Oh-oh, it’s Gandalf again!

Here’s the first of three quizzes covering J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. It’s a book that teaches two main life lessons. First, when traveling, always stay with the Elves if at all possible. Second, and even more important, do not answer the door if it’s Gandalf. Avoid his company altogether.

Everyone’s talking Tolkien

The life story of linguist and author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the subject of our new quiz, has recently been adapted for the screen as the movie Tolkien. We haven’t seen the movie yet, but we are happy to assume without evidence that our quiz paints a picture of the man that is paradoxically far more vivid and visceral than any mere celluloid representation could hope to achieve. We begin with Tolkien’s grandfather, who pursued a business beginning with ‘B’.

Welcome to the
Antiquity Trivia Quiz

Start the quiz Start the ‘quick’ version

Just about every idea that matters in Western civilization can be traced back to some nascent form in the antique lands of Greece, Rome and the Middle East. In this quiz we get to know some of the people and peoples of the ancient world, human beings very like ourselves — but with a couple of millennia less of history upon their heads.

Antiquity quiz frontispiece: Frieze of a Pompeii household shrine