The Revived Tolkien Trivia

[Boaz]

The namer of the elf-friend said someething like, "Hearken sky, hearken water, hearken stone. For taking it upon thyself,I formally confer the title of Elf-Friend upon thee until the end of the age."

 

[HareBrain]

I have a feeling I might be wrong because the above quote doesn't fit. But the character did gain elven admiration for stealing, and was unfriended by another group (though this was before the "elf-friend" bit).

I'm going with Bilbo, who was called thus by the Elvenking:

"And I name you elf-friend and blessed. May your shadow never grow less (or stealing would be too easy!)"
(The Hobbit chapter XVIII, The Return Journey)

(The person previously called "elf-friend" by the narrator was Elrond in chapter III.)

 

[Boaz]

@HareBrain The above quote was made up while away from home (without The Hobbit) and I was growing anxious about the lack of interest in this thread... and I was trying to put in another clue (hearken stone.... Arkenstone). May your online shadow never grow less (or gaining Elven Bells would be too easy!) Well done... your turn.

 

[farntfar]

@Boaz,

I'm sorry if you think it's personal, my seeming "lack of interest in your question", because it's not that.
My original thought on the subject was Elrond, who was called (rather than named) an elf-friend when they first passed through Rivendell on the way out, (The last homely house west of the mountains and east of the sea.), it seemed rather odd to call him thus, as he is half-elven, which I accept was too complicated for young readers perhaps.

But my main reason for not posting that was that I'm just too busy at the moment to find a new question anyway.

My other thought was that, chronologically, maybe Strider was named an Elf-friend before Bilbo, even if it was perhaps written about, I think, in the LOTR prologue, and so read after Bilbo's naming. Maybe even calling Elendil an elf-friend (or even someone else in Numenor) occurs in the prologue, and certainly in the Silmarillion. So chronologically beating everyone.

Anyway. I didn't want you to think that I was snubbing you. I probably won't be able to really contribute, other than silly comments like this, and jokes elsewhere, until September, now.

And well done HB.

 

[Pyan]

...I was growing anxious about the lack of interest in this thread...

Never worry about that, mate - the thread has been going for sixteen-odd years, and has had many, many, hiatuses (hiatus'? hiatii?) over that period. It's outlasted other single-author trivia quizzes, but has never had more than half-a-dozen regular players. There's no time-limit on replies, and no pressure to answer. It's as laid-back as a group of hobbits smoking pipe-weed after a supper of stewed mushrooms and three pints of 1420...

@farntfar: I probably won't be able to really contribute, other than silly comments like this, and jokes elsewhere, until September, now.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago...

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks Boaz

Apart from the Ring, what gold does Gollum like the look of?

 

[Pyan]

A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid,

—“Eggses!” he hissed. “Eggses it is!”

The Hobbit, ch 5, Riddles in the Dark

Bit of a long-shot...

 

[HareBrain]

Good try, Pyan, but alas, not it. The quote I'm after expresses appreciation for the gold in question.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Well, it's definitely not the Sun!

 

[Pyan]

Um. How about Gollum's report to Frodo and Sam outside the Morannon, as Sauron's troops from Harad arrive at the Black Gate?

More Men going to Mordor,' he said in a low voice. `Dark faces. We have not seen Men like these before, no, Smeagol has not. They are fierce. They have black eyes, and long black hair, and gold rings in their ears; yes, lots of beautiful gold. And some have red paint on their cheeks, and red cloaks; and their flags are red, and the tips of their spears; and they have round shields, yellow and black with big spikes.

TT, BkIV, Ch3, The Black Gate is Closed

 

[HareBrain]

That's it, Py! A golden bell to you.

 

[Pyan]

Hanta hantanyel, Óre-lapattë...

What's the significance of four hours, forty-six minutes and forty seconds? Quote please...

 

[Boaz]

Thanks guys.... I've moved and am now far from family and friends, I guess I'm projecting my feeling of isolation...

Four hours, forty-six minutes, and forty seconds.... Well, the disclaimer for Viagra was to call a physician for an erection lasting longer than four hours. (More of the main selling point than a disclaimer.) So, I'm guessing the answer has to do with an erection.... say of the the towers.... like Orthanc.

 

[HareBrain]

I don't think seconds would be used in Middle Earth, so I'm assuming this is from the biography? I seem to recall something about him completing an exam in record time. Could this be to do with that?

 

[Pyan]

Nope, it’s from one of the fiction books, not the Letters or a biography.

 

[HareBrain]

Aha. I then had a hunch it had to be to do with accounting for the leap-year or something, and "or something" it proved.

"In Numenor calculation started with S.A. 1. The Deficit caused by deducting 1 day from the last year of a century was not adjusted until the last year of a millennium, leaving a millennial deficit of 4 hours, 46 minutes, 40 seconds."
(ROTK, Appendix D.)

Now that's some thorough world-building!

 

[Pyan]

That's it, HB. I think you may be right about the non-use of seconds in Middle-earth - the shortest period of time I recall being used by a character is an hour, though I think I do recall minutes being used by the narrator. Gandalf uses clock-time, as he tells Bilbo he's overslept, and it's ten o'clock the day after the Unexpected Party, and there's (somewhat anachronistically) a clock on the Bag End mantlepiece. Gondor, oddly, is less advanced than the Shire in this regard: Denethor calls a meeting 'at the third hour', ie three hours from sunrise.

But to quote Kai Lung, "However entrancing it is to wander through a garden of bright images, are we not enticing your mind from another subject of almost equal importance?": it's your go, HB.

Edit: Forgot to add the award of an 8-tonne church bell, to toll the hours away...

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks.

What did Tolkien regard as a "low philological jest"?

 

[Pyan]

This is from the Letters: it's a reference to Smaug's name, from German Smugan, to crawl through a hole.

The dragon bears as name – a pseudonym – the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb Smugan, to squeeze through a hole: a low philological jest. The rest of the names are of the Ancient and Elvish World, and have not been modernised

Letters, 25 - 'To the editor of the 'Observer'

 

[HareBrain]

Well done! I wasn't even after a quote necessarily, as I thought it would be hard to find (though I thought someone would probably know it).