Wizard Trivia
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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
Merlin is the Latinised Merlinus built on Myrddin; the wild prophet Myrddin Wyllt, said to have gone mad after the Battle of Arfderydd, supplied much of the legendary figure.
Q 02Which 12th-century cleric introduced the familiar depiction of Merlin?
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote Merlin into Historia Regum Britanniae around 1136 and returned to him in the poem Vita Merlini around 1150.
Q 03In Historia Regum Britanniae, Merlin builds Stonehenge with stones brought from Mount Killaraus in which land?
Ireland
Merlin has the Giants' Ring carried from Mount Killaraus in Ireland and re-erected on Salisbury Plain as a memorial for Aurelius Ambrosius's slain nobles.
Q 04Merlin disguises Uther Pendragon to enter Tintagel and father Arthur with whose wife?
Igraine
Igraine, wife of Gorlois of Cornwall, is spelled Igerna in the Latin original; Merlin's disguise lets Uther enter Tintagel and conceive Arthur.
Q 05Around 1200, Robert de Boron expanded the Merlin story in an epic poem in which language?
Old French
Robert de Boron's Merlin was written in Old French verse; only a fragment survives, but its prose redaction fixed Merlin's link to the Holy Grail.
Q 06Because of his demonic father and human mother, Merlin is often classed as what kind of being?
A cambion
A cambion is the child of a demon and a human; Merlin, fathered by an incubus on a mortal woman in Robert de Boron's telling, is the archetypal example.
Q 07Merlin instructs Uther to found the Knights of the Round Table with how many handpicked members?
Fifty
Fifty: in Robert de Boron's Merlin the wizard has Uther seat fifty chosen knights at the Round Table, one place being left empty in imitation of the Grail table.
Q 08Tolkien took the name Gandalf from a catalogue of dwarves in which Old Norse poem?
Voluspa
Voluspa's Dvergatal, the 'Catalogue of Dwarves', lists Gandalf among the dwarves; the same list supplied Thorin, Fili, Kili and most other dwarf names in The Hobbit.
Q 09Before coming to Middle-earth, Gandalf was a Maia known in Valinor by what name?
Olorin
Olorin was Gandalf's name in Valinor; he belonged to the people of Manwe and was counted the wisest of the Maiar.
Q 10Gandalf's Sindarin name Mithrandir translates to what?
Grey Pilgrim
Grey Pilgrim is the meaning of Mithrandir, the Sindarin name used in Gondor; Theoden's men preferred the less friendly Stormcrow.
Q 11Which Gandalf actor based his performance on recordings of J. R. R. Tolkien himself?
Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen modelled Gandalf's voice on recordings of Tolkien reading his own work; the role earned him an Oscar nomination for The Fellowship of the Ring.
Q 12Which sword does Gandalf take from the trolls' hoard in The Hobbit?
Glamdring
Glamdring, the Foe-hammer, was forged in Gondolin in the First Age; Gandalf took it from the trolls' cave, where Thorin found its mate Orcrist.
Q 13Gandalf secretly bears which of the Three Elven Rings?
Narya
Narya, the Ring of Fire, was given to Gandalf by Cirdan at the Grey Havens; Nenya went to Galadriel and Vilya to Elrond.
Q 21Voldemort's wand is made from which wood?
Yew
Yew, a graveyard tree with toxic foliage, is the wood of Voldemort's wand; its core is a tail feather from the same bird as Harry's holly wand.
Q 22Through his mother's family, Voldemort is the last descendant of which Hogwarts founder?
Salazar Slytherin
Salazar Slytherin: the Gaunts, Voldemort's mother's family, were his last descendants and had sunk into poverty by the time Merope met the Muggle Tom Riddle.
Q 23Both Harry's and Voldemort's wands contain a tail feather from which creature?
A phoenix
A phoenix: both cores are tail feathers from Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to the Hogwarts headmaster, which is why the two wands lock in Priori Incantatem.
Q 14The name Saruman means what in the Mercian dialect of Anglo-Saxon?
Man of skill or cunning
Man of skill or cunning: Tolkien built Saruman from Old English searu, 'skill, cunning, device'; his Sindarin name Curunir carries the same sense.
Q 15Under what alias does Saruman secretly rule the Shire before the hobbits return?
Sharkey
Sharkey, from Orkish sharku ('old man'), was what Saruman's ruffians called him as he ran the Shire from Bag End behind the figurehead Lotho.
Q 16Who finally kills Saruman on Frodo's doorstep in The Return of the King?
Wormtongue
Wormtongue, Saruman's long-abused servant Grima, cut his master's throat at Bag End moments after Frodo had spared him; hobbit archers shot Grima down at once.
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
Mirkwood: Rhosgobel, 'brown village' in Sindarin, stood on its western eaves near the Carrock; Radagast's Quenya name Aiwendil means bird-friend.
Q 19Dumbledore's surname is borrowed from an old English dialect word for which creature?
Bumblebee
Dumbledore is an old English dialect word for bumblebee; Rowling said she pictured the headmaster humming to himself as he walked.
Q 20Who took over as Dumbledore after Richard Harris died in 2002?
Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon took over as Dumbledore from Prisoner of Azkaban onward; Richard Harris had played him in the first two films and died in October 2002.
Q 24In L. Frank Baum's books, the Wizard of Oz is a humbug conman originally from which American city?
Omaha
Omaha: the Wizard tells Dorothy he was born there and worked as a circus balloonist before a runaway balloon carried him to Oz.
Q 25In the 1900 novel, the Wizard appears to the Cowardly Lion in what form?
A ball of fire
A ball of fire: each visitor sees a different form; Dorothy gets the giant head, the Scarecrow a lovely lady and the Tin Woodman a terrible beast.
Q 26Baum said the name Oz came from what object in his home?
A filing cabinet
A filing cabinet: Baum said a drawer labelled O-Z gave him the name, a story his family repeated though scholars treat it with some suspicion.
Q 27Who played the Wizard in the 1939 MGM film, doubling as Professor Marvel and other roles?
Frank Morgan
Frank Morgan played the Wizard, Professor Marvel, the Emerald City doorman, the cabbie and the guard; Bolger, Lahr and Haley were the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man.
Q 28Who originated the role of the Wizard in Wicked on Broadway in 2003?
Joel Grey
Joel Grey, already famous as the Emcee in Cabaret, originated the Wizard when Wicked opened at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003.
Q 29Which actor plays the Wizard in the 2024 film adaptation of Wicked?
Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum plays the Wizard opposite Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande; the film earned ten Oscar nominations and won for costume and production design.
Q 30In The Tempest, Prospero is the usurped rightful duke of which city?
Milan
Milan: Prospero was its rightful duke until his brother Antonio, backed by the King of Naples, set him and the infant Miranda adrift in a rotten boat.