Riddle Game Printable version

Riddle Game was a game generally played by the Hobbits to settle disputes or arguments. It involved an exchange of riddles and continued until a player failed to give a valid answer.[1]

History

Though the origins of the riddle game are not clear, the game involved a few sacred rules agreed by the players.

The most the most well known riddle game played was the one between Bilbo Baggins and Gollum in Gollum's Cave, to prove one's dominance over the other.

The rules set by both the players was that if Gollum lost, he would show Bilbo out of the Misty Mountains; otherwise, Gollum would eat Bilbo.[2]

The riddles

Riddle 1

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?

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Answer: a Mountain

Riddle 2

Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First, they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they standstill.

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Answer: Teeth

Riddle 3

Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.

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Answer: Wind

Riddle 4

An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"but in low place
Not in high place."

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Answer: sun on the daisies

Riddle 5

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.

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Answer: Darkness

Riddle 2

A box without hinges, key or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.

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Answer: Egg

Riddle 7

Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking

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Answer: Fish

Riddle 8

No-legs lay on one-leg,
two legs sat near on three legs,
four legs got some.

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Answer: Fish on a little one-legged table, man at table sitting on a three-legged stool, the cat gets the bones

Riddle 9

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays King, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.

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Answer: Time

Riddle 10

What does Bilbo have in his pocket?

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Answer: The One Ring of Power

References

1. ^https://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/subjects/literature/what-are-the-riddles-that-gollum-asked-bilbo-in-the-hobbit
2. ^https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/9gngn8/ethicallegal_considerations_of_riddle_game/