Wednesday, September 23, 2015

"Lord of the Rings" Food Quiz and a Gift for You


Tolkien talks about eating and drinking a lot, but he doesn't often describe what's being consumed.  But I found ten times in The Lord of the Rings where he did describe food or drink.  (I'm leaving out The Hobbit so this doesn't get too complicated.)  

Your job is to figure out who was eating or drinking what he described and leave a comment with your guesses.  I've told you in parentheses how many named characters are eating or drinking in the scene.  You get 1 point for each correct character name and 1 bonus point if you can name which of the three books it is in.  Possible high score of 46!  

I'll post the answers and scores on Monday.  And be sure to read all the way to the end for a free gift from one of our giveaway sponsors!


1.  The food was mostly in the form of very thin cakes, made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside, and inside was the colour of cream.  (1)

2.  ...there was bread, surpassing the savour of a fair white loaf to one who is starving; and fruits sweet as wildberries and richer than the tended fruits of gardens; he drained a cup that was filled with a fragrant draught, cool as a clear fountain, golden as a summer afternoon. (4)

3.  "...this is first-rate salted pork.  Or I can cut you some rashers of bacon and broil them, if you like.  I am sorry there is no green stuff:  the deliveries have been rather interrupted in the last few days!  I cannot offer you anything to follow but butter and honey for your bread." (5)

4.  There was hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese... (4)

5.  ...to drink pale yellow wine, cool and fragrant, and eat bread and butter, and salted meats, and dried fruits, and good red cheese, with clean hands and clean knives and plates. (3)

6.  There was beer in plenty, and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon... (5)

7.  The drink was like water... and yet there was some scent or savour in it which they could not describe:  it was faint, but it reminded them of the smell of a distant wood borne from afar by a cool breeze at night. (3)

8.  They got there bread, and butter, and cheese and apples:  the last of the winter store, wrinkled but sound and sweet; and a leather flagon of new-drawn ale, and wooden platters and cups. (2)

9.  The drink in their drinking-bowls seemed to be clear cold water, yet it went to their hearts like wine and set free their voices. (6)

10.  Then men came bearing a chair and a low stool, and one brought a salver with a silver flagon and cups, and white cakes. (3)


(Yes, this is a hard game.  Tomorrow's will be really easy, though!)


Now for that gift I mentioned.  It's from Sarah Rees, who runs the wonderful Etsy shop The Ring and the Lion and has donated a prize to this party every year.  This year she is also giving away PDF copies of Recipes from the Shire, a collection of recipes she has adapted or created to reflect food you would eat if you were a hobbit.  Click here for the downloadable PDF, which she is giving to this party's participants for free!  Thank you so much, Sarah -- you are an awesome Tolkien fan and lovely friend!

16 comments:

  1. I have no idea about most of these, but I will give it a shot. For most of these, I can only really see the hobbits eating the food, haha.

    1 Bilbo - Fellowship of the Ring
    2 Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo - Fellowship of the Ring
    3 Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo - Fellowship of the Ring
    4 Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf - Return of the King
    5 Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas - Two Towers
    6 Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Bilbo - Fellowship of the Ring
    7 Merry, Pippin, Treebeard - Two Towers
    8 Frodo, Sam - Fellowship of the Ring
    9 Legolas, Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Gimli, Gandalf - Fellowship of the Ring
    10 Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas - Two Towers

    Fun game, albeit incredibly hard to answer!

    -James

    ReplyDelete
  2. #1. Gimli and I think...The Fellowship of the Ring.
    #2 Pippen, and I don't remember what book.
    #3 Merry?
    #4 No idea
    #5 Faramir
    #6 No idea
    #7 Merry and Pippen.
    #8 The Return of the King
    #9 The Fellowship of the Ring - Tom Bombadil?
    #10 Return of the King - Pippen

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cool! A quiz! I really like quiz's about my favorite topics, like Tolkien and food:)

    1.Pippin eating elven waybread from "The Two Towers"
    2. Frodo and the elves in "The Fellowship of the Ring"
    3.Merry,Pippin,Gimli,Legolas and Eomer eating in Isengard in "The Two Towers"
    4.Sam,Frodo,Merry and Pippin from "The Fellowship of the Ring."
    5.Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas in Theoden's hall. "The Two Towers."
    6.Aragorn and the four hobbits. "The Fellowship of the Ring."
    7.Pippin, Merry and Treebeard in "The Two Towers."
    8.Pippin and the guardsman's son in Minas Tirith. "The Return of the King."
    9.wish I could scrounge up some of that water. No idea who is drinking it.
    10.Denathor, Pippin and Faramir in "The Return of the King."

    What a fun quiz! I look forward to Monday when I can see how I did.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are we supposed to guess in the comments? (Also, thank you for your comment over at The Book Hound!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup! I've enabled "comment moderation" so all guesses will be hidden until after I publish the answers.

      Delete
  5. 2. Merry, Frodo, Samwise, and Pippin. FotR
    7. Treebeard, Merry, and Pippin. TTT
    8. Pippin and the guardsman from Minas Tirith (whose name escapes me). RotK
    10. Pippin, Gandalf, and Lord Denethor. RotK

    ReplyDelete
  6. 1) Gimli. FOTR
    2) I know this has something to do with elves. I'm not sure about the people, but it's probably from LOTR
    3) Merry, Pippin,Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli. TTT
    4)
    5) I'm going to guess that this is during TTT, and it's Frodo, Sam, and Gollum
    6)FOTR. Merry, Pippin, Fatty Bolger (or Farmer Maggot), Sam, Frodo
    7) TTT. Treebeard, Merry and Pippin
    8) Merry and Pippin. TTT
    9) FOTR. Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo
    10)ROTK. Gandalf, Denethor and Pippin.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 1. Gimli, Lothlorien, Fellowship of the Ring
    2. Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Gildor, The Shire, Fellowship of the Ring
    3. Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Merry and Pippin, Isengard, The Two Towers
    4. Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, The Inn of the Prancing Pony, Fellowship of the Ring
    5. Frodo, Sam and Faramir, Henneth Annun, The Two Towers
    6. Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Farmer Maggot, Mrs. Maggot (and the rest of the people there), The Shire, Fellowship of the Ring
    7. Merry, Pippin and Treebeard, Wellinghall, The Two Towers
    8. Pippin and Beregond, Minas Tirith, Return of the King
    9. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, The Old Forest, Fellowship of the Ring
    10. Gandalf, Pippin and Denethor, Minas Tirith, Return of the King

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1. Gimli FOTR
    2. Merry Pippin Frodo Sam FOTR
    3. Legolas Gimli Aragon Merry Pippin TTT
    4. Merry Pippin Frodo Sam FOTR
    5. Frodo Sam Aragorn ROTK
    6. Merry Pippin Frodo Sam Fatty FOTR
    7. Treebeard Merry Pippin TTT
    8. Beregond Pippin ROTK
    9. Goldberry Tom Merry Pippin Sam Frodo FOTR
    10. Denethor Pippin Gandalf ROTK

    ReplyDelete
  9. 1. Gimli (The Fellowship of the Ring)
    2. Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Gildor Inglorian (The Fellowship of the Ring)
    3. Pippin, Merry, Gimli, Aragorn, Legolas (The Two Towers)
    4. Ok, I'm pretty stumped on this one; my best guess would be Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry (The Fellowship of the Ring)
    5. Frodo, Sam, Faramir (The Return of the King)
    6. Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Mr. and Mrs. Maggot (The Fellowship of the Ring)
    7. Pippin, Merry, Treebeard (The Two Towers)
    8. Pippin, Beregond (The Return of the King)
    9. Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, Tom Bombadil, Goldberry (The Fellowship of the Ring)
    10. Pippin, Gandalf, Denethor (The Return of the King)

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1. Gimli, in Fellowship; 2. Sam, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, in Fellowship; 3. Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, in Two Towers; 4. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, in Fellowship; 5. Frodo, Sam, Faramir, in Two Towers; 6. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Farmer Maggot, in Fellowship; 7. Merry, Pippin, Treebeard, in Two Towers; 8. Pippin and uh, some guy, in Return of the King; 9. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Tom Bombadil, and Goldberry, in Fellowship; 10. Denethor, Pippin, Gandalf, in Return of the King

    ReplyDelete
  11. Aaaaaaaaand I got nuthin'. Oh, well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! Honestly, if I hadn't made this quiz myself, I'd probably get 4 or 5 of these.

      Delete
  12. Oh, this is hard!
    1. Cram
    3. Butterbur offering food to the Hobbits at the Prancing Pony.
    5. The Hobbits eating in Rivendell
    6. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin at Farmer Maggot's
    7 The fellowship drinking what Gandalf carried in a flagon in the Mines of Moria
    8. Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn, at Edoras?
    9. Frodo and Sam in Ithilien?

    ~Jacqueline

    ReplyDelete
  13. Okay, I don't think I recognize any of these, but this post is making me hungry! :) Downloaded the PDF and a big THANK YOU to Sarah!

    ReplyDelete

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