Q 01/05

After The Hobbit's success, which Tolkien manuscript did Allen & Unwin reject while asking him for a sequel?

A) Leaf by Niggle

B) The Silmarillion

C) Smith of Wootton Major

D) On Fairy-Stories

Answer · why

B) The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion drafts were turned down and the firm asked again for a Hobbit sequel, so Tolkien began 'The New Hobbit', which grew into The Lord of ...

Q 02/05

Whose favourable report persuaded Allen & Unwin to publish The Hobbit?

A) The publisher's wife and secretary

B) The publisher's 10-year-old son

C) Tolkien's friend C.S. Lewis

D) The poet W.H. Auden

Answer · why

B) The publisher's 10-year-old son

The publisher's 10-year-old son, Rayner Unwin, later championed The Lord of the Rings, which the firm published despite expecting to lose £1,000.

Q 03/05

Where did Tolkien say he wrote 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit'?

A) On a pub napkin

B) On a blank exam page

C) On a train ticket

D) In his diary

Answer · why

B) On a blank exam page

On a blank exam page: marking School Certificate papers, Tolkien found one a candidate had left empty, and the line he scribbled there grew into a who...

Q 04/05

Which two dwarves in Thorin's company are his sister's sons and its youngest members?

A) Balin and Dwalin

B) Dori and Nori

C) Fili and Kili

D) Bifur and Bofur

Answer · why

C) Fili and Kili

Fili and Kili, as the youngest, had the sharpest eyes, so the company relied on them as lookouts.

Q 05/05

What role does Gandalf propose that Bilbo fill on the expedition?

A) Burglar

B) Cook

C) Scout

D) Map-reader

Answer · why

A) Burglar

Burglar: holding that job, Bilbo was the one the dwarves sent, reluctant, into the dragon's lair inside the mountain.