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Quiz: How Much Do You Know About The Lord of the Rings?

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What is the name of the primary antagonist in The Lord of the Rings?

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Sauron is the most iconic villain of Lord of the Rings. He is the master of Mordor, and leads the armies or orcs who plague Middle Earth.
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How many members of the Fellowship originally set-out from Rivendell?

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After the Council of the Ring, held at Rivendell, the Fellowship of the Ring sets out. It is made up of representatives for each of the free peoples of Middle Earth: 4 hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, 2 men, and a wizard. That makes a total of 9.
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Which actor played Gandalf in the movies?

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Sir Ian McKellen was praised for his portrayal of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, but most fans don’t know just how much of Middle Earth he took with him. Ian confessed that he actually stole Gandalf’s staff, and he proudly displays it at his pub, “The Grapes.”
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Who directed the most famous film adaption of the Lord of the Rings trilogy?

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The Lord of the Rings trilogy was directed by the Peter Jackson. Before filming, Jackson was a relatively unknown director in Hollywood, having helped make only a few small films. After the trilogy's incredible box-office success, though... Well let's just say his life has probably changed somewhat...
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How does Sam know Frodo?

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Description: Before their epic quest to destroy the One Ring, Frodo and Sam have a much... simpler relationship. Sam was Frodo's gardener at Bag End.
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How many Ringwraiths are there?

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The Ringwraiths, or Nazgûl, are the corrupted spirits of great Kings of Men who were turned dark by the power of the Ring. They answer only the call of Sauron. There are 9 Ringwraiths, one each for the 9 rings of power that Sauron gave them.
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True or False: Gandalf is rescued from the Tower of Orthanc by Sam and Frodo.

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False. Gandalf escapes Orthanc on the back of Gwaihir, the Lord of the Eagles.
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In which country was the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy filmed?

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Peter Jackson, the director of the trilogy is a New Zealander... so it should come as no surprise that he pushed to use the stunning landscape of his homeland as the backdrop for his epic fantasy series. And based on the incredible uptick in tourism that New Zealand received after the films were released... I'd say it worked out well.
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JRR Tolkien said he wrote out all three Lord of the Rings books using one strange technique. What was it?

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Tolkien typed all 1,200 pages of The Lord of the Rings with two fingers. Next time someone says you're not typing right, you know how to respond.
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Which of these LOTR villains was originally written as a kind figure, before Tolkien changed his mind?

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olkien originally wrote Gollum as a kind figure, who offers Bilbo the ring as a prize for solving his riddles (when they first meet in Gollum's lair in the Misty Mountains). Later when Tolkien began writing successive works, he realized the ring would have to be a more corrosive influence. That being the case, it would no longer make sense for Gollum to give his precious up so easily. So Tolkien re-wrote the chapter.
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Which of these bands once attempted to make their own big-screen adaption of the LOTR books?

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In the 1960’s, The Beatles wanted to make a Lord of the Rings movie adaptation directed by Stanley Kubrick but Tolkien rejected the idea. They had already cast the movie (Paul as Frodo, Ringo as Sam, and George as Gandalf and John as Gollum) when the final nail in the coffin came from Tolkien himself, who said he wasn’t a fan of the collaboration.
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Who was the only person involved with the LOTR movies who actually met JRR Tolkien?

Christopher Lee (Saruman) the only person involved with the Lord of the Rings films who had actually met Tolkien. He met him by chance at a bar in Oxford. Imagine how cool that conversation must have been.
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Which of the Lord of the Rings movies won an Academy Award for Best Picture?

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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the first and only fantasy film ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.
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Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, has said he based his performance on...

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Andy Serkis claims he based Gollum’s desperation on the withdrawal of heroin addicts.
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True or False: No CGI was used in the making of the LOTR movies.

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False! There is plenty of CGI in the movies— particularly in the battle scenes. Many of the effects were done practically though. To that end, around 10,000 prosthetic facial appliances, over 3,500 pairs of hobbit feet, 2,500 foam body suits, 1,200 suits of armor, 2,000 weapons and 10,000 arrows were made to film the Lord of The Rings trilogy.
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JRR Tolkien’s daughter said that she believes her father’s description of the Dead Marshes was based on...

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RR Tolkien’s daughter said that she believes her father’s description of the Dead Marshes, a treacherous bog littered with thousands of corpses, is actually a description of his experience in World War I.
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Which Lord of the Rings actor earned their part by creating a home-made costume and recording their audition tape while wearing it?

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Elijah Wood created his Lord of the Rings’ Frodo audition tape in the woods with a homemade Hobbit costume.
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Which set of movies had a higher budget: the original LOTR trilogy, or the Hobbit movies?

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The budget for the first two “The Hobbit” movies is almost twice the budget of the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
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Which of these actors turned down the role of Aragorn?

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Nicolas Cage passed on the role of Aragorn because of “family obligations.”
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True or False: Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood never filmed a scene together in person.

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"I never worked with Elijah Wood," McKellen confessed. "He was the main part in Lord of the Rings, but he's smaller than me, so we could never be together."
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Which of these LOTR actors performed their own stunts, and used a real steel sword for their fights scenes?

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Mortensen did his own stunts and used a real steel sword while filming, rather than one made from aluminum and rubber like the rest of the cast.
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How did sound technicians make the horrible screeches of the Nazgul?

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The horrific Nazgul screeches, which torment characters throughout the series, were made with a surprisingly simple technique: sound technicians just recorded the noises of cheap plastic cups being scraped together.
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Which member of the Fellowship was played by the tallest actor?

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At over six feet tall, John Rhys-Davies (who plays Gimli the dwarf) is the tallest actor in the fellowship.
About This Quiz
The Lord of the Rings is that rarest of things: a piece of fiction as fun as it is deep, and as moving as it is wildly entertaining. It's perhaps for that reason, beyond anything else, the series has had such monumental impact on the hearts of fans... as well as its outsized influence on fantasy fiction for the past 60-odd years. But Tolkien didn't just set out to tell a genre-defining story—as much as anything else, the author wanted to build a world. At that, he truly excelled. The LOTR series is littered with information that alludes to a story going back hundreds and hundreds of years. So the question is: how much do you know about Middle Earth? Time to find out...

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