Riddle-game: Difference between revisions

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==History==
==History==
[[File:Ted Nasmith - The Riddle Game colour sketch.jpg|thumb|''The Riddle Game'' by [[Ted Nasmith]]]]The origins of the game are not known, save that it was very ancient and its rules were respected as sacred.<ref group="note">Foster interprets this by saying that the rules "were held among the guardianship of the [[Valar]]"</ref>
[[File:Ted Nasmith - The Riddle Game colour sketch.jpg|thumb|''The Riddle Game'' by [[Ted Nasmith]]]]The origins of the game are not known, save that it was very ancient and its rules were agreed b the [[Valar|Authorities]]<ref>{{webcite|articleurl=http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/09/28/are-there-any-christian-themes-in-the-hobbit/|articlename =Are There Any Christian Themes in The Hobbit?|website=
Middle-earth and J.R.R. Tolkien News & Articles
|author=[[Michael Martinez]]}}</ref> and respected as sacred.<ref group="note">Foster interprets this by saying that the rules "were held among the guardianship of the [[Valar]]"</ref>


{{Blockquote|What has roots as nobody sees,<br/>Is taller than trees,<br/>Up, up it goes,<br/>And yet never grows?<ref group="note">"Mountain" is the answer.</ref>|[[Gollum]]<ref name="HRiddles"/>}}
{{Blockquote|What has roots as nobody sees,<br/>Is taller than trees,<br/>Up, up it goes,<br/>And yet never grows?<ref group="note">"Mountain" is the answer.</ref>|[[Gollum]]<ref name="HRiddles"/>}}

Revision as of 02:11, 24 November 2012

Riddle-game was an ancient game of the Hobbits, used as a means of settling disputes.[note 1] The players continued to ask each other riddles until one failed to provide a correct answer.

History

The Riddle Game by Ted Nasmith

The origins of the game are not known, save that it was very ancient and its rules were agreed b the Authorities[1] and respected as sacred.[note 2]

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?[note 3]
Gollum[2]

The most famous riddle-game was the one in which Bilbo Baggins and Gollum competed. If Gollum failed to answer a riddle, he would show Bilbo out of the Misty Mountains. However, if Bilbo lost, Gollum would eat him. The two exchanged several riddles, and Gollum's knowledge of the answers suggested to Gandalf years later that he had possibly been a hobbit once. At last, strapped for riddles to ask the loathsome creature, Bilbo, touching the ring he had found in the tunnels, asked "What have I got in my pocket?". Gollum failed to answer correctly, despite being given three guesses. Reneging on his promise, Gollum plotted to use his "Precious" to murder and eat Bilbo, but when he found it missing, he too late guessed the right answer to Bilbo's "riddle".[2]

Notes

  1. Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth says that the game was used throughout Middle-earth, although the narrative is not clear on that matter.
  2. Foster interprets this by saying that the rules "were held among the guardianship of the Valar"
  3. "Mountain" is the answer.

References

  1. Michael Martinez, "Are There Any Christian Themes in The Hobbit?", Middle-earth and J.R.R. Tolkien News & Articles (accessed 29 March 2024)
  2. 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "Riddles in the Dark"