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Tolkien JRR Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
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J.R.R. Tolkien Trivia

J.R.R. Tolkien Trivia Quizzes

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5 J.R.R. Tolkien quizzes and 50 J.R.R. Tolkien trivia questions.
1.
  The Life of JRR Tolkien    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
JRR Tolkien is generally known only for being the author "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit". However he led a fascinating life, and was recently voted one of the "100 greatest Britons".
Average, 10 Qns, bobalmighty, Apr 04 14
Average
bobalmighty
769 plays
2.
  J. R. R. Tolkien's Life and Works   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is about JRR Tolkien's life and works. However, we will not be visiting Middle Earth (or at least, we won't dwell there). Middle English, on the other hand, may be spoken.
Average, 10 Qns, ertrum, Nov 22 14
Average
ertrum gold member
845 plays
3.
  Test Your JRR Tolkien IQ    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
So, you think you're a JRR Tolkien buff? Try the quiz to see if you know the basics of one of the greatest authors of our time, JRR Tolkien!
Average, 10 Qns, junepearl, Dec 07 15
Average
junepearl
1757 plays
4.
  Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Mae govannen! This is my first quiz ever written, so feedback is appreciated. It concerns Tolkien's biography - just for starters... Try to enjoy!
Tough, 10 Qns, Dijkstra, Apr 13 14
Tough
Dijkstra
659 plays
5.
  J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is quite a difficult quiz about the magnificent author, J.R.R. Tolkien's, life.
Difficult, 10 Qns, Oliphaunt, Apr 24 03
Difficult
Oliphaunt
592 plays
trivia question Quick Question
When Mabel passed away, a Catholic priest took great care of the boys. What was his name?

From Quiz "Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1"





J.R.R. Tolkien Trivia Questions
1. Who or what was Tom Bombadil before Tolkien used his name in "The Fellowship of the Ring"?

From Quiz J. R. R. Tolkien's Life and Works

Answer: A doll

Tom Bombadil was a Dutch doll with a feather in its cap. He was owned by Tolkien's second son, Michael. Tolkien's poem, "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" was published in 1934, three years before "The Hobbit" was published.

2. Can you tell me where the first historical information about Tolkien's family comes?

From Quiz Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1

Answer: Germany

Yes, the Tolkiens come actually from Germany. In the 18th century they arrived in England, probably with the Hanoverian dynasty. The name "Tolkien" can be translated into English as "Foolhardy" - it was said to be a nickname of one of the knights of the Holy Roman Empire that stuck to his house.

3. Where was JRR Tolkien born?

From Quiz Test Your JRR Tolkien IQ

Answer: Bloemfontein, South Africa

Tolkien was born there because his mother and father moved there a few months before he was born. Tolkien's father was a banker, and the promotional opportunities were too good to pass up.

4. When was Tolkien born?

From Quiz J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....

Answer: January 3, 1892

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, of British parents.

5. How many siblings did he have?

From Quiz The Life of JRR Tolkien

Answer: One brother, Hilary

Tolkien, Hilary and their mother Mabel left South Africa without his father Arthur, he planned to follow later. Unfortunately he died of a brain hemorrhage before he could do so, and Mabel never re-married.

6. What was the first name of JRRT's father?

From Quiz Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1

Answer: Arthur

That was Arthur Reuel Tolkien to be precise. The middle name "Reuel" was traditional in the family for the oldest son. Poor Arthur died too soon in South Africa...

7. What was Tolkien's wife's name?

From Quiz Test Your JRR Tolkien IQ

Answer: Edith

Priscilla is the name of Tolkien's daughter.

8. When did Tolkien go to England?

From Quiz J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....

Answer: 1895

He went to England the same year his father died in South Africa.

9. What does JRR stand for?

From Quiz The Life of JRR Tolkien

Answer: John Ronald Reuel

His family and early friends called him Ronald.

10. Tolkien graduated from which university?

From Quiz J. R. R. Tolkien's Life and Works

Answer: Oxford

He attended Exeter College, and graduated in 1915.

11. When did his father die?

From Quiz J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....

Answer: 1895

His father was named Arthur Tolkien.

12. What did Tolkien study in college?

From Quiz J. R. R. Tolkien's Life and Works

Answer: Linguistics

Tolkien studied philology, as it was called then. Languages were crucial to his writings. He invented the languages of Middle Earth before writing any of "The Lord of the Rings".

13. Mabel Tolkien, mother of JRRT, finally succumbed to what disease?

From Quiz Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1

Answer: diabetes

Meanwhile, she converted to Catholicism and the family ceased to help her. There were hard times for poor Mabel and the boys...

14. What disease caused the death of Tolkien's mother?

From Quiz Test Your JRR Tolkien IQ

Answer: Diabetes

Before she died, Tolkien's mother converted to the Catholic church, and JRR and Hilary were taken care of by their priest for a period of their childhood.

15. When did John Ronald begin his first term at Oxford?

From Quiz J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....

Answer: 1908

16. Where was Tolkien educated?

From Quiz The Life of JRR Tolkien

Answer: King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Oxford

He seems to have enjoyed school, and formed a group of extremely close friends, who founded their own secret society the TCBS (Tea Club and Barrovian Society).

17. What was Tolkien's first job after the First World War?

From Quiz J. R. R. Tolkien's Life and Works

Answer: Working on the Oxford English Dictionary

He went on to teach at the University of Leeds, then joined Oxford in 1926.

18. When Mabel passed away, a Catholic priest took great care of the boys. What was his name?

From Quiz Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1

Answer: Father Francis Morgan

He did much good for them. He also was a great pipe-smoker, being thus a model for Gandalf and the hobbits (at this point, of course.)

19. When did Tolkien marry Edith Bratt?

From Quiz J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....

Answer: 1916

The same year he went to war in France.

20. In 1911 Tolkien met his future wife. What was her name?

From Quiz The Life of JRR Tolkien

Answer: Edith Bratt

She was 3 years older than him, and his guardian Father Morgan refused to permit him to marry, or even see her until he was 21. He waited until his 21st birthday, and proposed to her, she accepted and they married in 1916.

21. "Bagme Bloma", a poem written by JRRT, uses a language that is now extinct for many centuries. Which one?

From Quiz Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1

Answer: Gothic

JRRT spoke so many forgotten languages... And of course he knew Old English too! AFAIK he even spoke Polish (or some Polish I'd rather guess.)

22. What was the name of Tolkien's closest friend and fellow writer?

From Quiz Test Your JRR Tolkien IQ

Answer: C.S. Lewis

Tolkien and Lewis were part of a group that got together every Tuesday morning to drink beer and go over some of their works together.

23. When was Tolkien's first son, John, born?

From Quiz J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....

Answer: 1917

24. In 1915 Tolkien completed his degree (first class in English) and joined the army. In what regiment did he enlist?

From Quiz The Life of JRR Tolkien

Answer: 11th Battalion Lancashire Fuisiliers

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served in the Battle of the Somme. Most of his friends died during the war, and many of the horrific experiances must have influenced his later work. Fortunately he developed trench fever in October 1916 and had to be shipped home to recover.

25. Who did Tolkien base the character of Fangorn on?

From Quiz J. R. R. Tolkien's Life and Works

Answer: C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis was one of Tolkien's best friends. Tolkien based the Ent, Fangorn (Treebeard) on Lewis, just as Lewis based Elwin Ransom on Tolkien.

26. Which work of JRRT was published posthumously and edited by Christopher Tolkien?

From Quiz Many Questions on Tolkien - Part 1

Answer: Silmarillion

JRRT was working on "Silmarillion" almost his entire life; from WWI to the 70's. When he passed away, it still wasn't quite finished! Christopher had then to make a good deal of work to shape it finally.

27. Tolkien taught at what university?

From Quiz Test Your JRR Tolkien IQ

Answer: Oxford

Tolkien also studied there, and the way Tolkien came up with the idea for the Hobbit was that he was marking some exams when he came across a blank one, and for no particular reason, wrote down the famous line: 'In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.'

28. When were his sons, Michael and Cristopher, born?

From Quiz J.R.R. Tolkien - When.....

Answer: 1920/1924

His fourth child, Priscilla, was born in 1929.

29. Where was Tolkien's first teaching job after the war?

From Quiz The Life of JRR Tolkien

Answer: Leeds University

He became Reader in English language at Leeds in 1920. He later became professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. (In the English universities a "reader" ranks immediately below a full professor). For a brief period before going to Leeds he worked on the "Oxford English Dictionary".

30. What medieval romance did Tolkien translate twice, first in 1925 and second published posthumously in 1975?

From Quiz J. R. R. Tolkien's Life and Works

Answer: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The posthumous publication of "Sir Gawain" was entirely Tolkien's work, while the earlier publication was the result of a collaboration with E. V. Gordon.

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