The Hobbit, Chapter 18: The Return Journey quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Who finds Bilbo on Ravenhill after the battle?

   • Gandalf, with his arm in a sling
   • Balin, sent up from the Gate
   • Correct answer: A man sent to search there
   • One of the Eagles in the hunt

   A man sent to look on Ravenhill for the last time hears Bilbo's voice and carries him down to the camp in Dale.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Bilbo say it is 'a mercy' that he woke up when he did?

   • Correct answer: He was able to part from Thorin in kindness
   • He was in time to claim his share of the gold
   • He reached the camp before the goblins came back
   • He could still see the Eagles before they flew off

   Bilbo wishes Thorin were living, but he is glad they parted in kindness before Thorin died.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How did the Eagles help win the battle?

   • They brought word of Dain's army to the elves
   • They set fire to the goblin camp in the valley
   • They carried the wounded dwarves away to Dale
   • Correct answer: They drove the goblins off the mountain-slopes

   The Eagles dislodged the goblins from the mountain-slopes, so the elves and men could come to the help of the battle below.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What happens to most of the goblins who flee after the battle?

   • They surrender to Dain at the Gate
   • Correct answer: They die in the marshes or in Mirkwood
   • They escape safely to the Grey Mountains
   • They are taken prisoner by Bard's men

   The goblins are hunted into the marshes about the Forest River and into Mirkwood, and the greater part of them perish there.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does Dain reward the chief of the Eagles?

   • Correct answer: He crowns him with gold and swears friendship forever
   • He gives him a fourteenth share of all the treasure
   • He grants him the Arkenstone to keep in his eyrie
   • He offers him a hall of his own inside the Mountain

   Gandalf tells Bilbo that Dain has crowned the Eagles' chief with gold and sworn friendship with them forever.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Bard give the Elvenking from his share of the treasure?

   • A necklace of pearls
   • A chest of dwarf gold
   • The sword Orcrist
   • Correct answer: The emeralds of Girion

   Bard gives the Elvenking the emeralds of Girion, the jewels he most loved, which Dain had restored to Bard.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why do Gandalf and Bilbo go round Mirkwood instead of through it?

   • The Elvenking refuses to let them pass through his halls
   • Correct answer: The road round the forest now seems safer than the paths
   • Gandalf has pressing business deep in the Grey Mountains
   • The Forest River has flooded the paths under the trees

   With the goblins crushed, the long road round the forest seems safer than the dreadful pathways under the trees, and Beorn is going that way too.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually happen in this chapter?

   • Gandalf has been wounded in the battle.

     Happened

     Bilbo finds Gandalf before a tent in Dale with his arm in a sling; even the wizard had not escaped without a wound.

   • Bilbo keeps the Arkenstone as his share of the treasure.

     Didn't happen

     Bard lays the Arkenstone upon Thorin's breast in his tomb beneath the Mountain, and Bilbo takes only two small chests of silver and gold.

   • Beorn pulls down Bolg and crushes him.

     Happened

     In the last hour of the battle Beorn scatters the bodyguard and pulls down Bolg himself and crushes him.

   • Bard is crowned King under the Mountain.

     Didn't happen

     Dain son of Nain becomes King under the Mountain, while Bard is given a fourteenth share of the silver and gold.

   • Ten of Thorin's twelve companions remain alive.

     Happened

     Of the twelve companions of Thorin, ten remain, for Fili and Kili have fallen defending him.

   • Bilbo and Gandalf travel home through the Elvenking's halls.

     Didn't happen

     Bilbo and Gandalf will not enter the wood, though the king bids them stay in his halls; they go along the edge of the forest instead.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'amend' mean as used in: "not a mountain of gold can amend it"?

   • Count or measure exactly
   • Pay for or buy outright
   • Correct answer: Put right or make better
   • Hide or cover from sight

   To amend is to put right; Bilbo means no amount of gold can make up for Thorin's death.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What are 'eyries' as used in: "most have gone back to their eyries"?

    • Correct answer: High nests of eagles on the cliffs
    • Halls where a king holds his court
    • Dark caves where goblins hide away
    • Camps where a weary army rests

    An eyrie is the high nest of an eagle or other bird of prey; the Eagles have flown home to them.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'repented' mean as used in: "the words of Thorin, of which he repented"?

    • Denied ever having spoken
    • Correct answer: Felt sorry for and regretted
    • Repeated over and over again
    • Wrote down so as to remember

    To repent is to feel sorry for something; Thorin regretted his harsh words before he died.

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