80 free Wizard trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
76 free Wizard trivia questions with answers. Wizards have been with us since Circe first waved a wand in the Odyssey, and this quiz follows them all the way from Arthurian legend to Marvel films and MMORPGs. Expect Merlin, Gandalf and Saruman, Dumbledore and Voldemort, Prospero, Ged of Earthsea, Rincewind, Elminster and Raistlin, plus the historical figures behind the myth: John Dee, Nicolas Flamel and Faust. It is built for fantasy readers, film fans and tabletop players who want questions that go beyond a single franchise. Every franchise gets a handful of questions at most, so a Tolkien expert and a Discworld regular each have something to win. Each answer was checked against a primary or encyclopaedic source before it went in, and every question carries the sentence that establishes it. Seventy-six questions, easy to expert, free to play.
30 of 80 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The name Merlin is a Latinised form of which legendary Welsh bard's name?
Myrddin
Geoffrey of Monmouth turned Myrddin into Merlinus, and the composite prophet-wizard he built was largely based on the wild seer Myrddin Wyllt.
Q 02Which 12th-century cleric introduced the familiar depiction of Merlin?
Geoffrey of Monmouth
He wrote Merlin into Historia Regum Britanniae around 1136 and returned to him in Vita Merlini in 1150.
Q 03In Historia Regum Britanniae, Merlin builds Stonehenge with stones brought from Mount Killaraus in which land?
Ireland
The monument is raised for Aurelius Ambrosius; the story predates the Arthur-centred Merlin most people know.
Q 04Merlin disguises Uther Pendragon to enter Tintagel and father Arthur with whose wife?
Igraine
The name is spelled Igerna in the Latin original; Tintagel on the Cornish coast has long traded on the legend.
Q 05Around 1200, Robert de Boron expanded the Merlin story in an epic poem in which language?
Old French
That poem is where much of the later Merlin material, including his role with the Holy Grail, was fixed.
Q 06Because of his demonic father and human mother, Merlin is often classed as what kind of being?
A cambion
The story of his infernal parentage was the first popular account of that motif in Western Christian literature.
Q 07Merlin instructs Uther to found the Knights of the Round Table with how many handpicked members?
Fifty
The chivalric order was quasi-religious in that telling, and Merlin himself chose every seat-holder.
Q 08Tolkien took the name Gandalf from a catalogue of dwarves in which Old Norse poem?
Voluspa
The Dvergatal list also supplied Thorin, Fili, Kili and most of the other dwarf names in The Hobbit.
Q 09Before coming to Middle-earth, Gandalf was a Maia known in Valinor by what name?
Olorin
He belonged to the people of the Vala Manwe and was thought the wisest of the Maiar.
Q 10Gandalf's Sindarin name Mithrandir translates to what?
Grey Pilgrim
The Gondorians called him that; the Rohirrim's Stormcrow was rather less friendly.
Q 11Which Gandalf actor based his performance on recordings of J. R. R. Tolkien himself?
Ian McKellen
The performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for The Fellowship of the Ring.
Q 12Which sword does Gandalf take from the trolls' hoard in The Hobbit?
Glamdring
It glows blue when orcs are near and was forged in Gondolin ages earlier.
Q 13Gandalf secretly bears which of the Three Elven Rings?
Narya
It is the Ring of Fire; the other two went to Galadriel and Elrond.
Q 14The name Saruman means what in the Mercian dialect of Anglo-Saxon?
Q 21Voldemort's wand is made from which wood, chosen for its poisonous sap and symbolism of death?
Yew
Harry's holly wand shares a core with it, which is why the two wands refuse to duel properly.
Q 22Through his mother's family, Voldemort is the last descendant of which Hogwarts founder?
Salazar Slytherin
The Gaunts had dwindled into poverty by the time Merope met a Muggle named Tom Riddle.
Q 23Both Harry's and Voldemort's wands contain a tail feather from which creature?
A phoenix
The bird in question is Fawkes, the pet of the Hogwarts headmaster.
Man of skill or cunning
His Elvish name Curunir carries the same idea; the skill curdled into industrial ambition at Isengard.
Q 15Under what alias does Saruman secretly rule the Shire before the hobbits return?
Sharkey
The Scouring of the Shire was cut entirely from the film trilogy.
Q 16Who finally kills Saruman on Frodo's doorstep in The Return of the King?
Wormtongue
Frodo had spared him moments earlier; his abused servant snapped and cut his throat.
Q 17Which actor played Saruman in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies?
Christopher Lee
He was the only cast member who had actually met Tolkien and reread the books every year.
Q 18Radagast the Brown lives at Rhosgobel on the western edge of which forest?
Mirkwood
Rhosgobel means 'brown village' in Sindarin, and Radagast's Quenya name Aiwendil means bird-friend.
Q 19Dumbledore's surname is borrowed from an old English dialect word for which creature?
Bumblebee
Rowling pictured him humming to himself as he walked, which suggested the name.
Q 20Who took over as Dumbledore after Richard Harris died in 2002?
Michael Gambon
Harris played the headmaster in the first two films; the recast held for the final six.
Q 24In L. Frank Baum's books, the Wizard of Oz is a humbug conman originally from which American city?
Omaha
His full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs.
Q 25In the 1900 novel, the Wizard appears to the Cowardly Lion in what form?
A ball of fire
Each traveller sees something different; Dorothy gets the giant head.
Q 26Baum said the name Oz came from what object in his home?
A filing cabinet
The drawer was labelled O-Z, or so the story goes; the book had sold three million copies by the time it entered the public domain in 1956.
Q 27Who played the Wizard in the 1939 MGM film, doubling as Professor Marvel and other roles?
Frank Morgan
The other three names belonged to the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man.
Q 28Who originated the role of the Wizard in Wicked on Broadway in 2003?
Joel Grey
He was already famous as the Emcee in Cabaret; the show passed one billion dollars in Broadway revenue in 2016.
Q 29Which actor plays the Wizard in the 2024 film adaptation of Wicked?
Jeff Goldblum
The film picked up ten Academy Award nominations and won for costume and production design.
Q 30In The Tempest, Prospero is the usurped rightful duke of which city?
Milan
His brother Antonio set him and his infant daughter adrift in a rotten boat.