The Revived Tolkien Trivia

[Hugh]

Now that I'm awake, I need to clarify vegetarian as this can be interpreted in different ways. I mean vegetarian in the broad sense of no meat at all.

 

[farntfar]

Well I would like to suggest at Beorn's house, although what they ate for supper is not specified, and the breakfast Gandalf eats includes both cream and butter, which would be excluded from many vegetarians' (who would nevertheless say they weren't vegans) breakfasts. However, you defined it as no meat at all.

 

[Hugh]

And you get the Bell sculpted from honeycomb.

"He lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses which are nearly as marvellous as himself. They work for him and talk to him. He does not eat them; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees, and lives most on cream and honey."

Actually I posted the question too quickly before heading for bed. I was looking through the Robert Foster Complete Guide to Middle Earth for something that was relatively straightforward, and it said that the Beornings did not eat meat, but I did not look up the references, to check the truth of this. As I'd read The Hobbit just a few weeks previously, I thought this was the case for Beorn. The next morning I checked the Hobbit and found that Beorn lived mainly on cream and honey: while this is very much within my definition of vegetarian as it does not involve meat, it does not have the usual connotations of vegetables, nuts, berries etc. It's further complicated by Beorn's wariness of visitors, so you can't be truly certain of getting any food at all. Apologies if this was a tad marginal for some.

 

[farntfar]

Thank you Hugh.

So where might small men do the greater deeds?

(Quotation please.)

 

[hopewrites]

missed a page nvm

 

[farntfar]

..... small men do the greater deeds ......

That this might occur was suggested by one character in one of the books to another character in the same book. (surprisingly)
Since there are enough such occurences in all of the books, I think I can add that he, she or it suggested it to the other character during their 1st conversation together.

 

[Hugh]

..... small men do the greater deeds ......

That this might occur was suggested by one character in one of the books to another character in the same book. (surprisingly)
Since there are enough such occurences in all of the books, I think I can add that he, she or it suggested it to the other character during their 1st conversation together.

page 761 of my edition
Beregond laughed. "At the table small men may do the greater deeds, we say."

The context is Pippin's interest in when he'd eat properly, as he'd only had "a cup of white wine and a white cake or two" while being interrogated by Denethor.

I went through all the possibilities that I could think of in the LOTR when you first posed the question, as I was fairly certain it was said by a man to a hobbit, but I couldn't find the relevant quote. I then got distracted and forgot about it all. Your posting reminded me that the question was still unresolved, and the clue that it was their first conversation made it much quicker. I'd forgotten about Beregond first time round, even though I've only recently read the LOTR.

 

[Boaz]

Nice one, Hugh. I'd been thinking it was Theoden to Merry...

 

[Hugh]

Nice one, Hugh. I'd been thinking it was Theoden to Merry...

Yes, I'd thought Theoden - Merry was the likely answer

 

[farntfar]

Quite right, Hugh. Well done.

A dinner bell for you, and please ask the next question.

 

[Hugh]

Many thanks indeed for the dinner bell.

So, speaking of dinner...

Who gives who man's flesh to eat ?

(quotation please).

 

[Boaz]

Why do I not keep a copy of the trilogy at work?

 

[Pyan]

Saruman gives it to the Orcs of Isengard.

"We are the fighting Uruk-hai! We slew the great warrior. We took the prisoners. We are the servants of Saruman the Wise, The White Hand: The Hand that gives us man's-flesh to eat. We came out of Isengard, and led you here, and we shall lead you back by the way we choose."
LotR: TT: Chapter 3, "The Uruk-hai".

 

[Hugh]

Saruman gives it to the Orcs of Isengard.

"We are the fighting Uruk-hai! We slew the great warrior. We took the prisoners. We are the servants of Saruman the Wise, The White Hand: The Hand that gives us man's-flesh to eat. We came out of Isengard, and led you here, and we shall lead you back by the way we choose."
LotR: TT: Chapter 3, "The Uruk-hai".

Well done. A Valimar bell is yours.

 

[Pyan]

Thank you.

How would a Dwarf light his pipe-weed? Quote, please.

 

[Hugh]

Urggh. Not in the immediately obvious (to me) places.

 

[Hugh]

Thank you.

How would a Dwarf light his pipe-weed? Quote, please.

Flint and tinder!

Flotsam and Jetsam: "They all fell silent for a while. Gimli refilled his pipe. "There is one thing I wonder about," he said as he lit it with his flint and tinder: "Wormtongue. ...."

My instinct was that the relevant passage was the meeting of Legolas / Gimli with Merry / Pippin in the ruins of Isengard. I was sure it must be there, but I only looked at the point where Merry and Pippin produce the pipeweed and pipes. This quote which I found when I started looking seriously again is several pages further on.

 

[Pyan]

That's it, Hugh. You win a Dwarf-crafted bell from Erebor!

Over to you...

 

[Hugh]

Many thanks indeed.

So...

What kind of care could perhaps cause you to walk on all fours like a beast?

 

[Hugh]

Care could also be defined as a skill or a craft.