The Prancing Pony — Answers

Five random questions today, neither date-related nor themed.

One

In the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien, who are said to be the inhabitants of Bree?

Answer: Big Folk and Hobbits.

Bree, east of the Shire, is the only Hobbit and Man settlement in Bree-land, inspired by the English village of Brill and Tolkien’s linguistics. The Prancing Pony in Bree is where Frodo’s use of the ring brings him to the attention of Aragorn and the Black Riders. 

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Two

What is the world’s longest snake?

Answer: Reticulated Python.

The reticulated python is the only snake with verified human consumption, prompting a 2015 US import ban later partially rescinded. Documented fatalities and consumption of humans are recorded from 1638 to 2026, these are mainly in Indonesia.

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Three

What is the nearest star to our Sun? 

Answer: Proxima Centauri.

Proxima Centauri, discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, is the nearest star to Earth after the Sun, located 4.25 light-years away in Centaurus. A red dwarf which will remain a main-sequence star for four trillion years. Proxima Centauri has two confirmed exoplanets: Proxima Centauri b and Proxima Centauri d.

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Four

In Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, Wednesday is revealed to be an incarnation of what God?

Answer: Odin.

Neil Gaiman’s 2001 fantasy novel American Gods centres on Shadow and won Hugo and Nebula awards. A 2011 expanded edition, audio versions and a 2017 Folio Society edition followed. It was adapted for television in 2017 with Gaiman as executive producer.

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Five

Which character from television’s Friends is also a moon of the planet Saturn? 

Answer: Phoebe.

Phoebe Buffay is a main character in Friends, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and played by Lisa Kudrow. Phoebe, Saturn’s largest irregular satellite, was discovered photographically by William Henry Pickering in 1899. Cassini’s 2004 flyby enabled detailed study. Its retrograde orbit places it in the Norse group.

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