The Revived Tolkien Trivia

This might be what pyan is after...

The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter One, A Long Expected Party:
Actually in Hobbiton and Bywater every day of the year it was someone's birthday, so that every hobbit in those parts had a fair chance of at least one present at least once a week. But they never got tired of them.
On this occasion the prsents were unusually good.
 
!!

Found it (I think). I started a reread of LOTR last night, and just came across this:

After a few remarks about the weather and the agricultural prospects (which were no worse than usual), Farmer Maggot put down his mug and looked at them all in turn.

(Fellowship, ch4, A Short Cut to Mushrooms)

I actually read on past this point and got to the bottom of the page because I finally noticed my subconscious knocking and trying to alert me. I had become convinced that it was something to do with Sam and prospects for survival, probably from Book 4.
 
HareBrain said:
!!

Found it (I think). I started a reread of LOTR last night, and just came across this:

After a few remarks about the weather and the agricultural prospects (which were no worse than usual), Farmer Maggot put down his mug and looked at them all in turn.

(Fellowship, ch4, A Short Cut to Mushrooms)

I actually read on past this point and got to the bottom of the page because I finally noticed my subconscious knocking and trying to alert me. I had become convinced that it was something to do with Sam and prospects for survival, probably from Book 4.
Click to expand...

Well done indeed that unconscious!

I did actually take a look at those early chapters and did even read the section with Maggot, but my grasshopper mind was skipping along far too quickly and I missed it completely. Those prospects are embedded somewhat unassumingly: I'm impressed that your unconscious alerted you.

I only re-read the LOTR last year (after a long gap), but I can see I'm going to have to read it again before long, just to savour it
 
Yes, the Bunny is correct, and wins either a Maggotty bell :sick: or a mushroomy bell o_O, (his choice), and also gets to set the next poser...:)
 
Thanks Py

Urrgh, it's been a while since I set one of these, but ...

What length, to an eavesdropper, might seem to be measured in identical letters?
 
I don't think this is the answer, but it's as good as I'll find before going to sleep.

TLotR, Book One, Chapter Ten: Strider.

"Now, I was behind the hedge this evening on the Road west of Bree, when four hobbit came out of the Downlands. I need not repeat all they said to old Bombadil..."
"Well," said Strider, "with Sam's permission we will call that settled. Strider shall be your guide. We shall have a rough road tomorrow."
 
Sorry, Boaz. It has nothing to do with alliteration. And an actual measurement is involved. (Thought I'd give those clues now because it probably is quite hard.)
 
I think this is Sam and his measurement of the rope that they gave him in Lothlorien.

40 (?) ells, if I remember correctly.
I'm away from home for a few days and haven't got my books.

I was taught as a boy that an ell was the length from the tip of one hand, arm outstretched, to the opposite shoulder, which is rather variable depending on who's measuring it but you don't need any equipment to measure rope.

Most of the internet dictionaries seem to say it's the length between the elbow and the middle finger, and also equal to 45 inches. Talk about the long arm of the dictionary writer?!!!

I'd also assume a hobbit's ell was about half a man's ell for instance, or an elf's. but maybe they each use a different method.
 
I think I could tell you where to look. It's when he's guessing at how far down the cliff they have to climb in the Emyn Muil (spelling??) when they've just crossed the Anduin and are trying to get away from Gollum.

He wobbled on a bit, about having spoken to the elves about rope-making "being in the family,so to speak" or something, and about his uncle Andy. ( Or was that on the mountain before they went to Moria?)
 
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HareBrain said:
@pyan, how strict is the game now about having to provide an actual quote?
Click to expand...
As I recall, it's up to the question-setter. You don't have to specify a quote, but if you do, you don't accept an answer without one: contrariwise, if you don't specify one, you can't demand one from an answerer. It was originally put it to make it less easy to just Google an answer. That's also the reason why paraphrasing and more complicated questions are asked, because a question such as "Who said 'It is a lie of your own vile mind, to drive my wife witless and now me. You limping evil - would you dog us both to death?'"* is too easy to answer with a search engine.

* This is a genuine Tolkien quote from one of the permitted books, by the way. I could offer a bonus bell to whoever answers it, but won't, for obvious reasons... :)
 
pyan said:
As I recall, it's up to the question-setter. You don't have to specify a quote, but if you do, you don't accept an answer without one: contrariwise, if you don't specify one, you can't demand one from an answerer.
Click to expand...

Ah -- the first post seems to say that if you don't specify, then a quote is needed, but you can specify you don't need one. Should the wording be changed?
 
Yeah, the first thought process I went through was aa, bb, cc, etc... then double A's, double B's, double C's, double D's... and I thought there's no way Tolkien would have Sam measuring Rosie's bosom...

On a positive note, I did discover that Strider was also an eavesdopper.
 
Thank you HB. And thank you Py, for the explanations.
Well I'm still without any books, so...

Which one of a well known group of four is rarely consulted in Gondor.
I'd like a quote please, or at least an explanation of how we know.
 
Aargh, I know (I think) what the group of four is, and which one is meant, but even if I'm right, I can't for the life of me recall who spoke of it or where.
 
It was spoken by one of another group of four, and pretty soon after it became relevant to mention it.
 
Oh ... I can only think of one group of four, and I very much doubt it's one of them. (Plus I would have read it the other day.)

More pondering ahead.
 
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