These question rounds, of 8-10 questions each, are all on the content of Tolkien's posthumously published works about Arda. It includes a range of rounds, which vary quite a bit in their precise focus - the titles they were originally given have been kept next to them to give a more exact idea of their content. Most are from past Varsity quizzes and are thus arranged by the year they were asked.
This section contains 11 rounds with a total of 92 questions.
2015 (First & Second Ages)
1. What is the name of Fingolfin’s horse that he rides to his fateful duel with Morgoth?
2. Linguistically speaking, what does Celeborn’s name mean?
3. What are the names of the Three Houses of the Edain?
4. How old was Bëor the Old when he died?
5. What is the literal translation of Galadriel’s name?
6. What was carved on the stone on Túrin’s grave-mound by his long-suffering friends?
7. Where did Men first awaken (and then probably wish they’d never bothered)?
8. Where did the Valar first dwell in Arda?
9. What is the name of Thingol’s sword?
10. Who was the father of Haleth?
2014 (First & Second Ages)
1. Exactly how Elven were Elrond and Elros, the Half-Elven?
2. Which mountain does Túrin tell Beleg to look for him on, in one of his more prophetic moments?
3. What were the names of the two walled cities of the Falathrim on the western coast of Beleriand, that fell the year after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad?
4. Which specific branch of the Noldor were responsible for the forging of the Rings of Power, and, therefore, for the entire mess of the later Second and Third Ages?
5. Which king of Númenor repented of the ways of the Kings, took his name in Quenya, and unsuccessfully tried to reconcile the Númenoreans with the Elves and the Valar?
6. Who was the 3rd Ruling Queen of Númenor?
7. In what year was the Nírnaeth Arnoediad?
8. What are the names of the sons of Mîm?
9. How long was the Second Age?
10. What phonetic shift is the Shibboleth of Feanor centred on?
2013 (First Age)
1. Huan was permitted to speak with words only three times. What did he say on the third?
2. Who guides the vessel of the Sun?
3. What was the name of the Lamp placed in the south of Arda?
4. Who says the line: “Remember the Fen of Serech”?
5. Who was the first of the exiled Elves to visit Menegroth?
6. How old was Eärendil at the time of the fall of Gondolin?
7. Where was Durin originally laid to sleep?
8. Complete the proverb: “Malice that wakes in the morning”
2013 (Second and Third Ages)
1. Who killed Azog?
2. Who said: “I perceive that you love this Middle-earth, as do I.”?
3. In the second age, where did the high road from the west-gate of Moria lead?
4. In what year did Eorl become King of Rohan?
5. In what year was the Battle of Azanulbizar?
6. What did Sauron tell Ar Pharazôn that the Lord of Darkness would make as gifts to those who serve him?
7. Who planned to move the capital of Gondor to Pelargir?
8. What did Nimrodel tell Amroth that he must do before she would marry him?
2011 (The Elder Days)
1. Who is called Tintallë?
2. Who was the first wife of Finwë?
3. What is the title of the fourth chapter of the Quenta Silmarillion?
4. What did Ulmo give to Tuor?
5. Which river reached the sea at Eglarest?
6. Which mountain stood above Vinyamar?
7. Who was “the tallest of all the Children of Ilúvatar”?
8. After Melkor destroyed the two trees, what was the first light that returned to Valinor?
2011 (The Second and Third Ages)
1. Which king of Numenor took the title “Tar-Minyatur”?
2. After the Downfall of Numenor, where in Middle-earth did Elendil land?
3. Who was the last king of Gondor (before Aragorn)?
4. When Gil-Galad wrote to king Meneldur asking for his help, what did the king do?
5. In what year did Thrór die?
6. In what year did the Dwarves of Moria first wake the Balrog?
7. In what year did the Great Plague first appear?
8. Who was the rider of the last hope?
2010 (First Age)
1. Who said: All else is dark to me; yet it may be that our three paths lead back to Doriath, and we may meet before the end. ?
2. What line comes next? Then Celegorm no more would stay ...
3. What was the name of Fingolfin's horse?
4. What is the name of Fingolfin’s mother?
5. Where did the Green-elves dwell?
6. What was the second battle in the Wars of Beleriand called?
7. According to the published Silmarillion, who are Idril’s two cousins?
8. According to the published Silmarillion, who or what was Galathilion?
2010 (Second to Fourth Ages)
1. Two prophecies of Malbeth the Seer are described in the Lord of the Rings. One is about Aragorn and the paths of the dead. What is the other about?
2. Why did Castamir lead a rebellion in Gondor?
3. In Númenor, Gondor, and Arnor, what was mettarë?
4. In Númenor, what was the Eruhantalë?
5. Which poem do we know to have been written in the Fourth Age?
6. Who would "stalk like a snow-troll into the camps of his enemies"?
7. What was the year of the Great Plague?
8. Around when were the Three Rings completed?
2009 (Posthumous Works)
1. What, in order, are the three gestures that Ilúvatar is described as making during the music of the Ainur?
2. Going by the published Silmarillion, how many grandchildren did Finwë have?
3. Which two Elven princes made their realm on the northern slopes of Dorthonion, and died in the Battle of Sudden Flame?
4. Who are said to lie imprisoned in the Caves of the Forgotten, until the Last Battle and the Day of Doom?
5. “Give me my sword!” shouted the King, finding his voice but forgetting his plural. What is the reply?
6. What was Túrin’s gift to Sador Labadal?
7. In the Lay of Leithian, Beren and Felagund disguise themselves as orcs. What names do they give when Sauron (Thû) challenges them?
8. In Tolkien’s incomplete sequel to The Lord of the Rings, what name is being whispered as that of a new lord of evil?
2007 (Posthumous Works)
1. A silver lamp is always burning at the top of which tower?
2. What is made from Yavanna’s special grain?
3. What was the name of Turgon’s sword?
4. Who brought Túrin and his companions to Amon Rûdh?
5. What were the names of the two lamps made by the Valar to illumine the world?
6. What is the name of the ship King Vëantur gave to his grandson?
7. Who was the most famous smith of Nogrod?
8. Which haven was illuminated by a ring of golden lamps?
2005 (Posthumous Works)
1. Write seven names of Túrin (not including Túrin).
2. At what time of day or night did Eärendil slay Ancalagon the Black?
3. According to the published Silmarillion: when Glaurung first showed himself, who drove him back into Angband?
4. Who said “But hold me blameless in this, and in all that may come after.”, and to whom?
5. Under what name does JRR Tolkien appear in the Notion Club Papers?
6. What was the relation of Túrin to Brandir the Lame, within both the Second and the Third Houses of the Edain?
7. What happened on the day of the feast of the Gates of Summer?
8. What and where was Aeluin?