B2MeM Day 25: Tolkien Literacy Test
Mar. 25th, 2011 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_branwynIn honor of "Tolkien Reading Day," I present the
[Poll #1722599]
Unfortunately, I didn't number the questions, and LJ won't let me revise the quiz.
How many times have you read "The Lord of the Rings"?
Never read it. That dungeons and dragons stuff is for geeks. -1
I started but didn't finish it. It was like a Russian novel--too long and too many characters had similar names. 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
I reread it once a year 5
And did you read the Appendices?
No, they looked about as interesting as a car maintenance manual. -1
I tried but couldn't finish them. 0
Yes 1
That was my favorite part of the book! 2
My edition doesn't include the appendices 0
How many times have you read "The Hobbit"?
Never -1
I started but didn't finish it. Bilbo is such a fussbudget. 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
Have you read "The Silmarillion"?
No, I can't even pronounce it -1
I started reading it, but it was so depressing/confusing/dull I didn't finish. 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
Have you read "The Children of Hurin"?
Never -1
I started reading it, but it was so depressing/confusing/dull that I didn't finish 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
Only because a friend loaned me the book 1
Tolkien wrote several fictional works that were not related to his legendarium. Which of the following have you read--
Mr. Bliss 1
The Father Christmas Letters 1
Roverandum 1
Farmer Giles of Ham 1
Smith of Wootton Major 1
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun 1
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son 1
Extra geek points if you have read any of the following academic works--
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (either the original essay or Michael Drout's expanded edition based on Tolkien's papers) 2
On Fairy-Stories 2
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (either his translation or his annotated edition of the original text) 2
Finn and Hengest 2
Pearl (translation) 2
Sir Orfeo (translation) 2
Since his father's death, Christopher Tolkien has edited/reconstructed a number of JRRT's unfinished works (including "The Silmarillion"). Have you read any of the following--
Unfinished Tales 2
Any volume of The History of MiddleEarth 2
All twelve volumes of The History of MiddleEarth 12
**********************
Scoring (based on a highly scientific algorithm that I just made up) is as follows:
-5 to 0 Breelander--you have work to do and don't have time for no fairy stories
1 to 15 Hobbit--you love a good story, but you don't care to spend too much time on booklearning
16 to 25 Elf--you would rather read the ancient tales than eat or sleep with your eyes wide open
26 to 35 Istari--you have long studied the lore of Arda
36 to 54 Valar--you are a geek even among fans
Edit: My rationale for giving Tolkien's academic works a relatively high weight is that 1. the analytical works provide insight into his fantasy writing ("On Fairy-Stories" and "The Monsters and the Critics") and 2. his translations have been superceded in the classroom by more modern translations so you probably wouldn't be reading them unless you were interested in Tolkien. Also, they are more difficult reading than his fiction.
[Poll #1722599]
Unfortunately, I didn't number the questions, and LJ won't let me revise the quiz.
How many times have you read "The Lord of the Rings"?
Never read it. That dungeons and dragons stuff is for geeks. -1
I started but didn't finish it. It was like a Russian novel--too long and too many characters had similar names. 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
I reread it once a year 5
And did you read the Appendices?
No, they looked about as interesting as a car maintenance manual. -1
I tried but couldn't finish them. 0
Yes 1
That was my favorite part of the book! 2
My edition doesn't include the appendices 0
How many times have you read "The Hobbit"?
Never -1
I started but didn't finish it. Bilbo is such a fussbudget. 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
Have you read "The Silmarillion"?
No, I can't even pronounce it -1
I started reading it, but it was so depressing/confusing/dull I didn't finish. 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
Have you read "The Children of Hurin"?
Never -1
I started reading it, but it was so depressing/confusing/dull that I didn't finish 0
Once 1
Twice 2
Thrice 3
More than three times 4
Only because a friend loaned me the book 1
Tolkien wrote several fictional works that were not related to his legendarium. Which of the following have you read--
Mr. Bliss 1
The Father Christmas Letters 1
Roverandum 1
Farmer Giles of Ham 1
Smith of Wootton Major 1
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun 1
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son 1
Extra geek points if you have read any of the following academic works--
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (either the original essay or Michael Drout's expanded edition based on Tolkien's papers) 2
On Fairy-Stories 2
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (either his translation or his annotated edition of the original text) 2
Finn and Hengest 2
Pearl (translation) 2
Sir Orfeo (translation) 2
Since his father's death, Christopher Tolkien has edited/reconstructed a number of JRRT's unfinished works (including "The Silmarillion"). Have you read any of the following--
Unfinished Tales 2
Any volume of The History of MiddleEarth 2
All twelve volumes of The History of MiddleEarth 12
**********************
Scoring (based on a highly scientific algorithm that I just made up) is as follows:
-5 to 0 Breelander--you have work to do and don't have time for no fairy stories
1 to 15 Hobbit--you love a good story, but you don't care to spend too much time on booklearning
16 to 25 Elf--you would rather read the ancient tales than eat or sleep with your eyes wide open
26 to 35 Istari--you have long studied the lore of Arda
36 to 54 Valar--you are a geek even among fans
Edit: My rationale for giving Tolkien's academic works a relatively high weight is that 1. the analytical works provide insight into his fantasy writing ("On Fairy-Stories" and "The Monsters and the Critics") and 2. his translations have been superceded in the classroom by more modern translations so you probably wouldn't be reading them unless you were interested in Tolkien. Also, they are more difficult reading than his fiction.
