The Hobbit, Chapter 3: A Short Rest quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Where does Gandalf say the company has arrived after crossing the river?

   • Correct answer: At the very edge of the Wild
   • At the border of the trolls' land
   • At the foot of the tallest snow-peak
   • At the gates of the Lonely Mountain

   Gandalf tells them they have come to the very edge of the Wild, with Rivendell hidden somewhere ahead.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why must the travellers be careful about the bogs they pass?

   • They give off a mist that makes people lose the path
   • Goblins are known to hide in them at night
   • The water in them is poisonous to drink
   • Correct answer: A pony carrying a pack would never come out again

   The narrator says the bogs look green and pleasant, but a pony with a pack that walked there would never have come out again.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Bilbo think just before the elves' song bursts from the trees?

   • That he would rather be home in bed
   • Correct answer: That the valley smells like elves to him
   • That they have taken the wrong path
   • That the lights must belong to trolls

   Bilbo thinks it smells like elves and looks up at the stars, and just then a burst of song comes from the trees.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Why does the company not stay to sing with the elves on the first night?

   • Gandalf orders them to hurry before the moon rises
   • The elves' teasing makes Thorin storm off alone
   • Correct answer: The dwarves are all for supper as soon as possible
   • Bilbo is too frightened of the elves to stay near

   Bilbo would have liked to stay, but the dwarves wanted their supper and would not wait.

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5. 5

   Question 5. According to Elrond, where were the trolls' swords originally made?

   • In the mines of Moria by dwarf smiths
   • In Dale, before the town was ruined
   • By the trolls themselves in their cave
   • Correct answer: In Gondolin, for the Goblin-wars

   Elrond says they are old swords of the High Elves of the West, made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Elrond feel when he looks at Thorin's map and remembers the dragon?

   • Envy of the treasure the dwarves hope to win
   • Correct answer: Grief for the ruined town of Dale and its bells
   • Doubt that the map is truly the dwarves' own
   • Fear that Smaug will soon attack the valley

   He grieves to remember the ruin of Dale and its merry bells, and the burned banks of the River Running.

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7. 7

   Question 7. According to the narrator, why might Gandalf and Thorin be a bit vexed when Elrond reads the moon-letters?

   • Correct answer: Even Elrond found the hidden message first
   • Elrond refuses to tell them what it says
   • The message warns them to give up the quest
   • They think Elrond has read the message wrongly

   The narrator suggests they were perhaps a bit vexed that even Elrond should have found this out first, though really there had been no chance before.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events happen on the way to Rivendell in Chapter 3?

   • The company fords a river at a wide, shallow place.

     Happened

     The narrator says that one morning they forded a river at a wide shallow place full of the noise of stones and foam.

   • A pony sinks in a bog and is lost with its pack.

     Didn't happen

     No pony is lost; the narrator only warns that a pony with a pack that walked into the bogs would never come out again.

   • Gandalf searches for white stones that mark the path.

     Happened

     The path is marked with white stones, and Gandalf's head and beard wag this way and that as he looks for them.

   • Bilbo nods off and bumps his nose on his pony's neck.

     Happened

     On the way down into the valley of Rivendell, Bilbo grows drowsy, nods, and bumps his nose on the pony's neck.

   • The company spends a night camped beside a waterfall.

     Didn't happen

     The chapter says they camped under the stars; the waterfalls it mentions are deep in gullies they come upon.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events happen inside Elrond's house and valley?

   • The travellers' clothes are mended and their bags filled with food.

     Happened

     In Elrond's house their clothes are mended, and their bags are filled with food light to carry.

   • Elrond gives Bilbo a new sword of his own.

     Didn't happen

     Elrond gives no one a sword; he reads the runes on the swords brought from the trolls' lair and names Thorin's and Gandalf's.

   • Elrond reads the map by the light of a crescent moon.

     Happened

     The moon shines in a broad silver crescent, and Elrond holds up the map so the white light shines through it.

   • Thorin explains what Durin's Day is.

     Happened

     Thorin explains that the dwarves call the first day of their New Year Durin's Day when the last moon of Autumn and the sun are in the sky together.

   • Gandalf leaves the company to travel on alone.

     Didn't happen

     Gandalf does not leave in this chapter; the whole company rides away together on midsummer morning amid songs of farewell.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'forded' mean in: 'One morning they forded a river at a wide shallow place'?

    • Built a small bridge across
    • Followed the bank of a stream
    • Correct answer: Crossed by wading through the water
    • Camped along the edge of

    To ford a river is to cross it at a shallow place by wading or riding through the water.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'hoard' mean in: 'They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder'?

    • A deep cave in a mountain
    • A curse placed on a weapon
    • Correct answer: A hidden store of treasure
    • A large band of fighters

    A hoard is a hidden store of treasure, like the gold a dragon guards.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'abreast' mean in the map's runes: 'five feet high the door and three may walk abreast'?

    • Carefully, bent low to the ground
    • Correct answer: Side by side, facing the same way
    • One behind the other in a line
    • Quickly, without stopping to rest

    Abreast means side by side, so the door is wide enough for three to walk through together.

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