There and Back Again — Answers

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Today’s Answers

The Inklings met at The Eagle and Child Pub.
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The first of today’s questions relates to the date, 21 September. The remainder are not date related but follow a fantasy theme?

One

An English academic, a member of the Inklings, an informal literary group, published a critically acclaimed, best-selling children’s fantasy novel on this day in 1937? What author and what book?

Answer: J.R.R. Tolkien; The Hobbit.

J.R.R. Tolkien created a detailed ‘legendarium’, which later became The Silmarillion, partly to provide a backdrop for his invented Elvish languages. To entertain his children, he wrote The Hobbit (1937), a lighter story that became so popular his publisher requested a sequel. This led to The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), a modern heroic epic that expanded on the world of The Hobbit and connected deeply with the established history of his earlier tales.

Two

What Star Wars character was from the planet Kashyyyk, and what character originally played the role?

Answer: Chewbacca.

Chewbacca, or ‘Chewie’, is a tall, hairy Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk and a key character in the Star Wars franchise. Known for carrying a bowcaster and speaking Shyriiwook, he is the loyal friend and co-pilot of Han Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon. The character was originally portrayed by Peter Mayhew and later by Joonas Suotamo.

Three

In a work of fantasy fiction Zem is described as ‘an affable, yet stupid, swamp-dwelling …’. What word completes the previous description, and from what work is it taken?

Answers: Mattress; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (or Life, the Universe and Everything).

Zem is a friendly but dim-witted, swamp-dwelling mattress from the planet Sqornshellous Zeta. He spends his time trying to cheer up Marvin the Paranoid Android by repeating the same daily conversation. ‘Zem’ is actually the name given to all mattresses on his planet to minimise distress over their eventual fate of being dried and slept on. He appears in the novel Life, the Universe and Everything, the third novel in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and is the only witness to Marvin’s abduction by Krikkit war robots.

Four

Which Game of Thrones character is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark; and what was his birth name?

Answers: Jon Snow; Aegon Targaryen.

Born Aegon Targaryen to Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon Snow grows up as Eddard Stark’s illegitimate son at Winterfell. After being chosen Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, Jon is killed during a mutiny over the wildling settlement and later brought back by Melisandre.

Five

Which American sci-fi writer used the pseudonym Paul French for his Lucky Starr series; and by what name was ‘Lucky’ known as in the first novel?

Answers: Isaac Asimov; David Starr.

Isaac Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series as Paul French. The first book was David Starr: Space Ranger; after which the character became Lucky Starr. Six books followed the first, but a seventh was abandoned. As the series progressed, Asimov began using his own name.