed 'May It Be', the end-title song of The Fellowship of the Ring?
Enya
Enya sang 'May It Be' partly in Quenya: her lyricist Roma Ryan studied Tolkien's Elvish languages to write it, and Enya also sang the Sindarin love theme 'Aníron' in the same film.
Q 27Who sang 'Into the West', the closing song of The Return of the King, and shared its Oscar?
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, formerly of Eurythmics, shared the songwriting credit with Howard Shore and Fran Walsh, and the song won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Q 28Which actor gave the motion-capture performance behind the Ring's wretched former bearer, Sméagol?
Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis was hired for what was pitched as a few weeks of voice work; his audition so impressed Peter Jackson that he played the part on set, and animators built the creature on his movements.
Q 29Which actor, who had hoped to play Gandalf, was cast as Saruman instead?
Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee had dreamt of playing Gandalf for decades but was by then too old for the riding and fighting; he was also the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien.
Q 30Which actor trained for weeks as Aragorn, only to be replaced by Viggo Mortensen as filming began?
Stuart Townsend
Stuart Townsend was judged too young for the part after two months of training; Viggo Mortensen took over at short notice, urged on by his Tolkien-loving son, and was filming the Weathertop fight within days.